Anyone else running a Olds Rocket?

[iluvmy72]

I am putting in a Olds 350 this spring after the winter is over.....anyone else try these engines?....I know some do the badboy 455!!!!

[75-K5]

350 gasoline, correct? Hopefully it's not the 350 diesel

[Perchjerker]

455 is a smoker-- literally! But Lots of horsepower.

[Zurbo]

Not running one in my truck, but my Hurst/Olds has a fire breathing W-30 under the hood.
It used to be a "tired" (detuned smog motor) but since has been built to 68 specs during the restoration.
It's capable of 12.28's in the quarter now with ET streets bolted on for traction.

[Longhorn Man]

Sweet...an olds from the forgotten years.
The Olds engines (esp rockets) are pretty kick ass in stock form. Put it in your truck, you'll like it, and if you ever get bored with it, a 455 will bolt right in.

[iluvmy72]

Mine is from a 69......it's a light but strong SB......one of the highest Nickle blocks GM made.

[Longhorn Man]

Next to the caddy motors.

[iluvmy72]

that's right...I forgot the caddys had the high nickle 2 bolt mains as well(reason only 2 bolts are needed)........however I do know that you spent almost a whole year on getting that caddy engine in your truck and to work correctly.....but I do agree that many origional engines in these trucks were not as good as the engines found in cars(boats) from the same era. From the BOPs, to the Caddys....I am told that some of the caddy parts will fit on the Olds engines. But I'm not an expert. However the engines do run smoother.

[bagged91]

A friend of mine has a 67 Chev Small window Shortbed with a 96 Stepside bed on it. He is running a built 455 Olds in it, it is tubbed with a built T 400 also. Don't know what gear it has but it is one FAST truck.

[drink2mny]

Oldmobiles are my friend.

My '64 442 page

[Longhorn Man]

Actually I have spent about a year and a half on it...but it wasn't from being hard to do, it is from lack of space, lack of time, and lack of cash.
It coulda been done in a weekend easily.

[MAC67]

ive got a buddy who put a 455 rocket into a 78 3/4 ton 4x4 , this motor had the heads done top notch , all kinds of crap done to it,, but it always seemed extremely week ,, in my opinion a guy is better off with a 350 than a 455 , the dang thing cant get any rpm's. it is a dog with nothing,,

[Longhorn Man]

If your buddy had a 455 that was a dog, then something was wrong, or it wasn't really a 455. The 455 (all 3 makes) were in the top 10 torque monster (gas) engines.

[iluvmy72]

I agree Longhorn........the engine was probably way too strong for the tranny.....that engine would dance circles around a 350 chev any day of the week....I know some drag racers that would love to meet this guy....lol......I'm having to have my TH 350 adjusted differently just for the Rocket 350 engine......because if I don't.......the tranny will eat it hard if I don't have it set for a higher RPM.....I could only imagine what would happen to the tranny with a rocket 455.....my rocket 350 previously powered a powerglide before it was rebuilt.....and now it will be even more powerfull with what's been done.....the crank, cam, lifters and rods in my engine are out of a 400 SB.....it had some incredible numbers on the dyno.....and since I'm using stock heads, rings, and pistons, parts are easier to get and best of all.....this mutha will haul!!!!.....

[gonebad2]

A buddy of mine put a 455 in a late 70's Trans Am. I spun donuts in that thing on hard pavement in a parking lot. I was amazed by the power that car had. The cloud of tire smoke was incredible.

[Longhorn Man]

Can't remember whos it is, or even which 455 it is, but here is a 455 in a truck that is owned by a board member.
(the file name is olds 455 blah blah blah...so I'll call this one an olds engine.

[dmurphy68]

oldsmobile engines are great I have a 330 in my 64 Cutlass. 295 hp from the factory.

[Longhorn Man]

Olds did make some prety good engines, but there are some seriouse oiling issues on them before putting them into high perfomance aplications.
After that though, they are pretty much awsome.

[dtlilly]

I had an Olds 455 marine block in the 73 Glastron Carlson jet boat that was sold in September. It was a little finicky to keep the carb tuned correct between hot sunny days and cooler nights, but that thing would scream. It always turned heads at the pier when I would start it and the straight pipes get a good blast at 1/2 throttle, lol.

[86k10]

Here is my old wreck with the 455 olds in it. I gave it what I call a cheap rering overhaul in 96 and have put around 60,000 miles on it since then. I'm a Chevy nut too but it's just to bad there engines can't live as long a life as the Olds. And for those who think the 700R4 isn't a good tranny, mine is still original. I figured it wouldn't take long to see how good of condition it was in after the install, but like they say it's took a lickin and keeps on tickin. Probably the best improvement is no longer needing low range to spin the tires, they are definitely not shy on low end torque. At the time when I put it in I worked for the local John Deere dealer and for it's first test I hooked it to a 7720 combine and pulled it across the yard in high range. That was fun.

[charlieo]

A friend of mine had a 72 Olds pace car built to Doc Watson specs ran real hard !!

[86k10]

I seem to be having a problem adding a photo, i'll try again.

[Longhorn Man]

86K10, you have any underhood pics of that? I'll asume you used a bellhousing adapter to bolt it up, how much space did that take, and did you have to do any buchering to get it in there?

[86k10]

I don't have any at the moment but I can go out an take a few here this afternoon. We just got a good layer of ice and a little snow this morning.

[86k10]

Here's a couple of quick pics, hopefully they are not to big, I have a terrible time with pics on here. You're right about the trans adapter, it was a B&M and it doesn't take up much space, It's been so long I can't give you an exact measurement but I'm guessing about 3/16ths inch. Only problem getting it in was just behind the RH exhaust manifold there is what looked like a heat shield on the body that needed to be tapped towards the cab a bit to keep from hitting. Other than that, re route a few wires and just little things that a little common sense can handle, it was easy.