rocketraider

Tell us what engine and body style. I think you'll be limited to stuff like Borla exhaust, maybe bigger injectors and a hipo computer chip for engine. You can put on high performance tires/wheels, and I've seen ground effects and aero kits for these cars.<BR>Possibly a supercharger from a 90s Buick or Pontiac might fit. <P>There was another guy on here couple days ago, teenager I believe, wanting the same info for an 88 SL. I've never been on it, but I believe there is an N-body webring.

Every so often this discussion starts up on 442.com and Chris Witt in MI has had a high dollar finder's fee going for some time to anyone who can 1) prove the existence of the solid web 403, and 2) deliver him one. The rumour was that about 2500 were made and put in 1977 Buick and Olds B wagons, but it's been pretty much established that it is just that- a rumour- and that no solid web 403 were ever cast. Sorry.

Most 68 and 69 I remember new came with Firestone Wide Ovals, in either red lines or single pinstripe whitewalls. At least my uncle's 68 "S" had them, I was 13 and just beginning to go gaga over cars, and I was soaking up every detail I could see. Think the term we used then was "cool to death"? Then it was "bitchin" and now "phat", or so my teenage nephews tell me...

Don't weld up the hole in the yoke, it's part of the transmission's vent system! What's happening is that as the car sits, all the fluid is draining back out of the torque converter and hydraulic circuits into the pan, and as the level rises it gets up to the level of that vent hole and drips out. I had a 73 88 that would do the same thing if it wasn't driven at least every other week. I've also seen them leak out around the pan gasket, speedometer cable seal and shift lever seal. Solution? Drive it! the car will thank you for it.

I have sat my arse in that 68 cop car and it will put the fear of Gawd in you. It belongs to a retired Oldsmobile Zone Service Manager who doesn't spare the horses. I currently own two cars I bought from him, and let's just say they ain't necessarily as they left the assembly plant, but everything has an Olds part #. Technically, the only year it was identified as the W33 Police Apprehender was 1970, but the B07 and B01 police packages were available on both big car and F85 most years. That's how the original 442 came about in 1964. It was basically the Cutlass cop car, even available on the 4-door sedan. Most literature on the cop car recommends it for the Town Sedan. But some fuzz liked a little sportier package...

An AC-Delco jobber will sometimes carry factory type wiring plugs and terminals. One in Greensboro NC has come thru for my 60s Oldsmobiles and a friend's Pontiacs several times. It helps that this shop is attuned to old cars; both the owner and parts manager are old car freaks of the highest order. They had an AC-Delco rebuilt fuel pump for 1964 Olds on the shelf last month, at about a third of what the big-name old car supply houses wanted.<P>My sympathies on the CA situation. There are people in power there who won't be satisfied until every last old car is off the road and crushed. And not servicing simple parts is only the start...

I've had a couple of carbs apart that had had RFG or high alcohol content gasoline thru them, and they're not pretty. The stuff leaves whitish crusty deposits all over the carb internals. This stuff could be the cause of the sticking float.<P>Or it could be just from age and varnish deposits. Limited, I think you're going to have to go thru that carb as the problem isn't likely to go away on its own. I can understand not wanting to mess with it though. Seems like they never run as well as when Rochester built them, unless you can find an ace QuadraJet man.<P>I'm going thru much the same scenario with a 1964 Starfire 4GC carb. The car will simply not run any longer than it takes to burn the fuel out of the bowl. This one has had new rubber lines and a new fuel pump and still does its hateful thing. I've messed with this carb the whole twenty years I've owned the car, and it's still no good. It did better with a Rochester kit than any other time, but after seeing some of the weird stuff that it came that way, I believe it was bad from the git-go. I guess I'll have to open it up again too if I expect to get any pleasure out of this car this year. or get a rebuilt which will likely be no better than what I have. Most early 60s Olds people I know who have 4GC have the same complaints I have.

Kind of strange that the old Buicks don't come out in Hotlanta; there are fairly active BCA and GSCA chapters there plus the Olds, Pontiac and Caddy clubs. They used to do a really nice BOP show there every spring which I haven't been able to attend the last few years because it conflicts with Spring Carlisle.<P>Road-going Buick sightings here today- 1968 Electra pillared sedan, 1966 Lesabre 4DHT, and a 1962 or 63 Special 4D sedan. One Ford deuce street rod and my 1976 Olds Regency. It was beautiful here today- where were the old cars?!

