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Olds64

Michael, that's an AWESOME project. Definitely bad@$$!

Jamesbo

Welcome aboard

Cool project

Charlie Jones

The F-35 has a six cylinder engine . Putting an in line eight cylinder engine would be next to impossible . The eight cylinder cars ( L-35 ) were slightly longer . 121 " wheelbase , compared to the F-35's 115 ".
The difference in length was in the distance from the cowl to the front crossmember where the radiator is and where the engine front mount is .
The frames . hoods , hood side panels , and front fenders are all different .
A better choice would be a 257 cu. in six cylinder engine from a '49 or '50 Oldsmobile "76" .

CRUZN 66

Welcome to the group... Definitely a cool project vehicle...

oldcutlass

Welcome to the site, awesome project.

redoldsman

Welcome and that is going to be a neat car. A lot of guys would be making that into a street rod and it would make a great one. Glad you are saving it. Charlie Jones gave you some good advice. The 49-50 engine is a big improvement over the one you have. One of the biggest improvements is the later engine has inserts (rod bearings) instead of poured babbit rods. I had a former acquittance that put a 49 engine in his 31 couple and there were a couple of modifications he had to make but i don't remember what they were. He as very happy with the result. The biggest problem will be finding that 49-59 engine that is rebuildable. Good luck and keep us posted.

Charlie Jones

According to my 1941 Olds parts catalog , all 1933 and up Oldsmobiles had insert bearings .
And , '28 thru '32 six cylinder Olds could be converted to insert bearings by using F33 or F34 rods .
Just something for future reference .

garykrig

That F35 engine is a great running engine with plenty of power. I don't see a later six being that big of an improvement. I have owned a F35 sport coupe for 45 years the biggest performance improvement I would like to make is an overdrive. They are geared so low [something like 4:55] they are really humming at 60 MPH.

Charlie Jones

According to the numbers on the head , this engine came from a 1948 Oldsmobile "98" .
After WWII , "premium" fuels were coming in to vogue . Oldsmobile took advantage of that by offering a " high compression "
cylinder head in some models . This head gave greater power AND economy , over the "standard " head when used with premium .
BTW , the head was cast just after midnight on April 16th , 1948 .

redoldsman

Charlie I had read somewhere (probably an erroneous post) that Olds started using inserts in 1937. I guess it is a moot point since the OP has a 1948 engine already.

Charlie Jones

Actually , there MIGHT be a way to do this . This is only theoretical , so please check and measure before actually attempting this , or even purchasing parts to do it .
A '37 or '38 Olds (or Pontiac ) rear axle would have to be installed . This may very well involve moving or even swapping the spring pads on the housing .
Then a 1940 thru '47 rear end center section (chunk) from a " Hydra - Matic " car would have to be installed in the '37 or '38 axle . These came in ratios as " high " as 3.42 to 1. and they drop right in . 1948 thru '56 rear center sections will also fit a '37 or '38 axle with minor modifications such as grinding the housing somewhat to get the ring gear in and using studs with two different sizes on each end to fasten the center to the housing .
I actually did this on a 1937 Pontiac and put a '54 Pontiac Hydra - Matic (3.23) center in it .
It was a little slower accelerating , but it would cruise easily at 65 MPH .

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