R.M. Concern about diminishing oil reserves is nothing new in the twenties, some engineers feared the U.S. would be out of oil within 30 years but it was not until the seventies that those fears entered the public consciousness. *. The 303-cubic-inch (5.0L) engine had hydraulic lifters, an oversquare bore:stroke ratio, a counterweighted forged crankshaft, aluminum pistons, floating wristpins, and a dual-plane intake manifold. "Kelly", Jr. Baechtel, John. Raising an engines compression ratio allows the engine to extract more energy from the fuel it burns, improving both power and fuel economy. The development testing, however, had been done using the smaller B-body Olds 76 as a test mule. 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. 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. 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. This was much flatter than the 23 of the small-block Chevrolet and 20 of the Ford small-block wedge heads. Hoo, boy, you better run away right now). The grilles under the headlights of this 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 are for the ventilation system, replacing the traditional pop-up cowl vent. in. A 1958 2-barrel version produced 265hp (198kW) and 390lbft (530Nm), but had problems with early camshaft failures due to the high preload valve spring forces. From the 1950s through the late 1970s, each GM division had its own V8 engine family. Some things, like the Hydra-Matic, arent so bad, but trim pieces can be a major pain, and even the early Rocket engines can be challenging at this point. 1955 Oldsmobile Eighty-eight For Sale 42 Used Cars From $2,900 For consignment a Rocket design Oldsmobile 88. Ate Up With Motor and its embedded content providers may use cookies and/or similar technologies and collect personal information about site visitors as described in the Privacy Policy and Cookie Notice. 770-738-7111. Oldsmobile engineers originally wanted to call this the Kettering Engine, after GM research vice president Charles Kettering, whose work on high-compression engines helped to inspire it. 1952 Oldsmobile 88 | Classic Cars for Sale - Streetside Classics All Oldsmobile V8s were manufactured at plants in Lansing, Michigan while the engine block and cylinder heads were cast at Saginaw Metal Casting Operations. Displacement swelled from 303 Ci or 5 liters all the way to the gargantuan 455 Ci 7.5 liter V8 in the early 70s. Submitting a comment signifies your acceptance of our. Bore was 3.75in (95mm) and stroke was 3.4375in (87.31mm). The Buick version was rated at 200hp with an 11:1 compression ratio. Skinner liked the idea, but it had to be approved by corporate management, which brought a new round of objection from Cadillac the 98 was already a close match for Cadillac in performance and a V8-powered B-body Oldsmobile would undoubtedly be faster. He saw the potential in an engine design offering increased compression. 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). Runs great. Some competitors were a bit faster all-out and a few could beat the Olds off the line, but the 88 was one of the fastest cars in America in 1949. The wp-donottrack_feed cookie, which controls a blog feed, was set by accessing the dashboard menu for the WP DoNotTrack plugin (which we do not currently use on this website); this cookie normally expires in about one year. Terry Ehrich and Richard Lentinello (Bennington, VT: Hemmings Motor News, 2001), pp. Many believe it was deliberately underrated to avoid offending Cadillac, which was concerned about its sister division outmatching the new Cadillac V8. It was the only GM engine to meet US emission standards using a carburetor all the way up to 1990. Can you point me to any information on GM camshaft design methodology? 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. Both of the practical options available in the 1930s and 1940s a train of gears or a metal chain drive were complex, expensive, and noisy. But it DID have a fairly illustrious season on the track and in road racing. The V8 was standard in the new 1949 Oldsmobile 98, replacing the old 257 cu. Since the valves of a flathead are also in the block, the camshaft can actuate the valves directly. 