Two things come to mind- choke adjustment or a float stuck closed. I'm leaning toward the float since you say it has fuel up to the filter and will run if the carb is primed. Try rapping the top of the carb with a plastic screwdriver handle. If that doesn't do the trick- rebuild time. You did say the fuel pump is good?<P>Also- is reformulated gas being used in your area? That nastyass mess will dissolve rubber fuel hoses from the inside and the goo will get into floats, jets etc, though it can apparently get thru the filter.<P>We had RFG here one winter and although it didn't cost me any fuel hoses, it dropped mileage on a 307 OD wagon from 24 mpg highway to 16. Car started hard and ran poorly that whole winter. Once it got out of the pipeline, back to 24 mpg and decent running again.

Everything I've ever heard indicates the Celebrity Sedan or Coupe is a post sedan with window frames. This was the case on up into the late 60s when they began calling them Town Sedans. I dare say there was more headroom in one of them than in a flat-top, and might be why some Buick and Cadillac C-body cars used the arced six window roofline instead of the flat roof. The flat-top was a dramatically styled car though- right in step with its times.

This is one of the few useful things OCA has done in the past couple of years, and I'm speaking as a past national director of that group. Kudos to whoever negotiated this forum on behalf of OCA and AACA. May the association be long and fruitful!

The high compression 330 engine in both F85 and Jetstar 88 series was called "Jetfire" 1964-67 and announced its presence on the aircleaner trim plate. This may be what he's seen. The Turbocharged 215 1962-63 was known as Turbo-Rocket; in tamer versions it was "Rockette".<P>Olds Engineering's refusal to lower the 215's 10.25 compression ratio in the turbocharged application was the biggest reason the engines were regarded as troublesome. The little monsters simply detonated themselves into oblivion and finally were fitted with a fluid injection system to decarbon the engine and cool combustion temps to where detonation ceased. It used a mixture of alcohol and water called "Turbo-Rocket Fluid". Still a novel idea and way ahead of its time, along with the turbocharged Corvair Spyder, which gave us the original turbo muffler.

Rumour is (and it's strictly rumour) that both Olds and Pontiac built versions of ElCaminos several years, but I've never seen a 73. There is a documented 1972 TempesTruck in the POCI.

The Delta 88 Holiday Coupe was a 1977-82 series and was a sporty big car. Bucket seats, console, sport steering wheel, usually with FE3 suspension and available with the 403. Unfortunately, 403 cars couldn't get the SS-III sport wheels since they were small bolt circle and 403s used the big circle wheels. They could have the SS-V all chrome wheel or color keyed full wheel covers. These are neat cars and actually sold pretty well. At least someone in GM had realised there was a market for a big sporty 2-door car in those years. Now if they'd just get their heads out of their butts and realise that now.... For a few years I thought GM was making a comeback with their styling and product lineup, and now everything looks like a Volvo or Toyota Avalon. I can't imagine anyone ever seeing the dreck they're making now as collectible. Or for that matter trying to restore all the electronic mess.

To add some more on the VSO car, all RPO were available with the Y76 option including Compaticolor interior (white seats/door panels with dash and rugs color keyed to the exterior) and powertrains up to the 455 for 1974-76 and the 403 for 1977. <P>Many people have confused it with a Hurst conversion because of the roof trim, and in 1976 the Delta 88 was available with Option Y61 Royale Crown Landau Coupe which included stainless roof trim and a blind quarter padded landau roof; these cars were converted by Hurst but the Y76 was an in-house job as far as I know. I've never seen any Hurst documentation on it as I have the Crown Landau.

