Warhead

Dude, the cap will only go on 1 way. All the plug wires will need to be in the exact same position, as where they were removed from.

Istead of trying to explain it, you need to have a Motors manual, or a Chilton's manual while doing any major work, and it has all this stuff too.

Go buy it right now!

Jim

Warhead

Not trying to be gruff,
Put the #1 cylinder to tdc where it fires...
With the spark plug out on #1, and your finger over the plug hole, you will feel it push your finger off the hole as it compresses the cylinder.
NOW turn the engine until the timing marker is at top dead center. It should not be too far.
The rotor (on the distributor) should be pointing to #1 cylinder.
Put the cap back on (it only goes on correctly 1 way).
Put #1 plug wire in the port in the cap that the rotor was pointing to.
#8 will be counterclockwise of that hole (ccw is the direction the distributor turns while running, on an Oldsmobile engine).
#4 ccw of that hole
#3 ccw of that hole
#6 ccw of that hole
#5 ccw of that hole
#7 ccw of that hole
#2 ccw of that hole, and that will be just next to where you began, on #1.

18436572 is the firing order.

Learn it, live it, love it.

Please do get the Chilton's manual.
Jim

BlackGold

No, please do not buy a Chilton's manual.
Buy the proper Chassis Service Manual for your year car, published by Oldsmobile. It's infinitely better. Reprints are available. It'll be the most important tool in your toolbox.

Timothy26

Thanks alot guy....finally got it fired up and running like a champ......Question.....Will a pontiac 455 fit in my 71 cutlass with a 350 in it?...

Ddbord

It probably will, but it won't be a Cutlass anymore!

Willidog

Get a diagram that shows the firing order to make sure your wires are hooked up correctly.

sicky olds

my honest opinion now that you got this car up and running and want to drop a bigger engine in it, get another car shell at least and use it for a build car, and if something is wrong with your engine the answer is not going to be new engine everytime lol. dont go putting chebby or ponty engines in the olds you have running fine, not only is it going to be expensive but an overall bad idea IMHO, and if your going to drop a ponty 455 in it why not get an olds 455 to drop in it?

olds67

on ebay a few days ago there was a complete engine Oldsmobile 425 BB and wanted $ 400, if I find you around the link..

mount another mount a better engine or motor that is not fair Oldsmobile

Timothy26

Hey friends...Now Iam having the darnest time wit this car.....Iam loseing coolant with no sign of loss on the ground or when its parked period...what could that be...I just had the head gaskets changed a couple mnths back with new heads valves and all done....Please help....every couple days Iam loseing about a coup of water and Iam forever haveing to top it off....like I can go out there right now and I would bet plenty money itll need water...what do that sound like to any of you?

rocketraider

First and foremost- are you filling the radiator up to the bottom of the filler neck? If the car does not have a closed cooling sytem (look for a plastic bottle with a tube going from it to radiator) you need to leave about 3" of air space between top of coolant level and the radiator filler neck. If you don't, it will puke out coolant until it finds the level it wants. Radiator should have a "fill cold" mark embossed into the tank below the radiator cap.

You're sure the cap itself is good and not lifting before it should?

Look close around the water pump weep holes for telltale streaks. Sometimes what will happen is there'll be some leakage but it will evaporate off before it drips onto the ground.

Have the cooling system pressure tested. An external leak should show up quickly. If it's not holding pressure and there is no sign of external leakage, back to the mechanic it goes.

You're not seeing any signs of water in oil, are you? Milky brown on the dipstick? I've heard it described as looking like a milkshake.

Col Wickham

A cup of coolant every couple of days is a reasonable leak and usually you'd find a pool on the ground when the engine cooled. You could check around your inlet manifold as well. That's where mine went and an almost invisible jet of coolant was spraying out from where it joined the right side head. Evaporated when the engine was hot but pressure kept it coming for a while after it cooled and it ended up on the shed floor. I'm hoping it's not ending up in with your oil. Agree...get it pressure tested and hope it's external.

Timothy26

Iam gonna have a pressure test done...but let me ask this...what am I looking for as far as the test is concerned?......And I checked the fluid and oil and everything as far as that seems to be good....no mixture what so ever...

Col Wickham

Suggest you get it done on a cold engine.Your looking for the pressure to be dropping and coolant to be appearing from somewhere. I had a Valiant once with a tiny hairline crack in the radiator. Once again, no sign when it was hot, but sure enough a cold pressure test showed it up. 5 minutes with a soldering iron and problem solved. Just check everywhere mate. If it's not heading back into the oil then it will show up.