rocketraider

Even though I've been in AACA close to six years now I've never been to a large meet. It's close by- I'd like to come as a spectator to see what things are about and meet some of you. Is that possible?<P>Thought about trying my 76 Olds' luck but don't know yet if I can get the time off, so decided to not waste the show staff's time and space with a maybe. Probably better to dip toes in the water first?

You're welcome. If you decide to get a later axle and hub- 66-68 spindles are the same, 69-72 same, and 73-78 same. You can use 73-78 knucks (and disc brakes!) on an earlier car but the ball joints and tierod ends are different.

You're welcome. May I suggest a visit to the Oldsmobile Club of America site and a membership?<P>RR

53 Fiesta full wheelcovers had white painted concentric rings as the background. The three bar Fiesta spinner had the Oldsmobile crest and shield in the center and bolted over the small center crest. This wheelcover was optional for 1954-55 88-98, with or without spinner. 56 Fiesta caps used a different background, stamped "ringed worlds" with a silver painted accent, and a large bladed spinner. Most of the aftermarkets had a cheap checkerboard background or didn't have the Olds crest as it was trademarked.

As bad as I hate to admit it, most Japanese advertising leaves the Americans in the dust. The "Nissan. Driven." campaign was one of the best I ever saw. The commercials made you want to go kick tires or even buy the car! which is a quality I find sorely lacking in American and especially GM advertising.<P>But ya gotta remember- a Lexus is just a car. Transportation, albeit upscale. Nothing special about it for 30 years down the road.<P>Dang, they said the same thing about 57 Chevys 45 years ago.

T'anks large, Peter G! The only pop-ups I like are Toaster Strudel and VH1 Pop Up Videos!

And they apply to old cars! As long as we don't get any pop-up ads...

The 1966 Oldsmobile Chassis Service Manual shows the exhaust layouts on all series. You can get one from the literature vendors or on e-bay. Usually $25-40.<P>Olds small blocks use the same RH manifold for single and dual exhaust. The factory used a cap and flange to block off the crossover port on the RH manifold. A good muffler shop should be able to make a reasonable duplicate of it- and that will be cheaper than finding the factory block-off. They've been discontinued for years and the parts vendors know it.

67-78 Toronado and Eldorado use the same axles. They can be used on 66. You may get into hub bearing differences between the 66-68 and the 69-78 axles but good news is the later bearings are easy to find.<P>Ya gotta remember if ya get a used axle it's at least 24 years old. Most RB passenger axles I've seen have had the rubber torsional damper eliminated. Good luck with yer big front-driver.

72= 1972<BR>3= Oldsmobile Division<BR>42= 4200 series Cutlass Supreme<BR>57= notchback hardtop coupe<BR>R= assembly plant Arlington TX<BR>13953= Fisher Body number<BR>TR 972= green vinyl interior<BR>A51= Strato-Bucket seats<BR>43= Pinehurst Green paint<BR>A= White vinyl or painted roof<P>Only thing I'm sure of on the 1972 POP is 5-26-72 is the date the car was delivered to its original owner. I think some of the numbers are the dealer code.

Depends if you want the car to hold its value. If it were a Cutlass, I'd say do what you want with it. A Hurst/Olds is always more valuable in original state. <P>That said- if you wanna go fast reliably, I'd find a 68-76 350 or 455 and go from there. Keep yer original 350 and store it properly so you can put it back in the car when you want to go back original.

Have any of you seen "Crossing the Bridge"? The Minnesota Chapter BCA got in the credits for furnishing Buicks. The "War Wagon", a 65 Electra, was central to its plot.

Check the venting system and replace rubber hoses if needed. After 35 years it's probably not a bad idea anyway. Also check the return line if it has one.<P>What was the weather? If the car had winter blend gas in the tank and it was a hot day, that could cause pressure buildup since winter blend is more volatile for easier cold weather starting.

Best to let the plater to do his own prep work. That way he sees exactly what he has to work with. Also- if some of it comes back "not quite what you expected" then the plater can't blame it on what you did before he received it.

My thots on this- if the gearbox is worn enough to require replacing the shaft seal, it's probably worn out elsewhere too. You might get by with replacing the seal and then find that the shaft is pitted or scored and you still have the leak.<P>I'd spend the money and send it out for rebuilding. Steering is a safety component and a 37 year old box is bound to have some slop in it- from experience with a 64 Starfire and 64 Grand Prix (same box).<P>Several companies offer rebuild service. Power Steering Services Inc in MO is a reputable one. <A HREF="http://www.powersteering.com" TARGET=_blank>www.powersteering.com</A><P><BR> My Bad! I see now it's the pump seal you want. They can be rebuilt too. Depending on which style pump you have you can get a reman through most any parts store, NAPA was able to get one for the GP, which is very similar to later GM pumps. Buick may use the other, larger pump like the Starfire. but I think some of the specilaty houses have those. You might be able to get a seal thru some of them too.<p>[ 05-10-2002: Message edited by: rocketraider ]

Radial-ply tires, by design, grip the road harder which puts more lateral stress on a wheel in hard cornering. A bias or belted tire will begin to skid way before a radial so they don't stress the wheel as much. Some earlier rims may not be able to handle the added lateral load without the tire coming off the rim or wheel itself deforming. That's why radials are risky on early cars.<P>Most wheels made since about the mid 60s or so are perfectly fine to run radials. Since I doubt many of us throw our old cars around hard enough to skid tires, using radials on earlier wheels is probably not an issue.

