friend wants to know.....454 or 455

[iluvmy72]

he is going to put one of these two into a 69 Shortbed.....I told him the Olds 455 would be better for street but the 454 would be better for towing.......but I'm not an expert on the big blocks......he has access to a 1970 455 out of a cutlass 442 or a 454 out of a 1983 gmc truck.....which one do I tell him to go for?.....he does plan on towing a boat but my Olds 350 will do that because it has 345@4800 for horse power and 440@3200 for torque with a 10.5-1 ratio.......that's alot of juice for a 350.....It scares me to think of a 454 or 455 done up like this......but as to which one he'll pick has got me wondering on whether I can get him to take the 454 so I can have the 455 for fun.....he he.....I couldn't do that to him.....but which one do I tell him to go for since I'm not a big block man?

[casey]

I'm no expert either but I'd go with the 455 out of the olds, seens its a 1970 that thing will have balls, and I think those 454's out of those 80's trucks would be a smogger, I vote 455, my 2 cents

[cdowns]

i'd have to vote for the 455 those 80's truck 454's were just left over boat anchors from the titanic

[LudwigTheMad]

It is my understanding that the 455 is stroked better for torque, 454 for horse. much like the 350 for hp and 400 for torque.

This would make the 455 a better block for a truck, expessially if your gonna tow.


9 out of 10 personallities agree that high torque builds high hp and makes a pink suburban go faster (or any other heavy truck)

the 10th one is in the corner making "wing ding" sounds with his mouth and pretending to drive a formula 10.

[1970cstblazer]

Go with the 455 Olds.

[krue]

Olds

[crazy longhorn]

the 455 Olds will have more tork, & it will be in the lower range.....better for towing

[Roberty]

If the 454 was a 70 LS5 or LS6 i'd say go with the 454. In this case definately go with the Olds 455. The truck motor is for towing only. It wouldn't be much of a HP motor.
Robert

[72c10step]

I'd go Olds if I was him too.

[miket]

What's the cost difference to build both motors equally? Is he installing these motors without a rebuild or tear down?

[tom hand]

With a different camshaft and some higher compression pistons the 83 smogger motor will put out some desent HP numbers. It will bolt in with all stock parts and if you ever sell the truck it will be worth more money because it is not a "halfbreed"

[iluvmy72]

no tear down.....he wants a complete swap

[miket]

It was my impression that the olds motors were more expensive to build (HP) than the 454.

[Longhorn Man]

While parts are more for the 455, I would go with that one anyways.
If he doesn't plan to sell it, then who cares about resale value.
The swap should be fairly easy enough...just take your time and it'll pretty much fall together.
The coolness factor is up with an odd ball motor. Mine isn't even done yet and people stand there looking at the huge lump of iron there and say it is awsome. You can only look at so many small block or big block trucks before you start saying "seen it, done it" or "been there done that".

[iluvmy72]

thanks for your info.....speaking of oddball motors...he he....whats up with the caddi?....does the engine turn over yet or does it flip your truck over instead?

[Class of 69]

One other thing to remember with the Olds motor...he needs to get the trans too. Chev trans won't bolt to an Olds motor. Personally, I would buy the 454, and build it to eliminate the " boat anchor " status. Yes, those year big blocks were gutless dogs. The plus side is, as pointed out, bolt in replacement.

[oldsub86]

My brother in law has a 455 Pontiac in a Ventura - no shortage of torque - it will squeal the tires as long as you step on the gas = and it is pretty much stock - no headers - no aluminum intake etc - just a reasonably well rebuilt engine with lots of cubic inches.
Nothing wrong with the big Olds, Pontiac or Buick engines.

[71MoneyPit]

like Longhornmail said there's a coolness factor with the oddball motors, i get people all the time asking to see what i got under the hood and when i open it they just stare at it dumbfounded for a minute or so until i tell them what it is. I even had one person who thought it was a Ford engine because of the dist. in the front.

i also agree with the torque output of these big engines, the 500 Caddy in my truck will burn the tires through 3rd and will haze them under 35mph if you stomp it to the floor. The other good thing about torquey motors is it doesn't require as much throttle while you're just cruisin around(hell i actually got almost 13mpg with the Money Pit one week,drivin' it like a granny

[iluvmy72]

I have a Olds 350 and I can honestly say it looks like a ford at first because the spark plugs are angled up like the fords and the look is totally different.....you would never know that this was a 350.....my mechanic did say he was able to do more with this engine than with a regular chevy....he put a performance crank and cam from a 395 SB.....345@4800 for horse power and 440@3200 for torque with a 10.5-1 ratio is the result.....that's some major pony's for a small block.....I'd love to see the 500 you have......or even one of the new 572's from chevy.

[Longhorn Man]

The caddy has been fired up a few times, but with no radiator or exhaust, I only run it for a few seconds.
Mostly just long enough to prove to myself (and then a few other ppl) that it is in fact a no knock/no smoke engine.
Scared the crap out of my son! It was kinda cool to see my wife spill her pop when she jumped too.

[truckster]

Nobody's mentioned yet that the Olds motor is basically bulletproof. Tons of power and you can't hurt it. Have fun trying.

[crazy longhorn]

The Olds engine is basically "bullet proof".......untill you really start winding it up! That big Olds will always have a spot in my heart......I shifted the 461 in my longhorn @ 6800.... nothing like dropping 2nd @ 65 mph, & smokin the hides......then pulling 3rd @ 100 plus& more rubber smoke Not too bad for a street bound Longhorn crazyL

[Longhorn Man]

You have to address the oiling system before I would call it bullit proof. But once you have done that, gun it, it'll hold.

[krazy_texan]

i dont know about you guys but Olds engines have always sounded more intimidating to me
like the 350 rockets
and the 455
might just be me
i say he should go with the olds