442hurstolds

Hello everyone, So I have a 1966 Oldsmobile 442. It was my dads project car that I used to work on with him and he left it to me. Back in around 2020 we pulled the 330 Oldsmobile small block and TH400 out and put a LQ4 with a turbo and a 4L80e in. Surprisingly we got it work and it runs fine. I am in the middle of doing a drum to disc brake swap on the front brakes for now and I wanted to share my project car as well as see what y’all have to say about it. The car needs some work but it’s not to bad. First the car needs the drum to disc conversion done, then the dashpad needs to be pulled because it’s cracked and there has always been a squeak in the dash that sounds like a mouse on crack. Then the seats need to be refoamed, the center console needs to be put back in, the 4l80e cooling fittings need to be installed, and the B&M shifter needs to be installed. That is everything that needs to be done on the car with 90% of it being simple interior work. I will post photos of the car after I finish this post. Please let me know what y’all think of the car and maybe some advice on how to go about doing some of this work so I can get the car back on the road. Thank you.

442hurstolds

Olds64

Pretty cool!

Did you have to modify the floor pan to fit the transmission? I see you added a turbo charger. I'm sure it's fun to drive.

442hurstolds

yes we did have to work with the floor pan for the transmission to fit but it wasn’t that hard as the 4L80e and the TH400 have the same body. Crossmember installation was a bit of a hassle but not too hard. We installed the turbocharger after we got the LQ4 in and it is a blast to drive. That’s the reason I want to get it back on the road. The car has been sitting in the garage for the last 2-3 years with a constant temperature of around 74 degrees Fahrenheit. So it should start right up.

therobski

What kind of engine mounting kit did you use? Fab your own or maybe an early Chevelle conversion kit works in the Olds?

442hurstolds

it took me and my dad several mounting kits for the LQ4 to work and I can’t remember what kit it was but I’ll find out and tell you as soon as I can figure out which one actually worked

therobski

No hurry, BUT IF I ever build another A-body, 64-65 post that's the route I'm going. Thanks.

therobski

What part of Louisiana are you living in? I live in Dallas.

442hurstolds

I live in the southeastern part of Louisiana.

442hurstolds

Okay, so I’ve watched a video I found from my dads phone packed with everything about the car. Most importantly your concern, motor mounts and the transmission. In the video he said he went through 2-3 different kits for motor mounts and he said the best way to do it is to weld it up yourself. But if you want to get something for the early A bodies that’s built to work for it the best thing for a 4l80e kit is a site called muscle rods. The site has a kit for around $500 or so with a new crossmember and everything. One thing he also said about the muscle rods kit for the transmission crossmember and motor mounts is that they set the engine up about 1 inch to high. Which caused a problem for us with the transmission clearing the transmission tunnel and getting the hood to close past the first click. But remember the car (at least in my case) came with a TH400 from the factory so it’s damn near an identical shape with the 4L80E transmission.

He also said the only thing he had to do as for the 4l80e install was slightly massage the floor pan on the passenger side down by the heel foot well. All you have to do is hit it with a mall a little bit and that’s all there is to it. The reason for the massage in the floor pan is not for the filter lines, you use banjo fittings for that. The banjo fittings hold it tight and flush to the housing and it works perfectly.

Our 4L80E has a circle D torque converter in it and it works very well. It is a completely stock 4L80E aside from the circle D converter, and doesn’t have an HD2 kit on it or anything. It chirps 2nd and 3rd gear and shifts hard and does everything we need it to do. One of the things he also said was make sure you have the right torque converter with the right cam. We are using an Elgin stage 2 1840 sloppy cam from Jegs. One of the other things he also stressed was fuel. You need to have good lines, good pumps, good regulators and you need to maintain 59 PSI and good injectors and your set. To the tires my set up makes around 650 closer to 660. This is with a factory 10-bolt with 411s and a custom made driveshaft. All of that with 28 and 10 and a half Mickey Thompson slicks we used due to wheel spins we would get.

We were able to make the factory harness work but we had to finagle it a little. I also just learned that we don’t have a 4l80e but a 4l85e transmission. Nothing different on the outside but only difference on the inside is it has one more pinion gear than a 4l80e. Now remember my setup is a 4L85E auto transmission with a circle D torque converter bolted to a LQ4 2007’ Silverado truck motor. With a Elgin 1840 stage 2 sloppy camshaft from Jegs. There are some other parts of the engine I have on it that aren’t factory that I can tell you in more detail of our setup if you want.

but just remember my setup is a LQ4 2007’ gen III 6.0 LS motor with a 4L85E auto transmission in a 1966 Oldsmobile 442 hurst olds. Remember that problems may differ between which kind of car you have and which engine and transmission you go with. Despite both being A body’s that’s just what I had to deal with. The problems should be similar but you may find other issues along the way.

Anyway that should be the answer to your problems so let me know if you need help with anything else, or if you have any other questions. Thank you for your question.

Trust me with what I am telling you everything I tell you here is true. I was with my dad damn near every minute he worked on that LS swap and I can certify that it is all 100% factual. In my almost 17 years of age in life I’ve never been around someone who was this good with cars.

Olds64

I was able to find the Muscle Rods kits available through Jegs and Summit but I couldn't find their website.

https://www.jegs.com/p/Muscle-Rods/M...32244/10002/-1

442hurstolds

Yeah I looked for it too I think it’s in BRP hot rods under LS swap because that’s all I could find regarding the site and it has a crossmember and mounting kit for $500 similar to what we used. So I assume that’s it.

therobski

442hurstolds: that is a lot of detail in your memo brother thank you.

442hurstolds

No problem! Always happy to help. Please let me know how it works out and if you have any other questions down the road.