Editing 1964-1990 Oldsmobile V8 engine information

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'''[ Thanks to Joe Padavano, Bob Barry, Jeff Easton for this information ]''' 

==Introduction==
In 1964, Oldsmobile came out with a new 330 cid engine. In 1965 the 400 and 425 cid taller deck height engines were introduced. Over the years other displacements were added. The Olds 455 was introduced in 1968, it was developed from the Olds 425, which was a tall-deck version of the 330 engine design. Both of which replaced the 394 cid V-8, which was developed from the design introduced in 1949 as the 303 cid "Rocket" V-8. Production of tall deck blocks ceased in 1976, although some were used (not necessarily in cars) in the 1977 model year. Production of the Olds engine platform ceased in 1990.

The tall deck and short deck block engine types are almost identical, with the tall deck having about a one inch higher deck than the short deck block. The bore centers are the same, the only differences between the short deck and tall deck Olds blocks are the deck height (9.33" and 10.625", respectively) and the main journal size (2.5" and 3.0", respectively); the diesel 350 used the BB size mains, however. All short deck blocks have a 3.385" stroke; the displacement varied by increasing the bore size.

==Engine names==
The engines were sometimes named, and this was printed on the air cleaner label or sticker. "Rocket" was used early on and continued to be used intermittently throughout the years. The mid 1960's 425 was known as the "Super Rocket". Some featured "Ultra High Compression" on their labels. The high performance 350 and 400 were named "Ram Rod" in 1968-'69; the 350 became the W-31.
[[File:1966-oldsmobile-442ultra high comp.jpg|left|thumb|300px|1966 442 Ultra High Compression]][[File:1969 ram rod 350.jpg|thumb|300px|1969 W-31 Ram Rod 350]][[File:1957j2 olds.jpg|thumb|left|300px|1957 J-2 Golden Rocket]][[File:1968 Hurst Olds 455.jpg|thumb|300px|1968 Hurst Olds W-30 455 Rocket]] 
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