MSAUBREY

Articles Posted: 31 Links Seeded: 11

Member Since: 7/2010 Last Seen: 5/16/2012

Project car pictures... Updates (for those that have been 'waiting')

Tue Apr 26, 2011 1:48 PM EDT

not-news, cars, engine, pontiac, olds, big-block

By MsAubrey

With all interior removed, after I welded a patch in the floorboard, and husband painted.

Interior is expensive! But this looks terrible... I've seen worse.

Engine complete (with exceptions to being IN the car and a couple of pulleys/fan).

Isn't it shiny? I used no flash.

Nasty engine. Pulling the bearing caps off.

This is the very beginning. Me (MsAubrey) pulling the engine & trans apart.

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Well, I've just gotten finished with building my engine. For the ones just reading about this for the first time, it's an Olds 455 in a 1979 Pontiac Firebird.

Don't hesitate to ask questions!

I have a wonderful husband that did all the nasty body work and painting.

Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.

Published to:

MsAubrey's Column, All of Newsvine
Groups: Gearheads , Invisible Viners
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Public Discussion (28)

MsAubrey

Be nice and have fun!

3 votes

#1 - Tue Apr 26, 2011 1:48 PM EDT

Kearney Outlaw

Way cool. I haven't been a gear head since, well, ever, really. First car was a '56 Bel Air (and yes, it was already a classic by the time I owned it!) A buddy of mine had a pretty sharp '68 Chevelle that had a 427 in it. THAT was nice. But not since high school have I torn apart an engine...

Do you have any sisters? (I think this has been asked before.) ;-)

3 votes

#2 - Tue Apr 26, 2011 2:40 PM EDT

MsAubrey

Nope. I am an only child. I was obcessed with machinery since I can remember. My dad would work on our 77 Nova and I'd 'help' while sitting on the fender. I was only 3 or so... So I really wasn't helping, but I sure felt like I was!

When my dad broke his right arm playing softball, I had to shift his Dodge Rampage for him. He thought all those years, I was watching his foot to shift... I was listening to the RPM's and knew when he was going to shift. : )

4 votes

#2.1 - Tue Apr 26, 2011 3:05 PM EDT

joeiraqi

Once that project is done, I have a couple not classic, not cool cars (aka minivan and 4 door sedan) that could use some improvements :-)

3 votes

#3 - Wed Apr 27, 2011 12:00 PM EDT

MsAubrey

You need to reference my most recent rant article.

http://aubs1995614.newsvine.com/_news/2011/03/17/6287920-more-interesting-randomness-from-the-brutally-honest-btch

2 votes

#3.1 - Wed Apr 27, 2011 3:39 PM EDT

joeiraqi

I read your feeling on mini-vans. Like I said on the other article, they have a purpose. :-)

2 votes

#3.2 - Thu Apr 28, 2011 4:08 PM EDT

MsAubrey

Then, you'd know there is no way I'll be working on a minivan again. : )

2 votes

#3.3 - Fri Apr 29, 2011 12:39 PM EDT

joeiraqi

But you could make it even more useful. I don't know if it could be ever made cool, but I'm willing to let you try :-)

2 votes

#3.4 - Mon May 2, 2011 11:49 AM EDT

MsAubrey

My way would be to set it ablaze somwhere in Detroit.

3 votes

#3.5 - Mon May 2, 2011 11:53 AM EDT

joeiraqi

Though a burning vehicle sounds fun, my wife would be very sad:-(

3 votes

#3.6 - Mon May 2, 2011 11:56 AM EDT

smellsofpoo

Way to go!!! That car should be a lot of fun to drive and....Get the looks!!!

2 votes

#4 - Wed Apr 27, 2011 4:24 PM EDT

IndependentAmerican2892850

I have a couple of questions/comments:

A torque monster like the Olds 455 makes quick work of a 10 bolt rear-end and can even lunch a 12 bolt, so I was curious if you were going to use a 9 inch Ford rear-end and/or if you were going to stick with 3 series gears as the Olds is a low RPM engine? Of course, if you aren't doing 3500rpm launches I guess the stocker will hold up fine.

