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455 Oldsmobile Oil Starvation

7K views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  ular284 
#1 ·
I have just purchased a 37 Ford Fordoor as a started project.
It has a 455 Oldsmobile form a 1969 Toronado. Im unfamiliar with this engine and reading about issues with oil starvation above 4000rpm.
Is there a fix or solution ?
Should I swap it out for a 350 ?
Im happy to leave it with the 455 if its good to go.
Im more interested in reliability than a ton of HP with this car. Being a 4 door I am building it up as a family fun HighBoy.

I welcome any advice
Cheers
Tony
Houston Texas.
 

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#2 ·
More fantesy than reality. People get carried away with installing oil restrictors to the top end to solve a problem that is really in the bottom end.

You've got to get the oil windage that the crank carries back into the pan for the pump to pick up. This entails a good windage tray, one with a lot of louvers to catch the windage and direct it back into the pan. A scraper along the right side (passenger in a longitudinal installation) to catch the oil that the crank wants to pull up that side wall to allow the oil to fall back into the pan. For popular engines like the 350 there are commericially made conformally shaped scrapers that ride quite tight toward the crankshaft's odd shapes but a simple straight piece of metal that doesn't touch the crank is quite effective. The pan should be deep and close fitting to the pick up to prevent oil from escaping under g-forces. If that can't be accomplished then dams and doors need to be added to trap and keep oil close to the pick up.

Oil on the top end is needed to lubricate the rocker fulcrum and cool the valve springs, this is especially important at high RPMs and certainly moreso with an aggressive cam as these are conditions that drive the part loading thus heat generation quite high resulting in component failure.

You can improve top end drainback by smoothing and enlarging the passages between the heads and valley, and the valley and the crankcase. But keep in mind that this can increase the oil falling onto the crankshaft which makes having excellent windage control all the more important. Becareful of how the engine sits in the chassis, most engines sit flywheel end low b ut many guys like to close off the rear returns, this floods the valley till there is enough oil to drain back through the timing case (not the best idea either) so you want to take advantage of the natural way the drain back returns to the crankcase. Again with properly thought out windage control this problem is minimized. If you're racing then more drastic measures are needed such as external drains from the valley to the pan, but these are extensive modifications not needed on the street, even on a very high performance street motor.

The Oldsmobile will be a tougher nut the crack than the SBC simply because everything needed on the SBC can be had over somebody's counter, it's not that simple with the Old's and some homework will be required. They are a nice engine and a little different from the run an SBC in everything crowd.

Bogie
 
#3 ·
Bogie has hit the nail on the head. The people who tell the stories about oil starvation are pretty much the ones who make profit selling useless restrictor kits. Install an oil pressure gauge and watch it when you drive. Also, be truthful about how much time that engine will really spend over 4,000 RPM. When you make 500 ft lbs of torque at 2500 RPM, there isn't a real need to spin the motor that high.

I also don't understand why you would want a motor with 30% SMALLER displacement.
 
#5 · (Edited)
If it's me no way I would take that engine out and replace it with a 350. But then I love BIG. And 455 is BIG!!! I don't know if they make one but if you can find a higher capacity oil pan and put a baffle inside to keep oil from being whipped up by the massive crank it will help. Like was said, you need to pay attention to the windage here. But I'm thinking of you have like a 6 or 7 quart pan and a proper baffle system installed, and Oh YEAH lower the pick up tube as low as you can without picking up all the gunk off the bottom of the pan, it's never going to be oil starved and you won't lose HP to whipping up your oil with your crankshaft throws.

I love these big engines, I always did. I used to work in marine service on diesels and loved Big ol' turbo charged Cooper Bessemer Engines that turned about 350 RPM. They were between 4000-5000 HP. They had such a sweet sound to them clickity clakcity clickity clackity, OMG it was Orgasmic!!! the sound of those beautiful Big engines. They had a 15. 5 inch bore and a 22 inch stroke and a big ol turbo on the back end whining like a 747. I guess that engine fetish with me carried over into automotive performance engines, because I always loved 454s, 455s, and 460s, to say nothing of todays aftermarket blocks of 500+CI. One I fantisize about is the 500 Cadillac. I would love a full house 500 in a tee bucket, WOW! Just WOW!

With guys like me there's more to it than just getting throught the quarter first. It's a lot about style too. I love big sexy engines that sound really good. Kinda like motor cycle guys and their Harleys. Yeah a Ninja will eat their lunch in a quarter, but not in the style show.
 
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