
oldsmobile-digest       Tuesday, March 9 2004       Volume 01 : Number 4809



Introduction and Thanks! - Long
RE: WOW, a Ram Rod W-31 1968 442 !!!
W-31 Technical Info *Long*
RE: WOW, a Ram Rod W-31 1968 442 !!!
Re: WOW, a Ram Rod W-31 1968 442 !!!
455 Intake Bolt Length
RE: WOW, a Ram Rod W-31 1968 442 !!!
OT: Home electrical problems....
Re: 455 Intake Bolt Length
Re: Home electrical problems....
RE: 455 Intake Bolt Length
Re: OT: Home electrical problems....
Low RPM, Max Torque 455
RE: Low RPM, Max Torque 455
Re: OT: Home electrical problems....
Re: OT: Home electrical problems....
Re: WOW, a Ram Rod W-31 1968 442 !!!
Re: WOW, a Ram Rod W-31 1968 442 !!!
Re: WOW, a Ram Rod W-31 1968 442 !!!
Re: W-31 Technical Info *Long*
Re: 455 Intake Bolt Length
Re: Home electrical problems....

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2004 15:53:17 -0800 (PST)
From: Gary Wiles <royale455@yahoo.com>
Subject: Introduction and Thanks! - Long

I've been reading on digest for far too long to not have said hello earlier, already
feel like I know some of you.  Been on the list for over a year now but never was
able to post (think I had a problem with e-mail format using netscape mail).  I live
in Richardson, TX, just NE of Dallas.  My Olds is about a year older than I am - 
1972 88 Royale conv w/ factory air (not working) and power seats.  Got this one
because I had a '73 when I was in highschool (t-boned a guy who pulled out in front
of me, then drove it home but my dad sent it to the yard).  I've had this one almost
5 years, minimal rust, doesn't smoke or burn oil, but the paint and interior are
shot.  Not sure of it's history.  The guy I bought it from said it was donated and
auctioned a couple of times before he got it.  For the right price I'd part with it
but I'm asking waaayyy too much :)

Thanks to the information I found here I finally tackled installing a GM HEI
distributor this past weekend.  Except for figuring out that I set it up at TDC of
the exhaust/intake cylce instead of the compression cycle, it was a cinch.  Wow what
a difference the HEI makes!  Not sure if the points were shot or if it was the
massive end play in the old dist .  Thanks everyone for sharing and publishing your
knowledge.

Here is some of the stuff I've done do far. 1st year it got a new water pump,
t-stat, radiator, fan clutch (fan blades were mounted backwards!) next year - new
top, beefier front sway bar with poly bushings, all springs (should have gotten
shorter ones), rebuilt most of the front end suspension and steering.  Last year new
top, door and window seals and added a rear sway bar.

FWIW - @utozone carries a Wells brand electronic external voltage regulator (VR715 I
think) that looks a lot like a mechanical one (it is silver and the top is rivited
from the bottom instead of the screws on the side tabs.


to quote Kevin..."on digest so I'm a little slow"
Gary Wiles

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Search - Find what you’re looking for faster
http://search.yahoo.com

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2004 18:55:06 -0500
From: "Christopher Witt" <rocketscience442@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: WOW, a Ram Rod W-31 1968 442 !!!

Well, at least it DOES appear to be sporting the correct Ultra-wide Harmonic 
Damper per W31 specs. Can be seen in one of the engine pics.
- -----------------------
Chris Witt
1303 W. Miller Rd.
Lansing MI 48911

RocketScience442@hotmail.com

Cell 517-449-0432 weekends or short weekday calls or leave message.
Home 517-882-9747 thru 10-11pm MI time most days

_________________________________________________________________
Store more e-mails with MSN Hotmail Extra Storage – 4 plans to choose from! 
http://click.atdmt.com/AVE/go/onm00200362ave/direct/01/

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2004 17:24:03 -0700
From: "Karl Sup" <droldslives@hotmail.com>
Subject: W-31 Technical Info *Long*

I sent this out last year...

