Since the advance design group envisioned a 1949 introduction for their new engine, the project was dubbed SV-49. From 1950 through 1974, the 88 was by far the most lucrative line throughout the division, largely due to the entry-level versions like the 88 and the Dynamic 88. As far as I know, the transmission was not harmed. 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. The immediate prewar Compound Carburetion cars were legitimately quick for 1941 you might get that kind of performance out of a flathead Ford, but not without a lot of non-factory help. A smaller 260cuin (4.3L) V8 was created for the new Oldsmobile Omega in 1975 by decreasing the bore to 3.5in (89mm). Oldsmobiles companion make, the Viking had a horizontal-valve V8 with two-plane crankshaft in the early thirties. 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). Hoo, boy, you better run away right now). It was generally paired with the Turbo Hydramatic 350 3-speed automatic or the Turbo Hydramatic 400 3-speed ustomatic in rear wheel drive vehicles, in the case of front-wheel drive vehicles, the Turbo Hydramatic 425 FWD 3-speed automatic. 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. Horsepower: 135 hp at 3,600 RPM Torque: 263-lb.ft. (Valve spring, spring seat / retainer placement too? 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. Its output of 0.45 hp per cubic inch was 7% better than the 0.42 hp per cubic inch of the popular and widely produced 100hp (75kW) 1949 Ford Flathead V8. The Rocket Engine Story by One Who Was Thereby Gibson Butler. Most 394s used 2-barrel carburetors, but special high-compression 4-barrel versions were available starting in 1961. 46-52; Testing the 212 HP Packard Patrician, Science and Mechanics June 1954, reprinted in Packard Gold Portfolio 1946-1958, ed. Full instrumentation is standard Olds had not yet succumbed to the allure of warning lights. The final 1990 configuration was rated at 140hp (100kW) at 3200 rpm and 255lbft (346Nm) of torque at 2000 rpm. The FirePower, Buick Nailhead, and Chevrolet V-8s didnt exist yet. The following year, 88s won 10 out of 19 Grand National races and set a new speed record at Daytona. This 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 has the Deluxe trim with a dashboard clock; Deluxe models cost $78 more than the standard-trim version. Unlike all other 425s, this version was painted slate blue metallic. . Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Vintage 1949 Oldsmobile 88 Futuramic Rocket Engine Magazine Print Ad W31 at the best online prices at eBay! The company later introduced a new vehicle, the Oldsmobile Aurora, with a new generation V8. 1951 Oldsmobile Rocket 88. Both the Cadillac and Oldsmobile design teams were strongly influenced by the work of GM research chief Boss Charles Kettering, who had been working on high-compression engines since the end of World War I. The V8 was standard in the new 1949 Oldsmobile 98, replacing the old 257 cu. The 303 was produced from 1949-1953. 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. 303 Oldsmobile V8 parts in-stock with same-day shipping. As an aside, the Oldsmobile was bought by doctors, lawyers, bank managers, shop owners, construction entrepreneurs and the like. "Kelly", Jr. Baechtel, John. Classic Oldsmobile Rocket 88 for Sale. A slightly larger 307cuin (5.0L) version was introduced in 1980. Both are well-documented, albeit relatively short-lived. (WordPress and the WordPress logos are registered trademarks of the WordPress Foundation in the United States and other countries. 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." 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. Motor Trend (July 1950) mentioned getting 18.8 mpg at a steady 50 mph and a 1950 Olds entered in the Mobilgas Economy Run bettered 20 mpg. Note the stylized rocket chrome trim on the front fender. Larry Young. 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. 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. Most contemporary road tests at least mentioned fuel consumption. 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 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%. 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Initially the paint was red, except for metallic blue in the Toronado applications; 1970-1976 versions were metallic blue at first, then nonmetallic blue. Me at the age of 70 in the back seat with a 21-year-old blond. Classic Car Deals (844) 676-0714. Compression ratios never approached the 12.5:1 level that Kettering had proposed, peaking at about 10.5:1. R.M. [1] 400cuin (6.6L), 425cuin (7.0L), and 455cuin (7.5L)[1] V8s have a higher deck height (10.625in (27.0cm) versus 9.33in (23.7cm)) to accommodate a 4.25in (108mm) stroke crank to increase displacement. (author diagram). 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. Oh, and lets not forget the Bonneville speed merchants. The company produced its first V8 - an L-head design . (6,460 cc), which was about the limit of the original block design. The new, mid-sized Oldsmobile Rocket 88 went on sale February 6, exactly seven weeks after the 98. Awesome vehicle many great high school memorys. All 425 engines were fitted with forged steel crankshafts with harmonic balancers. I might have to find or make some kind of diagram of that. in. 26-31; Roger Huntington, 1965 Engines, Motor Trend Vol. 