"Alternative Engines: Part 2--Buick V8", in, Davis, Marlan. 1955 Oldsmobile 88 For Sale 67 Used Cars From $3,500 All full-size 1962 Oldsmobiles had the 394. The Rocket 88 won six of nine NASCAR late-model division races in the 1949 season and 10 of 19 races in 1950. Additionally, the 403 had windowed main webs, which reduced the internal strength of the block in the crankcase area. The end of the Korean conflict sent the country in a foreign exchange crisis that lasted until the middle 90s, cutting imports and providing the basis for national production. This was the only engine offered in 1923, when the Model 47 continued alone. [citation needed] Compared to the V6, the 260 was also smoother-running, and far more durable. Yup Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and Pontiac plus some GMC vehicles, some 1954-on Chevrolet pickups, 19501954 Lincolns, a bunch of independents (Hudson, Kaiser, Nash), Rolls-Royce, and Bentley, among others! The 1967 and later versions of the Repco engine had proprietary engine blocks. You never mentioned it but the 50 Olds in the photo has the single piece windshield. Thanks, I have enjoyed reading your many excellent articles. So this sedan was delivering big torque with a healthy dose of Streetside Classics - Atlanta (877) 828-8754 Lithia Springs, GA 30122 (406 miles away) 6 Unfortunately, they were also thirsty and a pain to tune, which was not at all what wartime buyers wanted, and after the war there was a gradually increasing array of cheaper alternatives. This is incorrect, in the context of wider vs. narrower bore sizes with the same displacement. [12] The Oldsmobile engine was very similar to the Buick engine, but not identical: it had larger wedge combustion chambers with flat-topped (rather than domed) pistons, six bolts rather than five per cylinder, and slightly larger intake valves; the valves were actuated by shaft-mounted rocker arms like the Buick and Pontiac versions, but the shafts and rockers were unique to Oldsmobile. All 425 engines were fitted with forged steel crankshafts with harmonic balancers. 1999), pp. or is that not an Avanti peeking into the frame on the right side of the last photo? A popular modification made to the 403 to increase power was to swap on early Oldsmobile 350 heads to boost compression. These cookies expire in about 15 days if the user clicks "Remember Me" when logging in; if not, the cookies normally expire when the user closes their browser (or other user agent), or, failing that, within about two days. Many of the other listed cookies are associated with the Google Analytics service, the Google AdSense advertising service, and/or other Google advertising and measurement products, which are subject to the Google Privacy Policy; see their "How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services" page, the "Information for Visitors of Sites and Apps Using Google Analytics" section of the Google Analytics "Safeguarding your data" help page, the "Technologies" section of their Google Privacy & Terms site, and the "Our advertising and measurement cookies" section of the Google Business Data Responsibility site (which includes a detailed list of cookies associated with Google advertising and measurement products) for more information. Did G M make a 1949-50 olds 88 or 98 4 door fastback ? Clarke (Cobham, England: Brooklands Books Ltd., ca. It depends on your goals. Compression ratios of 9.0:1 at 310hp (230kW) or 10.25:1 at 360hp (270kW) were available in the U.S. A special 1965-1967 425cuin (7.0L) V8 was the Starfire engine. It was installed in the Oldsmobile Light Eight and was related to the Cadillac flathead V8 engine. The other Nash driver was Robert Owen, the Dad of my best friend, also from Corsicana and my neighbor on S. 16th ST. Been an Olds man a long time. If you look up the concept of MEP (e.g. The introduction of the "Rocket 8" V-8 for the 1949 Oldsmobiles was perhaps the pinnacle of his achievements, incorporating in its overhead-valve design such features as five main bearings,. It was rated at 215hp (160kW) at 4600rpm and 300lbft (410Nm) at 3200rpm. The 403 Oldsmobile was generally painted "Corporate GM Blue" on every model line it was equipped in. The new, mid-sized Oldsmobile Rocket 88 went on sale February 6, exactly seven weeks after the 98. The 324 was shared with GMC trucks. As mentioned earlier, the Rocket V8 was initially offered only in Oldsmobiles flagship 98, a big luxury car that gave away little to Cadillac in size or appointments. ), When you list the OHV Detroit engines that came along after the Rocket, the DeSoto Hemi of 1952 and Plymouth Poly of 1956 may merit mentioncant recall if the 1955 Packard V8 got its curtain call. The means exist to do the same work while burning less fuel; the question is whether a meaningful number of American consumers will accept those means while theres still fuel left to burn. Unlike a Mustang or a later Chevy, where theres a thriving business in replacement pieces, finding parts for an Olds of that vintage isnt necessarily easy these days. (Im not entirely sure why H-M did not, actually.). While the 260s were not very powerful compared to the larger 350 and 403 V8s, fuel economy was almost as good as the base V6. in. Using the 5 liter Rover block and crankshaft, a maximum displacement of 317.8cuin (5,208cc) is theoretically possible.