>For 1968 (aka 'Ram Rod 350'):
>  W-31's only had manual transmissions. The M21 was standard with the 3.91 
>gears and the M20 with the 3.42's. The M14 3-speed stick was optional. The 
>rear gear option were only 3.91 or 3.42. No A/C option. Manual DRUM brakes. 
>Power steering optional and of course, that wicked .474 lift/308 duration 
>cam. #5 heads (standard #5 part number 397742, only cut for 2.005/1.630 
>valves). Flat top pistons, 10.5:1. Standard 350 4-bbl cast iron intake (not 
>special) #398663. Ditto for the distributor. And... the unique W-31 only 
>harmonic balancer for which I can find no apparent necessity for it's HUGE 
>size. :-) Black wells.
>
>For 1969:
>  Early model W-31's (like my Cutlass S Post in January 69) were 4-speed 
>only cars. Then someone decided to add an automatic to the line-up with a 
>TH350 coded 'JO'. Chris Smetana's Holiday 69 W-31 has the automatic, his 
>being built in May 1969. The auto and manual cars had the same camshaft. I 
>believe the converter on the auto cars had a high stall, but I don't know 
>the number. Otherwise, same options (or non-options) as in 1968. And they 
>did make 26 convertibles... only this year. Black wells.
>
>For 1970:
>  New aluminum intake (one year only part), with #6 heads (same p/n as 
>standard again) getting cut with the large valves. Of course, it got the 
>fiberglass hood and hood OAI option. Manual DISC brakes were also an 
>option, along with power steering as an option. Standard 350 4-bbl high 
>compression distributor 1111975. Now for the good stuff:
>  Rumor has it that *some* W-31 engine equipped Rallye 350's (W-45) were 
>made. If so, it was a *very* limited number. Black wells.
>
>For 1971:
>  Well, I have an article with Dale Smith test driving a 1971 W-31 from the 
>fall of 1970, but of course... this car never went to production. I wonder 
>where that 1971 W-31 is??? :-)
>
>Karl Sup
>Mesa, AZ
>

_________________________________________________________________
Create a Job Alert on MSN Careers and enter for a chance to win $1000! 
http://msn.careerbuilder.com/promo/kaday.htm?siteid=CBMSN_1K&sc_extcmp=JS_JASweep_MSNHotm2

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2004 17:50:32 -0700
From: "Schopen, Kenneth" <kenneth.schopen@medtronic.com>
Subject: RE: WOW, a Ram Rod W-31 1968 442 !!!

Was anyone able to ID the harmonic balancer from the 20th picture? There's a fairly good profile view of it, with a light background so it stands out. I've never compared a W-31 balancer to a regular one, so I couldn't tell if this engine had the W-31 balancer or not.

Kenneth
1971 Cutlass Supreme convertible
Phoenix, AZ

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2004 18:00:44 -0700
From: Mark Mullins <mark@marineaviation.org>
Subject: Re: WOW, a Ram Rod W-31 1968 442 !!!

Chris,
I saw one similar at the Phoenix Olds show last month.  I figured the owner 
just got carried away.
http://mmullins2000.home.comcast.net/carshow3/Picture02.jpg

M

At 01:07 PM 3/8/2004 -0500, Chris Witt wrote:
>And I thought that 442's had 344... VIN's, and the W31 pkg was not 
>available on the 442 ?!?!?
>
>But, here it is, undeniably:
>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2464099361&category=15287
>
>-----------------------
>Chris Witt
>1303 W. Miller Rd.
>Lansing MI 48911

Mark Mullins
Tucson, Az

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2004 20:28:54 -0600
From: Steve Reed <ssreed@direcway.com>
Subject: 455 Intake Bolt Length

All,
	Can someone refresh my memory as to the bolt specification for the
intake on a 455?  Are they 5/16-18 X 1.5 long, are the 3/8-16 X 1.5"?
	I'm trying to get all of the free fasteners I can from our
industrial bolt supplier before I leave the company.

Thanks!

Steve Reed 
'96 9C1 Chevy Caprice 
'70 Cutlass Supreme Ragtop (In Reassembly mode) 
'68 Cutlass Supreme (Seized Engine) 
Austin, TX 
http://www.sreed.0catch.com/html/cars.html

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2004 20:04:07 -0700
From: "Karl Sup" <droldslives@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: WOW, a Ram Rod W-31 1968 442 !!!

It's the correct balancer... a very noticeable difference to stock 350. IMHO 
it's a real Ram Rod.
I loved Mark's reference to the '442 Ram Rod' at the Scottsdale Show...
now THAT car... is truly a 442 W31. LOL :-)

Karl Sup
69 H/O #89
69 W31 S Post 4spd

>Was anyone able to ID the harmonic balancer from the 20th picture? There's 
>a fairly good profile view of it, with a light background so it stands out. 
>I've never compared a W-31 balancer to a regular one, so I couldn't tell if 
>this engine had the W-31 balancer or not.
>
>Kenneth
>1971 Cutlass Supreme convertible
>Phoenix, AZ

_________________________________________________________________
FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar – get it now! 
http://clk.atdmt.com/AVE/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2004 22:13:33 -0500
From: King V <king_v@mindless.com>
Subject: OT: Home electrical problems....

All,

	This is obviously WAY off topic, but I need a bit of assistance here.
It's also quite lengthy, as I try to give as much info as possible.  If
electrical issues aren't your expertise or you don't care about household
wiring, hit delete now....

	Bought my house about a year ago.  The house was built in 1999, so it's
just turning 5 years old.  Electrical system is 150 amp service.


	I realize now that a spate of unpredictable instability with my computer
started when I moved here.  In my apartment, no problems, nor in the house
I used to live in which was built in 1978.


	What'll happen is that, every so often, while scrolling with a web
browser, while typing something in a browser's text-window (like posting to
a message board) or while playing a 3d game, the computer will crash in one
of two ways:

	1) The screen will go blank, and the monitor LED will flash as if the
computer had gone into power-save mode.  If there was music playing in the
background, it will continue, or sometimes repeat a half-second loop over
and over.  Nothing will bring the computer out of this short of powering it
down.

	2) The screen will freeze up.  Similar symptoms to above, except the
screen is not blank.

	These particular symptoms had never happened before.  I'd had crashes and
such, but not in that manner.

	Now, I thought I might be having problems with my PC, but then I noticed a
few other things.  First, plugging the system into a different outlet quite
noticeably reduced (but did not eliminate) the occurrence of these oddball
crashes.

	Second: I have flourescent lights in my kitchen.  One light fixture is one
with the typical long-tube type lights (2 of them, similar to what offices
have), and the other has a flourescent light that screws into what would
normally be an incandescent socket.  Any time my printer (a small laser
printer) is printing, or when it's just been powered on, these lights will
flicker continuously, until either the printer is shut off, or goes into
sleep mode.  When not printing, but still "active", the lights will flicker
unpredictably.


	Other things I noticed is that, when I had my whole system plugged into
the original outlet, any time I turned on one of the kitchen lights,
activated by a switch not too far from the outlet, the speakers would pop
fairly loudly.  This went away after moving to the other outlet.

	Note also: the new outlet that most things are plugged into is on the same
circuit as the old one, as well as the lights, etc.  Just farther away from
that one switch.  The printer, scanner, and monitor are still in the old
outlet (close to that light switch).


	It's been suggested to me that I have:

	1) Grounding problems

	2) A loose connection in the wall wiring, or possibly near the circuit
breaker.

	3) The wiring job was a bit slipshod on this circuit.



	Now, until the end of March, my home is covered by a warranty by American
Home Shield (AHS).  The electrical system is one of the covered systems.
They sent a guy over, and he did some checking, and said the ground was
fine.  He also suggested a few other things, and said that the reason the
flourescent lights flicker is because they're more sensitive to
fluctuations in the power line.  He also said that it's possible that the
computer instability is due to the flourescent lights affecting the current
on the line, though a later repetion of those symptoms when no lights were
on in the house nixed that theory.

	Other suggestions were to use another outlet (on a different circuit), or
to get a power suppressor.  In retrospect, however, these "solutions" seem
to avoid the problem rather than solving it, and frankly I'd rather not be
snaking an extension cord across the living room.  I think he mentioned
that the warranty company won't really fix anything if it's not a "failure"
I guess.  I'll have to check into that.

	I plan to try the extension-cord-to-another-outlet for the time being just
to see if the instability goes away.  That'll at least tell me if the one
circuit has a problem I guess.

	But like I said, I had no such problems in the apartment, nor in the 25
year old house (with 25 year old wiring and a much lower amperage of service).


	As I know precisely squat about electricity, other than to not stick a
fork in the wall sockets, can anyone give me a clue as to whether or not
what I'm experiencing is something that I should NOT be putting up with, or
no?  I personally think it's odd that I'd be limited, in a modern house, as
to what outlets I can plug a computer into.


	Thanks in advance for any advice/guidance you can give me on this.


	- Joe Vahabzadeh

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2004 22:06:21 -0500
From: "The General" <patton442@verizon.net>
Subject: Re: 455 Intake Bolt Length

Get both sets.............  rule 049 of acquisition .
"Everything is worth something to somebody"


The General       patton442@verizon.net


> All,
> Can someone refresh my memory as to the bolt specification for the
> intake on a 455?  Are they 5/16-18 X 1.5 long, are the 3/8-16 X 1.5"?
> I'm trying to get all of the free fasteners I can from our
> industrial bolt supplier before I leave the company.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Steve Reed 
> '96 9C1 Chevy Caprice 
> '70 Cutlass Supreme Ragtop (In Reassembly mode) 
> '68 Cutlass Supreme (Seized Engine) 
> Austin, TX 
> http://www.sreed.0catch.com/html/cars.html
> 
> 

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2004 22:48:54 -0500
From: "Jim Ruddell" <jim@ruddellfamily.net>
Subject: Re: Home electrical problems....

