I might have a chance to choose from 2 different Rocket Motors to buy. I already have 302 for my car but we can change the motor mounts fairly easily right now. I was just wanting to know if anyone on here is a Olds expert and had any inside info. about these motors. What to look for? What can be bad/good about them? If i should make one of these transactions if the guy(s) decide to sell them? How much it will cost to get it up and running GOOD? Reliable? Well thanks alot everybody. Nick
O ya, i almost forgot. Another guy has a Olds intake for these.......a 3 duece intake with 2 old carbs and breather's on it. Who can rebuild the carbs? And, finally is it hard to find/can i find a manual tranny that will hook up to these motors? Thanks again for all the helpfull info. i hope i get from all you fine gents. Nick
nick i love my 303 olds i can't seem to brak it,i will by them if you dont,im in chicago if you need any help just ask . i no im coool'er then bobbleed? O my # is 773-631-2342
There's a bunch of us "Rocketeers" on the HAMB, just remember, their expensive! But in my opinion their worth it. Sound good, fun to drive, you know. What do you need to know?! I'd need to know what carbs where on the manifold and pics/condition would be helpful as well. Manual tranys are the trouble, their out there, but their expensive as well, there are adapters though, I think there was a post on here about that awhile ago. Check out, http://www.rodnkustom.com/rocketeers/ I'm not a expert though, I just know a bit, -peter
Well thanks alot guys. Keep the info. comin..helpfull or not its still fun to read the storys and stuff. BTW i think i can get either of the motors (both might be running!) DIRT CHEAP!
Not sure about having one bulit, but I know that Kanter sells a full overhaul kit for about 1300 bucks... There are tricks as well, if your bore out a 324 to have a 4" bore you can use 352 ford standard pistons. And the use of Chevy SB Solid Lifters, don't forget to stick 1/8in Brass Welding Rod through the Oil holes in the lifters to fill them in. All 303/324/371 heads will fit on each other, but not every manifold will fit after you use the different heads, as the angle of the deck are not all the same. Most of the pieces will fit as well. You just have to find the right older guys that know their shit, and get the tips from them, then tell me!! Don Wow's the master here on the HAMB, as with lakes modified, yorgatron, etc... -peter
Yep and i own 4 of them. right peter?. gotta keep ahead of peter on them.peter, i just picked up a 2x4 weiand intake for one the other day, interested? later Bill p.s hey peter i did'nt see you in P-town 2 weeks ago when i was there, where were you?i'm still washing Bville salt off my pickup and modified. had a blast, you need to get there next year.
Yeah, and your at a low point right?! I'd like to Bill, but I'm broke, and still holding out for that edmunds 2x4 setup I've been drooling over for so long. Maybe someday you'll decide that that "show" piece you have needs to go to a new good home on my '56 324 that'll be in my '49!!! Huh? huh? huh?!! I've got a bunch of really cool ideas for that engine man!! P-town? Bville!! YOU BUM!!! How was it man?! Did you get that bike setup on the back of your mod dude?! I'm going to try and make it next year, any major free time though is going to be spent on my olds, I need to get this girl done! Or, at least, driveable!! You guys want to see a Rocketeer playland, bill's the man! -peter
I have a 4x2 manifold that's up for grabs. I bought it for $150 and just want my investment back. I bought it on the HAMB and it's nice. I just decided to go with a 3x2.
