I need to be educated!

Ravensmiles · July 10th, 2009

I have recently discovered that the 1940 oldsmobile I am restoring has a 248.9 ci pontiac straight 8 made november 19th 1938 that I know absolutely nothing about. I have researched it online and found very little my local library district has nothing even close to informative. I'm asking anyone out there that has seen these engines before to fill my brain. I would love to be overloaded with information. If you have tips tricks, pictures, diagrams, measurements, stories anything that can help me not destroy this engine with my hamhanded efforts to restore it, I would greatly appreciate anything you can teach me.

Thanks

Dave Fields · July 10th, 2009

The man who designed that engine was stolen from GMC by PAckard to design and build the 120 engine. They are quite simular. and it is a very good engine if Packard was interested in the designer. I would think that if you have to rebuild the engine, you would do better using a Oldsmobile 8. In those days, GMC was smart enough to know you didn't mix brands. Your car did not come new with a Pontiac engine.
Before GMC screwed up the Oldsmobile brand, GM was the experimental devision of Geeral Motors. Olds had the first GM automatic transmission, ohv v-8, front wheel drive, and I am sure other inovations.

Tinindian · July 11th, 2009

No doubt in my mind (although I have owned 8 Pontiacs and my daily driver for 50 years has been one) that as good as the Pontiac eight was the Olds eight was/is superior (hence the higher price). However it is probably ten times easier to get parts for the Pontiac. Everything is available for the Olds if you contact the right people. For a complete engine rebuild (by a competent auto machine shop) you would be looking at about $6,000.00 here in Canada.
Buy yourself a parts book and a shop manual for your car and for a Pontiac if you do not plan on going back to original. These are available on ebay most of the time.

Ravensmiles · July 12th, 2009

Thanks guys!

Dave it's nice to know something about the people behind the car. Someone in another forum had even suggested that Harley Earl may have had a hand in the design of the series 90. not sure if it's true but it would be amazing to think it was. I wondered if someone had replaced the old 257 with an older engine. now my only question is why did they go so much smaller.

TinIndian, I think your right, the info I've seen about the olds 257 makes it look a lot better than the 248 I've got. I'll just be happy if I can make it drivable at the moment though. Kanter has a rebuild kit with everything but the block for about $1300 U.S. and I found a mechanic that said he will rebuild it for $500 if I supply the parts and pull the engine myself. Problem is I know nothing about this engine so he could tell me it needed new pontoons to help it float better and all I could do is nod and smile. Your idea about the manuals was great I just found both of them reproduced on cd's for $36 apiece and there's a fisher body manual online for the 39/40 model year that was free! Is that your car in the picture? it's gorgeous!

Ravensmiles · July 17th, 2009

Does anyone know of any quirks or oddities in the way this engine works?
I've seen a couple of things that said oil filtration wasn't that great and that the inline runs pa

Mr. Lang · July 29th, 2009

Oil filtration! There is no filter. The engine has a sedimentor in it though. Mu engine has 56,000 original miles on it when I cleaned the oil pan, and there was a full quart of sediment. But, everything else was clean. Just use non detergent oil, so everything can fall out of the oil, and you will be fine.

Ravensmiles · July 31st, 2009

Thanks Mr Lang, I was a little perplexed by that, When I first started looking over the car I couldn't find the oil filter. I just assumed it was missing or placed somewhere I had never seen before. Then again until I bought this car I had never seen a sediment bowl on a fuel line before. I'm embarassed to admit I looked for what you typically think of as a dip stick with the finger ring on it for two days. I'm still trying to find out where the fill neck is for transmission fluid. Information on prewar cars seems to be kind of thin online.

49 Streamliner · August 1st, 2009

Assuming a manual transmission, you're not going to find a filler tube. If you can get underneath the car, you'll find a plug on the side of the transmission itself that is used for checking and adding transmission oil.

Mr. Lang · August 1st, 2009

Ravensmiles,
It would be worth the money for you to get a pontiac shop manual. It will describe in detail the operation, maintenance, and care of the engine. I see that maybe you have one now?
I would be leery of any mechanic that says that the engine could be rebuilt for $500, I could see the number closer to $5000. I don't have my shop manual in front of me, but it seems to me that at least the camshaft bearings have to be line bored after being put in the block.
If your engine has compression, it will more than likely run. They are sort of bomb proof. If you can get it running, I would not rebuild it. Use it and drive the care, while you find a factory engine, rebuild that, and place it in the car.

Ravensmiles · August 3rd, 2009

Thanks guys, as you can tell I'm starting all over from scratch when it comes to these cars.
Mr Lang , yeah I ordered one online and i'm waiting for it to come in now. I also found a website called the oldcarmanualproject and another called the second chance garage that have a lot of info.

Thanks Streamliner 49 I'm going to see if I can find the plug your talking about. The transmission has a clutch pedal so I know its a manual and not a hydramatic, next step is to try to identify what kind it is.