rocketraider

www.oldspower.com . Lot of G-body traffic there and I've seen vinyl top removal discussions before. There's also a G-Mail list which should get you the info you need, but I don't know the filepath to subscribe. The Oldspower guys will know.

You can't contact previous or current owners of your old car, but DMV will issue titles, plates and driver's licenses to illegal immigrants or terrorists. What's wrong with this picture?

My trouble is I like them ALL, but I have to put in my plug for Oldsmobile. The Olds performance cars were the best balanced of all. Not only would they move, they could turn and stop too. Outside of Olds, I guess it would be a 67-69 Z24 Impala, 63-66 Galaxie XL or 7-Litre, or a 66-70 Mopar intermediate. I also like the big 300s- I would love to find a 300H. I tend to like full-size musclecars over intermediates.

Not as a direct bolt-in. Cadillac was still using the 4-speed Controlled Coupling HydraMatic 1961-64. Here's the breakdown on HydraMatic usage: 1961-64 ALL Oldsmobiles, and Pontiac Catalina and Grand Prix used the Roto Hydramatic 375 "Slim Jim" 1961-64 Pontiac Star Chief, Bonneville and ALL Cadillacs used the Controlled Coupling (Cad) or Super (Pontiac) HydraMatic. Here's a thread from RealOldsPower that addresses adapting a HydraMatic to a SlimJim car. It's actually discussing use of an old B&M HydroStick racing HydraMatic, but I think you'd have to do the same things to adapt the Caddy transmission. BlownOlds is on here sometimes too, you might try contacting him. http://www.realoldspower.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=17913&highlight= 394 transmission swap

It's a very rare car. The 4-speed was available only with the 305 Chevy engine, and was available because Chevy used it in the Camaro. It was emissions certified for that application and they were trying to spread costs around a little. Is it a Salon WITHOUT the 442 package? I ask because the rallye suspension and gauges came with 442, which was Salon-based in 78-79. Total 1979 Salon coupe production: 8399 G87 Salons, 3617 J87 Cutlass Salon Broughams. The books don't break down options. They're rare now because they weren't popular cars when new. The slantback styling jarred a lot of buyers and the bodystyle lasted only two years. Some people still dislike it, but if I see one in nice shape now I realise it wasn't that bad looking a car. It certainly has better and more distinctive styling than the jellybeans that pass for cars now. In good shape? Yes, by all means restore it. Doubtful you'll make your money back, but you'll have something no one else has and it will draw some attention.

That looks like a woodgrain steering wheel in decent shape under the grunge. Definitely worth saving- those go for good money. Basically any of the interior that isn't water damaged should be saleable.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> See if you can find a book called "Cars of the Sensational '60's" a coffee table book with a silver cover. This will give you some good basic photos and descriptions.</div></div> If you have Cracker Barrel restaurants and "old country stores" in your area, they usually keep this book in stock. I've forwarded your request to the Oldsmobile Club magazine. Someone should be able to help you. If you'd picked a Starfire I could be all over this! I can give you some basics on the 64, PM me.

It's the compressor clutch switch, though I've never heard of one on the blower duct. All I've ever seen are on the control head, and my 63 manual indicates that's where it's located and gives the adjustment procedure. I looked in 61 and 62 manuals too and all show it on the control head <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> Its function is to shut off the compressor when the temp lever is adjusted to heat the car. Seems to me like if driver wanted heat he would select the heater or defroster position, since the compressor doesn't run in those positions. Just another example of excessive Oldsmobile engineering! <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Looking at this current ebay auction for a PAIR of used ones from a 64 Ninety Eight, I hope mine don't quit anytime soon. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...me=STRK:MEWA:IT 1964 OLDSMOBILE 98 STARFIRE DOOR PIN SWITCHES 64 Pertti, you might try using some TV and radio tuner cleaner on your switches. You'll need to remove them from the doorjamb and take the rubber boot off to spray the cleaner down into the switch. Spray it in then work the switch plunger to clean the internal contacts- battery disconnected of course! If you're lucky the rubber boots won't rip apart when you take them out of the doorjamb.

