Thread: 41 ford coupe

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There are many questions here. Mainly, how much money you have/want to spend. I will admit I have been financially limited most of my life up till retirement so that I look at this in economical terms. I can recall the mystique around the 1950 stick shift Olds due to the Caddy transmission. Later Olds 3 speeds were not as good but that 1950 Olds stick shift was a Holy Grail among my high school and even college buddies back in the mid 1950s. Note the early 303 Rocket engine was rated at only 135 HP but had excellent low rpm torque. To those accustomed to what to expect on the street compared to a flathead Ford with dual carbs and high compression heads it was a rude awakening to match up with an early Rocket; especially since the Olds bodies looked heavier. Hudson Hornets were also fast street machines and all that Ford had to offer was the 4" stroke Mercury, never mind a mildly souped up 59AB flathead Ford. It may seem that only 35 more H.P. in the Rocket engine would not inspire such awe on the street but the other cars were so slow by comparison (even the beautiful Fischer body 1940 Chevy had a horrible vacuum shift on the OHV six). Soooo what to do in your case?

Look up Olds FAQ -- 303 CID Engine Detail

to decide if you want to keep what you have or upgrade it. The main reason your car was stuck in unfinished form was probably due to the infamous problem with the Olds engine having the starter on the left side and interfering with the Ford steering box. I may be wrong but I seem to remember the left side starter was a real problem and that is why the more recent SBC adapts OK with the right side starter. Maybe modern mini-starters are small enough to remove the interference. Taking the poor boy path, see if you can solve this starter problem with a modern mini-starter, shave the 303 heads to raise compression and get a four barrel intake with an Edelbrock 600 cfm carb and then address the sheet metal and paint the car! Considering that some SBC owners go to the trouble to adapt Rocket valve covers to later SBC engines you would have an interesting car.

On the other hand if you go the other route to adapting a more modern engine with electronic controls you could achieve better mpg but it may be a challenge to adapt the new wiring. So there is no easy answer. I think the options are:

1. Make the present set up work, perhaps solving the left-starter problem, raise compression, add a four barrel carb set up and end up with a "Sunday Car" with relatively low mpg but lots of nostalgia in what is mainly a show car.

2. Go for a modern adaptation, but not bleeding edge technology. On another thread Jerry Clayton noted that the '92-'97 LT1 SBC might be readily available from several GM models with relatively simple electronics and EFI which leads to better mpg.

3. Find an early SBC and install it with a mid-80s 700R4 so you can take advantage of all the SBC aftermarket parts. That provides an OD and has a right side starter. The front pully situation is easier to solve than for Ford and the metal firewall can be dented if the distributor needs clearance.

In any case I would keep the Oldsmobile rear if the tires fit under the fenders since that rear was stronger than the Ford banjo rear. I am guessing your 1956 conversion ran into the problem with the left side starter and if you can solve that just shave the heads and add a four barrel intake and then focus on the body work. Sorry about the long post but this takes me way back. I recall an early 1940 Plymouth with a Olds 303 but the steering on the Plymouth was different from the Ford of those years. In any event send some pictures to this Forum!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder