General Discussion Discuss your Oldsmobile or other car-related topics.

55 olds engine & manual trans worth anything?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old October 6th, 2014, 10:14 AM
  #1  
Scharpp
Thread Starter
 
scharpp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: East Wenatchee Washington
Posts: 132
55 olds engine & manual trans worth anything?

I have a 55 olds with 35000 miles , pulling the 324 and 3 speed manual trans, the motor had a valve problem from what im told but it is locked up, are they worth anything other than scrap?
scharpp is offline  
Old October 6th, 2014, 10:32 AM
  #2  
Phantom Phixer
 
Charlie Jones's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Apopka, FL
Posts: 4,902
You bet!
You probably have close to 1,000 pounds of iron there. And at 10 cents a pound thats maybe $100.

On the other hand , you could Craig's list it , E-Bay it , and also list it in the parts for sale section of this forum.
You might do a search on E-Bay for " 55 Olds engine " and " Olds Manual transmission" to get an idea on the pricing.
Olds stick shift transmissions are extremely rare in cars of the 50's and 60's . Usually less than 5% of production.

Please don't scrap it. Someone somewhere needs these parts. And once they are gone that's it.
Charlie Jones is offline  
Old October 6th, 2014, 10:36 AM
  #3  
Scharpp
Thread Starter
 
scharpp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: East Wenatchee Washington
Posts: 132
Thanks This car is 3 speed manual 55 Olds 2 door sedan 35000 miles, supposedly only like 300 made, im on the fence what to do, leave it stock and rebuild it or just pull the motor and trans and update it
scharpp is offline  
Old October 6th, 2014, 10:43 AM
  #4  
Phantom Phixer
 
Charlie Jones's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Apopka, FL
Posts: 4,902
To me, This is a no brainer!
To me, an original stick 55 Olds is worth a lot more than one with a generic Chevy drivetrain.
Charlie Jones is offline  
Old October 6th, 2014, 10:51 AM
  #5  
Scharpp
Thread Starter
 
scharpp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: East Wenatchee Washington
Posts: 132
I guess I better bite the bullet and leave it stock, its all really straight, everything there, right down to the hubcaps, other than bumpers need re chromed the other chrome is great, I'm not sure the category survivor is , but this seems to be one
scharpp is offline  
Old October 6th, 2014, 11:02 AM
  #6  
Phantom Phixer
 
Charlie Jones's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Apopka, FL
Posts: 4,902
Why don't you look for a good Olds "Rocket" motor?
1949 to 56 engines will bolt right up to your original bell and tranny.
57-64 371's and 394's will also bolt up but must use the later flywheel because of balance issues. You will also have to drill out the end of the crankshaft to accept the pilot bearing on 57-64 engines.

Last edited by Charlie Jones; October 6th, 2014 at 11:04 AM.
Charlie Jones is offline  
Old October 6th, 2014, 03:47 PM
  #7  
Scharpp
Thread Starter
 
scharpp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: East Wenatchee Washington
Posts: 132
Mine is a Rocket motor, but I will check that out, going to pull the heads first, soak the cylinders down and see if it will turn, then I can check the valves and make sure it didn't just have a broken cam shaft, they were weak as weak as the valves
scharpp is offline  
Old October 6th, 2014, 04:02 PM
  #8  
Phantom Phixer
 
Charlie Jones's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Apopka, FL
Posts: 4,902
What I meant was that possibly you could find a good running engine. Or at least one that was easier to rebuild because it wasn't all rusted together inside.
Charlie Jones is offline  
Old October 6th, 2014, 04:04 PM
  #9  
Scharpp
Thread Starter
 
scharpp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: East Wenatchee Washington
Posts: 132
Ahhh yes good call, I agree, that would make me a lot happier, im into less work lol
scharpp is offline  
Old October 6th, 2014, 04:10 PM
  #10  
Scharpp
Thread Starter
 
scharpp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: East Wenatchee Washington
Posts: 132
would it be an advantage tho to have the numbers matching motor in car as its a virgin as it is, this car has never been wrecked
scharpp is offline  
Old October 6th, 2014, 05:27 PM
  #11  
Phantom Phixer
 
Charlie Jones's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Apopka, FL
Posts: 4,902
Numbers matching may be important on a '70 W-30 Cutlass 442.
On a 55 four door not so much. As long as the motor looks like it's original, nobody is gonna care.
Keep the original motor for the next owner .

Last edited by Charlie Jones; October 6th, 2014 at 05:31 PM.
Charlie Jones is offline  
Old October 7th, 2014, 06:01 AM
  #12  
Registered User
 
twintracks's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: SE Wisconsin
Posts: 430
If you are going the survivor route, I'd make a run at fixing the original motor. You might find only one cylinder that is stuck, or it might be junk. I'd pull the heads & see. I doubt you will find a broken cam. If it's truly original, you still have a 35k motor to work with. Just hope there were no mice living in the engine. They will ruin it.
twintracks is offline  
Old October 7th, 2014, 10:19 AM
  #13  
Scharpp
Thread Starter
 
scharpp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: East Wenatchee Washington
Posts: 132
My olds is a 55 2 door , it is truly original, motor , trans, right down to the hub caps
scharpp is offline  
Old October 7th, 2014, 11:33 AM
  #14  
Phantom Phixer
 
Charlie Jones's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Apopka, FL
Posts: 4,902
Originally Posted by scharpp
My olds is a 55 2 door
Sorry, I missed that .
It would be nice if you could post some pictures on this thread so we all can see it better. From what I can see in your avitar, the car really looks to be pretty solid.
Charlie Jones is offline  
Old October 8th, 2014, 09:01 AM
  #15  
Scharpp
Thread Starter
 
scharpp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: East Wenatchee Washington
Posts: 132
I didnt know how to post them here, hope this works
http://s273.photobucket.com/user/gre...show/My%20cars
scharpp is offline  
Old October 8th, 2014, 09:05 AM
  #16  
Scharpp
Thread Starter
 
scharpp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: East Wenatchee Washington
Posts: 132
I have the rest radiator , manifoild , tail lamps ect
scharpp is offline  
Old October 8th, 2014, 10:01 AM
  #17  
KVP
Registered User
 
KVP's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Rockford, MI
Posts: 115
If you need inspiration for your project, go to www.topnotchvehicles.com and check out the '55 Olds 88 two door sedan with a three speed manual column shift. You have a great car that begs to be restored with its original drive train if at all possible.
KVP is online now  
Old October 8th, 2014, 11:21 AM
  #18  
Scharpp
Thread Starter
 
scharpp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: East Wenatchee Washington
Posts: 132
Yes thats a beauty, I am finding that this car is pretty rare and yes should be kept stock and restored, I am just more into hot rods, maybe I should just hot rod the 55 hardtop I found and sell this one to someone to restore
scharpp is offline  
Old October 8th, 2014, 05:55 PM
  #19  
Registered User
 
Tedd Thompson's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Ranch Ca.
Posts: 7,743
Originally Posted by scharpp
would it be an advantage tho to have the numbers matching motor in car as its a virgin as it is, this car has never been wrecked
There is no such thing as a numbers matching 55 Olds. There are no numbers that match or can match. Oldsmobile didn't start that till the late 60's and as far as the cam anything is possible but traditionally 55 didn't have issues with cams, 56 year that is a different story they were soft. My vote is (if I ever had one ) is to keep it stock but what the hay I tend to be a purist anyway, its your car do what makes you happy....Tedd
Tedd Thompson is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Dr. Pepper PhD.
Cutlass
13
July 17th, 2013 03:22 PM
Aceshigh
General Discussion
17
May 26th, 2011 12:01 AM
auto_editor
General Discussion
2
March 26th, 2011 10:39 AM
jeffs 89 cutlass salon
Drivetrain/Differentials
11
October 4th, 2007 08:46 AM
linas9
Parts Wanted
0
February 23rd, 2006 01:10 PM



Quick Reply: 55 olds engine & manual trans worth anything?



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 01:54 PM.