School me on 1949 303 V8

[JonW]

I'm basically a '60s muscle car guy, so the 303 is out of my wheelhouse. In talking with a shop about working on my '49, they were kinda ragging on the 303, saying it's not a good motor and that I should replace it with an LS. Obviously, I'm not going to do that. But it got me thinking, are there inherent problems with the 303? The engine in this car has supposedly been rebuilt, so if it was done right, am I good to go? I want this car to be reliable for driving to car shows out of state.

[Bloo]

No. The Olds V8 was solid from the very beginning. "Rocket 88"s were some of the fastest American cars around at that time, and no complaints from anyone about reliability.

[joe_padavano]

9 hours ago, JonW said:

In talking with a shop about working on my '49, they were kinda ragging on the 303, saying it's not a good motor and that I should replace it with an LS.

If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

[rocketraider]

The 1st gen Rocket V8s had some top end oiling problems that would cause valve train noise but no worse than anyone else's OHV V8 of same vintage. I think that was largely a function of available oils of the time.

 

If it's been rebuilt properly and the rocker arms and shafts are in good condition, run a good quality oil in it and change it regularly and you should have few if any problems with it.

 

10 hours ago, JonW said:

 they were kinda ragging on the 303, saying it's not a good motor and that I should replace it with an LS.

What they're telling you in not so many words is they don't know a damn thing about it, so it has to be a piece of junk.

 

I'd question if they have any idea how much aggravation and expense it would be to drop an LS in that chassis, time you account for the fabrication to mount it and a compatible transmission, converting the electrics to 12v, mounting its computer, modifying the fuel system for electric pump and so on to infinity. Oh, and since salvage yard LS generally come with a power steering pump attached, you then get into a power rack and pinion conversion with all that entails. Soon you no longer have a 49 Olds.

 

In other words all that stuff that the tv car shows don't tell you in their hour-long advertising push. The way they present an LS swap it can be done in 30 minutes or less, turn the key and it fires right up!🙄

 

Can ya tell an LS swap is a touchy subject with me?😛