This engine was only available in the Oldsmobile Starfire and a performance economy model called the Jetstar I. When you submit a comment, you may have the option save your information for future comments, storing the info in these cookies. 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. We'll start with Olds and return to Caddy in another article. If you look up the concept of MEP (e.g. The short stroke allowed the engine to rev more freely while the wider bore provides more room for larger valves, which further improves breathing. Even a heavier 55 Super 88 with the later 324 (like the one tested by both Motor Trend and Motor Life it looks to be the same car) could manage up to 19 mpg at a steady 60 mph, dropping to 1213 mpg in mixed use. However not practical to drive around pittsburgh, pa. To many hills for that single chamber master cylinder. The 260 was designed for economy, and was the first engine option above the 4.1 ChevroletI-6, then later the 3.8L Buick V6, which was standard fitment in many Oldsmobile models by the late 1970s. 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. Concord, NC 5 years at carsforsale.com 3 27,900 1955 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight - Concord, NC sedan automatic Ketterings team demonstrated that the higher compression ratio boosted power and gas mileage by nearly 30%. This car has the pushbutton radio, which cost about $96. Owned that vehicle till 1970 and traded in due to a bad dual chamber fuel pump for $350. Thanks Weldon, [quote=Administrator]Unless youre building a rod, its often worth it to spend more upfront for a car thats in better condition. Hoo, boy, you better run away right now). They normally expire in just under one year, but you can delete the cookies in your browser (or other user agent) at any time. I was aghast at the ad campaign, This is not your Fathers Oldsmobile. Overhead valves did not suffer the same problem, which gave them the potential for much higher compression ratios. Learn more. The high-compression four-barrel 394 cu. 394s were produced from 19591964 and were available on many Olds models. Using the 5 liter Rover block and crankshaft, a maximum displacement of 317.8cuin (5,208cc) is theoretically possible.[14]. Our sources for this article included the Auto Editors of Consumer Guide, Encyclopedia of American Cars: Over 65 Years of Automotive History (Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International, 1996); John R. Bond, Car of the Year: The 1949 Cadillac, Motor Trend November 1949, reprinted in Cadillac Automobiles 1949-1959, ed. If you use the buttons to make a payment or donation, the PayPal services will set additional cookies (not listed here) to manage your PayPal login and transaction data (and potentially also for various other purposes, e.g., user analytics and/or advertising). Some Oldsmobile employees detested that name, but it remained strongly associated with Oldsmobile well into the 1960s. If not, it may be a little more difficult, short of pulling the heads. 15 results per page. Apart from the Oldsmobile Aurora, the Aurora V8 was also used in the Shelby Series 1. in. Unlike the 76, powered by a straight-six engine, the 88 came with a V8 under the. (We have now DISCONTINUED our use of Google Analytics tracking on this website; see the "Online Tracking" section of the Privacy Policy for more information.) Whether you are looking for a Rocket 455, a 350, or maybe an Oldsmobile 403 engine for sale, we have the ideal replacements ready . The cookies are not set at all unless you select that option when submitting a comment. Contact. It shared the same compression ratio of the Toronado Rocket at 10.5:1. You are correct its even a Studebaker Avanti, not the later Avanti II. Until 1951, Oldsmobile offered a choice of fastback and notchback body styles, as well as the convertible. Rocket Racing & Performance is a custom engine building facility that specializes in Oldsmobile Performance.We offer a full machine shop, in house engine dyno, and parts supplier serving the local Wisconsin area and worldwide. Not a lot of people collect or preserve those cars anymore, and many succumbed to rust or the crusher a long time ago. 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." Biggest mistake I still think about that automobile. 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. Until well into the 1950s, most engines were undersquare, with a narrow cylinder bore and a long piston stroke. 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. in. Brand new 1/87 (HO) scale diecast car model of 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 Coupe #22 "Overseas Motors Atlanta" Red die cast model car by Oxford Diecast. [citation needed] Most 260s were coupled to the Turbo Hydramatic 200 transmission,[citation needed] but a 5-speed manual transmission was also available in some vehicles. This was much flatter than the 23 of the small-block Chevrolet and 20 of the Ford small-block wedge heads. (This cant be viewed as an entirely altruistic effort, since GM still owned a major stake in the Ethyl Corporation, the principle producer of the tetraethyl lead additive that was the primary octane booster used in contemporary gasoline.) Liberation is a trademark of Red Hat, Inc. registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and certain other jurisdictions. This cars turn signals may be an aftermarket addition turn signals were originally a $15 option on this car. The first was that Ketterings engine required fuel with a considerably higher octane rating than any contemporary pump gasoline; better fuel economy was hardly useful if you could only fill up at airports. 