Wasn't the Sherman Anti-Trust Act designed to eliminate stuff like that happening? Shows ya how much this country pays attention to its own laws.<P>My experience has been that most laws are designed more to raise revenue than to address a genuine ill of society. All you've got to do is watch the local police work a shopping center parking lot on weekend nights, rounding up kids hanging out and writing $100 trespassing tickets by the dozens, while the crack dealers and whores work motels and get away with it. Says a lot about law enforcement.<P>And the oil companies will get away with it too.

The digital dash is the only thing I'd be concerned about. They like to fail with no warning, and one for a ten year old car is probably already obsoleted by GM (Gawd- has it been ten years since the last Toronado?). <P>The electronics may give trouble down the road too, but they probably won't be any worse than a Comfortron except, again, for finding parts.<P>The 90-92 Toronado/Trofeo were very nice cars and terribly underrated imho, but they suffered from "American-built" curse. People intending to spend that kind of money for a car tended to go for the snob appeal of a similarly priced European or Japanese car. But the styling! one of the few attractive efforts from GM in recent memory. If I could find one without the digital dash and touch-screen HVAC/radio, I'd consider it.

Sawzalls make me nervous when they're close to cars. Last time I saw one near a car the kid down the street cut the roof off a Volkswagen with it!

Yup- me Amoco gas card bill is now payable to BP Amoco. Thought Gulf merged with Chevron about 15 years ago? I remember that when that happened, all the Gulf stations here closed, they sent me a Chevron card, and the closest Chevron was 12 miles away. So I started using Amoco almost exclusively. Sure wish there was a Shell station close by though.

All branded except Citgo are currently $1.32-$1.34 for 87, with 10 cent gap between grades. Citgo is $1.39 on 87 with 12 cent gap between grades. Cut-rates (Hess, Sheetz, Wilco, SUN) are about 4 cents cheaper than the brands.

About the time BP and Amoco merged, I noticed a distinct difference in Amoco fuels. My Custom Cruiser had always run happily on 87 octane. Then all of a sudden it developed a near constant ping on 87 Amoco. It rattles some on 89. It wants premium now, and the fuel milage dropped by nearly 30% about the same time. This was not gradual- it was like from one tank to the next, so I'm reasonably sure it's not a mechanical problem. I can run 89 Texaco or Shell in it and get normal milage and no ping. But there's no Texaco or Shell stations here, and it does the same on Citgo and Exxon as it does on current Amoco.<P>Nothing I own has ever run worth a hoot on BP. Got caught short once with a nearly empty tank on the Regency, which ran nicely on 93 Amoco, and there was nothing open but a BP. On 93 BP, I thought every valve in that car was gonna come out.

Finding water in a tire is easy to explain. Air heats as it's compressed and any humidity around the compressor intake vaporises, until it cools in the receiver tank. Then it condenses, turns into free moisture and can get in anything the saturated air goes in. Yes, it can throw things off balance.<P>Packard, I think I understand why you get some of the mess you've mentioned in your tires.<P>Maybe I've been lucky, but then I tend to take my tire bizness to people I know well and who don't have a problem with me being in the shop observing. Doesn't hurt that most of the tire changers in that shop know I'll slip 'em an extra ten bux or so if they do the job right- and they know I won't stand for more than a couple ounces weight per tire, and I like my lugnuts torqued with a wrench, not a torque stick. One of 'em went to great pains last year to weight the tire so the trim ring clips would mount properly and not hit the weights.<P>Or has the fine art of stroking died off completely?

Last week I had to put a tire on the Sears tractor. I bought the tire at WalMart, got the old one off, and then messed with the new one for close to an hour trying to get it on the rim. Finally said the hell with this, went up the street to the lawn and garden, paid 'em 4 bux and was outta there in less than ten minutes.<P>Sissy that I am, I don't believe in doing things the hard way. My dad and uncle did everything the hard way their whole lives, and I work with several people who think if you're not doing it the hardest way you can find, you're not earning your money. I say, the hell with that! Work smarter, not harder.<P>I guess I forgot to mention that I have anytime access to a Corghi tire machine at my buddy's Amoco. Even if I didn't, I'd still pay the $25 or so to have tires mounted. Saying "I did it myself here at home" is not a priority- saving meself time and work is.

Hallo, Steve and Joeboxerr! It was the 64 manual that was 5 separate books. The 63 is all in one fat book. And much easier to find! the lit guys like to hammer you if they have a full set of 64 manuals.<P>Found Frank's comment on early turbocharging attempts interesting. Actually, in the late 50s and early 60s, there was an adventuresome spirit at all American carmakers. Chevy turbocharged the Corvair, the Buick and Olds compacts had aluminum engines, Tempests had a flexible driveshaft and rear-mounted transaxle. Chrysler developed the slant-six about this time and Ford had been building and perfecting retractable hardtops for several years leading up to the concealed convertible Continentals and Thunderbirds. Memory power seats weren't an 80s innovation- Mercury offered it in 1957!<P>I worked with a guy who bought a new 1996 Maxima and he prattled for days about all the gadgets it had. I busted his bubble hard when I told him my 1964 Oldsmobile had everything his car had, plus an automatic headlight dimmer! And his mouth just gaped open...