I have a question and I want to apologize in advance if my question is too vague. I am puting a 77' olds 350 with 4-barrel Q-jet carb into my 70 cutlass. The purpose of this is just a temporary motor until I get the original Rocket rebuilt this coming winter. I want to be able to use the car this summer. My question is, assuming this motor I put in is in good shape what can I expect power wise from this motor. The motor is completly stock. The car has the original rear end and 3 speed auto tranny which are both in great working condition. I read somewhere that buy the late 70's these motors didn't produce a lot of power. Should I be able to break the tires loose with this engine assuming everything is tuned correctly? I only ask because I am as green as it comes with this and wouldn't honestly now what to expect from it. Any info would be great. Thank you

 

If the engine is in good shape i would guess about 160-180 real hp (not gross-hp)I dont know about spinning the tires ,it all depends on your rear-end,with some braking maybe yes i wouldnt bother stressing that engine too much though,use it as a cruiser and you will be fine. Dont forget,its not hp turning your wheels but torgue!

When i bought my car it had a 350 with 8-heads, a 2-barrel and a st-300 trans (2-speed) I could actually break the wheels loose a little at the beginning but i also have a 3:36 rear-end,needless to say that motor didnt last long.

 

Ok that is kind of what I was thinking but I didn't want to get it running take it out and be thinking there was something wrong if I couldn't break em loose.

 

Do you know what your gears are? Will it be a two bbl or a four bbl and will it have dual exhaust?

 

it is a 4-barrel with dual exhaust. I do not know the gears, it is stock from 1970

 

If you dont have a "slip diff" jack up one side of the back end, so that only one wheel is in the air, put a mark on your tire and a mark on the driveshaft, now spin the wheel once until the mark you made is in the same position, at the same time look how many times the driveshaft is turned, divided with 2 and there you have your rear-end ratio. The same applies with limited slip diff with the difference that you have to have both back wheels on the air and dont have to devide.

 

Hi: I'm a newbie to the forum, but I've owned 3 Cutlasses over the years - I get asked all the time if this car has a Rocket 350, or "just" a 350? I've done some googling but have not come up with a definite answer ..... any help appreciated!

Rich

 

No difference, just a name given to Olds engines.