Recently purchased a 1947 Chevy Pickup which had been mounted onto a Olds Cutlass chassis. The engine was suppose to be a 350 Olds, but it turned out to be a 403 Olds...Which is a good thing if built correctly. The engine has been rebuilt before, but back to factory resulting in a fairly low performance engine putting out less than 200 hp....That HAS TO CHANGE!
Well, in my research on the best way to build this 403, I found out why everyone sticks to smallblock chevy's...They are much cheaper to build. The other thing I found was that I could actually build a 455 Olds for the same price as a 403 Olds. So, here is my delimma...which engine? I'm concerned about the cooling of the 455. Right now, the 403 runs a little on the warm side, but with the original radiator from the I6, before the chassis swap. I have a new HD radiator, which should solve that problem. But will it cool another 50 cubic inches? The engine will have a mild build...focusing more on torque than upper end horsepower. Can you imagine 500+ ft-lbs of torque from a 455? Better invest in tires, eh?
