The Olds engine performed well and was very smooth running but didnt have as much scat as the modified flat head. 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. The PYPF cookie normally expires in approximately four weeks, the 01A1 cookie in approximately one year. It didnt have an actual Park position until the advent of the controlled-coupling Hydra-Matic in MY1956. Its tempting to speculate what might have happened had the the U.S. industrys push in the fifties been for efficiency rather than the (ultimately Pyrrhic) horsepower race, although that would admittedly have been unlikely. The image file itself contains no personally identifiable information, but the loading of that file may be used to help identify and/or track you. 1964 Starfire produced 345hp (257kW) and 440lbft (600Nm) for the 1963-4 Starfire and 98 Custom-Sports Coupe. By late 1956, many Olds dealers learned about the problem. 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). More Oldsmobile Classics 44. Diecast 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 Coupe #22 "Overseas Motors Atlanta Oldsmobile might be gone, but the Rocket brand hasn't been forgotten by collectors shopping for a 1950s American automotive icon. The Oldsmobile Cutlass, Rocket 88, and other classic models remain very popular among car collectors and Oldsmobile fans. Made of diecast with some plastic parts. (4,213 cc) L-head six. In 1962 and 1963 Oldsmobile built a turbocharged version of the 215, designated Turbo-Rocket. It kept the retired 425's 4.126in (104.8mm) bore to produce between 275 and 400hp (205 and 298kW; 279 and 406PS). Moreover, correct tuning was a continual headache. Detailed interior, exterior. The 403 Oldsmobile was generally painted "Corporate GM Blue" on every model line it was equipped in. 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. SAE gross power was 150hp. 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! Base price for the Deluxe Club Sedan was $1,982 in 1950, and 16,388 were sold. 1957 also offered the "J2" option, with three 2-barrel carburetors atop the 371 cubic inch V8; making this a true luxury performance . Most components and accessories are interchangeable. Ike Turner, later to be half of Ike and Tina Turner, played piano on the track and was miffed that Brenstons name, not his, was on the record. Powered by the rocket 2bbl. The cookies normally expire in about 10 days, and are not set at all if you do not access any password-protected content. 770-738-7111. 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. 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. 1956 Oldsmobile 88 and 98 | Hemmings This 1955 oldsmobile deluxe 88 is a 2 door holiday coupe.. 2 tone twilight blue and polar white colors with ivory and blue interior. New brakes, wide Whitewall tires and classic stereo and speaker. All LV2s feature a 4-barrel carburetor. The Rocket, along with the 1949 Cadillac V8, were the first post-war OHV crossflow cylinder head V8 engines produced by General Motors. In development, the high compression ratio combined with the charged load created problems with spark knock on hard throttle applications, which led Olds to develop and utilize a novel water-injection system that sprayed metered amounts of distilled water and methyl alcohol (dubbed "Turbo-Rocket Fluid") into the intake manifold air-stream to cool the intake charge. The Rocket, along with the 1949 Cadillac V8, were the first post-war OHV crossflow cylinder head V8 engines produced by General Motors. In an OHV engine, the valves are placed directly above the combustion chamber, which greatly improves breathing. The top brass equivocated, but Skinner finally got the green light. The Oldsmobile V8, also referred to as the Rocket, is series of engines that was produced by Oldsmobile from 1949 until 1990. The new V8 was designed with plenty of extra room in the block for future displacement increases, but Gilbert Burrell and his team actually hoped that Oldsmobile could return to the 287 cu. A long piston stroke gives more torque, which means better engine response at low speeds. 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). 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. What I would recommend that I actually suggest for anyone considering a collector car is that you join a club for that marque in your area, if you havent already. All 425 engines were fitted with forged steel crankshafts with harmonic balancers. Crane said Bouvy was Engine/Camshaft designer of the 1949 Cadillac V-8. The engine built in the 1955 Super 88 and 98 models delivered 295 horsepower. However not practical to drive around pittsburgh, pa. To many hills for that single chamber master cylinder. During those few brief years, both the hot rodder and the racers weapon of choice was either the Cadillac 331 c.i. (For this cookie, "xx" will be a cryptographic hash.) I will let you know soon. 