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. 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. The engine had 10.25:1 compression and a single-barrel carburetor. [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 practice, owners who did not regularly drive hard enough to engage the front and rear carburetors experienced problems with the linkage and carburetor throats becoming clogged, and some J-2-equipped cars had the front and rear carburetors removed and blocked off. Full instrumentation is standard Olds had not yet succumbed to the allure of warning lights. 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 2027; John Katz, Racing the 88, Special Interest Autos #145 (January-February 1995), reprinted in The Hemmings Book of Oldsmobiles, p. 88; Jamie Kitman, The Secret History of Lead, The Nation March 2000; Allen Hunt, Horsepower from Detroit, Part IV: Cadillac, Oldsmobile and the horsepower race, Car Life Vol. The icing on the cake was that fuel consumption was reduced by about 10% compared to the old L-head engine. Around the end of that year, the project nearly ground to a halt due to objections from Cadillac. Note the quadrant for the Hydra-Matic atop the steering column. The _ga and _gid cookies, which were only placed if you clicked "Accept/Enable" in the notification banner, enabled the Google Analytics service to track your activity on the site. Millionaires would drive the few Cadillacs. . For more information about how Akamai may collect, process, and/or use personal data, visit the Akamai "Privacy and Policies" page and Privacy Trust Center. 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. For anyone interested the 1950 Mexican road race where 12 Olds 88s entered and 10 finished, eight of the 10 were beaten by a flathead Nash. 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. (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. Lets briefly examine each of them. $300.00. The 4 barrel versions had a larger diameter harmonic damper, the 2 barrel only a balancer hub without the rubberized outer ring. The 324cuin (5.3L) version was produced from 1954 until 1956. Some Oldsmobile employees detested that name, but it remained strongly associated with Oldsmobile well into the 1960s. All full-size 1962 Oldsmobiles had the 394. 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. or is that not an Avanti peeking into the frame on the right side of the last photo? Apart from the Oldsmobile Aurora, the Aurora V8 was also used in the Shelby Series 1. The overhead valve engine concept offered both power and efficiency, with an improvement in fuel economy (estimated at about 10 percent better than prior engine designs). The Oldsmobile 350s made from 1968-1976 have heavy castings, beefier crankshafts, and better flowing heads. By contrast, both the Cadillac and Oldsmobile V8s were oversquare, with a wide bore and a short stroke. The Cadillac and Oldsmobile V8s represented the start of several major trends in American engine design. 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. Of those sales, 100,273 were the Rocket 88. "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. Richard A. Lentinello (Bennington, VT: Hemmings Motor News, 2002), pp. This 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 has the Deluxe trim with a dashboard clock; Deluxe models cost $78 more than the standard-trim version. 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. 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. Each engine in this generation is quite similar with the same size block and heads. Incidentally, the Rocket engine was not Oldsmobiles first V8. This was much flatter than the 23 of the small-block Chevrolet and 20 of the Ford small-block wedge heads. [20] Parts peculiar to this system include a toothed disc between the harmonic balancer and the crank pulley, the "adjacent sensor" (an early form of crankshaft position sensor), a special distributor, an engine temperature sensor, and a rudimentary computer mounted inside the car, under the dashboard. 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. The 88 model remained in production for a whopping 50 years and over ten. "Alternative Engines: Part 2--Buick V8", in, Davis, Marlan. We are known for our high quality,attention to detail and meeting our customers goals. As part of its marketing campaign for the Rocket V8, Oldsmobile arranged for an 88 convertible to handle the pace car duties at the Indy 500, with speedway president Wilbur Shaw at the wheel. 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. Im not sure where you stop4 more new engines in 1958 (Chevy W, Mopar B, FoMoCo FE, Lincoln M.E.L. 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. During that period, Oldsmobile Motor Group draftsman Gilbert Burrell began working privately on concepts for new cars and new engines. There will typically be several such cookies, each beginning with "gdpr" (e.g., gdpr[allowed_cookies], gdpr&5Bprivacy_bar&5D, and gdpr[consent_types]). 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. The J-2 engine also had a slightly thinner head gasket, raising compression to 10.0:1. The Rocket, along with the 1949 Cadillac V8, were the first post-war OHV crossflow cylinder head V8 engines produced by General Motors.