I have swapped a 455 into a Special. It fit so well with the cast iron heads. no transmission relocation. So my thinking is that the 455 would fit in a 65/66 LeSabre about the same. Only question is the oil pan/ exhaust manifold. I think if I were attempting it in a 68 I would keep the transmission location, reweld engine mounts and see if the mid sump big car pan would work. You are going to be the test pilot for this one.
We did all that when we first did the swap. The big car mid sump pan is the pan to use, but the steering center link and tie rod ends run into pan when turning even a little bit. I have headers from TA performance and they fit fine the way it is. really no different than exhaust manifolds. We welded up new mounts to put the 455 in. Now that I am doing it over I was wanting to get the right mounts, but I realized that even with the right mounts to get the engine sitting at the right height it will all have to move back 2 maybe 3 inches for the oil pan to fit. And with no trans tunnel I'm not sure I am going to mess with it now. Just window the pan again. Thanks for all the reply's.
mod the pan itself? or change to a steering rack? just ideas im throwing out. ive never had anything older than a 69 in big cars. im trying to help but im a little lost myself.
ok i was thinking they where just wider since they fit in a bodies x bodies and later b bodies without modification. my mistake. im thinking you could mod the pan sump some how and re weld it. or even remote sump it. just throwing out ideas. does anyone have a pic of a 68 bare engine bay so i can see what it looks like.
Last time my friend cut out a section of pan and welded it up then dented the other side for clearance. Likely I will have him do the same to this pan. If I had an actually shop with tools to fabrcate and weld I would just move everything back two, maybe three inches and not mess with the pan. As it is currently I am stuck doing this in my garage with basic hand tools.
i would think pan would be easier than the trans moving. as long as you kept the oil capacity enough for the engine should be fine. remote sump with oil lines could be even done.
