rocketraider

I get PMs and e-mails from many of you about Olds-related stuff. I try to reply as quickly as I can or let you know why I can't, but some e-mail services have very aggressive spam filters. Even on "reply" emails that are a direct response to an e-mail <span style="font-weight: bold">you</span> sent <span style="font-weight: bold">me</span>. I like spam filters and scrubbers as much as anyone since I despise spam and viruses, but here's the deal: <span style="font-weight: bold">[color:"red"] If you want me to answer your questions, you better make sure your ISP doesn't block my reply e-mails. </span> I realise that some of you may not even be aware of your blocking settings, but there is nothing more frustrating than taking the time (often considerable) to research an answer and reply, only to get an "Undeliverable Mail" message. Some are polite and businesslike, but others are downright insulting, like "You are not permitted to send this subscriber mail" (Verizon) or the one from an erols.com subscriber that basically said if my name was not on his e-mail whitelist to go to hell and leave him alone. That burnt me up, especially after he had the nerve to call me here at home asking why I hadn't answered his questions. Simple answer- I replied, your ISP blocked, no point in spending anymore time on it. Not trying to be hateful or hard to get along with, but there's no point in me wasting time on a reply that will never get delivered. GW

Is the A/C cooling? If it's not blowing hot air out the heater duct, I think it's just radiant heat from the engine area. There's not much airflow in the underdash and floor area to move the hot air out. Plus, when it's 100 degrees outside, it will be hotter in an enclosed area or somewhere with limited air exchange. If the temperature door inside the heater box isn't sealing off completely in A/C mode you could get hot air, but it would affect the air temperature at the dash outlets. Only other thing I can think of is the water valve on the engine is leaking by a little, but if the A/C is cooling normally it probably isn't.

Sounds like the shift tube inside the column. A stick-shift Cadillac or Buick will be your best bet as Chevy and Pontiac still had the shifter rod outside the column in those years. All 55-later GM passenger cars used internal shift tubes, and even though GM used the same basic design column for years, I don't know what later year parts would interchange. The earliest shop manual I have is 1954, and it doesn't go into much detail in that area either. Shows how to get the shift lever out and remove the shift tube from the column mast jacket, and a little bit down at the lower end. DK how much it would help you but it you PM me with a street address I'll xerox what I have for you.

www.442.com, www.realoldspower.com and www.oldspower.com all have detailed instructions on how to do this conversion. Also try subscribing to the Olds G-mail list as they have discussed this conversion in detail. The Oldspower.com guys can tell you how to get on it as that site is geared more to 80s cars.

It was the only engine. That's what they had, with slightly different heads and adapted to the baby Roto HydraMatic. The turbocharged Jetfire was available in 1962 and 63, based on this same engine.

The two 64 Starfires are the lowest mileage. Green one just turned 70k and the blue one shows 92 and change. 69 Toro, 74 Hurst and 76 98 all have right around 130k, the 97 Bravada has 147k and the Gray Ghost 1983 Custom Cruiser has 291,000 (second engine, it was originally a diesel). It's still driven 60 miles to work and back every day and I often take it on longer trips, as I know what the car is and trust it. Everything still works, even the clock, and if it needs anything, it usually gets it. You can probably deduce that I don't think miles hurt a car. Lack of maintenance does.

www.442.com has an excellent database and FAQ about engine #s and codes. An easy way to tell small block from big-block is to look at the head codes. Small blocks (350 in 1970) will have a number cast into the bottom left corner of the head as you face it- 1970 should be a 5, or you may see a 6 on some late production cars. Big-blocks (455) will have a letter- E for all excpet W30, which had F.

