rocket 350

I have a1971 Oldsmobile cutlass and want to run some serious power through it's rocket350 for a not a whole lot any suggestions

$peed cost$ money. How fa$t do you want to go?

I believe you have come to the wrong place, as AACA ( General section) is a place for stock, how it came from the factory / restored / unrestored / projects to restore to original condition enthusiast club/web site. I would be in touch with Olds club of America, because they not only cater to stock Oldsmobiles, but also modified Oldsmobiles, heck, at the OCA Nationals in Reno a few years back a modified Olds ( 49 or 50 club coupe ) won best of show with a CHEVY big block! So much for the Rocket V-8!

Please clarify the meaning of what you said; " through it's rocket350 for a not a whole lot any suggestions "

I would like to get this car to have some power with keeping original cams and headed and all just little things that would make the difference

Headers my bad I would only want to pay about 5 or 6 hundred max

If you want to make your car faster and still stock, I would suggest you take notice of this Factory Rally 350 Olds;

brakes, and tinted glass.The only engine available in the Rallye 350 was the L74 Rocket 350 V8 with a Rochester 4-barrel carburetor. A single snorkel air cleaner feeds oxygen to the engine. At or near full throttle, a vacuum-operated air flap attached to the air cleaner opens and allows the engine to breathe through the twin hood scoops. This engine could be mated to either a 3-speed or 4-speed manual or a Turbo 350 automatic. The yellow cruiser was rated at 310 horsepower with maximum torque rated at 390 foot-pounds.

Oldsmobile gave the Rallye 350 some extra oomph where it counted. Helping keep the Rallye 350 glued to the road was the FE2 Rally Suspension Package. The package included front and rear stabilizer bars along with heavy duty springs. It was included when ordering the Rallye 350. Drum brakes were standard on the front and rear. However, for a little extra stopping power, front discs were an available option. The standard wheel was the 14 x 7-inch Super Stock II. These were painted yellow and included bright center caps with the Oldsmobile rocket logo. Standard tires were 14-inch blackwalls but white stripe or white letter tires were available to check off on the option sheet. The standard rear end was a 3.23:1 but a 3.42:1 and 3.91 were also available.

Even though the Rallye 350 was a muscle car for the budget-minded, it performed fairly well in road tests. Car Life Magazine tested the car for their May 1970 issue. It ran from 0 – 60 in 7 seconds and dashed the quarter mile in 15.27 seconds running 94 mph. Not too shabby for a 3,500 pound car with only 310 horsepower. The numbers are pretty similar to the 1970 Plymouth Road Runner with the 335 horsepower 383 cubic-inch V8. The Road Runner ran from 0 – 60 in 7.1 seconds and completed the quarter in 15 seconds reaching 96 mph.

A recent search of auction and classified sites shows prices for a Rallye 350 are fairly reasonable. An internet search found examples for sale ranging from $16,000 to $36,000. These prices are roughly half the asking price of the 1970 442. Just like it was in 1970, the Rallye 350 is still an affordable muscle car today.

Just as fast as it appeared on the scene, the Rallye 350 disappeared in a flash at the end of the 1970 model year. During its one year production run, Oldsmobile built only 3,547 of these yellow coupes. Though not as popular or as quick as the 442, the Rallye 350 still has earned a spot in muscle car history.

The lowdown…

• Number built: 3,547
  
• Construction: Perimeter frame
  
• Engines: L74 V8
  
• Displacement: 350 cubic-inches
  
• Horsepower: 310 @ 4,800 rpm
  
• Torque: 390 @ 3,200 rpm
  
• Bore and stroke: 4.057 x 3.385
  
• Induction: single snorkel air cleaner, dual hood scoop air inlets
  
• Carburetion: single Rochester 4-barrel
  
• Compression: 10.25:1
  
• Transmissions: 3-speed manual, 4-speed manual, Turbo Hydra-Matic 350 automatic
  
• Suspension: FE2 Suspension Package w/ front and rear anti-roll bar
  
• Brakes: drums, front and rear; optional front disc
  
• Rearend: 3.23:1, 3.42:1 and 3.91:1 optional
  
• Wheels: 14 x 7 Oldsmobile Super Stock II
  
• Tires: G70 14-inch blackwall; raised white letter and white stripe optional
  
• Length/Width/Height: 203.2/76.2/52.8 inches
  
• Wheelbase: 112 inches
  
• Weight – 3,500 pounds
  
• 0 – 60: 7 seconds
  
• Quarter Mile: 15 seconds @ 96
  

Use the cam in the rally 350, use a Q jet 4bbl. Do not use headers on a street car.

Thx but I'm not really looking for rear axles and suspension packs right now I am very interested in that rally 350:any idea where I could find one and rebuild it?

