Oldsmobile oil system mods
 

Need advice on 455 Olds stocker oil system mods. Restricted pusrods, lifter restrictors etc? What's most effective?

Re: Oldsmobile oil system mods
 

Install restrictors on the mains and lifters and open up the oil return on the cylinder heads. There are several online vendors for these parts.

Re: Oldsmobile oil system mods
 

Give F. J. Smith a call . He had a pretty good package for Super Stock .

Re: Oldsmobile oil system mods
 

If you'll notice, those restrictors you put in the feeds for the cam bearings, are not really doing much. They have a passage in them that is as large or larger than the holes in the cam bearings themselves. If you have a hole that is 0.125" feeding a hole that is 0.110", which hole is the restriction? Usually, the clearance between the cam bearing and the cam bearing journal is such that not much oil is going to get through there anyway.

If you really feel like you need to cut down the oil to the cam bearings, just drill a smaller oil feed hole 180 degrees around from the original, and put the hole you drilled towards the feed from the main bearing.

If you restrict the oil to the hydraulic lifters, you run the risk of having the lifters collapse if you have very much valve spring. I'm not convinced it is worth it.

There are a couple of problems Oldsmobile builders face. The first is the crappy main bearings. Last year at the PRI Show, I spoke with King Bearings about producing an Oldsmobile bearing for racing, with a narrower 270 degree groove, as opposed to that wide, deep groove you get in the Clevite bearings.

Now, the Federal Mogul 108M bearing set is 1/2 groove. It's a decent bearing, and if you coat the bearing (I suggest HM Elliott) it does a decent job. I hope King will bring the new bearing out, but I have no way of knowing if/when that will happen.

The other problem I've been seeing is the horrible oil pumps. You just have to find a supplier that will let you sort through a few to see if you can get a good one. It is not at all uncommon to find the M-22FHV high performance oil pump with 0.005" end clearance and as much as 0.008" side clearance. Odds are, you won't find one with less than 0.005" side clearance, and you may go through 5-10 pumps to get there. You can carefully stone the housing to get your end clearance down to 0.002", but don't waste any time doing that on one of those pumps that has 0.008" side clearance. Schumann is supposedly going to make a good Oldsmobile pump, but it has been on the drawing board for 3-5 years now.

Remember that a big block Olds has massive bearing diameters, so you need plenty of clearance, especially on the mains, since the bottom of the block moves around. The large diameter combined with the narrow width and the high speed at any real RPM like you see when racing creates a lot of demand, and precludes the use of thinner oils. Make the bearing bores in the rods and mains tight and round, on the small side of the spec, and get your clearance by grinding the crank to the low side. That helps to maintain crush on the bearings, keeping them round and in place.

By all means, smooth and radius every passage that allows oil to drain back to the pan, and do not use any screens. Be especially careful of the drain back holes in the heads, at the deck, and in the head gaskets, make absolutely sure nothing obstructs or restricts the flow back to the pan.

I'd drill the pushrod holes in the heads out, very carefully, to allow the use of 3/8" 0.125" wall pushrods, as the Olds uses a very long pushrod, and the thin wall small diameter pushrods will flex if you have decent valve springs. I'd say Trend or Smith Brothers will make them with restricted holes, if you feel the need.

Re: Oldsmobile oil system mods
 

By all means Call FJ
905 772 5535

Re: Oldsmobile oil system mods
 

Hey Alan I was priming an olds 455 with oil I had built and it was impossible to prime with the valve covers off. I proceded to section an old valve cover to see how much oil was under valve cover and was amazed. I installed some smith bros pushrods with a .030 oil hole and did my priming again and still think there is too much oil up top. Any other ideas other than what you posted. Did the mods already!

Re: Oldsmobile oil system mods
 

Try a different set of lifters. What lifters do you have in it right now?

Re: Oldsmobile oil system mods
 

What about cross-drilling the entire crank? As it's not completeley cross-drilled from the factory

Re: Oldsmobile oil system mods
 

Cross drilling isn't necessary. So long as you have good oil pressure and volume, and the rods stay round, you won't have a rod problem. Olds main webs are weak, and you end up with main bearing problems. Number four main is a problem for the Oldsmobile.

Re: Oldsmobile oil system mods
 

I checked out three different sets of lifters. Checked the diameter of the orifice going into lifter and location of orifice. Also checked diameter of pushrod cup and they all were within .002.