Engine help

[Metz]

I have a 77 350 non a/c and am putting it into a 79 A/c truck . The motor that is in it is bad. The truck used to be a diesel and am not sure what engine it is, a/c is on right side alt and ps is on left side. What brackets do i need to install on my motor? Thank you

[redneckwheelman2]

id say the engine would be a 5.7 olds diesel if its stock

[Metz]

The truck has been converted already its a gas motor that seized. Sorry I was not clear. Thank you

[Robert8096]

If the bad engine is a chevy small block then swap the stuff off the bad engine to the good one.

[Metz]

It does not look like a small block a/c is on pass side- alt&ps drivers side oil fill front right side exhaust manifold bolts from bottom.

[Robert8096]

It really does not matter which side the AC and alt is on. If you are going to change the engine you are going to want to put those items back in the same place as with this engine. If you don't then you will need to move wiring and have new AC hoses built. Look on the back of the engine where the transmission bolts to the block and there should be numbers, you can do a google search on and it will tell you what the CID (305 350 etc) is and possibly what year it was manufactured. They are right between the dist and the left side of the engine. Most all chevy small block brackets will mount to any other chevy small blocks. The only exception to this rule is the early 283 327 etc that do not have bolt holes in the front of the heads. The only other thing is if you are running a long or short water pump but either will fit on any small block chevy

Here is a quote from a website that explains a little about it.

By far the fastest and easiest way to I.D. your small block Chevy is to use the casting number found on the drivers side rear of the block on the top flange that mates with the tranny bell housing.Numbers are raised approx 1/8 of an inch.The are about 3/4 of an inch tall.Even though you may have to scrap greese and dirt away,the numbers may be seen plainly while the engine is still in the car.

http://www.ajgeneral.com/sbc_block_casting_numbers/

Here is a site that you can use to decode the numbers.

http://www.nastyz28
.com/sbchevy/sblock.php


Early Chevy's had the dipstick on the drivers side and later engines have it on the passenger side. This will make no difference when it comes to accessory brackets.

[powerdriver 1958]

Company that I worked for had 9 of the 5.7 diesels and I had to swap in gas motors in every one of them.Used an Oldsmobile 350 just because it was easier to do.The belt drive was Olds even the exhaust manifolds worked IIRC.swapped the torque converter to one made for a gas engine too.

That being said you need all the brackets to do the swap and double check the tranny housing to make sure that it is set up to bolt to a chevy engine.All the ones I did were but there is a chance that someone might have swapped an older BOP tranny that is not a multi pattern


If you have a picture of the motor that is in it please post it

[Robert8096]

Originally Posted by Metz

The truck has been converted already its a gas motor that seized. Sorry I was not clear. Thank you

It has all ready been converted to gas.

[powerdriver 1958]

read that and I'm betting they used an olds motor cuz its easier and cheaper to do and he now has a chevy motor that he wants to use. a pic would confirm that.

[Metz]

I took the nose off and here are some pictures.

[powerdriver 1958]

That's 100% Oldsmobile,the hydra boost will have to be addressed also

[Metz]

I have a power steering hydro boost off the 77 350, can I mount the a/c above it? If so what and where would I find the bracket. Thanks again

[powerdriver 1958]

might have to do a trip to a salvage yard,would be better if you found a donor truck that is still together.

[Robert8096]

I agree Olds engine. The issues will be with the water pump and the transmission bolt pattern. I did an engine swap on a Olds Cutlass many moons ago which we replaced the engine with a chevy 350 and I don't remember changing the accessories brackets. I would eyeball the mounting locations of the brackets on both engines and see if it would swap. I would also measure the distance between the snout on the Olds water pump and the block and compare it with the distance of the chevy pump. Check the transmission and see if it is a dual pattern bolt setup. I agree with Powerdriver 1958 that the easiest way would be to find a donor truck but if you are on a budget you may want spend the time and see if you can use the stuff you have.

Good Luck

[Metz]

My 77 has a good 400 tranny. it is pictured under my other post. The olds is 3 belt the350 2 belt bottom 1 belt top.The olds brackets bolt to places the chevy does't have. Right now I have a 73swb frame front clip bed.77 350 complete and a79 lwb olds motor.