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. 4 speed hydromantic transmission. . Ketterings team demonstrated that the higher compression ratio boosted power and gas mileage by nearly 30%. [13] It could also be fitted with high-compression cylinder heads from the Morgan +8. The Super Eighty-Eight wasnt particularly rare when it was new Olds sold about 150,000 of them in 1951. 1956 Oldsmobile 88 Classic Cars for Sale - Autotrader Classics 76. 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. 10-17, 56; Richard M. Langworth, 1954 Packard Pacific: Last of the Great Straight Eights, Special Interest Autos #51 (May-June 1979), reprinted in The Hemmings Book of Postwar American Independents: driveReports from Special Interest Autos Magazine, ed. Bore was up to 4.0in (100mm) and stroke was increased to 3.6875in (93.66mm) for 371cuin (6.1L). Owned that vehicle till 1970 and traded in due to a bad dual chamber fuel pump for $350. I think current brand-management logic would probably consider Oldsmobile rather hopeless. For 1957 Oldsmobile Golden Rocket 88 Battery Cable SMP 68152PP 6.1L V8 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. Im wondering how many weeks of informative evening reading I can enjoy from your articles. All Oldsmobile V8s were manufactured at plants in Lansing, Michigan while the engine block and cylinder heads were cast at Saginaw Metal Casting Operations. We'll start with Olds and return to Caddy in another article. Most contemporary road tests at least mentioned fuel consumption. Using the 5 liter Rover block and crankshaft, a maximum displacement of 317.8cuin (5,208cc) is theoretically possible.[14]. Submitting a comment signifies your acceptance of our. The 324 was shared with GMC trucks. 1968-1974 350s were painted gold; 1975-1976 350s were metallic blue like the 455; 1977-1980 models were painted GM Corporate Blue. The Olds Rocket 88 engine went through modifications during the 1950's For the 1955 model year Oldsmobile increased the compression ratio which helped put out 185 horsepower for the Olds 88 model. The 88 model remained in production for a whopping 50 years and over ten. We think it was probably just as well that the proposed ultra-premium fuels never materialized; as it was, increasing the octane rating of pump gasoline from the 70 RON of typical mid-forties regular fuel to the 98 RON level of later super-premium fuel increased the amount of lead in each gallon by more than 40%, with significant public health consequences. 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Most 425s were painted red, though the 1966 and 1967 Toronado units were light blue. Oldsmobile 88 - Wikipedia 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 76 lingered for one more model year and then was dropped entirely; the division wouldnt offer a six again until 1964. Change Background Color (Note: This option sets cookies on your device to manage your color settings; see the Cookie Notice for details. 9, No. 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. Is there a serial number plate on the engine? For sale 1967 Oldsmobile Delta 88 custom, 2 door hardtop. 1967 Oldsmobile Delta 88. Game Changer: The 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket V-8 - Mac's Motor City Garage (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.) The 455 big block Olds V8 was replaced in 1977 with the 403cuin (6.6L) small block, which used a 4.351in (110.5mm) bore, the largest ever used in a small-block V8, with the Olds small-block standard deck and 3.385in (86.0mm) stroke. A smaller 260cuin (4.3L) V8 was created for the new Oldsmobile Omega in 1975 by decreasing the bore to 3.5in (89mm). Displacement swelled from 303 Ci or 5 liters all the way to the gargantuan 455 Ci 7.5 liter V8 in the early 70s. It was the seminal American muscle car, predating Chrysler's Hemi-powered 300-C by . [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. Oldsmobile charged $83 for the J-2 option with the three-speed manual (or in the 98),[7] $314 dollars with the automatic.[8]. It was optional on 1964 98s and Super 88s. For additional information about how Google uses cookies and/or other technologies that may collect and/or process personal information, see the "Technologies" section of their Google Privacy & Terms site and the "Our advertising and measurement cookies" section of their Google Business Data Responsibility site, which includes a detailed list of cookies associated with Google advertising and measurement products. 