My suggestion is to pick up an uninterupable power supply (UPS) that will
log under and over voltages as well as blackouts. Not only will it protect
your PC but give you something more tangible to refer to when talking to an
electrician. I like the company APC because their tech support is great and
their products are top notch. The two I have cost about $60 and have a USB
cable to plug in to the PC to "talk" to the UPS. Here's a link to the ones I
use.

http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=21

Cheers,

Jim

- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "King V" <king_v@mindless.com>
To: <oldsmobile@chebucto.ns.ca>
Sent: Monday, March 08, 2004 10:13 PM
Subject: OT: Home electrical problems....


> All,
>
> This is obviously WAY off topic, but I need a bit of assistance here.
> It's also quite lengthy, as I try to give as much info as possible.  If
> electrical issues aren't your expertise or you don't care about household
> wiring, hit delete now....
>
> Bought my house about a year ago.  The house was built in 1999, so it's
> just turning 5 years old.  Electrical system is 150 amp service.
>
>
> I realize now that a spate of unpredictable instability with my computer
> started when I moved here.  In my apartment, no problems, nor in the house
> I used to live in which was built in 1978.
>
>
> What'll happen is that, every so often, while scrolling with a web
> browser, while typing something in a browser's text-window (like posting
to
> a message board) or while playing a 3d game, the computer will crash in
one
> of two ways:
>
> 1) The screen will go blank, and the monitor LED will flash as if the
> computer had gone into power-save mode.  If there was music playing in the
> background, it will continue, or sometimes repeat a half-second loop over
> and over.  Nothing will bring the computer out of this short of powering
it
> down.
>
> 2) The screen will freeze up.  Similar symptoms to above, except the
> screen is not blank.
>
> These particular symptoms had never happened before.  I'd had crashes and
> such, but not in that manner.
>
> Now, I thought I might be having problems with my PC, but then I noticed a
> few other things.  First, plugging the system into a different outlet
quite
> noticeably reduced (but did not eliminate) the occurrence of these oddball
> crashes.
>
> Second: I have flourescent lights in my kitchen.  One light fixture is one
> with the typical long-tube type lights (2 of them, similar to what offices
> have), and the other has a flourescent light that screws into what would
> normally be an incandescent socket.  Any time my printer (a small laser
> printer) is printing, or when it's just been powered on, these lights will
> flicker continuously, until either the printer is shut off, or goes into
> sleep mode.  When not printing, but still "active", the lights will
flicker
> unpredictably.
>
>
> Other things I noticed is that, when I had my whole system plugged into
> the original outlet, any time I turned on one of the kitchen lights,
> activated by a switch not too far from the outlet, the speakers would pop
> fairly loudly.  This went away after moving to the other outlet.
>
> Note also: the new outlet that most things are plugged into is on the same
> circuit as the old one, as well as the lights, etc.  Just farther away
from
> that one switch.  The printer, scanner, and monitor are still in the old
> outlet (close to that light switch).
>
>
> It's been suggested to me that I have:
>
> 1) Grounding problems
>
> 2) A loose connection in the wall wiring, or possibly near the circuit
> breaker.
>
> 3) The wiring job was a bit slipshod on this circuit.
>
>
>
> Now, until the end of March, my home is covered by a warranty by American
> Home Shield (AHS).  The electrical system is one of the covered systems.
> They sent a guy over, and he did some checking, and said the ground was
> fine.  He also suggested a few other things, and said that the reason the
> flourescent lights flicker is because they're more sensitive to
> fluctuations in the power line.  He also said that it's possible that the
> computer instability is due to the flourescent lights affecting the
current
> on the line, though a later repetion of those symptoms when no lights were
> on in the house nixed that theory.
>
> Other suggestions were to use another outlet (on a different circuit), or
> to get a power suppressor.  In retrospect, however, these "solutions" seem
> to avoid the problem rather than solving it, and frankly I'd rather not be
> snaking an extension cord across the living room.  I think he mentioned
> that the warranty company won't really fix anything if it's not a
"failure"
> I guess.  I'll have to check into that.
>
> I plan to try the extension-cord-to-another-outlet for the time being just
> to see if the instability goes away.  That'll at least tell me if the one
> circuit has a problem I guess.
>
> But like I said, I had no such problems in the apartment, nor in the 25
> year old house (with 25 year old wiring and a much lower amperage of
service).
>
>
> As I know precisely squat about electricity, other than to not stick a
> fork in the wall sockets, can anyone give me a clue as to whether or not
> what I'm experiencing is something that I should NOT be putting up with,
or
> no?  I personally think it's odd that I'd be limited, in a modern house,
as
> to what outlets I can plug a computer into.
>
>
> Thanks in advance for any advice/guidance you can give me on this.
>
>
> - Joe Vahabzadeh
>
>

