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

Also one of my favorite pics. My wife says I am drooling on to my keyboard so I only look at it when she is out of the roomHa
You are up early this morning Paul.

 

for a while there this stuff was everywhere,
and relatively inexpensive
not so much anymore on both accounts.

I'm not really up.
'been retired five years and I still haven't learned how to sleep in yet.
it seems like such a waste of time..

 

That is what I thought. I wasn't sure. Thank you ol' friend. Hope all is well up your way.

 

Can you post a picture of those valve covers? I'm not sure which ones you're talking about.

 

Yes, I'm glad that I rounded up my Olds junk when I did; 10-15 years ago, it was dropping out of trees. Now, the market has pretty much dried up around here.

 

Same here. But I’m glad to say that there seems to be a few more folks out my way who are stepping up to actually build and run early Olds engines in their hot rods so the stuff is back on the road.

 

that is a story I told myself to help process the partial liquidation of my little hoard..

 

those actually said HOLMES in them in the pad where the NNN stamp is on these.
this are my last pair
I'm saving for...?

 

Hey Jeb, I think that I mentioned before that I like your Olds powered critter.... When I picked up the cam at Ak's shop, I asked about spec's and he simply smiled and muttered something about it being similar to the one in the 303 when he built it. Never would talk numbers, and he may not have known. Put two old farts like that together and who knows what they might come up with. All I know is that it sang a mighty pretty song and I never did find it's limits. On a side note, I donated the El Caballo to the NHRA museum back in 2000. In about 2002 I had a call from the folks at Goodwood, and they wanted to have the bugger over there again. I called the head of the museum and mentioned that it had been invited, and that I would like to go with it. His response.......You assholes are all alike.... You loan a car and expect us to take care of it, and then come to take it out any time you want. Why don't you just take it home...... When I informed him that the museum actually owned the racer, his tune changed. He said he'd get back to me... Needless to say, he did not, and the car went over without me. Bad taste indeed...

 

Very cool. I've been doing a little sand casting with a goal of making a set of Olds covers that are tall enough for adjustable rockers but smooth so that someone could machine their name into the top like Iskenderun did on his T back in the day.

I'd either of you would be up for trading those Valve covers I have olds speed parts I'd be willing to put on the table.

 

I need to post a picture of a pair of finned aluminum covers I picked up at a swap meet. I've never seen another pair quite like them. No identifying marks at all.

 

I have a pair of Fentons I'd been thinking of shaving the fins off of to do that

 

If anyone has a nice Edelbrock 2x4 intake manifold for a 324 that they would part with PM me.
I have cash or an Offy 2x4 that I can trade plus cash. I have some nice Edelbrock valve covers and would like a manifold to match.

 

@Anderson did that that on his 24 T Roadster build. Can't remember what he started with, as it looks like some photos are missing from his build thread. But here's a shot of how it looked.
View attachment 2875584

 

I don’t think I’d do that to old Fentons, I’d grab a pair of Offys off of eBay and do them. They still make those. I got some nice Offys for $200 a while back.

 

I think there is more room under the Offys too.
they are also flat front to back
shaved they could look like Gothas without the name

 

Speaking of more room, my Olds currently has adjustable rockers with a Ross Racing hydraulic cam. Tony said that the cam was designed for the 1.8 rockers. I didn’t have any stock 1.8 rockers but I did have the adjustable ones. What years had the 1.8s? I would be fine with stock rockers, it would allow me more options in terms of valve covers.
Also, the lifters came from Ross. I’m wondering if they are Chevy lifters and if the Chevy and Olds lifters share the same radius in the pushrod seats? I need to measure and order pushrods.

 

1952-58 rocker assemblies are 1.8:1 ratio. The end rocker shaft stands are different on the '57-'58 engines.

 

I don’t know what they were, there was no name on them and I never could decide if other ones I saw were a match.

 

yes, the '57-'58 actually has added end stands and longer shafts.
shouldn't need them if just swapping out rockers.
might be a good idea if you go with heavier springs.
chevy lifters will need push rods lengthed to fit.

 

I’m not sure if my lifters are Chevy or Olds. I got them with the cam from Ross Racing. I guess I need to call him. Any way I can tell? I haven’t always had the best of luck getting ahold of them. My lifters are in a plain-wrap box.

 

I had a Chevy SB 305 and Olds 324 hydraulic flat tappet lifter on the bench the other day to compare them. Obviously both .842" diameter but the oiling groove was in a different location. I'm not sure whether that would make a difference in terms of performance and longevity. It's my understanding that if Chevy lifters are used in an Olds the pushrods must be longer, and obviously solid.

 

If the lifters you have came from Ross Racing with the cam they are the right ones. I have delt with Tony numerous times and he definately knows his products and sells quality parts!

 

Yep, I bought the cam, lifters, springs and timing set from Tony per his recommendation. My wallet wasn’t quite fat enough to buy those cool aluminum heads though. Darn.
I need to buy pushrods, that’s why I was asking about the lifters. I’ve got adjustable rockers from who knows where, and lifters from Ross, I just want to make sure I order them with the correct radius ends. I’m assuming that the Olds and Chevy lifters have the same radius on the pushrod seat. But you know what they say about assuming….

 

I will tonight.

 

I used hydraulic lifters from Tony at Ross too. No need for adjustable rockers or custom length pushrods just find yourself a set of stock rockers .

 

Good to hear. I’m going to look for some. I wasn’t particularly excited about using the adjustable rockers anyway. Sounds like I need to give Tony a call again.

 

Here is the pictures of my Holmes valve cover. Marked NN 42. Nothing else. Look just like the ones Paul posted

 

Just for reference, I took pictures of the Chevy and the Olds lifters side by side.

On the left, is a lifter out of a SBC, in the case, a 1980's era 305. On the right, is a lifter out of a 1956 324 block.



Though the oiling hole is in a similar location, the groove is very different. Not sure whether or not that would create an issue for functionality or longevity.

Another major difference is in the pushrod cup.

The chevy plunger is shallow and has a hole to permit oil to flow up through the hollow pushrod to lubricate the rocker. The Olds is visibly much deeper and has no such oiling provision. Both lifters are .842".