A couple of years ago I had plans to go on Drag Week. In the months prior to DW, I back halfed the truck, rebuilt the rear, swapped the torque converter, and repainted the truck. I thought I was ready to go. The engine- a 455 Olds- had been in the truck for about 10 years and had served faithfully- all was well with it so I thought. The morning before I was to leave, I took the truck out for a last minute spin. I got out on the interstate and got it up to about 75 for about 1 1/2 minutes when I looked down to see no oil pressure! I got out of it and the pressure came back. I got back into it and lost it again.... no DW for me.
I did go to spectate for a couple of days and then came home to tear the engine down. Sure enough it ate the crankshaft and bearings. My best guess is that the new converter caused the engine to spin about 500 RPM or so more and that emptied the oil pan (a 10 quart version). Olds have crappy oil return into the pan. So for the next couple of months I gathered parts for a new Olds engine when I reevaluated my direction. To build a better Olds was going to cost a lot of $$$ which I did not have. I also wanted to do some racing- not something I had planned when I went Olds. So I sold all my Olds stuff and bought a 454 BBC. It was a running engine out of an RV. I originally planned on just stuffing it in and driving the truck for a while.
Well- I finally got the engine in the truck late last year and cranked it up. The guy I bought the engine from said it needed a couple of valve seals. NOPE. It has at least one burned valve. So I have decided to make a 489 out of it. A 489 is a 4.25" stroke, 4.28" bore BBC. I have bought some go fast parts for it so far but my budget is tight. I am not using top of the line stuff but I am going to pay enough attention to detail that it should stay together. The plan is to use an Eagle 4140 crank, used Eagle rods, Probe pistons along with a Patriot Performance top end kit. The end result should make 525-550 HP. I also have bought a used N2O system.
I will post some pictures of the engine as it sits in the truck right now before I pull it and then get to work on it. The truck can be seen in my garage here on BS. The pictures there were taken just after the engine went south.. I will detail my build as I go for your amusement. Oh- I also plan on using a MegaSquirt and EFI which I have never installed before. Should be fun.
I did go to spectate for a couple of days and then came home to tear the engine down. Sure enough it ate the crankshaft and bearings. My best guess is that the new converter caused the engine to spin about 500 RPM or so more and that emptied the oil pan (a 10 quart version). Olds have crappy oil return into the pan. So for the next couple of months I gathered parts for a new Olds engine when I reevaluated my direction. To build a better Olds was going to cost a lot of $$$ which I did not have. I also wanted to do some racing- not something I had planned when I went Olds. So I sold all my Olds stuff and bought a 454 BBC. It was a running engine out of an RV. I originally planned on just stuffing it in and driving the truck for a while.
Well- I finally got the engine in the truck late last year and cranked it up. The guy I bought the engine from said it needed a couple of valve seals. NOPE. It has at least one burned valve. So I have decided to make a 489 out of it. A 489 is a 4.25" stroke, 4.28" bore BBC. I have bought some go fast parts for it so far but my budget is tight. I am not using top of the line stuff but I am going to pay enough attention to detail that it should stay together. The plan is to use an Eagle 4140 crank, used Eagle rods, Probe pistons along with a Patriot Performance top end kit. The end result should make 525-550 HP. I also have bought a used N2O system.
I will post some pictures of the engine as it sits in the truck right now before I pull it and then get to work on it. The truck can be seen in my garage here on BS. The pictures there were taken just after the engine went south.. I will detail my build as I go for your amusement. Oh- I also plan on using a MegaSquirt and EFI which I have never installed before. Should be fun.
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