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2004 22:30:09 -0600
From: Steve Reed <ssreed@direcway.com>
Subject: RE: 455 Intake Bolt Length

> All,
> 	Can someone refresh my memory as to the bolt 
> specification for the intake on a 455?  Are they 5/16-18 X 
> 1.5 long, are the 3/8-16 X 1.5"?
> 	I'm trying to get all of the free fasteners I can from 
> our industrial bolt supplier before I leave the company.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Steve Reed

Hello me,
	Well I got the length of the intake & Exhaust bolts, in case anyone
beside me was interested:  3/8-16 X 1.25".


Steve Reed 
'96 9C1 Chevy Caprice 
'70 Cutlass Supreme Ragtop (In Reassembly mode) 
'68 Cutlass Supreme (Seized Engine) 
Austin, TX 
http://www.sreed.0catch.com/html/cars.html

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2004 23:38:58 -0500
From: King V <king_v@mindless.com>
Subject: Re: OT: Home electrical problems....

Oh, forgot to mention, it's probably best to reply directly to me rather
than on-list...

	- Joe Vahabzadeh

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 09 Mar 2004 00:04:27 -0500
From: Robert Barry <rbarry@providence.edu>
Subject: Low RPM, Max Torque 455

I've got a tech question on an engine buildup, but the opposite of how 
these usually go.

I'm dropping a 455 into my '78 Jeep Cherokee (I've been into four-wheeling 
over the past few years), mated to a TH400 tranny turning 38" tires (pics 
at http://home.off-road.com/~wagoneer/cherokee if anyone was interested).

I've got a '73 J-headed engine as a starting point. I was thinking of 
bolting on some B-heads from a '67 Toro that I've had lying around, 
dropping in a decent cam and having fun, but the driving this engine will 
see with this truck is usually REAL low rpms (being able to idle down to 
400rpm would be a plus), and a LOT of off-idle torque.

Toward that end, I was wondering if anyone has ever built up an engine 
SPECIFICALLY for low-speed torque. I've never seen J-head runners before 
(and the engine is still in the back of my pickup; dang snow has got in the 
way of working outside yet), but they are reportedly small. Are they small 
as in great port velocity, or small as in sipping a milkshake through a 
stirrer?

Next up would be the camshaft; I could run the stock .440" lift unit in 
there, or go with something giving a bit more lift, but still short 
duration. Any specific cam recommendations for this application? RPM range 
will probably be best described as 500-4500rpm, and flat across the board.

The intake, exhaust and carb will all be stock. Any suggestions welcome.
________________________________________
Bob Barry           mailto://rbarry@providence.edu
http://home.off-road.com/~wagoneer

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2004 23:21:48 -0600
From: Steve Reed <ssreed@direcway.com>
Subject: RE: Low RPM, Max Torque 455

Bob,
	(First off I hope there are too many type-o's as I'm writing this
without my contacts in before bed...)
	My first vehicle was a 1974 Chevy Blazer.  It was also the first V8
I ever rebuilt.  I used a 280 duration cam with 460 lift.  Nothing too wild,
along with a valve job and the other usual goodies for rebuilding.
	My truck was similar to yours in size; 6" suspension & 3" body with
38.5" super swamper tires.
	The important things I noticed were:  The stock 1.78 Intake & 1.50
exhaust valves were the perfect combination along with the 600CFM carb &
headman headers.  This was the vehicle I had when I went to college for
automotive tech & got my 1st associate's.  So I had all the time in the
world and all the parts I could use.
	When learning how to do cylinder head reconditioning, I swapped a
set of 1.94/1.5 heads on the engine one day.  Well that drastically cut the
low end torque.  So I immediately swapped back to the 1.78/1.5 heads.  I
also tried a 650 CFM & 750 CFM carb with mechanical secondaries.  This also
cut down on the torque.
	As you can see, the engine liked the smaller carb and intake valves
BIG TIME.  I was real surprised, and it taught me a lot just swapping out
parts, that bigger is not always better.
	The engine had great torque for a small block, and the 4-speed
tranny helped too, especially with the creeper low 1st gear.