[14]. If the fluid reservoir was empty, a complex double-float and valve assembly in the Turbo-Rocket Fluid path would set a second butterfly (positioned between the throttle butterfly and the turbocharger) into the closed position, limiting the amount of boost pressure. Even modest restorations can quickly get out of control, cost-wise, so be careful that a $2,000 bargain doesnt become a money pit. A tracking pixel, sometimes known as a web beacon, is a tiny image file that loads from a remote server; it's a type of embedded content (as is the button itself, which loads from the same domain). With a 4-barrel carburetor and 10.25:1 compression, the Olds 215 made 185hp (138kW) at 4800rpm and 230lbft (310Nm) at 3200rpm with a manual transmission. Presumably this says something about the cars place in the culture. I would certainly agree that the Rocket V-8 was overshadowed pretty quickly, in part because Oldsmobile didnt pursue the competition or performance avenues to the same extent Pontiac did in the late 50s. These photos were taken outside the Automobile Driving Museum in El Segundo, California (a few blocks south of LAX). Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for For 1957 Oldsmobile Golden Rocket 88 Battery Cable SMP 68152PP 6.1L V8 at the best online prices at eBay! 394s were produced from 19591964 and were available on many Olds models. The standard 1965-1967 425cuin (7.0L) was called the Super Rocket, and was the most powerful engine option for the Oldsmobile 88 and 98 of 1965-1967. 17, No. The difficulty presented by an OHV layout is finding a way to operate the valves. 98. This 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 has the Deluxe trim with a dashboard clock; Deluxe models cost $78 more than the standard-trim version. 34-41; Arch Brown, Richard Langworth, and the Auto Editors of Consumer Guide, Great Cars of the 20th Century (Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International, Ltd., 1998); F. Gibson Butler, History of the Rocket Engine, originally written 15 November 1977 and excerpted in Desert Rocket Report: Newsletter of the Oldsmobile Club of Arizona October 2004, pp. The engine is also known for its reliability, smoothness and quietness. The Oldsmobile Rocket 88 has a current value close to $96,250 at some auctions. This engine was only available in the Oldsmobile Starfire and a performance economy model called the Jetstar I. Internal combustion engines are essentially air pumps, so their power depends greatly on how much air-fuel mixture can flow into the cylinders to burn. [19] The 403 was never featured with a manual transmission and the crank was never manufactured for a pilot bearing. Particularly by 50s standards, the flathead Ford wasnt an outstanding engine, which I think even a lot of loyalists would have readily admitted, but you could get them by the cartload and there was a huge, well-entrenched aftermarket for them. Make: Oldsmobile Model: 88 Year: 1956 Engine: 455 Rocket Engine - Turbo 400 - Foose Mags - Airbags Suspension. 1955 Oldsmobile 88. Its taken economic downturns, the occasional oil embargo, and mounting signs of environmental calamity to get Americans to take a real interest in how much fuel they use; even then, that interest never seems to last for long after the latest crisis has passed. Maybe just intake or vacuum leak. Yes, the Hydra-Matic had a parking pawl, which was engaged by selecting reverse with the engine off. Raises and Lowers - 4 Leg Suspension - New Paint Job 2 Tone Black & Copper - New Starter - New A/C - Cloth Bench Seating - New Battery - New Flowmaster Exhaust - MSD Ignition - Headers - $5000 of Mechanical Work Just Done The package was expensive to produce, and Oldsmobile discontinued it after 1958. It was advertised with gross power and torque ratings of 312hp (233kW) at 4600 rpm and 415lbft (563Nm) at 2800 rpm. As the diagram below illustrates, an L-head engine has its valves in the side(s) of the block. Maybe. The 1949-50 Rocket 88 was good for 15-16 miles to the gallon (15 L/100 km) overall and up to 18 mpg (13 