Oliver 77 pulling motor

2. The aftermarket 88 sleeves (like M&W 3 3/4" or 3 7/8") have enough meat to be bored to 4" and could be used with some work,with stock 77 rods and(I think from the mid 1980's Chevy 305 .060 flat tops)have the right wrist pin to deck height. Brad can fill you in. That is the combo I was looking into a few years ago.
P.S. Sent you a e-mail

I am probably not very qualified to answer your questions but I will tell you what I know.

I used to pull an Oliver 66 and my uncle had a 77 and an 88. These were pretty much stock except the 77 had a big bore kit in it. His 77 had 3 3/4" pistons x 3 3/4" stroke. The 88 had 3 3/4" bore with a 4" stroke. His son asked me one day why we couldn"t stroke the 77 and I said we could but then we would have basically an 88.

So if it were me, I would start with an 88. They are not much heavier but have alot more potential. I don't think you can go any bigger on the bore with a 77 without boring the block. An 88 sleeve is bigger on the od so you could go a little bigger with them without boring the block. A sleeve from a newer Oliver such as a 1750 is the same size on the od as an 88 but is longer so you could use these if you cut them off and put another o-ring groove in them. You might not even have to cut them off as long as they don"t hit the crank. I know you can go to atleast 4 1/4" bore on an 88 if you bore the block.

Above is a picture of my latest Oliver puller.