[V8] V8 Non-Audi Swap (was crankshaft bolt)

[Steve Eiche]

Yes, from '79 to '85 you could get Olds Toronados with the infamous 350 diesel engine.  The engine that gave diesel cars (and Olds IMO) a bad name in the US.  My parents had the "rarest" of the Oldsmobile diesels, a '79 Cutlass Salon (the ugly fast back one), with the 260 ci diesel and a five speed manual of which less than 250 were built.   Nice concept, horrible execution.  It needed head gaskets every 40k miles, the glue plugs didn't last, the injection pumps would get destroyed because they had poor filtering and no water separater, it was slow, noisy, smelly, etc., etc.  When it was running, it would get over 30 mpg.  Believe it or not, that very car is now sitting in a museum.  (My dad donated it, as no one in their right mind would buy it.)

I also had the joy of drive a '75 Toronado in high school.  It had a big 455 ci engine and front wheel drive.  Huge velour seats.  With all the torque, you could spin the wheels quite effortlessly.  I really liked that car.  Hmmm, I guess maybe now it would be safe to tell my dad how that valve spring broke....  

Steve

Dave wrote:

Don't forget about the FWD Olds Toranado. It even came with what GM called a
diesel motor. (everyone else called it a waste of good iron)

Dave