L/100 km) if driven carefully; a 1964 Oldsmobile Starfire struggled to reach 12 mpg (20 L/100 km), a decline of around 30%. Free shipping on many items | Browse your favorite brands | affordable prices. More-or-less stock Rocket 88s continued winning their classes at the drag strip well into the 1950s. Change Background Color (Note: This option sets cookies on your device to manage your color settings; see the Cookie Notice for details. This Is How Much A 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 Costs Today - HotCars Oldsmobile Rocket 88/98 GM General Motors, which remains the world's largest producer of pushrod OHV engines, started the revolution when Oldsmobile and Cadillac began developing their OHV engines in 1945. What these activities have most in common was that there was an awful lot of engine-swapping going on. A flathead engine, therefore, also has poor thermal efficiency. Most of these engines were very similar, using the same bore centers and a 9.33in (237mm) deck height, raised on "big-block" versions to 10.625in (269.9mm). A cheaper solution (pioneered by Buick back in the days before General Motors was formed) was to leave the camshaft in the block, as in a flathead engine, but add long metal pushrods to allow the camshaft to actuate the valves remotely. Hoo, boy, you better run away right now). 16, No. Classic Oldsmobile Rocket 88 for Sale. (2,969 cc) six with a compression ratio of 12.5:1, where most contemporary engines had ratios of no more than 7.0:1. Get the best deals on Complete Engines for Oldsmobile 88 when you shop the largest online selection at eBay.com. Regarding production tallies, in MY1949, Oldsmobile built 288,310 cars, of which 95,556 were the 76, meaning the remaining 192,754 (66.9% of production) were 88s and 98s with the new Rocket engine. Thanks for the great write up on the history of one of the most influential engines in the automobile industry! Features Power Transmission: 4 Automatic Hydra-Matic Production Figures Handling 1949 Averages Call 800.979.0122, 7am-10pm, everyday. 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 The Oldsmobile 88 was introduced in 1949 as a replacement for the 70 series. To mitigate these problems, both Oldsmobile and Cadillac adopted an overhead-valve (OHV) layout. Popular price guides put Lansing's mid-1950s cars at an average of $16,500 for a four-door all the way up to $72,900 for a two-door convertible. 1955 Oldsmobile 88 Classic Cars for Sale - Autotrader Classics There will typically be several such cookies, each beginning with "gdpr" (e.g., gdpr[allowed_cookies], gdpr&5Bprivacy_bar&5D, and gdpr[consent_types]). Some persist for only a few minutes, or until you close your browser (or other user agent); others may remain in your browser (or other user agent) as long as your individual settings permit. 4-barrel models used 9.25:1 compression in 1957 and 10:1 in 1958 for 277hp (207kW) and 400lbft (540Nm) and 305hp (227kW) and 410lbft (560Nm) respectively. 1949 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight Specifications - Conceptcarz.com Power was 81 hp at 3000 rpm. Compression was up again in 1956 for 230hp (170kW) and 340lbft (460Nm) in the 88 and 240hp (180kW) and 350lbft (470Nm) in the Super 88 and 98. (We should note, however, that Packards final L-head eight of 1954 used an 8.7:1 compression ratio with no apparent loss of refinement, although the fact that the 359 cu. For sale 1967 Oldsmobile Delta 88 custom, 2 door hardtop. 1955 Oldsmobile 88 gasoline blue manual This is a 1955 Olds 88 with its original 324 V-8, automatic, power steering and brakes, tinted glass (all windows), factory wheel covers, wide whitewalls and&. Did Rock 'n' Roll Really Begin With a Song About a Car? - MotorTrend As part of this I ran across a very interesting 1934 paper by a GM engineer Chris H. Bouvy and would like to know more about him and whether his design method was used within GM. Kettering had retired in 1947, but since he was still alive (and active as a GM consultant), naming the engine after him was against GMs corporate policy, so Sherrod Skinner suggested the Rocket name instead. The LG8 was a modern 307cuin (5.0L) High-Output derivative of the LV2 produced from 1983 to 1987. Ate Up With Motor, its logo, and other associated icons and graphics are trademarks and/or service marks of Aaron Severson dba Ate Up With Motor. A slightly larger 307cuin (5.0L) version was introduced in 1980. The placement of the valves also means that the combustion chamber has a smaller surface area and thus greater thermal efficiency some 20% better than a comparable flathead. wider bore provides a greater surface area on which the forces of combustion can act, improving power