GDay yesterday I became the proud owner of a 1955 324 88 Rocket...I drove it 240km home was no problem however it's very noisey top end and I would like to fix it...from what I've read on this great site the rockers are not adjustable, I read the one about adjustable rods is there any who have had and fixed this what did you do? Also The transmission kicks back great but won't change up unless you lift the gas off and the steering is very sloppy
Noisy top ends were not uncommon on the early Oldsmobiles. The lifters would get all crudded up and get sticky. We used to pull them apart and clean them up and put them back in. If it has never been rebuilt, the crud and goo inside the engine is probably an inch thick.
it has had some work done to it but a while ago, I've added some ATF and its getting better but i seem to think its always going to be a bit noisy
The rockers get warn and so does the shaft from lack of oil caused by all the sludge from the crummy oil back in the 50's. You may need to pull the rockers and shaft and have a look see as to how warn they are.
The Jalopy Journal
