Saw this on www.texas442.com
I never seen one like this that had the spark plugs going through the top of the valve covers.
Is this some rare special type of ignition setup or what??

 

HEMI OLDS!!!

It's one of the factory experimentals they were working on in late 60s- early 70s. It was scheduled for production installation in the 1970 Toronado and then in the 442 in 1971, but insurance, emissions, and GM corporate politics and inter-division rivalry put a stop to it.

 

So to say this is a rare motor would kind of be understated

 

That was the W-43 motor. Four valve, pushrod, hemi head. Scheduled for production until emissions requirements killed it. Get a copy of the May 1971 issue of Hot Rod magazine for all the details. There was also a DOHC version of the motor (the OW-43) that was intended for racing use such as top fuel and CanAm (keep in mind, this was when Olds was still supporting the CroSal CanAm team with the aluminum 455 motors).

The Olds Wiki is your friend:

http://www.oldsmobilewiki.com/index....mi_Olds_Motors

 

Just imagine.....
1/2 of the big block Chevy guys and 1/2 of the Mopar guys would have been Hemi Olds guys.

 

Wouldn't it be awsome if someone cast those HEMI heads and dual overhead cam parts aftermarket?

 

What would be interesting is to see just what kind of performance this monster was capable of before it was killed. Reminds me of the Avro Arrow

 

According to the Hot Rod article, the motor only saw limited dyno time before the program was killed. Without the chance to optimize the cam profile or carb tuning, they still saw in excess of 500 HP.

The Hot Rod article also has some cool pictures like a factory intake for a Holley 4500 Dominator and the watch-like gear drive for the cams on the DOHC version.

 

You would have to be a master machinist and engineer to recreate these parts for the aftermarket. Especially without blueprints or schematics. Where are these engines now?

BTW Joe, get to work. We want to buy these parts by this October.

 

I lusted for a SOHC Furd cammer when I was young and foolish, settled for a 390 in my '55 Furd Customline.

Heck, with CAD-CAM and all that you could have the computers and robots do it, have to get your hands on it so the robots can analyze and measure it.

Sounds like a job for Bond...James Bond.

Those orange motorbike chopper bike show guys can make junk with their multi-million dollar machines and several factory engineers hiding behind the cameras.

They take a 2 ton aluminum billet chunk and machine it down into a gas cap.


I'll take one engine woof please.

 

My grandpa had one of these HEMI engines in the Hurst 442 F-85 2 door station wagon he ordered back in 1971, he was going to use it to haul azz but he lost it in a poker game the first night he had it and it has never been seen again. Rumor has it,the EPA has it hidden in a bunker somewhere in Nevada

 

 

Poor, poor Avro.

 

sacrificed for the moon