350 Rocket & Diesel questions

[YaoGuaiCutlass]

Hey all, I have a 1986 Cutlass Supreme Brougham I am putting a 350 Rocket in to and there were some questions I needed answered.
Basically I have an Oldsmobile 350 Diesel I set aside a while ago and I heard some people saying the crank, cam, lifters, push-rods, etc can be used in the 350 Oldsmobile Rocket. Is this true? I also heard the lifters and everything in the diesel are rollers. Is this true? The people I talked to said that this can make the motor a more "high performance" engine. If this is true I defiantly want to do this for my 350 Rocket. I have also heard the crank and cam are stronger (different build) than the gas motor. Is this true?

Thanks!

 

[King_V]

Uh, yes and no.

Take a look at: http://www.442.com/oldsfaq/ofedsl.htm

Basically, the 350 uses big-block sized main journals on the crank. The roller lifters came in around 1980. The diesel connecting rods are a little shorter, as well.

Otherwise, there are a bunch of similarities - still, the article I linked to can explain it better than I.

I'm sure there's more, but that's a good start.

 

[FE3X CLONE]

Lifters won't work in your gas 350. The diameter's are different. .842 vs. .921 in the diesel.

In reality, the only thing the diesel is good for is the block. I personally wouldn't use any of the other parts from the diesel in a performance build. Remember, diesels are built to be low revving engines with parts built to take a LOT of stress which equals HEAVY.

Then it comes down to what you are planning to build horsepower wise. An Olds diesel block is capable of handling upwards of 1500HP if not more and would really be a waste on anything making less than 450-500HP.

 

[DoubleV]

An Olds diesel block is capable of handling upwards of 1500HP if not more and would really be a waste on anything making less than 450-500HP.

Unless you really really really want big block cubes ( by boring and stroking the diesel block) in a small block package. The extra stoutness of the block is just a bonus, even though you don't really need it. My friend has 2 G-Body Cutlasses each with a bored and stroked Olds diesel ( 440 ci ). Don't know the HP, but they're both built pretty mild and run about 12 flats. They're not cheap to build though, but the cool factor is very high IMO.