Tony, you come from a time when most if not all cars were loaded with options. Up until the late 70s, a fully optioned car was the exception rather than the rule- especially on the lower-line GM cars. Dyked-out Chevrolets were an oddity as most dealers found loaded (read: expensive) cars a tough sell to the typical Chevrolet customer of the day. Power locks were installed in something like 2% of production in 1969 after being introduced in Cadillac in 1962 and the other C-body cars in mid 1964. It was a vacuum operated system (electric power locks were introduced in 1971). Most all cars had the vacuum switches in roughly the same location on the upper door panel; some C & E body cars had them in the armrest with the power window and seat switches. Power disc brakes came along in 1967 and were also a low-installation option until they were finally made standard on B, C & E body cars in 1970. None too soon in my opinion. Who ordered the cars? Back then, you could get pretty much what YOU wanted on the car- no "Equipment Group I" bs where to get one thing you really want, you have to order the whole freaking package of stuff you don't want. Sometimes dealers ordered the cars, sometimes customers placed special car orders, sometimes the factory built stuff to pare down inventory of gadgets and then sent the car out the door for the dealers to try and sell it. I think the weirdest option combination I ever saw was on a 1966 BelAir sedan. It had 283, PG and Comfortron. That was it. No PS, PB or anything else. Not even an AM radio. Found a 65 LeSabre sedan like that once too, nothing but a 6-way power seat though I think that one did have power steering.

The 1972 data plate isn't in the door jamb. Look underhood, upper right side of the cowl area and you'll find it. There will be TR (interior trim) and PNT (exterior color) codes on it. Post them and I can probably decode it. The paint codes will look something like 11-11 or 11-B depending on whether car had a painted or vinyl-covered roof.

Check your private messages.

I think the 4-way power bucket seat was the same in all series those years. I know 66-72 A and 66-70 E cars used the same basic Strato-bucket seat, and since 66-70 bucket seat B-bodies used Strato-buckets too, stands to reason they're pretty much the same.

As I understand it, TG is very much like a Buick Dynaflow- no shifts, just starts and goes, and has Grade Retard range for engine braking if needed. Powerglide is a true two speed fully automatic transmission with a distinct low-to-high shift, and the annoying park/neutral whine that was its hallmark from introduction until demise. Don't know that much about the technical inner workings of it, but it got a poor reputation among both owners and dealer mechanics in the 5 years Chevy offered it. I think that was probably due as much or more to owner driving habits as to actual quality of the unit. Interesting to note that Buick's experiments with Flight Pitch and Triple Turbine Dynaflows evolved into the Turbo-HydraMatic, so the transmissions couldn't have been as bad as they were made out to be. Saw a Turboglide-equipped 1960 Impala flat-top at a cruise night a couple weeks back.

That's the magazine ad. Olds Division produced a special Regency dealer sales brochure. Pretty elaborate really- 8-1/2x11 trifold on heavy gloss paper stock. LS (Luxury Sedan) was first offered in 1963 on the six-window hardtop sedan platform, and later became a pillared hardtop- frameless door glass with center B post. In addition to upgraded upholstery and headliner fabrics, it had inside door pulls and depending on the year, a clock, a lighted vanity mirror/tissue box or some years both in the front seatback. 1968 was probably the most exclusive year for LS as it had an available "Royale" interior fabric much like the 72-later Regency.

Tony, the factory press release photos often show up on ebay, and the Regency brochure is fairly common also. It was basically an interior/paint option released to commemorate Oldsmobile's 75th Anniversary in 1972. The brochure and factory pics show the car parked in front of the Tiffany store with a well-dressed affluent 30-ish couple. From the Regency brochure: "A very special Ninety-Eight for a very special occasion: Oldsmobile's 75th Anniversary. The Regency is a four-door sedan of uncommon distinction and luxury. Only 5000 are to be built during the entire 1972 model year- and ownership of each will be registered with Tiffany & Company in New York. The interior is unique. The pillowed effect of fine furniture has been achieved in both seatback and cushions; the upholstery is limousine quality velour, available in black or covert gold. Even the face of the electric timepiece in the instrument panel has been specially styled by Tiffany's, and bears the Tiffany name. The Regency has a special Tiffany touch outside too: a strikingly handsome custom-metallic paint in exclusive Tiffany Gold. Finally, a handsome key exclusively designed for Ninety-Eight Regency owners. Plus a personal Tiffany touch: a valuable sterling silver keyring as a gift to each Regency owner. If ever lost, the keyring and keys can be dropped in a mailbox, and Tiffany's will return them to the owner at the address shown in its registry." "Custom Regency interior: Limousine quality all-nylon velour upholstery, treated for stain and dirt resistance. Divided 60/40 front seat with 2-way power adjustment for driver's side, separate controls for passenger side. Center arm rests front and rear. Color-coordinated cut-pile nylon carpeting on floor, cowls and lower door panels. Pouch storage compartments on front seatbacks. Instrument panel timepiece with special facing styled by Tiffany's." All options beyond standard Ninety-Eight equipment were available for the Regency as well. The 1972 car isn't seen often now. I've seen three, maybe four in my lifetime. Regency was still pretty exclusive thru 1973, but they exploded onto the scene in 1974 and actually outsold the Luxury Sedan most years after that. They built a Regency LX in 1979; there's one here in town, saw it out tonight. It had thin upper fender reveal mouldings raided from the Cadillac C-body parts bin.

