Oliver 500 with Chevy 6

[RCP]

I found an ad on FB Marketplace for an Oliver 500, the pictures were not very clear, but upon talking to the seller it has a Chevy 6 cylinder engine. He is convinced that it is original, and it does not look like it was cobbled. Has anyone heard or seen an Oliver 500 with a Chevy 6 cylinder engine?

 

[rrlund]

I'd be hard pressed to believe they sent any Chevy engines to England for David Brown to install in any tractors. As integral as the frame is to the engine, I'd like to see how they got a six cylinder in there. The hood on those was exclusive to the Oliver 500 gas. It was different than the diesel hood and they never made a David Brown 850 gas. They were all diesels. The gas engines in the 500s were left over from a tractor DB made in the 50s called a Crop Master.

 

[RCP]

The tractor has been sold, there were no rear wheels or tires, and it hadn't run in a few years. It would have been worth buying for parts if you had another 500.

 

[rrlund]

The hood's been lengthened. The louvers should be farther back. That motor mount looks home made. If the seller wants to believe it's factory, let him believe it. It's always easier to fool somebody than it is to convince them that they've been fooled.

 

[JOCCO]

I know nothing about this. Barring aside homemade could it be an experimental? I have seen some Oliver 70's with chevy 6 cylinder those were homemade seemed to go ok.

 

[rrlund]

I know nothing about this. Barring aside homemade could it be an experimental? I have seen some Oliver 70's with chevy 6 cylinder those were homemade seemed to go ok.

This whole deal was David Brown's way of selling their tractors in the US since they didn't have a dealer network to sell them under their own name. I just can't see them selling even one that didn't show off what they had as a product.

 

[J.Wondergem]

The hood's been lengthened. The louvers should be farther back. That motor mount looks home made. If the seller wants to believe it's factory, let him believe it. It's always easier to fool somebody than it is to convince them that they've been fooled.

Sure looks back yard to me.

 

[AngryBobKing]

Rrlund would be the expert on prototype 500s since he has the only one know to exist with a prototype tag.

 

[rustred]

I found an ad on FB Marketplace for an Oliver 500, the pictures were not very clear, but upon talking to the seller it has a Chevy 6 cylinder engine. He is convinced that it is original, and it does not look like it was cobbled. Has anyone heard or seen an Oliver 500 with a Chevy 6 cylinder engine?

It looks cobbled to me. Even the dist advance has a bolt stuck in it. Home made motor mounts also.

 

[Oliver 500 Wa]

Definitely a home job. On a real 500, the center frame section between the front axle frame and the transmission is an integral part of the engine, essentially the crankcase. On this it's easy to see that a new, longer center frame section has been fabbed up from channel iron or more likely frame rail from a truck to mount the Chevy motor. You can see the daylight through holes in it. Can also see where the drag link has been extended by cutting it and welding in a slightly larger piece of tube.