TomTork's Different Olds
September 13th, 2012, 08:06 AM
#1
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Posts: 4
TomTork's Different Olds
Hi from Tomtork of Santa Ynez, Calif. I've owned Olds since 1954. The first was a 1949 303ci original Rocket. Bored to 348ci and ran a 1937 LaSalle 3 speed. It had four Stromberg #48 duals on a Horn intake and a Jack Engle #95 cam. Ran Mostly street and took on the '55 Chevys, Buick Centrys, '55 Corvettes, small Cobras and the big 4X4 Ford flat heads in Inglewood, Calif. Then in 1964 I upgraded to my second Olds, a '59 394ci Rocket bored to 418ci with single Quad and Dempsy Wilson Torquer cam to keep up with the Big Cobras. I should mention the '49 348ci Olds engine ran in a '49 fastback Plymouth business coupe and in 1957 the '49 348ci Olds engine was jammed into a '54 Healey 100 roadster along with its '37 LaSalle trany. In 1964 the '59 418ci engine went into the Healey and so it is today. Question: Classic Oldsmobile has a forum for “Non-Olds Powered”, why not add an “Olds-Powered Non-Olds” forum for cars like mine? There were lots of Olds engine installs in just about anything in the early '50s, before other overhead valve V8s become available. Some may still be operational and would make a good read.
September 13th, 2012, 01:13 PM
#3
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Olds Healey Pics
1954 Healey 100-4 I bought in 1957 and immediately installed a big block '49 Olds 303/348 "Rocket" engine. Car weighs 2486# with 47/53 F/B distribution. Ran 112mph in quarter at 12.5sec. Replaced engine with '59 394/418 Olds "Rocket" in 1964 and also modified front to resemble the new 427 Cobra. Did a Period '64 Restoration in 2000 and added kit Cobra bumpers. Best times so far are 0-30 in 1.4sec. 0 to 60 in 3.8sec. Best quarter mile speed was 118mph on street tires.
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September 13th, 2012, 01:38 PM
#5
same but different
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Central Missouri
Posts: 2,873
Welcome Tom. Hope your stay is a long one.
Nice story, I'm sure you got many more we would like to hear. Maybe you could teach all of us a few things about the early rockets.
Love the car.
Nice story, I'm sure you got many more we would like to hear. Maybe you could teach all of us a few things about the early rockets.
Love the car.
September 13th, 2012, 04:00 PM
#7
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Posts: 4
Not to Worry
I put new Uniroyal 205X70 15s on the front a few weeks ago. Got an alignment, camber and caster were right on but the toe in was way off. The wire wheels took perfect balance. The car rides a lot better now. I'm now waiting for a modern "Gear Reduction" starter to arrive. That should make hot day restarting a lot more reliable if I can get it installed without removing the engine. Its tight in there!
September 13th, 2012, 04:14 PM
#8
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Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 154
Tom Welcome to CO you will be a great asset to the site with all the Olds history that you have. Nothing like good old American ingenuity and insanity it's that out of the box thinking which is lacking today. I look forward to your future threads.
September 13th, 2012, 10:33 PM
#12
I had a 56 Austin Healey 100-4 Bn2 that my dad bought new. I will always have a soft spot for them. I also had a 54 BN1 that someone took apart and was going to install a small block. If only I had seen your Healey 5 years ago.
Great seeong your ride!
Great seeong your ride!
September 14th, 2012, 03:19 PM
#14
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Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 4
Thanks Guys for your enthusiastic acceptance of a British roadster on your Olds site. A British Healey site showed mild interest in the Olds Healey so I posted the following on their "Modified Healey" forum:
Its been 54 years since I built the Big Block Olds powered 54 Healey 100. Since I didn’t own a camera, none of the conversion was photo documented. However I produced some sketches of the various problem solvings. I could have borrowed my Mom’s but all the work was performed offsite in secret. This was necessary since I was 22 and living with my Folks who would just not understand what I was doing to my cute little 3 year old British roadster. In 2007 I wrote a “50th Anniversary Recollections” published by Australian Larry Varley in his excellent “Austin Healey 100 Restoration Site”. Some of you might find it an entertaining read…….TomTork
http://www.acmefluid.com.au/larry/oldshealey.html
If you liked this, try:
http://www.britishv8.org/Other/TomSchnerk.htm
Its been 54 years since I built the Big Block Olds powered 54 Healey 100. Since I didn’t own a camera, none of the conversion was photo documented. However I produced some sketches of the various problem solvings. I could have borrowed my Mom’s but all the work was performed offsite in secret. This was necessary since I was 22 and living with my Folks who would just not understand what I was doing to my cute little 3 year old British roadster. In 2007 I wrote a “50th Anniversary Recollections” published by Australian Larry Varley in his excellent “Austin Healey 100 Restoration Site”. Some of you might find it an entertaining read…….TomTork
http://www.acmefluid.com.au/larry/oldshealey.html
If you liked this, try:
http://www.britishv8.org/Other/TomSchnerk.htm
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