[exotec]

Hi,

I'm Karl from Austria and I bought myself last May an Oldsmobile Omega 1973 Coupe as a rebuild project for my some-when coming 50th birthday.


The shipping was a little nightmare as the forwarding agency in Germany was not doing there job so I had to find someone else to pick it up and finally end of September the Olds Omega arrived in my shop!

Plan is to do a complete rebuild, paint it with a stock color - wedgewood blue with black vinyl top and black interior.

started dismantle and found the next nightmare when pulled the Chevy 250 inline 6. someone tried to fix a crack


in the US are still planty of Chevy 250 available as complete engines as well as short blocks. Only shipping this to me in Austria is a hell of expanses! And I also was not sucessfull in finding one in AT/EU.

But I found a other thrilling engine - a Pontiac OHC 6 230 sprint will be the Oldsmobile Omegas future power plant.


So once starting the rebuild of this little one, I'm fore sure back with tones of questions!

[jerry455]

My brother used to have one in the early 1980's . His was burgundy with a black interior. His had a 350 4 barrel Olds Rocket. That car was quite a runner.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Welcome to the forum.
And congrats on getting your car in Austria.

I get an error message on your pictures and can't see them.
Can anyone else view them ?

When you make a post, you can download pictures straight onto this website.
Lower down the page when making a reply - there is a section for Manage Attachments.

The only thing about using the Pontiac OHC-6 is it may not bolt to the Chevy bolt pattern transmission/bellhousing.

[455'73inElCamino]

I had a 77 omega. I loved that car as it was one of my first when I was in college. It had sheet metal riveted all along the driver's side of the car. the only door that opened was the rear passenger side which made for fun ingress/egress.

Those were the days...

[Heybuck]

Hi Karl,
Welcome to these boards. You certainly have chosen a fairly unusual car (In Austria) to become your new pride and joy. It will be a head turner when done. I imagine it to be a VERY rare car over there. In fact I cannot ever recall seeing one in Australia either.

So, now you have it but before you start spending a ton of money on the Pontiac 6 engine, I have to ask why you are not going down the V8 road?
I imagine fitting an LS engine would not be too difficult and they are everywhere for hardly any money. Surely there would be plenty of them available in Europe without even thinking of getting one from the US. There must be engine importers not far from you.

I'd be looking very carefully at the costs of rebuilding the Pontiac engine before you make a start. Will not be cheap and difficult to find parts for it these days. Because you are so far out of the loop (location wise), maybe you should be looking at something which is more readily available to you. That's why I'm suggesting the LS engine.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do

Ian

[694.1]

The Pontiac engine has a different transmission interface than does the Chebby.
Also a small hood relief for the front of the Cam may be necessary but you will have the ONLY one like this in your neighborhood

[66sprint6]

Is that a California license plate on the front?
If you are dead set on rebuilding and installing the OHC6 engine, then I applaud you. But as mentioned, a more straightforward V8 may be easier. An LS motor could be used or possibly a (don't kill me, guys) Chevy V8 with a carburetor. That would be the easiest and would in fact drop right in with the proper, readily available engine mounts. It should also bolt right up to your existing transmission. Either way, please keep us updated and let us know of anything you need.

[Stuart]

Welcome! It looks like a neat project, and the OHC6 is the Sprint version too.

(By the way, I can see the pictures. There are some interesting cars in the background.)

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

i tried several things but still no luck with the pictures.

error notice is :
This site can’t provide a secure connection
cimg3.ibsrv.net uses an unsupported protocol.

ERR_SSL_VERSION_OR_CIPHER_MISMATCH

The client and server don't support a common SSL protocol version or cipher suite. This is likely to be caused when the server needs RC4, which is no longer considered secure.


=========================

anyway - if its a Sprint 4bbl engine that would be really cool to swap.
If the tranny isn't a dual bolt pattern (and most are not) you can just find any Turbo 350 from Olds Buick or Pontiac with short tailshaft and all those will work.
Sell the Chevrolet tranny or trade it

[wbnapier]

The others are correct on the challenge of the OHC6 engine in Europe. It's tough here, but in Austria / the EU, really tough.

That being said, go for it... The OHC6 engine is super cool. There are some hardcore knowledgable people on this forum who know the OHC6. Try to get them involved. I think it is worth the $ / hassle...

Good luck!

[exotec]

I initially was planning an LS swap. But to get it legal on the road is nearly impossible in Austria, especially if you plan to do the most yourself.

Realized this my goal is to build something unique and as in AT everyone is in the opinion only v8 powered cars are real US cars, I skipped this option.

The seller of the OHC as also some manual and auto trans, I‘ll stay manual.

Egge and Kanter have some rebuild kits including pistons, cam bearings, .... so parts are available.

The ohc6 subforum here is a real great source of good knowledge and convinced me to go for it.

I do have a quite experienced motor shop helping on rebuild, but mainly with European vintage engines.

Discussed already the usage of the Chevy 250 crank.

[Jack Gifford]

I don't have experience with the OHC six, but the following info came from a reliable source (Fritz Voight, who was Mickey Thompson's crew chief back in Mickey's "Pontiac days")-

Inspect the area of the head between intake/exhaust valves for cracks, prior to investing any effort in the head.

