Hmm...455 Olds Rocket?

[rusty ol ranger]

What a find....

Me and my buddy was pushing snow eariler today and the battery died (due to unknown alt failure) in the plow truck. We asked the guy we were pushing for if he had a a few wrenchs we could use to pull the alt out. He said sure and pointed us towards his barn.....

In his barn.....there was some kind of big oldsmobile.....im not sure what it was, it was stripped of all emblems and im not familer with big old's. Curosity got the best of me and i asked if i could look it over.....he said sure.....first thing i did was open that big ol heavy hood....

there it was in all its glory a 455 rocket V8.

Of course the next question out of my mouth was "Does it run" and the next one was "would you sell it?"......It does run....somewhat, and hes unsure if he'll sell it or not.

My question to you is.....

Ive heard great things about the amount of power these olds Rocket engines had, are they really what people say they are?

Are parts hard to come by?

Are they worth anything?

I know next to nothing.....just what ive heard. Not that i need another project as my 69 Charger is sitting in the barn with a cooked 440....but if its worth something and i can get it at a decent price.....would it be worth picking up? Even if it is just for the engine?

later,
Dustin

[tpking]

i never heard much of the 455 rockets but i have heard good things about the 350 rockets

[281Ranger]

If you had a Cutlass needing a motor I'd say jump on it. Otherwise, 455 Olds motors aren't really rare. Their are some desirable 455 Olds motors, but chances are the one you're looking at isn't one of them. Check the lower right corner of the heads for a letter about 3/4" tall. Then go to http://www.442.com/oldsfaq/ofhed.htm#Heads , scrole down just a little and you'll find a listing of all the big block Olds heads. It'll give you an idea if the engine is worth buying or not.

[Young_unn]

i have a 76 trand am with a olds 455 (1969)its pushing 500+ ponys with alumnium heads and bored .40 over, its nice but parts arent the easiest to find.

my buddy has a 69 delta 88 with one, and its nice and power, nice cruiser

[Punisher]

I have a buddy that runs a 455 rocket in his EB crawler, he loves it

[Kona]

Olds Rockets are big ol torque monsters, the pre- 1973 units would make up to 500 ft/lbs in stock (hi/po ) trim. Go here http://www.442.com/ and learn a little more grasshopper. If any where on the car you see 442 ,Cutlass SX ,W30 , Tornado do more research to see if you have something special, I am guessing it is not a 4dr? Olds big blocks are about the same price to build as Pontiac's ,ie more expensive then a Chev or Dodge but not too much more. There are lots of good performance parts out there for them http://www.mondellotwister.com/ and in stock performance trim they were pretty fast eat most ford performance offerings from the 60's early 70's !


Picture would be good.

[281Ranger]

Don't get me wrong, the 455 Olds is great engine, but it's not like finding an old Dodge in a barn with a hemi in it. The 455 had factory ratings of up to 400 hp and 500 torque. I used to be an Oldsmobile guy and still have a soft spot for them.

I used to own a '73 Delta 88 convert with the 455 smog motor in it. I added headers and a Mallory ignition system. At the drag strip it would run 15.50 @ 87mph with the stock 2.73 gears. Not bad for something that resembled an aircraft carrier. Also had a '66 Cutlass, '67 Cutlass, '69 Cutlass convert, '73 Delta 4dr, '74 Delta 2dr, '74 Omaga, '77 Cutlass, and a '78 Cutlass. I built a 455 with big valve heads, 10.5:1 pistons, W-33 cam, Offy intake with two 600 Edelbrocks, and Hooker headers, mated it to a built TH-350, and dropped it in a beige '64 Malibu stationwagon. Looked like grandma's car, but was a terror on the streets.

[kerry]

Olds 455 motors are known for high torque at low rpm. This is a good characteristic for quick acceleration. For all you ever wanted to know about 455's go here!
http://72.22.90.30/phpBB2/

[ozzy85]

Good solid engines. They were used in ski boats pretty often because of the torque and the bottom end was pretty beefy.

[pillen140]

is the car by any chance a delta 88, or delmont? some had a 425ci some had 455, the 455 stock is okay but no barnstormer stock. the 425 on the other hand had like 200hp, a real dog. my uncle has a delmont 2dr with a 455. il try to post a pic so you can see if this is it. the car is still pretty slow even with the 455, its a real boat, they arent worth a whole lot. but it will smoke the tires real good!!!

[pillen140]

the green one maybe?

[merc2dogs]

Don't know about that 425 comment, I've seen a couple of them that would eat camaros for breakfast and still be hungry.
One in a delmont 88 would give my mustang a real run for the money, and my mustang was no slouch at all.

The 455 was a real torque monster but didn't have a whole lot of top end, but if set up right could easily whip a lot of the small blocks on the street simply because they had torque from the basement up.

I've always been a Ford man, but I like the small Buick V8s, and all the Oldsmobile V8s except the blue/grey motors.

Ken.