Engine in Monogram 29 Ford Roadster Pickup

[PowerPlant]

As the title says, I am curious which exact engine is in this kit... Instructions say simply "late model Olds mill", but googling didn't bring up results, and I have read somewhere it might in fact be a Cadillac engine... Can anyone clear this up? Thanks in advance!

[my66s55]

I'm pretty sure it's an Olds. I have one I built stock from parts of the AMT 29 roadster.

[PowerPlant]

Thanks for the reply, but which engine specifically... I would like to find some reference pics, but haven't found anything that looks similar to my eye.

[mike 51]

The " Olds"  engine in the kit would be a 49-64  (likely on the early side of the 50's)

It may have been a Cadillac in the earlier versions of that kit, I just can't recall.

[64Comet404]

It was a early Cadillac engine in the kit. The original version of the kit had the Cadillac script engraved on the valve covers.

[mike 51]

So it was an early Cadillac but with different valve covers and intake  they made it  into an Olds....apparently. 

Edited May 9, 2018 by mike 51

[Oldcarfan27]

As I recall, it was very generic, so they could have called it a Briggs & Stratton for all I knew. Best to just replace it with something better. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

The engine doesn't appear to be blazingly accurate, but with the siamesed center exhaust ports, what looks like an open-runner intake manifold (the port runners are above an entirely visible valley cover), and the water pump and neck configuration, it appears to NOT be an Oldsmobile, but rather a gen-1 Cadillac OHV engine, built from 1949-1962, in 331, 365 and 390 cu.in. displacements.

One defining feature that sets the Olds apart from the Cadillac is the location of the water neck base / thermostat housing.

On the Cadillac (and it appears, the model), it's on a crossover that is part of the water pump housing, separate from and forward of the intake manifold.

On the Olds, it's cast into a crossover that's integral with the intake manifold (see Olds engine at bottom).

 

The gen-one Caddy and Olds engines ARE visually similar...HOWEVER...the port runners do not appear to be correctly spaced for either a Cadillac OR an Oldsmobile, though they appear to be closer to Olds than Cad. (Cadillac below, first-generation Olds at bottom).

 

   CONCLUSION: it's a not very accurate mashup of both.

 

Edited May 9, 2018 by Ace-Garageguy

[oldcarfan]

This was a redo of the original Blue Beetle wasn't it? That would mean that the engine was probably the Cadillac engine modified so they didn't have to pay royalties to Cadillac.

[Tom Geiger]

The engine in question... just a rebuild of an old built up 

[randyc]

And my version.  LOL  A fun, quick build.