Thread: Chevy, Olds Head swap???

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Your truck is a perfect candidate for a donor car swap. Choose any 90's Chevrolet car or truck that has an LS motor. Buy the whole vehicle and use all the mechanical and electrical parts off it, then sell the remaining sheet metal, glass and interior to recoup some of the cost of the donor. Make no changes to the motor or any other parts. Put the stock motor, transmission and differential into your truck, with all OEM wiring from the donor. I can see 300+ hp for $1000 to $1500 cost of the donor. Lots of work, but you have to discount your labor on a project like this.

And no, Chevy heads will not fit an Olds block.

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Uhh, no, Chevy heads don't fit an Olds block. However, if you want to put the effort into it, that 350 Olds can be made into a fairly good (understated) performer, and since you already have it in place, just rebuilding it, and not going through the extra mess of a complete new drivetrain swap might suit you. In '81, I had a '77 Olds Cutlass Salon with the 350 that blew a head gasket. When I took it apart, I just couldn't leave well enough alone, and I "warmed it up a little". I did a basic rebuild with bearings and rings - clearances were remarkably good, "niced up" the heads with a basic port and polish and new valves, installed an Erson cam, an Edelbrock manifold, and a re-worked QuadraJet 750, some Hedman headers and a true dual exhaust. What a difference!! That Olds, which was a fair runner in stock form, became a true street sleeper - - - NICE, and a lot of fun, because nobody expected an Olds to run like that one did.

Google "Oldsmobile Performance", and read to your hearts content. Here's a link to Mondello Performance, the original Oldsmobile Guru site; Joe is gone, now, rest him, but the shop is still going strong from what I understand.

Mondello Performance Products, Inc. - Oldsmobile - (805) 237-8808

On the other side of the coin, a complete swap like Tech suggests might be a viable alternative.