Guest Posted June 3, 2003 Share Posted June 3, 2003 I recently purchased '67 Cutlass convertible. A sticker on the left valve cover describes the engine as 330 cubic inches, 320 HP, 360 FT LBS torque, 10.5 compression ratio. It has a Rochester Quadrajet carb and dual exhausts. That is obviously awesome output from a stock engine.Since I'm new to Oldmobiles, I'm not familiar with that engine. I've never seen any performance parts listed in catalogs for the 330 engine, nor have I ever seen the engine mentioned in any general interest performance magazines such as Hot Rod, etc.Can anyone tell me anything about this engine? Especially, does it take parts from, or is it similar to, any of the more common engines such as the Chevy 327? Is this generally considered to be a good engine?Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted June 3, 2003 Share Posted June 3, 2003 Doesn't share anything with a Chevrolet engine. 330 were made 1964-67 and were respectable little engines, capable of impressive output. They were enlarged to 350 cid in 1968 to follow the General's trend- Chevy had a new 350, and the others had 330 (Olds), 340 (Buick), and 326 (Pontiac) engines, and no way were they going to allow lowly Chevrolet to have a bigger small-displacement engine. So, out came the boring bars, and next thing they all had 350s.The reason there isn't anything much 330-specific out there is due to the fact it is considered an obsolete engine. However, everything except pistons interchanges with the other Olds small-blocks, and some stuff will interchange with the 400/425/455 engine family.As long as it will tolerate available gasoline, you won't have many issues with it. The 320 horse engine was made for 100+ octane gasoline which was common and cheap when these engines were built. BTW, all 330 had forged cranks if that eases your mind any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dave Wyatt Posted June 3, 2003 Share Posted June 3, 2003 In the FWIW category, we borrowed the low comp 330 out of my Vista to use in my son's 85 Cutlass while his warmed over 307 was being repaired. Since this 330 was a two barrel, we stuck Mike's A4 intake and Quadrajet on the 330, dropped it in and hooked up the headers. It ran as good, if not better than the 307 in spite of having 98,000 miles on it. Just think of how it would run if was fresh and had the high compression pistons! The 307 he has runs good, but the stock 330 would outrun it. A great little motor IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 5, 2003 Share Posted June 5, 2003 Thanks to both of you for the good input. I'm going to try to restore the Cutlanss as original as possible, so will be pulling the engine for a rebuild. Sounds like it is definitely worth keeping. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old olds nut Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 Surprised no one has mentioned it ... The 330 (and 215 inch) Buick/Olds engines were aluminum with cast iron cylinder liners (unlike the Vega 4 cylinder aluminum engine, which omitted the cast iron cylinder liners, resultng in scored cylinders and needing a rebuild or replacement after 25,000 to 30,000 miles. Cast Iron liners were usually added during the rebuild.) For a while, the 330 and 215 aluminum V8 was a semi-popular alternative to the small block Chevy swap in the Chevy Vega. The 330 had Higher horse power than a standard stock 256/283/327/350 Chevy mouse. I am not sure about the 400 inch mouse engine, and the 330 weighed 40 pounds more than the Vega 4 cylinder equipped with factory AC! Hence there was no need to replace the front springs with heavier ones, or make other front suspension modifications. The 350 Olds was a cast iron engine. The 350 Olds was not a derivative of the 330. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_padavano Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 2 hours ago, old olds nut said: Surprised no one has mentioned it ... The 330 (and 215 inch) Buick/Olds engines were aluminum with cast iron cylinder liners (unlike the Vega 4 cylinder aluminum engine, which omitted the cast iron cylinder liners, resultng in scored cylinders and needing a rebuild or replacement after 25,000 to 30,000 miles. Cast Iron liners were usually added during the rebuild.) For a while, the 330 and 215 aluminum V8 was a semi-popular alternative to the small block Chevy swap in the Chevy Vega. The 330 had Higher horse power than a standard stock 256/283/327/350 Chevy mouse. I am not sure about the 400 inch mouse engine, and the 330 weighed 40 pounds more than the Vega 4 cylinder equipped with factory AC! Hence there was no need to replace the front springs with heavier ones, or make other front suspension modifications. The 350 Olds was a cast iron engine. The 350 Olds was not a derivative of the 330. Ignoring for the moment that this thread is TWENTY years old, no one mentioned it because it isn't true. The 330 was cast iron, period. You may be thinking of the 300 Buick, which was a tall deck version of the 215 that used a cast iron block but aluminum heads and intake for 1964 only. Other than that, pretty much everything you wrote is incorrect. The Olds 330 and 350 are nearly identical to each other, except for bore diameter. Both use the same 3.385" stroke and the cranks interchange, as do the heads, rods, intake, front cover, water pump, distributor, oil pump, etc, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now