has any one seen or run a 1953 rocket 88 motor in a model A? and if so what kind of trany will bolt up to it and are there any hop up parts out there for the engine? i got my flathead V8 but it mite need to be rebuilt and i got a rebuilt 88 for free from a friend today so please let me know what ya think.
Cool engine - you should run it! They came stock with a Hydramatic 4-speed auto or a 3-speed manual (rare). If you can find a bell housing you can put the vaunted '37 LaSalle 3-speed behind it as well as I think the '37 Buick trans. Personally, I'd do the scrounging to adapt a '60s four-speed stick to it. Oh, and there are adapters to put late model automatics (TH-350, etc) behind the Rocket. The Rocketeers will know more, I'm just keeping you at the top... oh yoo-hoo, Rocketeers!
Oh, I think the Hydro plant in Livonia, MI burned in '52, meaning a lot of '53 Rockets got the cruddy Buick Dynaflow trans - but you don't want one of those!
ONLY the 1950 manual bellhousing works with lasalle trannys well the 1950 olds used LASALLE trannys stock for the manual... 1953 rocket + 1950 manual=good combination 1953 rocket + 1953 manualtrans = weak tranny 1951> used another tranny that was inferior to the 1950 one caddy used the same manual trans but with other tailshaft that was longer (stock lasalle tailshaft?) caddys used it from 1950 to atleast 1953, not sure about 1954+, i got both a 1950 olds manual trans + an 1953 caddy manual trans there are adapters to packard transes, early ford transes, chevy transes, so that is another good direction.. what rear end do you use?
[ QUOTE ] ONLY the 1950 manual bellhousing works with lasalle trannys [/ QUOTE ] Worth knowing! I'll add that to my stockpile of tidbits. Is a later bellhousing worth anything at all then? Maybe as a way to adapt a later GM manual?
Hey Hopper, Never had an A, but I ran a 1952 olds in a 40 Ford back in the early 60s. Got an adaptor plate to mate up with a 46 Ford top loader, hooked to a Columbia Overdrive, and Ford center sections welded into 14 inch rims. The engine was cleaned up a bit with solids, 4 bbl and a 3/4 cam. Great runner and looker for the time, but kinda heavy. The 46 trans was ok, but not good for speed shifting.Very tight fit under the stock hood. Back then you could get adaptor plates and motor mounts to match up the olds with about anything. The olds was a very popular engine in rods of the time. Just my 2 cents worth. I believe the old olds would make you a great power plant with the looks of the old days.
man thanks guys for the info. any one out there get a lead on a adapter that i could buy from them. i don't care if it's for mounting a manual or auto new or late i really want to use this motor but i need the trany to get this thing moving. any help would be grate. i have done a check on the web for one but i have had no luck it seems that there are no adapter or hop up parts for these motors. but i know there are some stuff out there.
How about Wilcap or Capana? I seem to recall R&C doing an article about their adaptors awhile back. Sorry, I don't have contact info, but they had a website at one time...
I really wanted an olds for my A but got a deal on the flatty so went with it. If you decide you don't want to use it I might be interested. All the tranny info is good. The old heavy hydros arent too bad. I have ran a couple of them and they are tuff as nails. I wanted this car to be a stick and had looked at a 324 stick. That whole thing is just weird. The shifter is weird and the front of the tranny stays in the bellhousing when you pull it.I saw an adapter at the Pate swapmeet to put a chevy/muncie behind one. Multiple carb intakes are around and about as inexpensive as any. I have seen every combination you can think of up to 8 carb manifolds. Personally I would stay away from the ones that require a bunch of 97s. You could build a whole car for what a gaggle of those carbs would cost. Find a 3 duece manifold with the small 4 bolt pattern. You can still find the small base rocjester 2gc carbs for cheap, they work godd and are easy to work on. Look for the ones with the side fuel inlet. I passed on a couple for $10 each because he wanted me to take the cast iron sbc intakes too. And the rather plentiful 57-58 olds manifolds won't fit even though the engines are the same family. I had a 303 powered buggy I built when I was a kid. It had 324 heads and 4 bbl. intake, ran sweet.
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] ONLY the 1950 manual bellhousing works with lasalle trannys [/ QUOTE ] Worth knowing! I'll add that to my stockpile of tidbits. Is a later bellhousing worth anything at all then? Maybe as a way to adapt a later GM manual? [/ QUOTE ] nah the bellhousing isnt much to have but the clutch+flywheel is the same as the 1950 though
[ QUOTE ] I really wanted an olds for my A but got a deal on the flatty so went with it. If you decide you don't want to use it I might be interested. All the tranny info is good. The old heavy hydros arent too bad. I have ran a couple of them and they are tuff as nails. I wanted this car to be a stick and had looked at a 324 stick. That whole thing is just weird. The shifter is weird and the front of the tranny stays in the bellhousing when you pull it.I saw an adapter at the Pate swapmeet to put a chevy/muncie behind one. Multiple carb intakes are around and about as inexpensive as any. I have seen every combination you can think of up to 8 carb manifolds. Personally I would stay away from the ones that require a bunch of 97s. You could build a whole car for what a gaggle of those carbs would cost. Find a 3 duece manifold with the small 4 bolt pattern. You can still find the small base rocjester 2gc carbs for cheap, they work godd and are easy to work on. Look for the ones with the side fuel inlet. I passed on a couple for $10 each because he wanted me to take the cast iron sbc intakes too. And the rather plentiful 57-58 olds manifolds won't fit even though the engines are the same family. I had a 303 powered buggy I built when I was a kid. It had 324 heads and 4 bbl. intake, ran sweet. [/ QUOTE ] Willowbilly thanks for the info if i don't use the 88 i will let you know.i really like the way it looks but not to sure about the way it's going to sould with strait pipe's. are you going to be out at rosanky this weekend? if so i will have my hamb drag shirt on and most likly my cowboyhat, shorts and boots.i saw that some one from this board was going to have a flathead v8 out there. i need to check this out. HOPE TO FIND A TRANSMISSION ADAPTER FOR THAT 1953 ROCKET 88 AND MAYBE A COOL INTAKE. HINT HINT
The adapters for the olds to late 4speed are getting harder to find but you can still get the adapter to go to the early ford trans that mounted up to the flathead. Multi carb intakes are around. I have a cragar 4 deuce which could be pried loose for the right price. The way to go on the early engine is to use heads and intake from a 56. The ports a larger. Also look for a dizzy from a 56-62 the 56 is a direct drop in the later ones you have to change the drive gear. The reason to go to the later type is those use the later type cap and rotor which you can buy just about anywhere. Eric
[ QUOTE ] i got a rebuilt 88 for free from a friend today so please let me know what ya think. [/ QUOTE ] I think you suck! Some people scrounge and save for a long time to build a Rocket or other oddball engine and you get a rebuilt one given to you. Lots of parts are kicking around if you look, adapters pop up on Ebay fairly often. The hard part is finding a clutch fork and flywheel. Hey Eric, welcome back man!
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