ROCKET RACING & PERFORMANCE - Oldsmobile Performance, Olds Block This 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 has the Deluxe trim with a dashboard clock; Deluxe models cost $78 more than the standard-trim version. Cadillacs OHV V8, released around the same time as the new Oldsmobiles, was itself an important and influential engine that earned Motor Trends first Car of the Year Award, but it was the Oldsmobile Rocket 88 that started an avalanche. Even in markets where fuel is substantially more expensive than in the U.S., fuel efficiency is widely regarded in purely economic terms. The Oldsmobile V8, also referred to as the Rocket, is series of engines that was produced by Oldsmobile from 1949 until 1990. Model: 1949 - 1960 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 Engine/Motor: V8 Horsepower: 135 Torque: 283 Pros Cons Design Let's try and forget the full-size Oldsmobile 88 models that were produced all the. Big block Oldsmobile Rocket 442 crate engines are also available. 1988), pp. Im not a mechanic, so Im afraid I cannot provide any kind of repair advice. Rockets, Vikings and Your Old Man. Until 1951, Oldsmobile offered a choice of fastback and notchback body styles, as well as the convertible. From 1949 until 1951, the 2-barrel carburetor 303 produced 135hp (101kW) and 253lbft (343Nm). You can hide the "Support Ate Up With Motor" box and prevent the loading of its embedded content by going to the "Consent Management" tab and switching the "Allow PayPal Button" toggle to "OFF." By 1952, the 88 was growing inexorably bigger and although Oldsmobile engineers had little trouble getting more power out of the Rocket engine by 1955, it boasted 202 gross horsepower (151 kW) newer, lighter cars soon surpassed its performance. I never had one apart to that extent, but my understanding from the theory of operation is that there is a pivoting pawl that will engage a toothed wheel when the engine is stopped with reverse selected. A nominal 360 hp was claimed in 1967 when equipped with a W30 camshaft, 4-barrel, and outside air induction, 502 of which were factory produced. The 4 barrel versions had a larger diameter harmonic damper, the 2 barrel only a balancer hub without the rubberized outer ring. However, the cookie may remain on your device for as long as the settings of your browser (or other user agent) permit. Oldsmobile might be gone, but the Rocket brand hasn't been forgotten by collectors shopping for a 1950s American automotive icon. In 1962 and 1963 Oldsmobile built a turbocharged version of the 215, designated Turbo-Rocket. True-to-scale detail. It is arguably the best engine Olds made in the muscle car era, although it never made it into a "muscle car". (For more information about our discontinuation of Google Analytics tracking on this website, see the "Online Tracking" section of the Privacy Policy. If you change certain aspects of the site's appearance using the accessibility sidebar, it may set these cookies to manage and remember your settings. 303 Oldsmobile V8 Parts | Speedway Motors Now 70 years old and giving a lot of thought to building me a 1950 Olds casket. Although Oldsmobile (as well as Buick and Pontiac) had used eight-cylinder engines for more than a decade, Cadillac was not happy about the idea of Oldsmobile offering an OHV V8 and convinced corporate management to deny Oldsmobiles request for development funds. [citation needed] The 1977-1980 350s have lighter castings, including a thinner block with large "windows" in the main bearing bulkheads,[citation needed] and have crack-prone cylinder head castings[citation needed] manufactured by Pontiac Motor Division (castings are marked "PMD"; these heads were also used on the 260),[citation needed] and a lightened crankshaft. Adding turn signals, backup lights, windshield washers, and heater tacked an additional $112 to the price these items wouldnt be standard for several more years. Most 394s used 2-barrel carburetors, but special high-compression 4-barrel versions were available starting in 1961. For additional technical information about the cookies used by the analytics service, see their "Google Analytics Cookie Usage on Websites" page; for your reference when reviewing that page, we did not use Google Analytics 4. Im not sure about the early Hydramatics but later ones, 54-56 you put in reverse to park. This is not an official website of any automaker or automotive brand! Owned that vehicle till 1970 and traded in due to a bad dual chamber fuel pump for $350. For the Rocket 88, Oldsmobile came up with a 303 cubic inch V8 capable of a maximum 135 hp and 283 lb-ft of torque. in. $410.00 shipping. Since the advance design group envisioned a 1949 introduction for their new engine, the project was dubbed SV-49. Oldsmobile charged $83 for the J-2 option with the three-speed manual (or in the 98),[7] $314 dollars with the automatic.