A 350 Olds should be capable of winding out pretty well, it only has a 3.39" stroke. It's top end breathing that hurts an Olds motor, but Edelbrock has that covered now with their aluminum heads. As for oiling problems, never heard that. It'll only have 2 bolt mains, but a nice set of studs should fix that. What the hey, go with the Olds. This does come from a guy with a big block Chevy in his 442 though!
Oh, the 403 wasn't a destroked 455.
455: 4.13 X 4.25
403: 4.35 X 3.39
On paper it should be one hell of a high winding, big inch engine. Unfortunately, all 403s has large chunks of their main webbing missing to make them light weight. Now, I have never heard of a 403 loosing it's guts because of this, but I haven't seen too many used in real anger either!
The best 350 blocks are from the diesel. Strong as hell, but it takes a bit of work to convert them to gas. They really weren't that bad as diesels either, once they put the roller cams in them, they just needed VERY frequent oil changes. Too bad GM screwed Olds on this one, it could have been a good motor.
We might want to get in touch with Dave Smith, Dave Smith Engineering. He's a real Olds guru. Maybe a little sponsor money (read cheaper parts) might be in order?
Shiny Side Up!
Bill
'72 442 "Inamorata"