Man I miss that truck!

Steve Reed 
'96 9C1 Chevy Caprice 
'70 Cutlass Supreme Ragtop (In Reassembly mode) 
'68 Cutlass Supreme (Seized Engine) 
Austin, TX 
http://www.sreed.0catch.com/html/cars.html

> -----Original Message-----
> From: oldsmobile-owner@chebucto.ns.ca 
> [mailto:oldsmobile-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of Robert Barry
> Sent: Monday, March 08, 2004 11:04 PM
> To: oldsmobile@chebucto.ns.ca
> Subject: Low RPM, Max Torque 455
> 
> I've got a tech question on an engine buildup, but the 
> opposite of how these usually go.
> 
> I'm dropping a 455 into my '78 Jeep Cherokee (I've been into 
> four-wheeling over the past few years), mated to a TH400 
> tranny turning 38" tires (pics at 
> http://home.off-road.com/~wagoneer/cherokee if anyone was interested).
> 
> I've got a '73 J-headed engine as a starting point. I was 
> thinking of bolting on some B-heads from a '67 Toro that I've 
> had lying around, dropping in a decent cam and having fun, 
> but the driving this engine will see with this truck is 
> usually REAL low rpms (being able to idle down to 400rpm 
> would be a plus), and a LOT of off-idle torque.
> 
> Toward that end, I was wondering if anyone has ever built up 
> an engine SPECIFICALLY for low-speed torque. I've never seen 
> J-head runners before (and the engine is still in the back of 
> my pickup; dang snow has got in the way of working outside 
> yet), but they are reportedly small. Are they small as in 
> great port velocity, or small as in sipping a milkshake 
> through a stirrer?
> 
> Next up would be the camshaft; I could run the stock .440" 
> lift unit in there, or go with something giving a bit more 
> lift, but still short duration. Any specific cam 
> recommendations for this application? RPM range will probably 
> be best described as 500-4500rpm, and flat across the board.
> 
> The intake, exhaust and carb will all be stock. Any 
> suggestions welcome.
> ________________________________________
> Bob Barry           mailto://rbarry@providence.edu
> http://home.off-road.com/~wagoneer
> 

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 09 Mar 2004 06:00:54 +0000
From: Steve Harrison <k0xp@dandy.net>
Subject: Re: OT: Home electrical problems....

At 11:38 PM 3/8/2004 -0500, you wrote:
>Oh, forgot to mention, it's probably best to reply directly to me rather
>than on-list...

NOW you warn us.....  ;o\  ;o\  ;o\

Still, your problem could as easily apply to outlets in one's garage, where
our Oldsmobiles sleep overnight, eh  :o))))))))

SteveH

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 09 Mar 2004 05:47:21 +0000
From: Steve Harrison <k0xp@dandy.net>
Subject: Re: OT: Home electrical problems....

At 10:13 PM 3/8/2004 -0500, you wrote:
>But like I said, I had no such problems in the apartment, nor in 
>the 25 year old house (with 25 year old wiring and a much lower 
>amperage of service).
>
>As I know precisely squat about electricity, other than to not 
>stick a fork in the wall sockets, can anyone give me a clue as 
>to whether or not what I'm experiencing is something that I should 
>NOT be putting up with, or no? I personally think it's odd that 
>I'd be limited, in a modern house, as to what outlets I can plug 
>a computer into.

I'm not an electrician and haven't seen all that much, in regards to these
kinds of wall-socket problems. But I've operated ham radio equipment for
over 30 years from many wall outlets, sometimes drawing more current than
would be wise. I've consistently noticed that those outlets that are wired
by sticking the wire into the clamp-prongs in the back are those that run
hottest; that is, they drop some voltage and voltage times current equals
power. Since the outlets are warm/hot, they're obviously dissipating power.
Obviously, my radio equipment causes a voltage drop through the entire
circuit all the way back to the fuse/circuit breaker panel; but the outlet,
itself, is obviously dissipating power, too.

This happens in two ways: the solid-conductor copper (sometimes aluminum,
in today's newer houses) is clamped between a thin springy blade and a hard
contact surface, in the rear of the socket. Then there's the two springy
brass blades that clamp onto both sided of the plug's two prongs that you
stick into the outlet.

So early on, I replaced those sockets that didn't have screw terminals,
with sockets that DO have screw terminals, and attached the wire under
those. INVARIABLY, that caused the outlet to stop operating hot.