It's not going to be a street car I want to do small block drags

It's not going to be a street car I want to do small block drags

This type of thing really isn't going to get you very far here, nor should it on this Stock only web site, but are you going to bracket race, or race in a class or do you just want to go fast? If you want to go fast my choice would be the Olds 425, next would be a 455 and eve though they are Gen 2 tall decks, they fit and share some components with the Gen 2 short deck ( 330, 350, 403 ).

Thx but I'm not really looking for rear axles and suspension packs right now I am very interested in that rally 350:any idea where I could find one and rebuild it?

You can make a rally 350 engine out of a run of the mill Olds 350, by using high compression pistons, the rally cam, valve springs, pushrods, oil pump.

Check out www.classicoldsmobile.com. You'll find alot of resources there for what you want to do.

Headers my bad I would only want to pay about 5 or 6 hundred max

For 5 or 6 hundred you aren't going to get the "serious" power that you're looking for. It's time for a reality check. If you want to go racing, you need more than headers on a stock cammed engine with original heads. A set of headers will not give you a noticeable increase. To be competitive, you need to get out of the mindset that a K&N filter and a fart cannon exhaust is worth 500 horsepower and realize that spending upwards of 10K on engine/trans mods will be needed to get you playing with the big boys

My son went through this with a 68. Cutlass. He first converted its origial 350 to a Rallye. Engine as discussed above. He replaced the original 2 speed automatic with a Turbo 400. He then upgraded the car's suspension and brakes as well. This setup wasn't bad, but, my son then acquired a 425 cid engine out of a 66 Olds Starfire. This engine, rebuilt and modified, is now in the car. Performance is quite impressive with this setup. My guess is he's getting about 400 hp and 500 ft-lbs of torque out of the 425.

regards:

Oldengineer

I agree that there are no magic, low cost improvements. I will suggest that you'll probably get more useful answers at classicoldsmobile.com.

I'll also add that the cheapest way to upgrade your 350 is to jack up the air cleaner and slide a 455 under it. That swap is as close to a bolt-in as you will ever see.

The Olds 350 is one of the best V8s ever made. In quality and longevity it has it over a Chev 350 like a tent. They produce similar power but the Olds gets several more miles per gallon of gas.

Start by assessing the condition of the engine. How many miles on it? How is the oil pressure? Do a compression test and find out exactly how good the engine is.

If it passes these tests, time for a thorough tuneup. On a car that old it may call for new plug wires as well as new plugs, new distributor cap etc, a rebuilt carburetor, and whatever else it needs.

You may even need a valve job to get the compression up.

I know people who have done this on old cars and were surprised at the increase in performance, ease of starting, and drivability.

What I have suggested could easily cost $500, $600 or more depending what the car needs.

One way to save money would be to buy a repair manual and do the work yourself. Don't go getting ideas of your own, put it back the way the factory made it and you won't go wrong.

Unless that car has been restored recently, it's likely going to need more than $600 just to pass a safety inspection. Rebuilding the motor is going to start at around $3k for stock specs. The days of racing with a $50 beater are pretty much over... the cost of potential litigation will raise it's ugly head again. You need to decide what class you want to race in and talk to some of the people that actually do it. I think the sticker shock is going to shake you up a little.

As for the factory "hot rod" tuning, you can go over to www.wildaboutcarsonline.com and do a free registration to start with. When that's done, you need to click over to the Oldsmobile section and then seek out the circa 1969 Olds manual with all of the ignition and carburetor tricks for "drag racing" performance upgrades. I'd never seen one of these until I found it in there! You might also check out the other Olds publications in their online archives, too.

I concur about the greatness of the Olds 350 V-8 engine! Back when the first fuel economy crisis hit, there was a manual (for sale from a private vendor) which detailed how the various cars' emissions systems worked and how to "retune" them for best power and fuel economy. Suddenly, the '73 Cutlass 350s would lay serious rubber and still get past 20mpg on the highway. Wasn't that hard to do, either.

Personally, I'd be more concerned about "driveability" than how much horsepower an engine puts out (well, that IS important, but not necessarily in daily driving). Personally, I like off-idle throttle response to be sharp and quick, with little throttle input. This is where the distributor specs and some carb tuning come in. Might make a few more horsepower, but with the extra torque and throttle response, you'll need less throttle input to get moving quickly . . . letting the QJet 4bbl take care of the upper rpm power. Much more fun to lay rubber with a 350 horsepower motor than to wait for a mis-combinationed 500 horsepower motor to hit its upper rpm power band. A very expensive "mis-combinationed" 500 horsepower motor, usually.

AND, those Cutlasses, with the rear sway bar suspension were some great handling cars. Always nice to feel a nice chassis go through a turn(s) flat and in control, to me. And those Rallye 350s would also stop (at least with the production brake components on them . . . recorded about 1G deceleration in the one road test I know of.

Just some thoughts,

NTX5467