If it's a factory a/c car, it's the evaporator core. Hell of a place to put it, huh? Shop book says the fender has to come loose to r&r the evaporator.

Laurence, it would be a 1970-72, but the MC bumper will not fit the Ninety-Eight. I recommend contacting Larry Camuso in CA for big Olds bumpers. West Coast Sheetmetal, 408-286-6537, www.WestCoastSheetmetal.com. You can also try Steve DeNovi in Chicago, Classic Automotive, SDenovi@aol.com. Whatever you do stay away from the Bumper Boyz. I don't know anyone who's had plating done by them in the last 6 years who is satisfied. Noticed you were heading to Tennessee to check out some platers. TriCity Plating in Elizabethton does very nice work with a good guarantee, but you might want to make sure you have a good replateable core to send them. You also have to worry about removing your rub strips. Once you have the bumpers off the car, soak the studs with PB Blaster, for several days if needed, and then use an air impact wrench to loosen the nuts. The vibration and hammer action of the impact helps loosen them and keeps the studs from wringing loose from the rub strip. Odds are you'll still lose a couple.

This is news I didn't want to hear, but I have to think back to what our priest told us when my dad was dying of emphysema and throat cancer. He said, "You can pray for him to live, but all you are doing is praying for his misery to be prolonged. It is time to let go." Helen, if you're reading this, thanks for everything. It was really nice to have someone at Olds who gave our requests for information a personal touch.

You'd have to make the floorpans or get them from a rust-free desert car (Impala are reproduced but I don't think they fit the Olds floor). Laurence's idea can save you a little money, but I'd use aluminum pop-rivets instead of bolts. If there's just pinholes, use fiberglass matting. Lay it up all the way across the pans. Carpet and padding will cover it on the top side. I'm guessing you're young. If you're high school or college age, maybe you can take an autobody course at school. 'Course, if you're already handy with a welder, you've got the problem licked. Mid Atlantic Olds Club covers NC/SC and is pretty much based in Charlotte now. We display at the Charlotte AutoFairs at Lowe's Motor Speedway so come on up and see us in April- I'll be there if I can get the day off. Guy up near Winston-Salem had a gorgeous black 60 S88 flattop he used to bring, but I've heard the car was up for sale. I've got some reference stuff for the Sixty, so holler if you need it. Welcome aboard.

You'll probably get a better response on www.442.com . Look thru their "cars for sale" section and you'll get an idea what money they go for. Be aware that W30 ARE cloned, sometimes very well. There can be tens of thousands $$ difference in a standard 442 and a W30. If it's a documented, original 4-speed W30, it will bring a chunk of change. Here's obvious things to look for: "F" casting heads (be sure to look close for evidence of an "E" with the tail ground off); "M" in the VIN (all W30 were built in Lansing); and of course the red fenderwells and aluminum intake (which are both reproduced, so be aware though they weren't available 20 years ago). It will have manual disc brakes and will not have airconditioning. You're sure this has the Rockcrusher? never knew many Olds to get it. Also- go in well-armed. You call the W25 fiberglass OAI hood a "cowl hood" around Olds folks and they will know you're a Chevelle guy! <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

If the car is leaking no more than that and is not using an appreciable amount of oil, I'd also be inclined to leave it alone. Dropping the oil pan in the car is an involved job, and I don't like fooling around under an engine when it's raised off the mounts. That's a lot of metal to drop on your hands if the cribbing shifts. Factory service procedures recommend packing the top half of the old seal tighter into the groove rather than removing it, then packing pieces from the old lower half into the gaps left from doing that. Then install a new lower half seal into the bearing cap. Yup- they had special tools just for this job. One to pack the seal into the upper cavity, and one to trim the edges of the seal.