I've noticed several things about circuit that are consistently operated at
15+ amperes: the spring contact in the back for the wire overheats and
becomes loose, allowing the wire to work loose and make intermittent
connection or, sometimes, a high-resistance connection that causes more
voltage drop, which causes more power to be dissipated in the springy
blade, which causes it to heat even more, weakening and causing the wire to
not be clamped. Simply moving the wires from those holes in the back to
underneath the screw heads on the sides of the outlets usually resolves
that problem.

The other thing is that when my equipment has consistently drawn so much
current that it regularly popped the breaker, the breaker would seem to
become weaker; i.e., it would no longer handle as much current and would
pop at lower current loads.

In your case, it may be that a prior owner of the house might have
overloaded the wall outlets that you happen to be using and the sockets are
no longer making good, consistent contact to the wiring. That's the first
thing I'd do: have the wire moved from the holes in the back to under screw
heads. If it were my house, I'd do that myself but if you get squeamish
just changing the AA batteries in yer camera, see if you can't talk the guy
from yer home warranty service into doing that, at least on that outlet. He
might have to replace the outlet entirely because outlets nowadays
sometimes don't even have the old screws that they used to. This could be
especially true if the prior owner had a winder air conditioner or even a
high power stereo/TV/XMAS lights operating from that outlet. It could even
have been caused by all those appliances plus a Hoover vacuum cleaner,
which draws upwards of 7-1/2 amps all by itself. HECK: in our household, my
daughter's European-style hair blower/dryer will pop the 15 amp wall
circuit breaker that the TV runs from  ;o(  So there's a lotta ways that
any particular wall outlet COULD have been overloaded by a prior owner in
the past, resulting in your problems now.

There is also a monitoring instrument/recorder that can keep tabs on power
glitches. If you make a big-enough stink about it, the guy may be persuaded
to hook up one on that outlet to see what's going on.

Before you mentioned that you could still operate the computer from other
outlets with no problem, I was gonna suggest that the computer's power
supply may be breaking down. I've had that happen and the symptom is the
same: the power supply drops out momentarily causing my machine to lock up
or completely reboot. But your problem sounds more like a wall outlet problem.

SteveH

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2004 23:19:55 -0700
From: "Infinite Space Systems, Inc." <imp@theriver.com>
Subject: Re: WOW, a Ram Rod W-31 1968 442 !!!

> Right, Milton, but I meant that the _seller_, in this particular case, was
> going on and on ad nauseum about how gosh-darned _rare_ this thing is,
> trying to sound as knowledgeable as possible about the car, which leads me
> to wonder, if a simple VIN lookup would point out the fake, whether
they're
> being naive or crooked. Given the big long speech about Olds history and
> 442s (even though it seems to have been lifted from somewhere else), I'm
> leaning towards the latter.


So am I. That's why dropping a dime on the FBI for interstate fraud might be
a wake-up-call for the seller. The dollar amount should be high enough to
get the FBI interested.

Milton Schick
1964 442 Cutlass
imp@theriver.com

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2004 23:44:11 -0700
From: "Infinite Space Systems, Inc." <imp@theriver.com>
Subject: Re: WOW, a Ram Rod W-31 1968 442 !!!

Cool! Now, according to Federal copyright law, musclecarclub.com owns that
Olds history they wrote. An original document does not have to be officially
registered with the Feds to be copyright protected. If I were
musclecarclub.com, I'd have a little discussion with that seller about
copyright infringement. They could definitely have a civil case, since the
seller is using musclecarclub.com's words for profit.

Cliff, as you might suspect, I've had a *little* experience in this area.
I'd inform musclecarclub.com about this seller. I'm positive that ISS's
attorney would say the same thing. Intellectual property is his specialty.

Milton Schick
1964 442 Cutlass
imp@theriver.com


- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Cliff Simpson" <csimpson@ucalgary.ca>
To: <oldsmobile@chebucto.ns.ca>
Sent: Monday, March 08, 2004 3:19 PM
Subject: Re: WOW, a Ram Rod W-31 1968 442 !!!


> Andrew C. Green wrote:
>  > ...
> > I've lost the original eVil site URL now, but it might be fun to do a
> > Google search on selected excerpts from their Olds history essay in that
> > ad and see where else that writing can be found.
>
> From:
>
http://www.musclecarclub.com/musclecars/oldsmobile-442/oldsmobile-442-histor
y.shtml
>
> There are those who claim that it was Oldsmobile that created ...
> --
>
> Cliff "and on the 8th day God created Google" Simpson & Kermit
> http://www.ucalgary.ca/~csimpson/TheOldsZone.html
>
>

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2004 23:53:06 -0700
From: "Infinite Space Systems, Inc." <imp@theriver.com>
Subject: Re: WOW, a Ram Rod W-31 1968 442 !!!