1948 & 1949 Cadillac Fastbacks, Special Interest Autos #11 (June-July 1972), pp. The Oldsmobile engine was then pretty new, a new 88 was expensive, and Im guessing that getting a decent crate or junkyard engine would cost almost as much as a decent Cadillac V-8. 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. I just wanted to know if I have a rocket engine and how can I check if its a 394. Every 307 used a four-barrel carburetor, which was a variant of the Rochester Quadrajet, usually the CCC (Computer Command Control) Quadrajet. 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. I am almost 79 now and remember that like it was yesterday. The turbocharger fitted to the V8 engine was a small-diameter Garrett T5 model with integral wastegate, manufactured by Garrett AiResearch, and produced a maximum of 5psi (34kPa) boost at 2200rpm. [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. Free shipping for many products! Shortly after the war, Ketterings engineers built an experimental 181 cu. This was not an official assignment; he was simply exploring ideas for his own interest and amusement. As an aside, the Oldsmobile was bought by doctors, lawyers, bank managers, shop owners, construction entrepreneurs and the like. In any case, the early postwar period saw the emergence of the California customizing/hot rod scene; the advent of the fiberglass kit car body manufacturers such as Bill Tritts Glaspar (Tritt was retained briefly by GM as a consultant in 1951 when they were considering building a lightweight fiberglass-bodied sports car); and the birth of modern motorsport in the US with the founding of the SCCA and the advent of road racing as the most popular form of competition. 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. 1955 Oldsmobile Eighty-eight For Sale 42 Used Cars From $2,900 An 88 also won the first grueling Carrera Panamericana, the 2,176-mile (3,500-km) Mexican Road Race. If the payment button is visible, it may set the third-party cookies PYPF (via paypalobjects.com, which is owned by PayPal, Inc.), which appears to check whether or not you are a logged-in PayPal user, possibly to facilitate the PayPal user login process, and/or 01A1 (via abmr.net, which is owned by Akamai Technologies), which stores certain technical information about your device and browser (or other user agent), possibly to facilitate the login and shopping cart functions. 74-81; Bob McVay, Oldsmobile Starfire Road Test, Motor Trend Vol. 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. A few years later, the Chevrolet engine started taking over the flathead Fords role as the cheap-and-easy hot-rodder choice. Free shipping for many products! Two-barrel carburetion was standard; all high performance 324s came with four-barrel carburetors. These photos were taken outside the Automobile Driving Museum in El Segundo, California (a few blocks south of LAX). 1955 Oldsmobile Super 88, 324-V8, 4 bbl carburetor, engine free, I have owned this since 1973, good 4-speed hydramatic transmission, interior useable, nice dash. . 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88. 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). 1999), pp. There were 64 1st Gen sold in the last 5 years. Still, the same quandary exists that faced Gordon Burrell and Jack Gordon in the late forties: New technologies in this case, direct injection, turbocharging, and even hybrid powertrains can benefit both performance or fuel economy and emissions, but one still almost always wins out over the other. 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. in. The short stroke allowed the engine to rev more freely while the wider bore provides more room for larger valves, which further improves breathing. (PayPal.com, PayPal, and all logos related to the PayPal services are either trademarks or registered trademarks of PayPal, Inc. or its licensors. If anyone at GM had had doubts about offering the big engine in the smaller body, the sales alone would have been enough to convince them. They had long since lost genuine autonomy anyhow. ROCKET RACING & PERFORMANCE - Oldsmobile Performance, Olds Block They were all painted Bronze and had V and G stamped on the cylinder heads. [21] It produced 110hp (82kW) net and 205lbft (278Nm). 1951 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 VIN: 517K2919 - CLASSIC.COM 2 barrel carburet . The present mindset (with which I dont necessarily agree, mind you) is that all brands must either be Youthful or Aspirational or if possible both, so a brand whose name begins with Old and which is best known for decades of middle-of-the-road respectability isnt off to a good start on either front. . 