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 Off.).) Two-door fastbacks, like this one, were known as Club Sedans; the four-doors were called Town Sedans. The super-fuels the engineers wanted would probably have added even more. The following are turn key engines available . Some people fit these motors into a modified classic car or muscle car because of Oldsmobile GM reliability and performance horsepower advantages. The first second-generation Oldmobile V8 330cuin (5.4L) "Jetfire Rocket" introduced in 1964 and produced through 1967. The company produced its first V8 - an L-head design . Even "modest" restorations can quickly get out of control, cost-wise, so be careful that a $2,000 bargain doesnt become a money pit. For all the administrative and login cookies described here, "xx" will be a cryptographic hash while "UID" will be the administrative user's user ID number in this website's WordPress database. 15-16 MPG is great even by modern standards, for a 300+ HP engine. This 1952 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight is a well-priced classic that gives you some of the best styles around. It was advertised with gross power and torque ratings of 312hp (233kW) at 4600 rpm and 415lbft (563Nm) at 2800 rpm. 8-9; Arch Brown, Similar But Different: 1949 Cadillac vs. 1949 Oldsmobile 98, Special Interest Autos #149 (September-October 1995), reprinted in The Hemmings Book of Oldsmobiles: driveReports from Special Interest Autos magazine, eds. Lakeland, FL 5 years at classiccars.com 3 28,500 1955 Oldsmobile 88 gasoline blue manual New interior paint and re-chromed bumpers. The main qualities that make an engine attractive to hot-rodders are how much it costs, how easily it can be hopped up, and how much power you can get out of it without blowing it up. [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. in. Note the stylized rocket chrome trim on the front fender. From 1961-1963, Oldsmobile manufactured its own version of the Buick-designed, all-aluminum 215 cubic inch (3.5L) V8 engine for the F-85 compact. So my question is, was there any substance to the Olds Rocket 88 legend or has nostalgia given it a bigger place in musclecar legend than it deserves, much like the original 1936 Buick Century? At the risk of shameless self promotion, you might also be interested in the recently revamped article on the early Hydra-Matic, which most Oldsmobiles of that vintage had. The second generation of Oldsmobile V8s was produced from 1964-1990. 1960 to 1967 Oldsmobile Delta 88 for Sale on ClassicCars.com By late 1956, many Olds dealers learned about the problem. 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. 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. The engine proved so popular, the division's 88 models were popularly called Rocket 88s. FOLLOW MARKET. Thanks for the great write up on the history of one of the most influential engines in the automobile industry! Although production of the 455 ended in 1976, a small number were produced through 1978 for power equipment use, such as motorhomes, boats and irrigation equipment.[15]. However, the cookie may remain on your device for as long as the settings of your browser (or other user agent) permit. The Ford/Mercury flathead V8 was of course a popular choice up until the early part of the decade (and had been since its introduction in 1932) but the introduction of the new overhead valve V8s Cadillac and Oldsmobile in 1949 and Chrysler and Studebaker in 1951 were a game-changer for the performance crowd. Prior to the advent of the 1949 Cadillac and Olds engines, many (though by no means all) U.S. engines were L-head, or side-valve, design. Classic Oldsmobile Rocket 88 for Sale - ClassicCars.com The 324cuin (5.3L) version was produced from 1954 until 1956. If we have enabled multi-factor authentication (which requires an authentication code as well as a password to log into the administrative dashboard), the iThemes Security plugin may also set the itsec_interstitial_browser cookie during the login process. The Cadillac engine and the Chrysler FirePower had more power out of the box and as much or more potential. The engine had 10.25:1 compression and a single-barrel carburetor. (Illustration: Pushrod2 2007 IJB TA at the English Wikipedia; resized and changed file format (from PNG to JPEG) 2008 by Aaron Severson and used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license). The commonest type was the Super 88 4-door sedan, Hydramatic equipped. Diagram of a typical pushrod/rocker-arm layout of an overhead-valve engine. Shortly after the war, Ketterings engineers built an experimental 181 cu. The Olds 88 was also one of the fastest automobiles in America at the dawn of the 1950s, and it was the car to beat in NASCAR racing, winning 10 out of 19 races in the 1950 season. Base price for the Deluxe Club Sedan was $1,982 in 1950, and 16,388 were sold. 