Yup, they are kind of expensive to build, especially if you are going to take it to a machine shop that knows old engines and say "Build it!". But, if you can hold off, and search swap meets and ebay and older small town long time auto parts stores, you can find a lot of the parts for not too much money. Sometimes at swaps and on ebay you can find full engine rebuild gasket sets for 50 or 60 bucks, but a machine shop buying one from a jobber will charge maybe $150. Sets of Pistons show up on ebay that sometimes go for under $150...Egge machine is maybe $300 or more....Cams show up at swaps and ebay for all sorts or prices and there are bargains...I got a new HD oil pump on ebay for 35 bucks a while back, and the guy had been listing one a week for a couple of months...got a NOS water pump for $30.00 at a swap meet from a guy who had cleaned out an old auto parts warehose and was dumping water pumps that weekend...cam bearings and rod & main bearing sets show up on ebay as do valves and lifters and rockers arms...they just don't all show up at the same time and same month, and some do go for probably too much money, but not always..start going to ebay and regularly searching 394 Oldsmobile or Olds Engine...ask local long time parts stores if they have any old parts..hit the swaps...start collecting parts...if you find bargains for say the 371 engine you can't use, they are good things to swap with Olds guys for parts you need. Think CHEAP!
Wow, thanks alot Jim! I won a free cam and lifters from comp cams and got them for my 302. Do you think they would trade me them for a cam and lifters Rocket Motor? (I didnt install the cam yet). And Sedan Dad that is not acceptable!
By the way..try to get on a good basis with your local old style junkyards. The early 60's Olds with the 394 engines were pretty durable cars and sometimes the original owners were still driving them til recently. Every once in a while one shows up in a junkyard that got too rusty, and/or the owner died, it needed some work to stay roadworthy, and the kids/estate didn't want to deal with it so they donate it to some junkyard charity deal, or they just have it towed away. Sometimes these cars had the engine rebuilt within the last couple of years. If you don't plan on really thrashing the engine, these are good to throw into a rod with maybe a cam, headers, a better ignition and a multi carb manifold. Sometimes you can get these CHEAP. Sometimes this type of engine shows up on ebay.
Stitch, That's right. I saw Russell on the weekend and we got talking so I said I would see what we can find on here. He is mainly looking for exterior side trim for his convertible. I belive the door side trim is the same as coupe and the fender side trim is the same for all 98 models. He did say if he could find a parts car he would get a list of ALL the parts he required. Do you know of anything? Greg
I think somebody on the West Coast will do performance regrinds on stock cams...I bet Yorgatron or some CA Rocketeer knows the name...it's not coming to me now. I don't know if any cam manufacturer is currently making new cams for the rocket engines now, but NOS stock ones do show up from time to time, and would be great for a regrind. Some of the regular vintage High Perf parts advertisers (Like Patricks, and Belmonts) in Hemmings sometimes have cams from different maufacturers. Engle, Isky, and Schneider cams (and other manufacturers) show up on ebay and swaps from time to time, but be warned, some of them are full bore drag cams and would probably be a little wild for the street.
QUOTE "There are tricks as well, if your bore out a 324 to have a 4" bore you can use 352 ford standard pistons. And the use of Chevy SB Solid Lifters, don't forget to stick 1/8in Brass Welding Rod through the Oil holes in the lifters to fill them in." Okay.I've read a number of the old posts on this topic-about lifters specifically.Briefly,in my case,I had my olds 324 rebuilt some time ago.Years past and the machine shop was doing inventory.Well lo and behold they had a set of 324 lifters sitting on the shelf."Where did they come from?" they asked -supposed to be in Petes' motor! Apparently, chev lifters were used-maybe 350? I donno... Long and the short of it,I had what were real 324 lifters and chev lifters apart and were comparing every aspect including leakdown-couldn't find any real difference. So why ? Why do they have different part numbers-what is the real deal on this? If they interchange,and the olds lifter is obsolete,why don't they cross part numbers over to the chev and make life a lot easier for everyone. Hope someone knows for sure...pete
I think there is a difference in height of the plunger on them. Man I haven't seen this post in awhile. Eric
SHIT. This is real spooky reading this thread.4ever4 was asking for 56 Olds parts for me, before I joined the HAMB.Choprods (Kenny) in Missouri replied & we called to his shop on my Route 66 trip (slight detour) the next year.He had a 98 coupe & I managed to get alot of my missing trim pieces from him.Hell of a good guy. Weird how this thread has surfaced. Russell
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