A 1970 floor pan will not fit. He'll have to make the patch pan. To get the rear seat cushion out: there are a pair of hooks on the floorpan. Wires on the seat frame lock into these. Push bottom edge of the seat cushion DOWN and toward REAR of car until they disengage. Lift the cushion up enough to clear the hooks, then pull it forward and out. To remove the backrest: Odds are you'll have to remove the seat belt retractors to get to the straps that attach the bottom of the backrest. You'll need a large (I think T55) Torx bit, and I've often had to use impact wrenches to loosen the seat belt attaching bolts. Once that strap is loose at the bottom, lift the backrest UP and off the hooks that anchor it to the rear body bulkhead.

First, rotate tires front-to-back and see if noise goes away or moves to the rear of the car. If that doesn't isolate the noise, it sounds like a front axle hub bearing. They're available, but expensive and specific to 1966-68. Just to be sure, there are no rocks in the wheel covers or wheels? You might want to listen around the final drive too.

Yes- the balancer/pulley is keyed to go on only one way. You should NOT have to remove the balancer to r&r the water pump. Use the 1/4" drive deep socket. It will go in there. Done it many times. Just a thought- does car have aftermarket a/c? It would have an extra pulley bolted to the front of the balancer which would probably have to be removed.

There's a rounded notch in the balancer/crank pulley to allow removal of this bolt. Rotate the crank until the notch is at the top and aligned with the w/p bolt, then use a thin-walled deep socket to remove the bolt. I've found that a 1/4" drive socket works better.

This the red/primer one that was at Carlisle All-GM last weekend? That car was a good start, esp since its turbo was intact and complete. I'll check production #s when I get home.

Do you have one to rebuild?

Paul, if it's the same guy who did them earlier they should be very impressive. The early ones he did satisfied John Kleedorfer, and that's saying something. Someday I will get to Homecoming. As it was, we went to Carlisle All-GM this past weekend. Biggest Olds turnout for that show yet, with some very high-quality cars.

Give a well-stocked professional paint dealer the paint code(s) from your underhood data plate. He should be able to match a modern formula from that code. Most of the paint suppliers still have formulas for colors back into the 40s, maybe earlier. If you're looking for original color chips and availability, dealer brochures and supplier paint chips are easily found on ebay or at swap meets.

Try www.realoldspower.com . They have a pretty comprehensive suspension tech forum and guys on there are in tune with what you want to do. Pretty sure some of them have already tried this and have the answer.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> The car had the 455 engine w/ dual exhaust. The engine will be removed prior to sale and is not included with the car. </div></div> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> Another W34 down the drain... Your car, man. Do what you want.

Moin, I have never known Oldsmobile to use a water heated choke. I think the port you refer to connects to the hot air pipe that runs thru the intake manifold. A short, curved tube connects to the threaded port on the carb choke housing and to a small hole in the intake manifold. A small vacuum orifice in the choke housing pulls outside air thru the pipe in the intake manifold, heating it, and then thru the choke housing itself. The hot air passing over the choke thermostatic coil is what operates the choke. If your choke tube is missing, you may be able to adapt an electric choke to your Rochester.