Alright Andy and Cliff, I didn't go down to the bottom of the page.

I'd nail that seller to the wall in a nanosecond!

Fraud and copyright infringement, what else can he be charged with?

Somebody has to keep the Olds name Clean and Honorable, just like the
Marines "...and to keep our Honor clean."

Milton Schick
1964 442 Cutlass
imp@theriver.com


- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrew C. Green" <acg_o@hotmail.com>
To: <oldsmobile@chebucto.ns.ca>
Sent: Monday, March 08, 2004 3:48 PM
Subject: RE: WOW, a Ram Rod W-31 1968 442 !!!


> >>I've lost the original eVil site URL now, but it might be
> >>fun to do a Google search on selected excerpts from
> >>their Olds history essay in that ad and see where else
> >>hat writing can be found
> >
> >Good call Andy.
> >
>
>http://www.musclecarclub.com/musclecars/oldsmobile-442/oldsmobile-442.shtml
>
> Thanks! And hey, look at that little line at the bottom:
>
> >All material © Copyright 2003 by Musclecarclub.com
>
> -- Andy
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Learn how to help protect your privacy and prevent fraud online at Tech
> Hacks & Scams. http://special.msn.com/msnbc/techsafety.armx
>

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 00:27:15 -0700
From: "Infinite Space Systems, Inc." <imp@theriver.com>
Subject: Re: W-31 Technical Info *Long*

> >And... the unique W-31 only
> >harmonic balancer for which I can find no apparent necessity for it's
HUGE
> >size.


There *is* a reason. The heavy harmonic balancer will give the same affect,
except on a much smaller scale, as a heavy flywheel or added center
counterweights on a crankshaft. It helps with initial launch to break the
momentum of rest and quickly pull the car out of the hole. It forces the
engine to develop torque quicker and more of it, sooner, by the way the
engine is loaded. It's similar to stored flywheel energy developed by NASA.
For an Olds, either first or second generation, due to the characteristics
of its historical engine design, heavy reciprocating weight fed directly
into the crank centerline is extremely helpful. Coupled with a lightened
piston load at the extremities of the reciprocating assembly, interesting
things can happen with power production at mid-level to high RPM. For a hot
cammed 350 with a 4-speed in a relatively heavy car, the heavy harmonic
balancer has real advantages. That also corresponds to the limited rear gear
choices of 3.42 or 3.91.

Notice what I said about rotational weight and reciprocating weight. The
real trick is to move that weight away from the outside arc of the
reciprocating assembly and move it closer to the crank centerline. Weight
radius distance from the crank centerline has a limit. A heavy flywheel has
a distinct disadvantage because of the excessive outside diameter. A heavy
harmonic balancer and extra center counterweights on the crank move the
extra weight closer to the crank centerline, where it's easier to rotate
that mass, but that mass can store more potential energy to do more work, as
opposed to having extra flywheel mass too far from the crank centerline and
absorbing too much engine power to swing that mass on its much larger
radius. The next trick is to remove as much of the up-down vector mass as
possible, so that energy isn't constantly wasted moving unnecessary mass up
and down. That's why ultra-lightweight pistons are invaluable.

For the W31, Olds engineers (probably the really cool ones in the R&D engine
lab where all the "T-Rex" engines were developed) did the right thing and
used a heavy harmonic balancer, putting the extra mass as close to the crank
centerline as they could get it.

Milton Schick
1964 442 Cutlass
imp@theriver.com

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 00:34:34 -0700
From: "Infinite Space Systems, Inc." <imp@theriver.com>
Subject: Re: 455 Intake Bolt Length

Steve,

They're 3/8 diameter bolts, coarse thread. I don't know the length.

Milton Schick
1964 442 Cutlass
imp@theriver.com

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 00:39:28 -0700
From: "Infinite Space Systems, Inc." <imp@theriver.com>
Subject: Re: Home electrical problems....

> It's been suggested to me that I have:
>
> 1) Grounding problems
>
> 2) A loose connection in the wall wiring, or possibly near the circuit
> breaker.
>
> 3) The wiring job was a bit slipshod on this circuit.


All of the above, plus, if you are not using a very good circuit protection,
anti-spike outlet plug-in strip now for your computer and all of its
associated systems, get one, pronto.

Milton Schick
1964 442 Cutlass
imp@theriver.com

------------------------------

End of oldsmobile-digest V1 #4809
*********************************
