Hi, this is a little bit before my time, my nephew has a 1959 oldsmobile 88 4 door he says it has a 371 in it, i did some research looks like they ran those 2 motors together from 1959 to 1960 and the j2 with 3x2 from 1957-58 i looked on line and found the gold motor and the blue motor, which one is which, they both look the same and i always thought the gold motor were the 394 golden rocket in the super 88 and 98 eights ?? i saw on youtube jay leno has a 1959 88 it has the 394 4 bbl in it and the motor was blue, so what gives, how can i tell what motor he has, he thinks its the 371 ?? thanks for any information !! john !!

 

The gold engine is 371 CID and blue is 394 CID
I don't know of any 371's in 59/60 with a 4 barrel carb. As far as I know al 59/60 371's where 2 barrel carb.

Gene

 

Which 88 does your nephew have?

The '59 Dynamic 88 came only with the 371. It was available in two versions, a 270 hp version with the "Econ-o-way" carburetor and a 300 hp version with the Quadri-Jet carburetor. The Super 88 and 98 were available only with the 394 with the Quadri-Jet, 315 hp.

 

57 and 58 371's have only two valve cover bolts on the center of the covers the others have 5 on the edge of the cover like a SBC..As I remember 59-61 371 were considered small bore 394's and had more of their characteristic (internal parts) than the earlier first generation Old's motors.... Tedd..... Here is a link from the HAMB that will fill you in on most anything about first generation Oldsmobiles..... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/t.../#post-1661960

 

Left cylinder head..the 'C' identifies it as a 4 inch bore (371) and a 'D' letter identifies it as a 4 1/8 (394)

 

he has the 1959 dynamic 88 so it should have the 270 hp 2 bbl motor, i called him he said the motor is gold !! it only has like 50 k actual miles on it, i cant thank you all for the great reply s, now i know what motor i will be working on, iam used to the 350-400 425-455 olds !! so this is new to me, that bottom post looks like that is the king, that deciphers really what ya got !! by those 2 letters !! thanks again to all !! john !!!!!!!!!!!