rocketraider

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.