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. Logging in sets the wordpress_logged_in_xx, wordpress_sec_xx, and/or wordpress_xx cookies, which store the user's login credentials to allow access to the administrative dashboard and other administrative functions; there may be multiple iterations of each cookie. First, their volumetric efficiency is poor. Put the petal to the metal and go man go! Original revolutionary Hydra-Matic SUPER DRIVE 3-speed automatic transmission, spare tire, and a couple of extra chrome wheel covers. If better fuels became available, both the Cadillac and Olds engines had the theoretical potential for compression ratios as high as 12:1. This is not an official website of any automaker or automotive brand! Since the advance design group envisioned a 1949 introduction for their new engine, the project was dubbed SV-49. In 1962 and 1963 Oldsmobile built a turbocharged version of the 215, designated Turbo-Rocket. Its a super 88 sedan 4 door. 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. In Brazil, OHV V8 engines are commonly known as motores roquete (rocket motors), no matter which producer. The Vimeo Cookie Policy does not currently disclose the normal durations of the cookies and similar technologies the Vimeo platform uses, but it appears that some may remain in your browser (or other user agent) for as long as your settings permit. The development testing, however, had been done using the smaller B-body Olds 76 as a test mule. The typeface used for the labels in the author-created diagrams is Liberation Sans, one of the Liberation Fonts (version 2.00.1 or later), which are copyright 2012 Red Hat, Inc., used under the SIL Open Font License, Version 1.1. in. 303CI ROCKET V8, 4SPD AUTO, COOL, ICONIC 50S STYLING, 4-DOOR CONVENIENCE, CLASSY. 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 commonest type was the Super 88 4-door sedan, Hydramatic equipped. wider bore provides a greater surface area on which the forces of combustion can act, improving power About . Road tests were conducted later that year and the new V8 went into production a few days before Christmas 1948. Base price for the Deluxe Club Sedan was $1,982 in 1950, and 16,388 were sold. In the mid-1950s, American automakers were engaged in a ferocious horsepower race. 46-52; Testing the 212 HP Packard Patrician, Science and Mechanics June 1954, reprinted in Packard Gold Portfolio 1946-1958, ed. The first generation of Oldsmobile 88 was introduced in 1949. Set an alert to be notified of new listings. Bore was 3.75in (95mm) and stroke was 3.4375in (87.31mm). He saw the potential in an engine design offering increased compression. 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. Completely restored it, all original. 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88. Those were the good old days. 1962 OLDSMOBILE 88 CORE SHORT BLOCK ENGING 8-394 860673. 1956 Oldsmobile 88 45,891 mi 324 Rocket V8 $ 39,995 or $576/mo Oldsmobiles now-famous OHV Rocket V8 engine was in its the beginning when this 1956 Oldsmobile Super 88 Holiday hardtop emerged. 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! For 1957, the basic 88 was officially named Golden Rocket 88, taken from Olds' 1956 Motorama two-passenger show car. Classic Car Deals (844) 676-0714. 7-27; Michael Lamm, Two Very Important Cars! The Generation II V8 ended production in 1990. As the diagram below illustrates, an L-head engine has its valves in the side(s) of the block. edu/~wkovarik/ papers/fuel.html, accessed 30 May 2008, and Henry Ford, Charles Kettering, and the Fuel of the Future,' Automotive History Review #32 (Spring 1998), pp. It used a very oversquare 4.057in (103.0mm) bore and Oldsmobile small-block standard 3.385in (86.0mm) stroke for 350cuin (5.7L). Many customers did not keep the reservoir filled, or had mechanical problems with the turbocharger system which resulted in many of the turbo-charger installations being removed and a conventional 4 barrel carburetor and manifold installed in its place. When the center carburetor was opened to 60 or more engine vacuum drawn from the windshield wiper pump would simultaneously open the front and rear carburetors. Output was 185hp (138kW) and 320lbft (430Nm). Oldsmobiles companion make, the Viking had a horizontal-valve V8 with two-plane crankshaft in the early thirties. To learn more about what information the Vimeo platform collects and how that information may be used, see the Vimeo Privacy Policy. As is the case with all pre-1972 American passenger car engines, published horsepower and torque figures for those years were SAE "Gross," as opposed to 1972 and later SAE Net ratings (which are indicative of what actual production engines produce in their "as installed" state - with all engine accessories, full air cleaner assembly, and complete production exhaust system in place). at 1,800 RPM Transmission: Three-speed manual standard, Hydra-Matic optional Wheelbase: 119.5 inches The heavily domed hood would continue through 1953. The engine is also known for its reliability, smoothness and quietness. Ford, Chevy, Dodge and Mercury were the top sellers and I believe Oldsmobile would come in 5th or 6th place. If you correctly enter the password, the site saves this cookie on your device to allow you access to the password-protected post or page. 26-31; Roger Huntington, 1965 Engines, Motor Trend Vol. Since the valves of a flathead are also in the block, the camshaft can actuate the valves directly. R.M. There were 64 1st Gen sold in the last 5 years. The iThemes Security plugin may also set the itsec-hb-login-xx cookie, which helps to protect the site against "brute force" hacking attempts; that cookie normally expires in about one hour. Theyll also be able to suggest sources for parts, which can be a big issue. The _gat cookie, which may appear as _gat_gtag_UA_6113964_2, was sometimes set along with the _ga and _gid cookies to control how frequently requests were sent to the Google Analytics servers; this cookie typically persisted for only a few minutes at a time. . Off.).) Made of diecast with some plastic parts. in. This is a session cookie that verifies that the user has entered valid user credentials pending receipt of the correct authentication code; the cookie normally expires when the user closes their browser (or other user agent). It was advertised with gross power and torque ratings of 312hp (233kW) at 4600 rpm and 415lbft (563Nm) at 2800 rpm. These limitations hurt both power and fuel economy. 16, No. The 1955 model upped the compression to 8.5:1 for 185hp (138kW) and 320lbft (430Nm) in the 88 and 202hp (151kW) and 332lbft (450Nm) in the Super 88 and 98. The Nash finished third behind two 88s. Assuming your car has its original engine, its the version Oldsmobile called the Skyrocket, which was differentiated from the base Rocket by its four-barrel carburetor and gross ratings of 330 hp and 440 lb-ft of torque. 1, 3-5; www.azoldsclub. This very open and flat chamber was fuel efficient and had lower than average emissions output. An outstanding 350 Oldsmobile engine for sale would be perfect in a Cutlass convertible. 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! But I can block the blow by coming off the back of the block and it runs great. This problem did not appear until the engine had over 50,000 miles (80,000km) on it. $300.00. See these additional Auto Museum Online articles on the links below The Oldsmobile engine block formed the basis of the Repco 3-liter engine used by Brabham to win the 1966 and 1967 Formula One world championships. Were Oldsmobiles ever sold in Brazil in any significant numbers? Not all the listed cookies and/or data items are necessarily set in all instances, and there may sometimes be others not listed above, particularly if you are logged into a Google account. ), 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 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. The 303 was available from 1949 until 1953. 1955 Oldsmobile 88. 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. This was not an official assignment; he was simply exploring ideas for his own interest and amusement. mill or the Chrysler Firepower hemi of the same displacement. It was rated at 215hp (160kW) at 4600rpm and 300lbft (410Nm) at 3200rpm. I have a pretty good handle on Ford Design evolution, but not so much on GM, especially OHV. Oldsmobile was basically offering three full-size vehicles in 1949, but the 88 was a little bit special. The big-block engines initially used a forged crankshaft with a stroke of 3.975" for the 1965-1967 425 and 400 CID versions; starting in 1968, both the 400cuin (6.6L) and the 455cuin (7.5L) big blocks used a stroke of 4.25in (108mm), with crankshaft material changed to cast iron except in a few rare cases. It was installed in the Oldsmobile Light Eight and was related to the Cadillac flathead V8 engine. This motor is blue which makes me think its been gone through. Oldsmobiles engineering staff already knew what the Rocket could do in the B-body cars and there was no question that it fit, so Harold Metzel, then Oldsmobiles chief transmission engineer, asked Sherry Skinner if Oldsmobile could offer that combination in production. 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). In MY1950, total production was 407,889, of which only 33,257 were the 76, so 374,632 (91.8%) had V-8 power. Cookies whose names begin with "_ceg" are associated with the Crazy Egg web analytics service (which is subject to the Crazy Egg Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy). Just didnt have any power. Output ranged from 160-325hp (119-242kW). (Thats a lesson that many Jaguar and Porsche owners have learned the hard way.). 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. These a11y cookies normally expire after about seven days, but are removed immediately if you restore the applicable settings to their default values. spark ignition engine for high-compression studies. Except as otherwise indicated, all written content and images are copyright Aaron Severson dba Ate Up With Motor. This is incorrect, in the context of wider vs. narrower bore sizes with the same displacement. Simplified diagram of the cylinder of a flathead (L-head) engine. 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). Engineers today are wrestling with questions very similar to those faced by their counterparts of 70 or even 90 years ago. Olds were very popular in Brazil but I can t give you any numbers. Get a Oldsmobile crate engine for cars like the cutlass, 88, 98, or the 442.GTO. "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. NASCAR held nine Grand National races in 1949, of which stock Rocket 88s won six. The 1954 88 and Super 88 V8s used an 8.25:1 compression ratio for 170 and 185hp (127 and 138kW) and 295 and 300lbft (400 and 407Nm), respectively. 