Technical Olds engine?

Was this engine as fitted to REO trucks an Oldsmobile engine in disguise?

 

No.

 

reo is Ransom E Oldsmobile, so probably a yes

 

Startling 1/2 horse per inch?
How about 5.5 pounds per inch!

 

His last name was Olds.

 

Looks like the starter is on both sides...

 

It's a Y-Block design.

 

Yes, among many other differences.

I guess anything REO made is related to Oldsmobile by the name of the companies' founder, but not by design features.

 

>>>Was this engine as fitted to REO trucks an Oldsmobile engine in disguise? >>>
>>>No.>>>
>>>reo is Ransom E Oldsmobile, so probably a yes>>>
>>>His last name was Olds. >>>

But the ad says the middle name is Engine. So I think the correct answer to the OP's question should be 'yes & no' . Yes, an Olds Engine & No, not in disguise.

 

I’m thinking that Reo bought engines from Continental, like many of the smaller vehicle manufacturers did.

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...late-great-54-to-75-reo-gold-comet-v8.455208/

An old thread with a bit more information on this engine.

 

Nope, not even close- that REO V8 was a dedicated HD truck engine, like the 534 SuperDuty Ford, 549 International and 478 GMC- heavy, low RPM chuggers. Remember that HP is just a calculated number and RPM dependent- even early D8 dozers were less than 200HP- but at very low RPM. The REO Gold Comet gas engines were good units, my gramps had a lot of the 6-cyl OA331's- sweetest-sounding Six ever, strong runners and good on gas. He used to drive his guys from NY to Lansing and pick them up at the factory. The first two in the pic are '51s, the other two are 53's- pic is from '58

 

Yes, lots of six cylinder engines...but no V8, as Continental never made any.

 

It's a much bigger engine completely its own design. The weight of 1211 lbs should give that away. It was meant for heavy duty truck use and to run on the lowest octane gas for 500,000 miles between overhauls.

 

I have never seen a REO truck with a factory-installed Continental engine, they built their own very good truck engines, but did use some Contis in some early models like the Wolverine, Mate and Flying Cloud

 

Rod & Custom did a complete analysis of the Gold Comet engine in the Dec. '55 issue.
The REO has nothing to do with an Olds ...

 

I think you are partially correct, I don’t think Continental built any V8’s (like I thought the truck engine might be) but for sure they did sell inline sixes to Reo Truck long after Reo passenger cars were gone.