I look forward to seeing your progress!

[unruhjonny]

@ exotec

Welcome here!!

I haven't seen a '73 Omega in some time, that big chrome grille is definitely a distinctive feature!
I had a friend in high school who had a 78/79 Omega SX, it was ok, but he bagged the living poop out of that little 305!

Before I read your whole first post I looked at the pictures, and had to stop with the chev inline six picture, this was essentially my thought:

I have heard that stitching a block like that is a legitimate fix - as there should be no pressure there that I am aware of... but that looks like stainless bolts!??

I think the OHC swap is a cool idea - please keep us posted!

@ BVZ - about this:

Originally Posted by Baron Von Zeppelin

I get an error message on your pictures and can't see them.
Can anyone else view them ?

I suspect it's a browser issue you are having;
I am using Firefox, and it's working fine.
I did initially use the "view image" option after reading your first post, and it shows the image is hosted on an Olds forum - so he shoulnd't have to re-upload the picture.

[mgarblik]

Best of luck with your project. I applaud your effort installing a unique and historically significant and important engine in your Omega body and chassis. The Sprint OHC engine is a great powerplant and with manual transmission will be fun and rev to 6000+ RPM's. Installing an LS engine, while it may be easier, loses points in all the categories that matter when trying to do something cool with an old car. Between the forum and vintage parts suppliers like Egge, and Ersco, you should be able to get what you need.

[1965gp]

Cool project! I bet the ohc motor will be fun with the 4bbl and manual.

I was shocked at the repair of the Chevy motor!

[dataway]

Looks like someone started a lock-stitch repair and didn't finish it. There are products that look like that.

That's kind of a rare OHC engine even in the US. Would be a fun project.

You can find the parts, and you'll have plenty of time to wait while doing other things.

Welcome to the forum!

[exotec]

thank you all for the welcome seems like I found the right place!

Originally Posted by Jack Gifford

I don't have experience with the OHC six, but the following info came from a reliable source (Fritz Voight, who was Mickey Thompson's crew chief back in Mickey's "Pontiac days")-

Inspect the area of the head between intake/exhaust valves for cracks, prior to investing any effort in the head.

that is great information! I'll watch-out for this carefully

Originally Posted by unruhjonny

....
Before I read your whole first post I looked at the pictures, and had to stop with the chev inline six picture, this was essentially my thought:

I have heard that stitching a block like that is a legitimate fix - as there should be no pressure there that I am aware of... but that looks like stainless bolts!??
...

Originally Posted by dataway

Looks like someone started a lock-stitch repair and didn't finish it. There are products that look like that.
....

I didn't know about lock-n-stitch repair method before posting this pic in the Olds Classic Forum.
There is one at least one company, where their products are also available in Europe. I was in contact with them, and they were laughing and crying about that repair.
I skipped it because I didn't find any pro which would do a correct lock-n-stitch repair and guarantee for it.

Originally Posted by mgarblik

Best of luck with your project. I applaud your effort installing a unique and historically significant and important engine in your Omega body and chassis. The Sprint OHC engine is a great powerplant and with manual transmission will be fun and rev to 6000+ RPM's. Installing an LS engine, while it may be easier, loses points in all the categories that matter when trying to do something cool with an old car. Between the forum and vintage parts suppliers like Egge, and Ersco, you should be able to get what you need.

Thank you for the name Ersco, wasn't familiar so far for my.

And the rest is exactly I see it.

[exotec]

Originally Posted by Baron Von Zeppelin

Welcome to the forum.
And congrats on getting your car in Austria.

I get an error message on your pictures and can't see them.
Can anyone else view them ?

When you make a post, you can download pictures straight onto this website.
Lower down the page when making a reply - there is a section for Manage Attachments.

The only thing about using the Pontiac OHC-6 is it may not bolt to the Chevy bolt pattern transmission/bellhousing.

Thank you.

I post about my project in 3 different forums and I use the Olds Classic forum gallery to upload the pics and than just use image tags. Did work till now without issues.

[exotec]

Originally Posted by 66sprint6

Is that a California license plate on the front?
If you are dead set on rebuilding and installing the OHC6 engine, then I applaud you. But as mentioned, a more straightforward V8 may be easier. An LS motor could be used or possibly a (don't kill me, guys) Chevy V8 with a carburetor. That would be the easiest and would in fact drop right in with the proper, readily available engine mounts. It should also bolt right up to your existing transmission. Either way, please keep us updated and let us know of anything you need.

yes, its a California car. Found it in craigslist and a member from the Chevy Nova Forum helped getting in contact with the seller, as non US have no possibility to get contact details over craigslist. Didn't see the car live, just on pictures. But did look quite ok and so I thought for $1.500 not to much wasted.

re motor mounts: the 67-69 F-Body front frame is the same as the 69-73 X-Body one. So I should be able to use Firebird ones, hopefully.

[exotec]

while I was waiting for the Olds Omega I did work already on a view parts

SSII/III wheels with Dunlop Classic tires


Olds Custom Sport steering wheel - covered with leather by a friend (has an upholstery shop and will do the complete interior)