[8]. For consignment a Rocket design Oldsmobile 88. It was optional on 1964 98s and Super 88s. 50,000 cars were imported in 1952, US brands comprising some 90% of that total. Performance modifications included a "hot" camshaft (in reality, just a camshaft used in various applications during the '70s with .440"/.440" lift and 196/208 duration at .050"), stiffer valve springs, a larger vibration damper (same as all '73-'79 350s, 403s, and 455s), a Y-pipe dual-outlet exhaust system, and richer secondary metering rods in the carburetor. 1949 Oldsmobiles proclaimed that they had Futuramic styling (theres even a Futuramic badge on the front fenders), but it was updating a basic body introduced in 1941. Email: [email protected] Address: 7400 E Monte Cristo Ave . Bore was 3.75in (95mm) and stroke was 3.4375in (87.31mm). Now heres the rub vis-a-vis this article: granted that the Rocket 88 gained a reputation as something of a factory hot rod in its day (helped, no doubt, by Ike Turner aka Jackie Brenston and the Delta Cats little ditty of the same name), nonetheless in my research I have been hard-pressed to find anyone who used it as a performance powerplant. It was offered in the Hurst/Olds version of the Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais and in the 4-4-2 version of the Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon. . iThemes is one of the Liquid Web family of brands; iThemes and Liquid Web are trademarks of Liquid Web, LLC.). The desire to raise compression ratios had prompted Kettering and his staff to develop tetraethyl lead as an octane-boosting gasoline additive in the early twenties (as discussed in greater detail in our article on the 1970-1981 Chevrolet Camaro), but the research staff had been working to raise compression ratios even higher. Thank you so much for further refining my understanding of my 52 Super 88 Holiday Coupe.I love this car for its rich history, and the fact that I inherited it from a dear, tragically taken friend. The Turbo-Rocket V8 was offered exclusively on the Oldsmobile Jetfire, a special version of the Cutlass compact hardtop coupe, which is noteworthy as it is one of the world's first (in fact the second) turbocharged passenger car ever offered for public sale. Displacement was 259.5 cubic inches, with almost square bore and stroke. The second issue was that the practical limit for L-head engines was a compression ratio of about 7.0:1; above that threshold, it became difficult to control combustion roughness. Ford, Chevy, Dodge and Mercury were the top sellers and I believe Oldsmobile would come in 5th or 6th place. The cookies are not set at all unless you select that option when submitting a comment. The 10:1 compression 1961 model produced 325hp (242kW) and 435lbft (590Nm), while the 10.25:1 1962-1964 version upped power to 330hp (250kW) and 440lbft (600Nm). spark ignition engine for high-compression studies. Early Hydra-Matics had no Park position (although there was a parking pawl if you engaged reverse), and unlike later versions, theres no way to keep the transmission in third gear, which can be inconvenient. The super-fuels the engineers wanted would probably have added even more. (These cookies may not be set at all for administrative users unless they access the publicly visible portions of the website and/or update their consent settings e.g., by accepting an updated version of the Privacy Policy. "Affordable Aluminum V8's [sic]", in, Turbo Hydramatic 425 FWD 3-speed automatic, "1975-79 Cadillac Electronic Fuel Injection", "Oldsmobile 403 Engine - Car Craft Magazine", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oldsmobile_V8_engine&oldid=1138357918, 1968 and 1969 400s shared the Olds big-block standard 4.25in (108mm) stroke with the 455 but used a, 19681970 Oldsmobile Toronado GT (W34), 400hp (300kW), This page was last edited on 9 February 2023, at 06:46. The starting gun of that race was sounded by Oldsmobile, with its advanced new overhead-valve V8 and the new mid-size model that shared its name: the 1949-1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88. 46-52; Testing the 212 HP Packard Patrician, Science and Mechanics June 1954, reprinted in Packard Gold Portfolio 1946-1958, ed. To learn more about what information the Vimeo platform collects and how that information may be used, see the Vimeo Privacy Policy. Output was 185hp (138kW) and 320lbft (430Nm). [13] It could also be fitted with high-compression cylinder heads from the Morgan +8.
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