1959 Olds SS88 PCV Valve question

[Guest scott mich bca # 6619]

I have in my possession a PCV valve that my friend sold me and states it

goes on my 1959 Olds w/ the 394 engine. He showed me the application in

some application book.

It is in an AC box, part # CV-590-C.

Here's the problem/question. Where in the heck does it go?

It is about 3" long, cast alum. in construction, one side is threaded, looks like 3/8", and the other side looks like it goes into a hose, again about 3/8" in diameter.

I am in the process of restoring the engine and engine compartment cosmeticaly.

I have the valley (push rod cover) cover off. Inside is a canister about 2" in diameter, 5-6" long, that goes out the back on the engine block at the top, into the breather tube (road tube). I would think it would go somewhere in that system.

Could it maybe be an early/late production type of application? (I have the opposite application?)

Thanks to anybody who can offer some advice in this situation, as this has become

a big mystery to me.

Scott Mich OCA # 3947, BCA $# 6619

[rocketraider]

Scott, neither the 59 shop manual nor my 1974 edition parts books address the PCV valve. The farthest back the parts book lists is 1961.

I'm thinking this valve may be part of a California emissions retrofit kit. Some years the carburetor throttle body has a threaded vacuum port at the back. I've seen 1962 394 with a PCV valve threaded into that, and the other end connected via hose to the RH valve cover where the road draft tube would normally be on that year. You may be able to plumb the valve into the road draft tube port using a grommet or elbow of some description.

While you have the crankcase vent canister accessible, I'd clean that thing out good. Hopefully you can unbolt it. Tried to clean one on a Chevy one time and the thing was pressed in, which you can imagine what getting it out was like with 35 years of sludge and varnish holding it in.

[Guest scott mich bca # 6619]

Thanks for the tip, Glen.

On the breather canister... I do have it out of the car. It appears to be

two cans, one inside of the other, with an outlet that bolts to the breather

tube through the back of the engine block with cork gaskets.

Is what you are telling me to clean out those concentric canisters? I suppose

I can soak them in parts cleaner or gasoline carefuly?

Do you know what color the bracket that bolts on the exhaust manifold and supports the generator should be painted?

Scott Mich OCA # 3947, BCA # 6619

[rocketraider]

Yup. Just soak it until it's reasonably clean inside. Don't know if all the goo will ever come out, but if it's clean, the engine can breathe easier.

I've seen those brackets engine color and black. I think this will be one of those "whatever the assembly plant was doing that particular day" things. Olds was known to attach brackets, manifolds etc before engines were painted.

[Guest scott mich bca # 6619]

Glen,

Thanks again for the info.

I was going to paint that bracket the same color as the exhaust manifold,

POR 15 manifold grey, since it rests on there and looks like it is part

of it.

I am trying to keep the car as original as possible. I would like to have

it judged at the next National. It's a 60,000 mile original car.

Two other items I am not sure about are the hood insulation and the generator

bracket.

I ordered new hood insulation from USA Parts Supply. They told me that their

insulation was "just like the original", however it is gray, and mine is yellow.

They may have been refering to the texture, not the color?

I do not know if mine is original, but judging from the rest of the car, I would

assume so. My generator bracket was painted green, I have seen them, either black or green. Same question.

I am involved with the Buick Club, and am a Judge there. They get pretty pickey,

just wondered how the Olds Judges are about things like that.

I do have both clubs judging manuals, the Olds one seems a bit more liberal?

I noticed they Olds allows any accessory of the era, without deductions. Buick

accessories MUST be available from the factory only. Even if the dealer installed an accessory at the time of purchase, unless it was available from the

factory, there is a point deduction.

Thanks for your time.

Scott Mich OCA # 3947, BCA # 6619

[rocketraider]

The hood insulation pad should be yellow thru 1963. Fusick will have the correct stuff, just got a new catalog from them yesterday. www.fusick.com .

I'm an OCA judge, specialising in 61-66 Starfires and 60s and 70s big cars, and can judge 66-78 Toronado and 73-77 Cutlass competently. I'm lost on 50s cars and 66-72 Cutlass, though I'm trying to increase my knowledge about them. I'm told I judge hard, but fairly. My standard is, can it be improved or corrected to showroom appearance with reasonable effort and expense?

We had a 1967 Ninety Eight convertible out of Greenville SC in Mid Atlantic shows and I picked up early on that this family wanted the car to be the best it could be. I judged it for several years, and every time it was judged, the next time out the items I'd noted were corrected with never any complaints. When it finally went to Nationals in 1995, it scored 985 points out of a possible 1000. It's been stunning people ever since. The family now owns a 1968 Delta Custom which is slowly reaching the same level as their Ninety Eight. A car and attitude like that makes a judge's job fun.

I'll reserve my comments on the OCA point judging system. Bob Casey is trying his best to straighten out the mess the original longtime head judge left him, and to get OCA judging back to where it means something again. We had ridiculous year breakouts on class divisions, a new car class that spanned twenty years, and no clear point deductions on incorrect components. And a judging video that was almost Keystone Kops in its presentation.

When I was Southeast Zone director I asked for many years to institute a judging certification program where judges would be certified in knowledge of particular cars, and also for the National Judging Committee to take responsibility for all judging related issues at the National Meet including recruitment, training and scoring tabulation. All this stuff is left up to the host group while the NJC remains mostly invisible. "Hovering godlike above the showfield, out of reach" is how another director put it...

I was told in no uncertain terms that the NJC would walk if they were assigned that responsibility, to which my reply was "then what the hell good are you?". One of the few times I lost my temper in a board meeting.

Sorry for the rant and tirade, but I watched OCA National awards go from respectable to a laughingstock over the course of several years, and I know people who had high scoring OCA cars go to AACA and get hammered. And the Olds Club is supposed to be the group who knows what is and ain't about Oldsmobiles. I'm happy to say things are beginning to go up again.

Anyway- bring the 59 to Cincinnati. If the car is an unrestored original, register it in class 18, and see the guidelines on page 16 of Jan 2003 JWO. I wouldn't mind seeing a few nice 59-60 cars out as I grew up with a Sixty. Someday I will own another 1960 Dynamic 88 Celebrity Sedan like the one my mother drove from 1960-1971.