Customs 1950 oldsmobile rocket 88

Well , my perfectly running 1950 oldsmobile rocket 88 overheated in the 1oo degree weather and engine block cracked. Got the news from our local engine builder. so I`m have a Chevy 350 crate engine with a 700r transmission put in it. my question is the weight of the engines are about 200 lbs difference. oldsmobile 303 is about 641 and chevy crate is about 471lbs so will I have to change the front coil springs ? or will it be fine ?

 

Save the mental effort; get another Rocket (It can be bigger, up to 394).

 

Anybody can have a belly*****on engine.
Find a 324 & give 'er!. Less complicated & more interesting.
You can buy a old car with a chevy in it for a lot less than you can build on-

 

394 backed up by the early Hydro would be able to keep up with traffic...

 

To answer your question, maybe, just wait and see.
And yes, your car will be less interesting with the sbc swap.
Sorry but true.

 

Just say NO to the SBC swap. Put a 394 in it with a modern transmission and never look back. Anyone can put a SBC in anything. What makes your car great and unique is the Olds engine. Please don't take the easy way out. Put an Olds in an Olds.

 

Or,
simply find an overweight girlfriend to ride along
Gotta maintain that proper stance

 

Just say no to over weight girlfriends.

 

If you have to put anything in it search out an Olds 455. Putting a shivrola engine in it is as bad as me putting a 390 Ford in an OT limpala. It was a fun car but ruffled feathers. But then again that was a lot of the fun. Popping the hood and showing off the FE that just beat their BBC shovel at the street drags.

 

don't tell anybody, except this small group, about engine change and get a set of those copycat Oldsmobile valve covers that fit a Chevy. we won't tell anybody else

 

late to site...but would have sent the 'warning' about what you'd hear!!

 

Don't get us wrong, Chevys are a proud engine...
But Rockets were winning races well before the bow-tie

 

I agree with Bird Man. The early Olds was the go-to motor when building a rod.

 

I know that you have a good motor/trans combo sitting there wanting to be used but seriously keep a Oldsmobile motor in the car.

 

Wait until after you swap it over.
Then mess with springs.

cast iron is cast iron. Whatever makes it go and stop

and big girls are cool

 

AM> >Wait until after you swap it over. Then mess with springs.> >

Agreed. Do the swap & drive it. Then see if the 303 can be stitched/salvaged if it's original to the car just in case you ever want to sell it.

 

I’d paint that sbc the olds color, use the olds valve covers and air cleaner.

And cruise it with a big ole cheesy grin and tell the nay sayers to pound sand

 

I think the 350 chevy is about 575 lbs.

A friend did that swap in a ‘50 2 door and was quite pleased with the results. I agree, an Olds engine would be my first choice. But they are getting harder to find and not too cheap to rebuild. My friend pulled his rebuilt 324 and dual range hydro because he couldn’t get the trans to work right. Not too many old transmission guys around with the proper special tools.

Sometimes practical outweighs optimal.

 

How can you tell your girlfriend is getting fat?

She starts to fit in your wife's clothes!

 

I dunno where Waterford is...but im in SoCal and have 3 early Olds shortblocks you can have 1 for free...if you keep it Olds powered. How hot did it get to crack the block? Sure it's not a blown head gasket?

 

There are some cars that should not have a SBC stuffed into them. A '50 Olds is one.

 

It's your car but I'd put an Oldsmobile engine in if it were mine

 

This is now what is affectionately called a “hamb circle jerk” where the original poster is long gone and we all continue to tell him what he should do with his car.