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%. (Thats a lesson that many Jaguar and Porsche owners have learned the hard way.)[/quote]. Submitting a comment signifies your acceptance of our Comment Policy please read it first! (For each of these cookies, "xx" will be a cryptographic hash.) They may persist for up to two years. 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. Oldsmobile V8 Engines - Street Rodder Magazine - MotorTrend Comes in plastic display showcase. [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. Free shipping on many items | Browse your favorite brands | affordable prices. 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. Even with the standard Hydra-Matic transmission, the 88 was capable of 0-60 mph (0-97 km/h) in a bit over 12 seconds and could reach an absolute top speed of 97 mph (156 km/h). (For more information about our discontinuation of Google Analytics tracking on this website, see the "Online Tracking" section of the Privacy Policy. 1952 88 and Super 88 V8s used a 4-barrel carburetor for 160hp (120kW) and 265lbft (359Nm), while 4-barrel 1953 versions raised compression from 7.5:1 to 8.0:1 for 165hp (123kW) and 275lbft (373Nm). Some L-head straight-eights were MORE powerful than early OHV V-8s, although they were getting to the limit of their potential, at least in states of tune that were still reasonably streetable. 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. By the time the battle reached a temporary ceasefire at decades end, the average power of the typical passenger car had (at least on paper) more than doubled. . ), These cookies were previously used by the Google Analytics service to collect information about visitors and their use of the Ate Up With Motor website. SPECIFICATIONS Engine: OHV 90-degree V-8, cast-iron block and heads Displacement: 303-cu.in. 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. in. 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. It used a very oversquare 4.057in (103.0mm) bore and Oldsmobile small-block standard 3.385in (86.0mm) stroke for 350cuin (5.7L). 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. & Tm. Just didnt have any power. The 260cuin (4.3L), 307cuin (5.0L), 330cuin (5.4L), 350cuin (5.7L) and 403cuin (6.6L) engines are commonly called small-blocks. Deciding Burrells ideas had promise, Wolfram and Skinner organized a new advance design group to develop a new overhead-valve (OHV) V8 engine and assigned Burrell to lead it. They normally expire after about one year. It has been purported that there is a 403 Oldsmobile block and cast that has solid main webs that may have been equipped in vehicles such as the Pontiac Firebird equipped with a towing package, but there are currently no clearly documented surviving examples. 1999), pp. The Olds engine performed well and was very smooth running but didnt have as much scat as the modified flat head. The other members may be able to help you decide whether a price is fair, and in some cases, they may even know the specific car (Ikes 53? When the engine is running, transmission oil pressure disengages the pawl. The combination of good low-RPM torque, the Quadrajet four-barrel carburetor, and the THM-200-4R three speed plus overdrive automatic transmission having a lockup torque converter allowed for fairly good performance, and fuel economy considered reasonable for the era, even in the larger and heavier model cars. It kept the retired 425's 4.126in (104.8mm) bore to produce between 275 and 400hp (205 and 298kW; 279 and 406PS). This was the only engine offered in 1923, when the Model 47 continued alone. These a11y cookies normally expire after about seven days, but are removed immediately if you restore the applicable settings to their default values. 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. Thanks Weldon, [quote=Administrator]Unless youre building a rod, its often worth it to spend more upfront for a car thats in better condition. the hydra matic trans was it used in both the OLds and Caddy of 49 and on.I have a 1950 series 62 Caddy. I had been running a very healthy flat head that had several modifications such as a stroker crank, racing cam an two stromberg 97 carburetors. If you delete or disable these cookies, your existing preferences will be lost and you may not be able to save your privacy settings for this website. Oldsmobile V8s can be grouped into five "generations.". Park is actually a parking brake that has a red light comes on when the hand brake is out. Like all other GM divisions, Olds continued building its own V8 engine family for decades, adopting the corporate Chevrolet 350 small-block and Cadillac Northstar engine only in the 1990s. Lets briefly examine each of them. The wild rocket hood ornament was technically a $5 option. Some early 307s were painted GM Corporate blue, but most were painted satin black. 