Engine swap in a Midyear

[SpeedyV10]

This winter I will be helping a friend remove the worn out and tired 396/425 from his Vett and install a 502/502 Delux.

The idea of this swap is to keep the original flavor of the car, while enjoying the updated steering, brakes, and now driveline. Under the hood, the 502 will be disguised as a 396.

Has anybody swapped a 502 into a Midyear before? Will the pan clear? Clutch pivot be the same? Overall height clear the hood? Can cast iron exhaust manifolds be bolted to the 502 without issue (I know they will be restricting!!!). If anybody has advice, or wants to just throw their $.02 into the ring, I'd appreciate it!

Here are a couple pics of the car:

[Vegas69]

I really doubt the oil pan will work. The clutch mechanism should be in exactly the same place. I don't know about the manifolds but I wouldn't use them.

[XcYZ]

Nice car.

I don't have any personal experience with 502's, but I've read plenty of stories about them using oil and having issues. Might be something worth checking into.

[4mm]

Originally Posted by XcYZ

Nice car.

I don't have any personal experience with 502's, but I've read plenty of stories about them using oil and having issues. Might be something worth checking into.

I have also heard plenty of the same stories.

You can always buy a ZZ502 from a dealer/parts retailer like sdpc2000.com, or my favite gilbertchevy.com . In some packages they use different pistons/rings, cams, to come up with more power and less oil consumption and it will still be a ZZ502.

[SpeedyV10]

Does anybody know what causes the oil consumption on these engines?

I am most interested in buying a crate engine with a warranty & proven dyno horsepower rather than dealing with a local engine builder who puts together a combination because his buddy thinks it'll work. I have heard horror stories.

Do we have any sponsors on this site who we can buy from?