Historic Hot Rod Club Revived! est. 1936, reborn 2007.

Twitch said:

Mr Newport there are several variations on that theme with differences in what liquid is used to unfreeze a stuck engine. Very often they will I hear. It's always worth a try!

Speak of "straight" engines, how about my straight 8?

Click to expand...

Twitch...

Is that a Packard straight eight? I notice its a flathead configuration,...packard comes to mind.

Oh, sorry, yes it is a 1950

Here's a site that might be of interest. It's the Northwest Vintage Speedsters site: http://www.nwvs.org/index.shtml

They have scanned quite a lot of old articles on modifying your model T and A Fords.

Speedster said:

Here's a site that might be of interest. It's the Northwest Vintage Speedsters site: http://www.nwvs.org/index.shtml

They have scanned quite a lot of old articles on modifying your model T and A Fords.

Click to expand...

yep familiar with those guys,..very neat site! thank you.

cowboy76 said:

a 238 six?? I know an inline six in the mid 30s late 40s was a 216 CI engine,...later they came out with 235 CI in the late 1940s/50s....GMC had the 228, 248, 270 ,298 and later in the mid 1950s the 302 inline six. What's the 238 from??

Click to expand...

1948 Oldsmobile, entry level engine. The optional extra was a strait eight. The 238 is a flathead with 100 horses. The eight had 110. These were used from 1946-1948 untill the futuramic design in 1948 and 1949 took over. Interestingly, the traditional fat fender and the futuramic were in production at the same time in 1948. The futuramic I beleve started use of the legendary Rocket 88 in 1948 or 49.

Thunderbolt said:

1948 Oldsmobile, entry level engine. The optional extra was a strait eight. The 238 is a flathead with 100 horses. The eight had 110. These were used from 1946-1948 untill the futuramic design in 1948 and 1949 took over. Interestingly, the traditional fat fender and the futuramic were in production at the same time in 1948. The futuramic I beleve started use of the legendary Rocket 88 in 1948 or 49.

Click to expand...

The first Futuramic Olds was the 1948 98 Series. It shared the all new GM C-Body with the '48 Cadillacs and "49 Buick Super and Roadmaster. The '48 Olds 98 continued to use the old L-Head straight 8.

For 1949, the smaller 70 series Oldsmobiles began using the new GM A-Body (shared with Chevy and Pontiac), and the 98 got the all new 303 CID OHV Rocket V8. The 76 series stuck with the old L-Head 6 through 1951. All Oldsmobiles were called "Futuramic" in 1949.

For 1950, Olds added the Rocket V8 to the A-Body calling the new series the 88. By stuffing the powerful (135 HP) Rocket Eight into the relatively light A-Body, Olds created an early version of what we now call a muscle car. The so-called "Rocket 88" served Olds well for years.

As a kid growing up in the 1950s, I loved all Oldsmobiles of this era. I thought the name "Futuramic" was the neatest name on any car. And I was amused at how you could identify an Olds at a stoplight by the tic-tic-tic-tic-tic of the valve lifters on the early Rocket V8s. There was a problem getting enough oil to the top of the engine on those early Rockets.

But I remember my dad was not at all amused by those valve lifter problems. He was a real Oldsmobile fan but he refused to own one until GM fixed that lifter problem.

I wonder whatever happened to the Hot Irons? They were a big influence on the Barnstormers.