Turbo 400 trans, right? Very tough. Shift Kit/Cooler?

Nice work, Ms. Aubrey. That is going to be one mean 'bird! I'm excited for you. I was a rabid motorhead until I met my current wife. She just isn't into all that racing and wrenching stuff. BTW, I learned something from you on another thread: Good to know that I can use a 429/460 Ford rear main seal on an Olds. Rope seals blow chunks. Geez, GM used 'em all the way into the 80s on Buicks. That was always a complaint I had about the stock Pontiac V8s too. There is a company called HO that specializes in Pontiac aftermarket parts. But, since you have the Olds you really can't get any better than that.

3 votes

#5 - Wed Apr 27, 2011 4:44 PM EDT

MsAubrey

Mondello is wonderful for hard to find parts for my Olds. : )

Not a stock diff. Didn't have a stock axle when I got it. 3.42 gears, posi, and traction bars. I'm not racing it really. I will likely take it down the 1/4 a couple times, but she's gonna be street. I will be tying the frame. Don't want the body gettin twisted up! It's got a TH350 trans. Aftermarket converter. No stall. With that motor... (you know) not needed. She already shifts at about 2K... Slamming you into the seat. Or I should say, did. And that was with small block heads, no upgrades, and not enough carb! We're getting a trans cooler, oil cooler, and a 4 core rad. B&M (console megashifter) shift kit.

2 votes

#5.1 - Thu Apr 28, 2011 9:16 AM EDT

Desertzonie

Very nice project. I always liked that body style Firebirds, mine was a Formula with a 403. It's good to see some more gear heads here.

2 votes

#6 - Wed Apr 27, 2011 5:54 PM EDT

MsAubrey

Mine was originally the Formula with the Pontiac 403. We should start a gear head group!

2 votes

#6.1 - Thu Apr 28, 2011 9:17 AM EDT

Desertzonie

It is set up -- I clipped this article to it. The avitar is an engine I built a long time ago for a 53 Buick I was building.

http://gearheads.newsvine.com/

Please join!

1 vote

#6.2 - Mon May 2, 2011 5:44 PM EDT

grump in NM

Oh, this is so cool. My question : How do you get the Olds engine to match up to the Pontiac transmission? Are the holes and fittings the same or do you have to build some kind of plate with fittings for each. I have wondered about this for many longs.

Are the motor mounts in the same place? You have to move them, right--weld new ones on the frame?

Did you finish this in the last year? Can I see the finished product?

Don't you dare laugh at me. I do stuff with wood and stereo sound systems. We all do different stuff.

#7 - Tue Apr 17, 2012 9:47 PM EDT

Enoch-2699399

GM parts are interchangeable. Like on my 2001 OldsmoBuick Intrigue.

1 vote

#7.1 - Tue Apr 17, 2012 10:10 PM EDT

grump in NM

I had no idea that was true in 1979. Probably today they are but I wondered about those old engines and transmissions. Thanks, Enoch.

#7.2 - Tue Apr 17, 2012 10:16 PM EDT

MsAubrey

GM had only a few common trans options back then. TH200, TH350, and TH400. Bellhousings were interchangable. Big block GM motormounts were interchangable.

See... In the mid-late 70's, because of the EPA, GM could no longer keep producing the big blocks without standardized emissions. They could use what they already had, but couldn't continue production. So, that's when they threw a Buick big block into a Chevy, an Olds big block in a Pontiac, a big block Chevy in an Olds, etc.

The original engine that was in my Firebird [and it had the 455 Olds when I got the car] was a Pontiac 403 w/a TH350. The TH350 is still the trans in it... But it was slightly modified before I got the car. It's got a B&M shifter and torque converter. But like I said before... Bellhousings were interchangable.

A TH350 and TH400 were the most common transmissions for the 70's. They put em in all kinds of GM cars and trucks.

#7.3 - Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:23 PM EDT

grump in NM

Aubs, thanks that explains a lot. I didn't know that. Thanks.