THE oldsmobile rocket 303 324 371 394 post to end all other posts, (lasalle related )

We keep these in stock here at Ross Racing Engines...... Your home for everything you ever dreamed of for your early Olds.


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Well yeah, but it certainly depends on what you're building and what look you're going for. I personally don't like the look of a tangle of equal length headers on either side of the engine in an hoodless hotrod.

A lot of times, "headers" gets used as commonplace for exhaust manifolds. I took it that the guy I responded to was looking for exhaust manifolds, not full race or competition headers.

 

Does anyone make equal length headers for a stock bodied 56 Olds 324 and are they common or expensive overpriced custom items?

 

No such thing as a production header ..... Only custom made pipes


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You'd think with all these computerized bending machines someone would be producing them.

 

Bringing this back to life with a question. I have a 324 with #10 heads and the correct pan. I also have a J2 intake which appears to fit. Am I missing something here or do these intakes work on this combo.

Also, I'm having a helluva time with the timing chain. I've sourced three now and none of them fit. The existing chain appears to have smaller segments than the ones that are supposed to fit. This is my first Olds and I'm easily confused anyway. The motor appears to be a factory four barrel, which I think used a different chain than the two barrel versions.

 

manifold has to be cut approx .125 on intake flanges.....as well as some port match...

you need a whole 3 pc timing set...which we have

 

The J2 intake should be a little wider than the 324 intake. Not sure how much, but if the bolt holes lign up, you should be fine. Just make sure the port size of the #10 heads and the intake are the same size. Use the gasket to verify.

As far as the chains go, i got both 2bbl and 4bbl at home, I'll take a look at them for you.
But I'd assume, that they are the same.

Are you trying to use the old sprockets and just change the chain?

EDIT: Tony beat me to it. Damn fat fingers...

 

Thanks guys. Goatropero2, I spoke to you about the chain a bit ago and I agree the double roller one you have is the absolute best way to go. I'm in sticker shock over what parts cost for these and have decided to sell the car, (which I have done), it was going in, to pay for doing the motor. I've come to realize this is going to be a 5G+ motor. I have been trying to get it together on a budget which ain't happening. Time to start sourcing the right parts and taking my time! I'm just afraid I'm going to have a ton of cash into this and it will just end up going to somebody for a couple hundred bucks out of frustration like a lot of my "projects".

Martin-F, This motor is absolutely mint inside. If it wasn't a recent rebuild I'd be totally surprised. It was pulled from a running car and replaced with a SBC so there was something the matter there. It appears the timing chain, which may or may not be the right one, had about , seriously, 1" of slack in it. You could almost pull it off with the sprockets in place. The cam bearings are chewed pretty bad up front and as such, I haven't removed the cam yet, but my feeling, it is probably trashed. Crane has blanks to grind me the perfect cam and Ross has the lifters and pushrods I need to get it back together. The rods and mains appear to be decent. The machine shop that does my Chevy heads feels it is necessary to add the hardened seats and go through the heads. I don't know how long they will last as they, are without the seats being done, although they appear to be super nice now. I replaced the oil pump as the motor was dropped at some point and the pump broken, along with metalworking the pan back perfect.

The redeeming factor here is the engine is sooooooo beautiful! If I can actually get it back together, it will be beyond belief. Time to start shopping for the right manifold, and get some cash out as well.

 

You sure its a '56 block and pan?
Is this with gaskets in place and you can thread bolts in both sides?

 

Also Goatroper, that video on your dyno of the Rocket is the driving force in this project. Could you share what is in that motor. It sounds outrageous!

http://rossracingengines.com/

Thanks for the help again!

 

It is supposed to be. To be honest, I've been taking the owners word for it as I don't know how to tell the difference. I build almost all Chevys and Flatheads and have never ventured down this trail.

 

Just a thought, the intake was a gift from Homemadehardtop on here and I wonder if it may have already been cut to fit. The motor has #10 heads and an indented valley pan for sure, which I understand is the hot setup. Other than that I'm in the dark.

 

The cam journal size would be the give-away if it's a '56 or '55 block.
'55 is 1.875 diameter. '56 is bigger, but I don't know that number.

 

I'm pretty sure it is a '56 block as it was supposed to be the original motor from the car it came out of. I'm wondering is whoever built it didn't put the wrong chain in there and that's what trashed the first two cam bearings?. The others appear to be perfect. They look "pounded", not oil starved, so I'm sure they were correctly installed.

Also I understand '56 was the only year with silver valve covers. I stripped the valve covers to have them chromed and it was apparently the factory paint.

 

Koz .....One of the pains is its not cheap to play with vintage power....but the reward is there....

the video you speak of......#10 ported head 324 with one of our own developed custom grinds......

 

Very nice!

 

Not trying to hijack here but a couple of the guys in this thread have been helping me with my 324. I finally bit the bullet and pulled the Olds apart. The problem is whoever did the rebuild used a tall deck chain, (371-394). This is why a new chain had so much slack. The new cam has four lobes wiped into rollers and two pistons have been smacked by the valves. Apparently, a lot of the cam metal found its way into the rods and mains as the relatively new bearings are scrap. The crank appears to be OK. The cam bearings are also trash.

This means it's time to do it right. Prime example of how a little knowledge can get you into big trouble!

 

Little misinfo here.....some Blocks are taller in deck height.... Cam to crank height is the same..... Chain is same length on all 49-64 engines...... There is a spacing difference in 1959-60 only



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Good info! This is definitely the wrong chain and or sprockets. I was speculating what it might have come from. I'll get back to you with an order for the right parts soon.

 

ok,
I think I got this cleaned up enough to share,
it's pieced together from several sources
and I don't have anything here to verify..
maybe Tony or some of you other Olds gurus can corroborate this data

I don't believe this has been posted here before
at least not in total

Oldsmobile Engine Codes

 

Its also worth knowing that although many specialists say the 394 is the same from 59-64 they are not, the 59 is slightly different to the 60-64, oil pump for starters is different.

 

59-60 371/394 has different width front main on the crankshaft..
different offset on timing gears....
59-60 371 block is a 4" small bore compaired to 4.125 for the 394......and you cannot bore them out.......
different oil pump shaft lengths and pumps....
59-60 has its own Ex pattern as well....

 

Paul and Tony,
Your info is excellent as usual. A co-worker wants to sell me what he thinks are 2 324 blocks that according to this table are 303s! If only news corporations had actual facts and information like this.

 

Thanks Tony, I knew there were other differences but couldn't remember them, thanks to your advice and help my 394 runs like a watch, thanks

 

Thanks for the info guys, very helpful.

Paul, thanks for the chart, I'm going to save that one!....looks like the 303 I've just had to sell was a 1951 manual transmission one too!....damn it!

Jay

 

Thanks much for the chart! I do indeed have a '56 324. Also Cast into the block on the front left, in a recess under the timing cover is 56K10 in fairly large print, about 1/2". I assume this also refers to the year and heads?

 

Any info on this intake? It has been polished smooth, but looks like some pics of Edelbrock 4X2 intakes I have seen. I was also told it is 49-56, is that correct?





Any info would be appreciated, as I am a Ford flathead guy. This new fangled valve over piston stuff is kinda confusing to me...

Neal

 

Looks like it's the Edelbrock OL496.
As far as I know, there are only two other 4x2 out there. Horne and Cragar. And they do look different than the Edelbrock.

Pic from somewhere here on the HAMB:

 

Thanks for the confirmation. How do they compare to the Horne and Cragar? I assume the Edelbrock was more common? Was it a good performer?

Thanks,

Neal