OLDSMOBILE 455 W-43 EXPERIMENTAL HEMI AND OTHER EXOTIC ENGINES - THE JOHN BELTZ YEARS PHOTO TRIBUTE

John Beltz was Oldsmobile's chief engineer in 1964 and one of the prime movers of the Toronado and 442 project. Beltz was promoted to Oldsmobile general manager at age 43 in 1969 when Harold N. Metzel retired. Beltz passed away in May of 1972 from cancer at the age of 46.
John Beltz is leaning on a dual fan 455 Olds and posing with other experimental Olds engines that never saw production.
Here are descriptions of these engines:
1. The 0W-43 all aluminum 455 with 4 valve per cylinders, four overhead cam Weber engine. With a redline of just under 8,500rpm it was originally conceived for CAN AM racing. At 3,000rpm it put out 300hp and at 6,000rpm registered over 600hp. The top output recorded for this engine in the Lansing dyno facility was 700 real hp at 6,800rpm. Tests were run with both carbueration and fuel injection. The block was cast from Reynolds 356 alloy and fitted with pressed-in dry steel cylinder liners for the Forged-True 12.20to 1 pistons. Billet steel connecting rods by Carillo was used along with a forged steel crank. The engine weighed in at 50 pounds lighter than the production 455 motor! It was developed at the same time as the ZL-1 Chevy 427 motor.

2. The W-43 4 valve per cylinder 455 developed by JOHN BELTZ , LLOYD GILL , JOE JONES AND FRANK BALL. Rated at 500-550hp with a single Rochester Quadrajet on an aluminum manifold. Constructed with both cast iron heads and block and with aluminum-alloy block and heads 75 pounds lighter than the conventional 455 production engine. Engine featured four valves per cylinder with narrowed angles for a super efficient combustion chamber design, central spark plugs and could easily be adapted for chain for gear driven overhead camshafts. 455 engine had 4.625inch cylinder centers, a 4.125 bore and 4.250 stroke. Making use of the 3inch main bearings and 2.50 inch rod journals, the engine was fitted with a specially prepared cast crank fitted with SAE-1140 forged steel rods, forged 10.20-to-1 pistons which rode on Morraine 400 bearings. Four bolt main block boasted 2 additional 5/8inch drain holes. Four valve heads featured 1.750inch intake valves (SAE-8640 steel) with 22 degree stems and 1.375 exhaust (214-N stainless steel) with 15 degree stems, special Stellite seats, bronze alloy guides, o ring plug tubes, 14mm spark plugs, 3/8 inch pushrods and aluminum rocker arms. (Of all the experimental Olds engines, this one came the closest to production and there are photos of this engine in street gear. MAY 71 HOT ROD MAGAZINE features some of these engines and the sadness of the Olds engineers of that time of how they would never be released.)

3. 455 dual turbocharged CAN AM ROCKET CHALLENGE. 659hp @ 6250rpm. 554lbs torque @ 6,250 rpm. Alloy block with 4 bolt mains. Forged steel crankshaft. Forged True pistons with 8.5 to 1 compression. 3inch main journals. 2.499inch rod journals. Carillo billet steel rods. alloy heads. 2inch intake valves. 1.625inch exhaust valves. Crower roller camshaft with 555inch lift and 320 degrees duration. Dual TRW-375-E-10 turbochargers with boost Wastegate 10and 1/2psi. Lucas fuel injection. Olds alloy intake.
Competed with big block Chevy Mclarens and Porsche Panzers in CAN AM racing circa 68-69.

This video is merely a couple of old magazine pages strung together with the exception of that blue 455 hemi which was found on the internet. Thats BRUCE MCLAREN in that green can am race car which is Olds powered. AT THE BEGINNING OF THE VIDEO JOHN BELTZ IS POSING WITH SOME ENGINES FEATURED IN THE JULY 1969 ISSUE OF HOT ROD MAGAZINE AND THE BLUE OLDSMOBILE 455 HEMI WAS FEATURED IN THE MAY 1971 ISSUE OF HOT ROD MAGAZINE. The incidental music I overlayed onto this video was muted by youtube.

