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New guy here, not only to the forum but to Oldsmobiles as well. My step father bought me a 1978 delta 88 , with the 350. Im not new to working on cars but I'm new to working on anything with a carb haha. Anyways she only has 28,000 miles on her. Great shape. Anyone have recommendations for power increase? I know the 77+ year 350s aren't that great. Any input on that would be great. Thanks. Happy to be here
Welcome to the forum and congratulations on owning a beautiful '78. You'll find a ton of information, experiences, and customization ideas for it on here.
I would argue the point that the 350 in the 78 Delta wasn't a great engine. I believe it could have been an Olds 350 or a Chevy 350. I know Olds used some Chevy 350s in 77 and I thing in 78 also. I had a 78 Delta with an Olds 350 and it was a great car. It would run pretty dang good. It was a great road car. If it needs replacing or rebuilding I would probably agree with Kennybill. Otherwise I would keep the 350. Now if you are looking for a hot rod, that is a different story. My 78 Delta was probably one of the best cars I ever had. Loved that car.
I would argue the point that the 350 in the 78 Delta wasn't a great engine. I believe it could have been an Olds 350 or a Chevy 350. I know Olds used some Chevy 350s in 77 and I thing in 78 also. I had a 78 Delta with an Olds 350 and it was a great car. It would run pretty dang good. It was a great road car. If it needs replacing or rebuilding I would probably agree with Kennybill. Otherwise I would keep the 350. Now if you are looking for a hot rod, that is a different story. My 78 Delta was probably one of the best cars I ever had. Loved that car.
The car runs great. It has very low miles on it. I just want a little more out of it. I'm not going to take it on the track or anything, but some more power would be great. I feel 160hp out of an olds 350 is saddening
Your could probably put a good set of dual exhaust and maybe a mild cam in the 350 and that would probably do a good bit to wake it up. Those would be things you could transfer to a 403 if you later decided to go that route.
Your could probably put a good set of dual exhaust and maybe a mild cam in the 350 and that would probably do a good bit to wake it up. Those would be things you could transfer to a 403 if you later decided to go that route.
That's a good point. Even getting to ~200 hp is fine by me. You're all being very helpful, thanks.
Come on Eric, he has to have a nice set of duals on it. You know you would have done it when you were young and you would do it now. Maybe he doesn't use headers and just starts with the manifolds. That alone will probably give him 15-20 horsepower.
I believe PA has goofy registration and licensing rules. Compounded by the fact he lives in a smog check county.
I'm actually about 20 minutes outside of Scranton (it's easier to say I'm from there because I live in the middle of nowhere) I live in a county that doesn't need emissions
Even if you have to deal with emissions you could probably put high flow twin cats on it. The converter on the 78 was pretty restrictive. I don't know what you would get into with the crossmember.
For '78 and later, Olds (and other GM divisions) began including a disclaimer like this in their sales literature. The OP should be able to tell from the fifth character of the car's VIN which engine it has (or originally came with).
For '78 and later, Olds (and other GM divisions) began including a disclaimer like this in their sales literature. The OP should be able to tell from the fifth character of the car's VIN which engine it has (or originally came with).
The story behind using those SBC's is a tale in itself. Suffice to say Buick and Pontiac were perfectly happy with the 350 and 403 engines they were buying from Olds, and Olds didn't have enough engine capacity to meet their sales commitments to B&P and then have enough for their own cars (keep in mind 1977 was their million-sales year). So, Olds took the high road, kept their engine sales commitments to B&P, and bought Chevy 350s for their own stuff since Chevy had more engine building capacity than they knew what to do with and were happy to keep their engine plants running. Plus there were plenty of Oldsmobile-Chevrolet dualled dealerships so service would have been a simple plan.
It all seemed like a win-win for everyone when they did it... till the walls fell in.
Last edited by rocketraider; May 14, 2018 at 01:01 PM.
