i ran a cross a 350 olds diesel engine
i thought nothing of it till i recently researched it
Im not a big fan of olds engine but i thot id take a gander and take her home.... So far iv found out a bunch of interesting things about this engine....

they can be Converted to a gas engine,

350 diesel uses 455-type mains with standard small-block rod journals
3/8-inch thick main webs and .400-inch-thick cylinder walls
diesel rods are all forged and come with nodular cranks?

Oldsmobile Engine Specifications:

CID YEARS BORE STR. Jrnl. Mains Conn. Piston
Rods Dia. Rod Comp. Ht
350D 1978-85 4.057 3.385 2.12 3.0 5.886 1.770






"The 350 diesel block with a 425 crank and the stock bore size block (4.057") will yield a bulletproof 411 CID gasoline small block. The 350 diesel block can be safely overbored .125" without sonic testing, to make a 437 CID small block. The 350 diesel block can be bored out to 4.25" when sonic tested. With a shaved down 425 crank and a 3.975 stroke, that works out to 451 cubic inches.
The extra meat in the cylinder walls is necessary for the pressure a diesel generates. When you cut the walls with a major overbore as described, they are still adequate for the lower cylinder pressures that a gas engine generates, but will likely not survive in diesel use (heck, those motors were underdesigned in stock form). "

a few bits of info out there on the web...


Is this engine woth my time and money?
iv been planing to do a turbo set up for a coupe of years now, and been keeping my eyes out
For a decent block to start with....

 

What heads, intake, oil pan, ect are you going to use? By the time you buy all the other parts needed to make some power you could have bought a killer little block.
JMO

 

The olds small block is a great engine, but the bottom end is weak. The diesel block gets around this problem (though is heavier). There are a lot of very fast sbo's out there, running ported stock heads, and with the extra cubes possible with that block, and a power adder, you could make silly power. You'd do well to visit http://www.realoldspower.com/phpBB2/index.php the people in that forum will be able to tell you everything you want to know, though I dare say there are some olds experts on here too.

 

Whether or not it is worthwhile really depends on everything. To make the power, you need a decent set of heads. As far as stock heads go, #5, 6 and 7 (not 7A) are the best. As far as aftermarket goes, I think Bulldog is making some new aluminum heads. What casting is the block, D or DX? The DX is stronger, not sure how much more though.

 

Welp, i have a set of the number 6 heads, they just need harden seats put in, the block is a DX block... as for the pan, all custom make one, so i can hold some more oil so i wont suck my pan dry

if i did anything with it "kinda thot up some plans"
keep the stock crank? bore it .60 over fogerd pistons
im unsure about pistons though what ones fit? i was thinking of finding ones with about the same bore but .60 then bore the block to those size pistons, im also still unsure about rods because they are a tad shorter then 6.0... but if i get that all outta the way then its on to porting the heads... custom TPI type manifold with LT1 throttle body and runners... then the task of getting the injectors to fire right with the engine i believe theres some type of wire kit with a computer for that out there some where...
then custom turbo headers then probably some T04E's? unsure what one or ones all run and intercooler
then half my bank account robed... with a note in there saying hahaha look under your hood....


im unsure if this is going to be a good builed or a waste of money, i know this has got the protenchl but not sure if its the most logical

 

Hmm....6s are good. Do the 6s have AIR bumps in them? I know my 7s did, wasn't sure when they started casting them into the heads. As far as the stock crank goes I haven't heard much about guys running it. I remember someone talking years ago about it figuring it'd be good for decent power, but its probably pretty heavy and wouldn't like being spun a whole lot. Pistons would be interesting. As you noticed the diesel has a shorter rod than the gas 350, so I doubt anybody has an off the shelf piston that'll work. Just trying to find decent pistons for a regular .060 over Olds 350 is bad enough. FWIW, this seems like a lot of work if you're not going to take full advantage of the cubes. If I were to do a Diesel block Olds, it would be a big cube version. For what you're looking for it would probably be cheaper and easier to do an SBC.