Dead Reckon

Going next weekend to check the car out, I'll get pics, but I've seen it before, I just want to make sure it's still straight, it's a 1972 Oldsmobile Delta 88 2dr hard top, medium blue, darker blue inside, had a 455 w/ AC, but someone yanked the engine and junked it.

Buuut, I have a solution for the engine, I bought back the engine and trans I sold with the '77 Delta I wrecked back in August. It's a Chevy 350, I'd rather be putting an Olds in, but I know it's a good engine. Gonna replace the valve seals and do a few other piddling things.

I won't be able to get the '72 until August at the soonest, I have to fix my current car so it can pass inspection in October, so this will be a slowly updated post. My current car is a 1996 Buick Roadmaster with a LT1, it's sweet, but no Oldsmobile, close though.

So, here's the engine, with a picture and video, next weekend I'll have pics and video of the car I'm getting too:



Got the Chevy 350 back that was in The '77 Olds, Goldie - YouTube

More on the 350 I bought back - YouTube

Dead Reckon

Didn't get a chance to get up to the junkyard this past weekend, but I did get the engine out of the back of my Dad's Dodge, and I got the transmission separated so I can put the engine on a stand, make it easier to replace the oil pan and valve seals.

Video of that, might get up to the junkyard this weekend, dunno, waiting to see if I hear back from a temp service about a new job. I got dropped from my last one yesterday after I got home from work. They just brought in a bunch of new hires, so that irks the hell out of me. Either way, new job pays more if it pans out, so that'll be cool.

Either way, this project is going on, it might be set back a little bit until I find stable work, but it's gonna happen.

More progress on the 350 I bought back - YouTube

Either way, the engine is safely under a tarp now, so, it should be good for a while.

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radioburningchrome

Did you get the 72 88?

Dead Reckon

No, not yet, things have been a bit crazy lately, but I'm gonna get up there and get some pics sometime in the next month or so, gotta get some parts for my truck. Trying to sell my '96 Roadmaster to come up with the money for the '72 Delta now that I have another vehicle. The project isn't dead, this summer has just really sucked for me financially.

SeanMiller063

Awesome I'm pretty excited for this one.

Dead Reckon

Yeah, I am too, I've had my eye on the car for quite a while, was thinking about getting it when I wrecked my '77 Olds this time last year, but money was and has been tight. Not making a whole lot of money now, but if I can get the car cheap enough, I can easily budget it.

The 350 is just a temporary engine for the car. It has about 120k miles on it, needs valve seals, an oil pan gasket, probably do the timing chain too. Harmonic balancer is new, I spun that off when I bolted on a Summit branded 4bbl carb years ago. Made so much more power that old balancer just came apart at the rubber.

Not sure what will go in after the 350 though. Probably something more modern, like a junkyard 5.3 or 6.0, I'd like to get some decent power and fuel economy. The car is only original once, and that time has passed. I know I can use a 90's B body gas tank like the one under my Roadmaster to run fuel injection, they mount up fairly easy. Gotta have a filler neck and tank straps made usually though, but that's a lot cheaper than having a gas tank made, and easier than modifying one.

Either way, the swap will probably happen next spring, though I'm planning on getting the car over the winter. I'd had like to have it already, so the engine doesn't have to sit covered for a winter, we've had some hard snows. But that didn't happen, so I'm just planning on getting the car and sorting out a few minor things this winter with it to prepare for the engine swap.

I've already got a parts list too, I know I can fit in an Impala / Caprice radiator since the Oldsmobile engines have a different inlet or outlet size, I forgot which. Pretty sure I can use mounts and some other bits meant for a Chevy too. That's pretty much what the factory did when they put the 350 Chevy in my Olds back in '77.

So yeah, I'll let y'all know, I've been having trouble keeping steady work the past year since I lost a good steady job for hypocritical reasons I'd rather not go into. Think I've got something decent stocking over night at the local Sam's Club, pay isn't the best and I won't be full time for a while, but it's better than nothing. I dumped $3,500 in that '77 (At least that much) over the course of two years, so I can easily see having the '72 on the road by this time next year if not sooner.

Not gonna rush it though, gonna take my time, do it right, I'm picky about things. New brakes (Rotors and drums, forget turning them, they might be older than me), new suspension, gonna rebuild or replace the control arms, I know someone who has a press, so that won't be terrible to do, check the differential. I'm hoping the diff is something like a Posi since it had a 455 from the factory. I'll make sure everything is solid and ready to go, gotta get another driveshaft made too, the one for the car is missing. I'm assuming I will run the car with the 350 for at least 5 years before I'd need to swap it since it won't be my daily.

This isn't going to be a restoration, nothing of the sort, just saving an old car and enjoying it with what I can do in my driveway and borrowing shop time from friends. I'm getting a new, better video camera this winter too, so it should be a fun project to build and document.

I'll finish off by saying, while I like my '96 Roadmaster, I'm fairly sure I won't have it far past October, every 100 miles or so the chassis makes stranger and stranger noises from all ends. It has a transmission slip, the engine temp will creep up while idling, I think something is wrong with the ABS system, and it needs a power steering pump, tie rods, and front tires because the bad steering has shaved the inside of them bald, won't be long before they aren't safe anymore. So I'll probably sell the Roadmaster to fund the project. I'd have the '72 Olds now but I had to buy another vehicle to replace my Roadmaster, it's a 1984 Dodge D150 I paid $700 for, it has a 318, 727 automatic, 144k miles, runs like a champ. I bought a Dodge because everyone wants too much for the (usually very rusty) Chevy's, and I'm not really a Ford guy (They had frame issues and electronic issues in the 80's). Also I can use the truck for hauling parts, so that's a plus when I buy an engine stand to work on the 350 and rent another hoist.

So yeah, that'll be it for now, but sometime before the end of this month hopefully I'll be able to get pictures of the car. It's gonna be fun.

Olds64

Sounds like a cool project. Keep everyone updated.

Dead Reckon

So, finally got some pictures of the car, it's got some rust I didn't see last time, looks like it's not as original as I thought, gotta check it over, if it's only got rust over the rear wheel wells, and the floors are good, then I'll definitely grab the car. I didn't have time to really look at the car today, guy came to pick up the Buick Roadmaster I sold earlier than I thought he would.

Anyway, I had to get some parts for my '84 Dodge D150, I was near the car, so I got some pictures of it.

Olds64

Cool!

radioburningchrome

Good looking car and its a 2 door!

72delta88

it looks identical to my daily driver but mines a 350 rocket and in a little better shape its got 10400 on the odometer and is unrestored I got it for 2500 a few months ago it had been sitting for atleast 2 years

Human

In the fall of 1986, my grandfather bought a '72 Delta 88 convertible like that. It was light green metallic with a white top and the most gawdawful crushed velvet aftermarket seat covers. It was a 'Turnpike Cruiser' that had a 455 with a 2bbl carburetor. It was a fun to drive--a huge pimpin' barge of a car. I have no idea whatever became of it.

Olds442redberet

I hope you can get it. It looks really nice and it's a two door.

radioburningchrome

Any updates?