425 motor, super rocket. wider bore provides a greater surface area on which the forces of combustion can act, improving power They were all painted Bronze and had V and G stamped on the cylinder heads. Im wondering how many weeks of informative evening reading I can enjoy from your articles. It is arguably the best engine Olds made in the muscle car era, although it never made it into a "muscle car". Oldsmobile might be gone, but the Rocket brand hasn't been forgotten by collectors shopping for a 1950s American automotive icon. Many were shared among other divisions, but each design was unique: GM later standardized on the later generations of the Chevrolet design: Northway sourced Oldsmobile Flathead V8 (1916-1923). Particularly enjoyed your succinct descriptions of the engineering factors behind certain design choices. Oldsmobile Engines For Sale | Used, Rebuilt, & Remanufactured 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. With an overall length of 202 inches (5,131 mm) and an overall width of 75.2 inches (1,910 mm) on a 119.5-inch (3,035mm) wheelbase, the 88 was hardly a small car even by American standards and it tipped the scales (in this body style) at almost 3,800 lb (1,717 kg) with Hydra-Matic, but its Rocket V8 would leave Pontiacs elderly straight eight or Chevrolets Stovebolt Six for dead and the Oldsmobile name carried more prestige than Pontiac or Chevrolet. Olds veterans claimed the Burrell group was completely unaware of the Cadillac project until quite late in the development of the Oldsmobile V8. 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). The 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88s were considerably cheaper than the 49s, although that was largely because Hydra-Matic, which had been standard equipment on all 1949 V8-powered cars, reverted to being a $185 option. Embedded video players for content hosted on the YouTube video platform (which is owned by Google LLC) may set these third-party cookies and/or use similar technologies to store data in your browser (or other user agent) for purposes such as (without limitation) managing video settings (e.g., tailoring the playback to your connection speed), storing video preferences, providing certain functionality (e.g., allowing you to pause a video at a particular point), showing you advertisements, associating your video viewing and other activity with your Google account (if any), ensuring proper functioning of the service, preventing abuse, and/or compiling user analytics data. The 307 "Y" produced 148hp (110kW) and 250lbft (340Nm) in 1980-1984 models and 140hp (100kW) and 250lbft (340Nm) in 1985-1990s. That July, Burrell was promoted to chief motor engineer for the division. A pushrod layout is more expensive than a flatheads valve gear and the extra mass of pushrods and rocker arms hurts mechanical efficiency. Produced from 19681980, the Rocket 350 was entirely different from the other GM divisions' 350s. Now that we have DISCONTINUED our use of Google Analytics tracking on this website, this cookie no longer functions no additional analytics data will be collected, with or without the cookie. The Buick version of the 215 V8 went on to become the well known Rover V8, which still remains in limited production, utilizing the Buick-style pistons, heads, and valve train gear. The Rocket 88 won six of nine NASCAR late-model division races in the 1949 season and 10 of 19 races in 1950. All Oldsmobile V8s use a 90 bank angle, and most share a common stroke dimension: 3.4375in (87.31mm) for early Rockets, 3.6875in (93.66mm) for later Generation 1 engines, and 3.385in (86.0mm) for Generation 2 starting in 1964. Comments may be moderated. Call me a square,[I am a square], I say you dont denigrate a proud heritage. The Rocket, along with the 1949 Cadillac V8, were the first post-war OHV crossflow cylinder head V8 engines produced by General Motors. in. The company later introduced a new vehicle, the Oldsmobile Aurora, with a new generation V8. In MY1950, total production was 407,889, of which only 33,257 were the 76, so 374,632 (91.8%) had V-8 power.
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