i was wondering which of the big blocks were the heavest ,the 455 olds ,pontiac,buick or 454 chevy.i want to change front springs thats the reason im asking.there has been no respones in supensons as of yet

http://www.team.net/sol/tech/engine.html

oneovakind67 .. Thanks for the link !!

Yeah, thanks! Cad 331 weighs 699Lbs! Now I know why I straightened out a 3/8" lifting eye when I tried to pick one up with the trans still attatched!! :eek:

By the grace of whatever diety you like(PC you know ;) ) I made it. I got it out and was just putting it back. It was 2 inches above the X-member when I heard a "gunshot" and the thing came down hard! No damage but I always wondered what it would take to do that.

Completely OT but.....thanks again. Cool link

Jeff

I've heard that the 259-289 Studebaker and Packard V-8 weighed 720 pounds. I wonder how much heavier the 350 diesel Olds motor is than the regular 350, as the block is beefed up for the super high compression.

Harold, you got it close - it was the Packard 352 engine, and also offered in the '56 Studebaker Golden Hawk, that weighed in at 720 lbs. Carter WCFB 4 barrel carb and 275 hp/380 tq. Even with the engine setback of the Hawk body line, it was still 58% over the front wheels. With the late '56 lease/sale of the Packard engine plant to Curtiss-Wright, the following '57 & '58 Golden Hawks received the supercharged Studebaker 289 in place of the 352 Packard engine. Made for an evil handling car in the '56 Golden Hawk - at a time when little thought was given to handling.

Thomas

That Packard had 5" bore spacing. Woof. Can you imagine the displacement that thing would have allowed if they'd gone through with the sale of that engine to Chevy as had once been planned? Imagine a "bowtie" Packard block!

Now you know about the "Real" Mystery big block Chevy...

THANKS ONOVAKIND67,LOOKS LIKE BIG BLOCK CHEVY IS IT.AT LEAST I WILL KNOW WHAT SPRINGS TO ORDER

Schurkey, I had a '53 Studebaker for part of a winter in Anchorage, Alaska and it too was an i'll handling vehicle, at least the one time i got it to run. Had to push start it and the engine caught and fired up at near full throttle, did a 360 and went up over a curb which had a snow packed ramp coming to rest about 1 & a half feet short of a telephone pole. Never tried it again and sold the car when i left the Elmendorf, A.F.B. I still like the looks of the '53-'55 Lowry Studebaker Coupe. It was a styling masterpiece.

Sorry for the double post. Sometimes my send fails to go off, then when you hit the button again it sends two messages.

And you could bore the old 352 and 394 Packards a quarter inch! :eek:

Jon, you got close with the big Packard V8 engine size, that would be 374 not 394. Packard also made a 320 cube V8. The 394 honor goes to Oldsmobile.

Thomas

oops.......

That 394 and it predecessor the 371 were both good engines. I had an old, worn out, '62 Oldsmobile Starfire with the 394 engine. Harmonic balancer broke and sounded terrible. I didn't have the ambition to fix whatever it was wrong so i gave it to an acquaintance who promised to restore it. He lied, ripped out the beautiful seats and put in some trashy Camaro buckets, replaced the dampner and let his daughter drive it. He's on my s**t list along with his thieving son who stole some wheels off me. I loaned him the wheels that were supposed to be returned but he traded off instead. Haven't had any dealings with either person since.

I've got a 394 in my olds, killer motor! The torque is awesome, and thats with timing pulled out of it! Someday I'd like to put a 4 bbl manifold on it, but it'll probably remain stock. The only complaints I have about it are finding gas to feed it (high compression), and the putzy slim jim tranny.

Heaviest non-'50's Hemi motor is probably the Lincoln/Merc, 430" "W" head type motor!!

Harold, I have went many a high-speed late night trip in my Buddy's old '51 Commander, 232" Stude V-8 as well and his '57 Stude Silver Hawk with the 259 V-8 between towns back in the early to mid '60's in highschool!!

We never went anywhere that we didn't run them wide open for at least 5 miles on ALL kinds of roads!! I loved the dry summer dirt roads b/c they were always smooth as silk vs the gravel roads or the old highways that were then just starting to be by-passed..

pdq67

Brandon, yeah, the Roto-Hydramatic 375 transmission was never well loved. For sure the Dynamic is a torquer, like 430 tq @ 2,400 rpm. Not much power beyond 4,500 rpm with that "Econ-O-Way" two barrel carb. Most of your detonation issues can be solved with a different camshaft grind that bleeds off more low rpm cylinder pressure.

Thomas