My customer is inquiring about doing a few mods to his 324. He is now wanting me to remove the engine later in the year and do some things similar that I did with his 265 for his 56 Bel Air. My question is, are there any mild performance cams available for the 324? Piston selection? Any suggestions welcome.

Thanks
Darren

 

You can try Ross Automotive in Niles, Ohio. His Father is the early Oldsmobile engine guru. Son Tony is running it now. Buying parts would be okay but I wouldn't send the engine to him. Jmo

 

Thanks Kenny. I will be building the engine. Good to know about his shop though. I will try to look them up. Thanks again!

 

Hold on to your wallet, speed parts for a first generation Old's will not come cheap no matter who you buy them from. The hard part is finding someone who has them. Ross is about the easiest to source other wise it is find them where you can.

You should probably ask your customer how important it is to get a 4000+ lb 65 year old car to go fast. What are you going to beat? Soccer Moms drive around in 400 hp SUV's. Just a thought, his car his money.... Tedd

 

Lol. No doubt. I don't think he is looking to run with the modern rides. However you are right and I said something similar to him. I would assume getting any selection of cam profiles is almost non existent. I actually runs pretty well for a 65 year old tank in my humble opinion. He is extremely happy with how well everything else turned out, I think he is just wanting to eek out every last bit.

 

If the customer just wants it to be nostalgic go to ebay and get a 3x2 manifold and put three deuces on it and some finned valve covers and he should be happy.

 

Not a bad idea. However I question how much of a pain the 3 deuces would be. He drives the crap out of his collection with a very heavy right foot.

 

On another note. What kind of initial and total timing do you guys like to see out of these 324's?

 

It would be a little bit of a pain to hook up the TV linkage for the hydra-matic but it could be done.

 

Yeah I'm having issues with it not wanting to kick down, no matter how much adjustment I put into the linkage.

 

1956 Bel Air 265 brings back memories of my older Brothers car. The 265 was a revving little ba*tard with the Rochester 4V. They had a sound of their own. The 56 had a cannister drop in oil filter on the block but the 1955 blocks didn't have the filter casted in, overhead oil filter. Front motor mounts only, no side mounts. Gas filler tube behind drivers tailight. They were pretty creative back then. Then the "big" boy 283 came out in 1957!

 

Yeah I had to get creative on mounting the engine to my test stand.

 

I had a 1955 265 engine sitting next to a 1963 409 340hp engine for 15/18 years in one of my buildings. Both were good running engines when pulled. I gave the 265 to a guy I worked with in around 1985, he had a 1955 Chevy. I gave my Brother the 409 because he'd picked up a 1963 Biscayne body. I should have bought the 1963 when he sold it but you know the story, 2 kids in college yada yada. I pride myself that both my Children had zero college debt.

 

Just finished a 409 build last year. Fuel injected with aluminum heads for a 63 Impala 4-speed.

 

Try Camcraftcams.com for a warmer camshaft for the 324. They seem to be a good source for new (not reground) camshaft. They can also regrind your camshaft, but then you have to possibly get the correct length push rods. I have run their stuff yet because I haven't gone through my 57 Olds.

 

If you haven't rebuilt the 324 yet you might consider the 371 into the equation. Looks like a 324, bolts up like a 324, gain at least 100+ HP in stock form, more torque and all without breaking the bank. Now my dream is If you want to go crazy Ross has Aluminum heads with all the go fast stuff.This is all eazy with someone else's money, But you will break the bank doing this though.
I will now return you back to reality and shut off my dream till tonight where I will be looking for a lightweight roaster body to put under my fanthom 371..... Lost in the fifties...Tedd

 

A couple of other things you can do to " spice up " a 324 .
1. Bore the block to 4 inches and use stock 371 pistons . You'll have a 345 .
2. If it's a '54 or '55 , then '56 heads can be swapped on . Bigger ports and valves .
1956 heads can be identified by a number 10 cast on the top of the head .

 

Is there a problem coupling a 371 to the slant pan hydra-matic ?

 

Good question

 

Not if you use the 324 flywheel ( torus cover ) , and get it re-balanced to match the balance of the '57 or '58 flywheel .
371s and 394s are " offset balanced " , where the flywheel is intentionally un-balanced to make up for a lack of counterweight in the crank .

 

Trying to figure out how I would be able to run it on my engine test stand. Does the Hydramatic have a removable bell housing?

 

Charlie is pretty much on target ! I recall using the early flywheel and having the whole rotating assembly balanced using a 394, "back in the 60's".
1957-58 engines are fairly hard to find, if it were me, I would start with a 394 because there are a couple just on this site that have been for sale for a while. There are probably more used performance intake manifolds floating around. A 1/8" bore job and you have 419 cu. in. A stock 4 barrel 394 is 330 horses.
.......Just my two cents worth.

 

Here are a couple of illustrations , to give you an idea of how it all breaks down ;
Similar to a flathead Ford .

 

Thanks Charlie! So it does have a separate bell from transmission, similar to iron powerglide we just did for 265.

 

Built this one for a customer last year. installed into a 63 Impala SS 4-speed car.

 

The " fluid coupling " ( torque converter ) bolts directly to the crankshaft .
To remove the trans from the engine , the fluid coupling must be split . By removing the 30 or so bolts around the outside of the coupling .

 

One other thing , If you do decide to go to a 1961 thru 64 engine .
Make sure to use your 324 lower bellhousing and starter . The 61 - 64 housing won't work .
The starter is in a slightly different place .