If any of you have seen the stage play version, Miss Daisy had Oldsmobiles instead of Cadillacs. Found this out when the Little Theater group in South Boston contacted me wanting Oldsmobiles to display in the theater lobby during the run. We obliged them with a 1954 Ninety-Eight sedan, a 1967 Luxury Sedan, and a 1976 Regency, covering the three decades of the play. They used a picture of Miss Daisy and Hoke in the 54 for newspaper publicity. My high school English teacher played Miss Daisy, and a high school friend played Hoke. Play and movie are among my favorites, along with "Fried Green Tomatoes" (which, fixed right, are a delicacy unto themselves).

66-67 Toro. There are several different versions of this aircleaner depending on closed/open PCV, smog pump, and cruise control.

Tony, this part is on ebay almost every week. Search "nos olds*" or "hurst olds*" and you're almost sure to find a brand new one.

Heehee- I knew I'd get things stirred up with that musclecar comparison <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />. Wait til the 55 Chevy or Hemi guys see it <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />. The concept has always been the same no matter who did it- stuff the most powerful engine you have in the lightest car you have. Power to weight, baby, says it all. Agreed- a 41 Century would have blown the doors off a 1941 8-cylinder Olds. The Olds flathead straight-eight was an "adequate" engine, but it was certainly no barnburner. Laurence, digging further into my books I see that Olds began using the numeric series designations in 1939, and they had a one-year-only Series 80 before moving to 90 for the topline cars in 1940. No explanation given, but in those years, higher numbers generally meant a more prestigious car. Prior to 1939, the cars were usually given alphabetic series designations.

Sometime around 1940, Oldsmobile began using 60, 70 and 90 as series designations. They offered both inline flathead six and eight cylinder engines, and either engine could be installed in any series. Hence, a series 60 with a six-cylinder engine was a 66, with an eight it was a 68. Same with Series 70 and 90- 76, 78, 96, 98. Ninety-Eight stuck as Olds' designation for its top-line cars after the V8 was introduced, though in truth 1941 was the only six cylinder series 90. The name was used 1941-1997. The 88 came around in late 1949 when they dropped the new Rocket V8 engine from the Ninety-Eight into the lighter series 70 car. That year, series 70 with the inline flathead six were called 76, and renamed series 80 when equipped with the OHV Rocket V8 engine. Series 80 + V8 = Eighty-Eight. And wal-la! the original factory hotrod. There's some traffic over on the Buick forums claiming the 1941 Century was the first, but I kinda doubt the heavier Century could have hung with a HydraMatic-equipped Rocket 88.

Shop manual doesn't specify a torque sequence. All it says is to tighten them evenly, large bolts 60-80 ft/lb (these are head bolts) and the small bolts 14-22 ft/lb. It's good practice to start from the inside and work outwards. Also make sure the shafts have plenty of oil or assembly lube on them, and that the lube gets between the rocker arms and the shaft.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">PS, Rocketraider...what was the Olds forum through which you helped me before (about eight months back)? I tried to find that forum via Google but couldn't find them. Anyway, this looks like a good place also with helpful people. </div></div> www.oldspower.com . I think you'll find as much help or more here, because people here are more in tune to the full-size and pre-1980 cars. Oldspower has always been more a G-body (80s Cutlass) forum than anything else.

I believe Ames reproduces these.

VE5 is bumper rub strip. Odds are you'll destroy the rub strip mounting studs trying to transfer them to a new bumper. Plenty of PB Blaster and an impact wrench will help.

Matching numbers means that all major components are either original to the car or have been replaced with components of the same part # and correct time built window. Examples: engine, transmission, rear end, distributor, alternator. Basically any part that would have been specific to the car or option in question. It's one of the most abused and overused terms there is when selling a collector car, especially a musclecar. The reason it's such a big deal on those is because 1) given the nature of the cars, original drivelines are often long gone and 2) unscrupulous people will try to clone them and pass them off as originals. GTO and Chevelle crowd are especially bad about that. (Of course, there's a 67 Delta Custom convertible on ebay right now. Trouble is Olds never made such a car.) I don't consider it critical anymore unless we're talking about a high-buck car that someone intends to make a pile of money on. If someone wants me to pay matching numbers price, then the car had better have everything in order and documented. And the seller had better damn well know what he's talking about, and know as much as or more than I do about the cars in question.