Category:

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[ludwigking]

Since Olds is gone today, where are these engines now?

[vistacruiser67]

@ludwigking Some were possibly destroyed. The engines that survive circulate among collectors. See this link for a 2009 video of one of these engines. /wwwyoutubecom/watch?v=kfixsjM­8V78

[montey1017]

what is the name of that song?

[vistacruiser67]

@montey1017 Factory Girl by the Rolling Stones from the 1968 Beggars Banquet album.

[vistacruiser67]

To all the guys discussing NASCAR.  These OLDS engines have nothing to do with NASCAR. Olds quit nascar in 1959 after a Lee Petty photo finish victory over a T Bird. These engines were experimental engines designed for the muscle car movement and probably even luxury cars. A prehistoric Nortstar V8. GM put the axe to them due to government restrictions that later became CAFE standards.

[devja71]

@MrExnihilo you just heard that from yer chevy-magazine-reading buddies. ford's 427 wedge was already kicking gm's ass since 63 AND it was ford that got called before congress around 69 at a very bad time just when the hemi-bird was winning and ford tech's where in the middle of working on their new car. it wasn't the 429hemi that was bad, it was aerodynamics at 190mph. go watch yer chevy commercials. btw it would've been neat if these hemi olds's made it to production they look exc

[bumdodge1]

Actually gm experimented with hemi heads in the 30s if i remember right they didnt see much of an advantage then. But as higher octane fuels came along mopar seen some possibilities and they went for it. Also i remember seeing a bbc with some exp hemi heads on it a while back, maybe someone else has seen it.

[isukaman]

Didn't Chrysler have a patent on the Hemi back then?

[midatlanticcycle]

olds was like buick which was like pontiac which was like ford. during the heyday of musclecars, if you wanted to get an olds to perform on the same level as a box stock mopar, you better be prepared to throw a ton of money at it. nobody in their right mind would be caught dead in one..unless it was riding to a baseball game with your pappy.

[WickedTornado]

@BadAssEngines That's very interesting, what you said you guys learned over time about cross-drilling crankshafts.

I'm not an engine builder. I love musclecars...and have a couple of fairly desirable ones that will be redone "one of these days".

In your opinion...and just for the recreational reading of a novice...is there anything along those same lines that you think are being discovered now and conceded as something that was thought to be a good idea but seeminly isn't, re: eng. building?

[redneckstuntmen2]

@ludwigking ther in super Stock dirt cars

[GMCman82]

@smithkid1996 ive heard that at some point after the crash testing, they were all of a sudden catching on fire wherever they were being kept. as for anything else, i havent heard of anything else, but i dont think they were catching on fire "as is", just if you crash it.

[jeepers2655]

wow thought I saw it all.......nope.

[BadAssEngines]

@MrREDHED72 Cross drilling a crank can actually ROB the rods of oil because of a "pin wheel effect". We used to do that back in the day but we learned over the years that what you think might work doesn't always work. Olds' oil probems are more of a drain back problem through the heads. It is one of the few engins where not enough oil drains back from the heads quick enough which can starve the oil pump. Built a number of Olds race engines in my day. Check us out online at BadAssCars

[BadAssEngines]

Interesting to see the Hemi version with the heads off at about 1:50 only to see what "appears to be" typical 2 valve relief pistons and not typical "hemi" type pistons with valve reliefs at the top and bottom. I wonder if that was just a display engine they were showing or if that really was what they used. It doesn't seem possible for the combustion chamber shape, or for the 4 valves to have clearance. Just thought it was odd is all.

[smithkid1996]

@silvernail6 the volt is GM's FOURTH attempt at an electric car. the past 3 have failed, and the volt is on a BAD track. i heard now GM is buying them back because the are crap, and having defects. (but for some reason no recalls?) i just thought you would find that interesting.and i saw pics of the 53' olds, it was so much nicer then the corevette, and had a proper V8.