I take it you've seen the one on e-Bay- the VSO is a regional marketing package and almost every Olds sales zone had some version of it. VSO stands for Very Special Olds; there were also GMO in the Northeast, Carolina Cutlass in the Raleigh/Charlotte zones, Cutlass Surprise out of Rockville/DC, and many more. It is technically option Y76, Marketing Group Car and was available 1974-77 on the G37 Cutlass Colonnade Coupe. The option included: Landau vinyl roof with stainless tiara trim band, chrome dual sport mirrors, argent silver SSII wheels, and deluxe steering wheel from the Cutlass Salon. The quarter windows were filled and used the Supreme opera window glass similar to the high line Chevy Malibu.<P>I've seen some 79 and 80 Cutlass with a stainless roof trim that I think were also part of this program, though my books don't mention it.

The "special" 1976 Delta Royale referred to earlier is the Royale Crown Landau Coupe, option Y-61 in Olds parlance. It was a Hurst conversion for the big car and consisted of blanked out quarter windows, stainless steel roof tiara with Landau half vinyl roof cover, color keyed wheel covers and a special hood ornament. They were supposedly available in all standard Olds colors but were limited to white, black or maroon roof covers, and many also had the Compaticolor interior trim (white seats/door panels with carpets and dash matched to the exterior of the car). And yes, I have seen one in that garish Lime Green Metallic color with Compaticolor option. Beautiful cars in spite of having a nose that looked like it ran into the wall, and owning a very early production 1976 Regency, I've gotten used to that mug.

No- all I have is the grease cap. If it helps in a junkyard search- 88-98 1967-70 all use the same steering knuckle with disc brakes, 69-70 use the same hub/rotor (should be serviced by aftermarket?) and 63-70 all big car use the same speedo drive grease cap. Possibly Buick and Cad will interchange.

Do you need an entire spindle, disc brake hub, or the grease cap with the clip inside it? I might have a grease cap since it was used for years. Weird about 67-70 big Olds- standard setup was left front wheel driving the speedometer. K30 (cruise control) cars drove it off the transmission. And they all have separate part numbers.

Do you know if Tanson or the others can do anything adapting a TH350-400, or even a 200 or 700 OD trans to a 394 in a 1964 Starfire? Being able to ditch that SlimJim would open up a lot of possibilities for this car as it and the 4GC carb are chronic problems, and I can't update the carb without a lot of aggravation with the tranny TV rod.<P>I'm told they have to cut the THM case down and fab an adapter plate for the 303-371. Guess they're all the same in the bell area.

First- is this a Guidematic car (automatic dimmer)? Sometimes Guidematic problems go deeper than the switch. <P>If you have Guidematic, you need Delco p/n 1995108 (1961-62 Guidematic only). If you have the standard light switch, p/n 1995118<BR>(1962 exc Guidematic or F85).<P>As is often the case in early 60s, both these numbers service one year only and are long obsolete.

Mondello won't have anything for an early Rocket engine. There's a guy in Ohio who does a lot of 49-56 engines and ads in the National Antique Olds Club magazine. I hesitate to give out his info here, maybe naoc.org can put you onto him.<P>Can't believe Kanter doesn't have anything. They're expensive, but usually have stuff no one else in the world has.<P>Try usapartssupply.com in Manassas VA.

Order yerself a belt tensioner tool from Northern, Harbor Freight or the like. It works like a turnbuckle, put the ends in the pulleys, then screw it out to spread the pulleys and tension the belt. The alt mounting on all Olds-design V8 in those years is screwy, but the above tool will solve the problem.<P>I don't think you want any less than a 100 amp alt in a diesel application. You're charging two batteries and those cars usually have a heavy electrical accessory load.

I suspect that within 10 years, GM will be Chevrolet, Cadillac and GM Truck. No more Buick or Pontiac, both trucklines combined, and they'll see their market share decline even farther. As long as GM stuck to the Sloan Hierarchy, they did well. When they got into the cookie cutter business, and tried to sell zooted up Chevy Cavaliers as Cadillacs, that's when they pulled the rug right out from under themselves. I have no sympathy left for them. Ten years of Saturn, and still hasn't turned a profit, and they buy a floundering Korean company, and let their bread and butter fall butter side to the floor.

The Dynamic should have a 425 ci engine if it is original to the car. 330 was for Jetstar 88 and Cutlass in 1965. A 425-2bbl engine was rated at 310 hp. 4bbl and dual exhaust raised the ante considerably, up to 370 hp in Starfire versions. The top 330 was 310 hp in 4bbl DE Cutlass trim.