1955 Oldsmobile 88 Classic Cars for Sale - Autotrader Classics Cant wait to get my Wool Fedora and get it back on the road. It depends on your goals. Note the quadrant for the Hydra-Matic atop the steering column. Set an alert to be notified of new listings. It was the only GM engine to meet US emission standards using a carburetor all the way up to 1990. in. Although I often wondered why GM needed three mid-level brands, since you already have them, why not preserve them, especially since it is embarrassing and demoralizing to lose one, now two. Unfortunately, it also creates more friction and means that the average piston speeds are very high, particularly at high RPM, which is detrimental to engine longevity. Sorry! The new V8 was also more powerful: Rated output climbed from 110 to 135 gross horsepower (82 to 101 kW) while torque increased from 213 to 283 lb-ft (289 to 383 N-m), allowing an Oldsmobile 98 with Hydra-Matic to reach 60 mph (97 km/h) in a brisk (for 1949) 13.5 seconds, with a top speed of 96 mph (155 km/h). 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. The second generation of Oldsmobile V8s was produced from 1964-1990. Oldsmobile like mine are real popular in australia. An Ultra High Compression Toronado Rocket version of the 425cuin (7.0L) V8 was made for the 1966 Toronado. 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. (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. Akamai is a registered trademark or service mark of Akamai Technologies, Inc. in the United States (Reg. 98 J-2. (. 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. Output for 1983-1985 was 180hp (130kW) and 245lbft (332Nm). Olds veterans claimed the Burrell group was completely unaware of the Cadillac project until quite late in the development of the Oldsmobile V8. An outstanding 350 Oldsmobile engine for sale would be perfect in a Cutlass convertible. BMEP, IMEP), you will immediately see that bore/stroke ratio does not directly effect engine power. The Rocket Engine History - 1957 Oldsmobile Golden Rocket 88 About six weeks after he started work, Burrell showed his designs to Oldsmobiles chief engineer Jack Wolfram and Oldsmobile general manager Sherrod Skinner. Plus, there is a cool mix of a preserved chrome cruiser with the right upgrades to make it more enjoyable for modern times. In 1949, your main alternative new car choices were the bug-ridden 49 Ford and Mercury, whose engines would need a lot of hopping up to get anywhere near the level of the 88. Flory. In addition, all page headers, custom graphics, button icons, and scripts related to the PayPal services are service marks, trademarks, and/or trade dress of PayPal. 303 Oldsmobile V8 parts in-stock with same-day shipping. The Rocket 88 model name was dropped after 1957. Accessing the login page sets the wordpress_test_cookie, a session cookie that tests whether the user's browser (or other user agent) will allow the cookies needed to log in to the administrative dashboard; this cookie normally expires when the user closes their browser (or other user agent). Millionaires would drive the few Cadillacs. Complete Engines for Oldsmobile Delta 88, Motor Mounts for Oldsmobile 88, Fuel Injectors for Oldsmobile 88; Additional site navigation. Well, are you presuming that the 88s actual career in stock car racing or road races like the Carrera Panamericana somehow dont count? They normally expire after about one year. The cylinder head is little more than a cover for the top of the cylinder, which is why L-head engines are commonly called flatheads. For consignment a Rocket design Oldsmobile 88. Brand new box. I was aghast at the ad campaign, This is not your Fathers Oldsmobile. 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. It was installed in the Oldsmobile Light Eight and was related to the Cadillac flathead V8 engine. I forgot this on one occasion when I was attempting to jump start my 55 Olds; after getting the car rolling backwards, I was rewarded with nothing more than a ratcheting sound when I shifted from N to R. The engine did not rotate and the car did not start. 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. In shape and size, the Oldsmobile Rocket 88 is not much different from the Pontiac Streamline and Chevrolet Fleetline whose body shell it shares. 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." Output was 185hp (138kW) and 320lbft (430Nm). Biggest mistake I still think about that automobile. You see, this 1957 Golden Rocket 88 Holiday two-door hardtop, with the J-2 setup and only a few more than 30,000 actual miles, is owned by his daughter and son-in-law, Jan and Tom Hummer.