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. Bore was up to 4.0in (100mm) and stroke was increased to 3.6875in (93.66mm) for 371cuin (6.1L). Each of those engines had its own peculiarities, but they were all in the mold of the Oldsmobile Rocket engine. (4,705 cc) and were designed to take advantage of research that had been done by GM Research VP Charles Kettering on high-compression engines (of which well have more to say below). 74-81; Bob McVay, Oldsmobile Starfire Road Test, Motor Trend Vol. The FirePower, Buick Nailhead, and Chevrolet V-8s didnt exist yet. Im not a mechanic, so Im afraid I cannot provide any kind of repair advice. These cookies are necessary for the site's administrative users (who wouldn't even be able to log in without them), but if you are not an administrative user, these cookies aren't normally placed on your device at all unless you somehow access the login area, which is off-limits to non-administrators. Oldsmobile like mine are real popular in australia. Bore was up to 4.125in (104.8mm) for the largest first-generation Rocket, the 394cuin (6.5L). 12 (December 1964): 36-47; William Kovarik, Ph.D., Charles F. Kettering and the 1921 Discovery of Tetraethyl Lead In the Context of Technological Alternatives, originally presented to the Society of American Engineers Fuels & Lubricants Conference, Baltimore, MD, 1994, revised 1999, www.radford. It is arguably the best engine Olds made in the muscle car era, although it never made it into a "muscle car". 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. 6 (July 1962), pp. Does not have any openings. Big block Oldsmobile Rocket 442 crate engines are also available. Awesome vehicle many great high school memorys. I just wanted to know if I have a rocket engine and how can I check if its a 394. the hydra matic trans was it used in both the OLds and Caddy of 49 and on.I have a 1950 series 62 Caddy. You could say the same thing about the original Century, if you were so inclined, which I am. Both are well-documented, albeit relatively short-lived. That never happened; by the fifties, the industry was far more interested in advertised horsepower than gas mileage. 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. More Oldsmobile Classics 44. It was a sliding gear like a manual and held in some fashion I cant remember because it couldnt lock to the engine through the torus member. All of this was occurring from about 1948 thru the first half of the 50s. Offenhauser 3200 49-53 Olds Rocket Dual Quad Intake, Small Port $889.99 Ships Free . The Buick version was rated at 200hp with an 11:1 compression ratio. The 425's stroke was lengthened to 4.25in (108mm) to achieve a 455cuin (7.5L) to create the Rocket 455 for 1968. [5], This engine was used in GMC heavy trucks as the "370" of 232 gross HP at 4200 RPM and torque 355 gross lbs-ft at 2600 RPM from 1957 to 1959.It had hardened valve seats and other features for heavy duty usage. Many modern engines deal with this problem by placing the camshaft in the cylinder head along with the valves (an overhead cam (OHC) engine), but there still has to be some way for the crank to drive the camshaft. iThemes is one of the Liquid Web family of brands; iThemes and Liquid Web are trademarks of Liquid Web, LLC.). 1948 & 1949 Cadillac Fastbacks, Special Interest Autos #11 (June-July 1972), pp. Second, the combustion chambers of a flathead engine have a lot of surface area; more surface area means more opportunities for the heat of combustion to escape (which engineers call heat rejection) before its had the chance to do any useful work. Oh, and lets not forget the Bonneville speed merchants. The Cadillac engine and the Chrysler FirePower had more power out of the box and as much or more potential. 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. Its true Oldsmobile didnt really maintain that position for long and didnt try again to go for the performance market until the 60s, but having a short season isnt the same as being overhyped. They may persist for up to two years. The first generation 88 was powered by Oldsmobile's 5.0L Rocket V8 engine,. The final 1990 configuration was rated at 140hp (100kW) at 3200 rpm and 255lbft (346Nm) of torque at 2000 rpm. Raising an engines compression ratio allows the engine to extract more energy from the fuel it burns, improving both power and fuel economy. Your email address will not be published. An 88 also won the first grueling Carrera Panamericana, the 2,176-mile (3,500-km) Mexican Road Race. You make a good point about the L-head lifter. The difference is that many of the things earlier generations feared (such as heavy dependence on foreign oil and its associated political ramifications) are now familiar reality rather than speculation. The 88 model remained in production for a whopping 50 years and over ten. Thanks! Where is the plate located? 98. 770-738-7111. Flory, J. Shop 303 Oldsmobile V8 parts and get Free Shipping on orders over $149 at Speedway Motors, the Racing and Rodding Specialists. Being ahead of your time or having a short season is not the same as being overhyped, and since the muscle car category in general is as much about hype and point of view as substance, I think thats an important consideration.