My 1968 delmont 88

[Vargen]

A 1968 Delmont 88 Convertible with a 455 Rocket, manual transmission, 12-bolt LSD.

Bought it like this from Virginia Beach last fall:


Got it shipped home to Sweden:


With AirRide kit mounted:


Bought 20" American Racing hopster:

[don71]

Dang!!! Thats a smokin hot ride.

A BIG car AND its got a manual trans? It does'nt get any better than that

[Vargen]

Originally Posted by don71

Dang!!! Thats a smokin hot ride.

A BIG car AND its got a manual trans? It does'nt get any better than that

Thanks!

Yeah it´s a 3-speed manual, I´m thinking of swaping it for a 4-speed..

A friend of mine took these photos last night:

[Olds64]

BEAUTIFUL!

[Pfiffle]

I'm not a fan of big rims, but on your car they work. Looks mean. Didn't know the big 88's of that vintage had a manual trans available.

[Redog]

Nice, I probably wouldn't have bagged it, but it still looks good.

My 350 motor is from a Delmont 88

[Oldsguy]

Very nice car. I always liked those little illuminated rockets on the rear fenders. I bet it has a little illuminated rocket on the dash that indicates when the high beam headlights are on as well doesn't it? My '69 did.

[frdmftr]

Very nice!! Did you 'bag' this yourself? I have a 67 Delta 88 convert and have considered the air bags for both stance and when loaded with pretty girls (parades).

[Aussie67Delta88Custom]

Vargen,
You are bound to "pick up some fluff" in that baby !

That's one sweet ride you have there Vargen.

You've got me rethinking the suspension on my 67 Delta 88 Custom.

Max - if you find someone over there that has an air-ride kit for a 67 Delta 88 please let me know the price and how difficult they reckon it is ... everyone here I talk to has never done an Olds, so they use the old "We'd need to custom something up, so it will cost ya" defence... so see if it would be cheaper if you got kits for TWO cars

Pfiffle - I just sold a 66 88 2door that was apparently a rare 3 speed manual .

cheers all

[The_Jeremiah]

Is that thing a floor shift or column shift ? im not really a fan of scraping my bumper on the ground, and gigantic wheels, but overall that car isnt half bad looking. I love the color, its also in amazing condition from what i can see. good luck

[aliensatemybuick]

I'm sure its a 3 on the tree. To properly convert it to a 4 on the floor (or even easier, a 3 on the floor), I'd try to source a steering column from the same year car (or maybe a '70) with buckets and a console automatic (hard but not impossible to find). Would look "clean" AND be fairly reversible. Hmmm...might need the speedo too from that console shift car to REALLY do it right (no shift indicator, I THINK its on the speedo for this year?).

NICE car by the way...and regardless of what I said above, if it were mine I'd leave it just the way it was.

[Vargen]

First off - thanks a lot for all the nice comments

Originally Posted by Oldsguy

Very nice car. I always liked those little illuminated rockets on the rear fenders. I bet it has a little illuminated rocket on the dash that indicates when the high beam headlights are on as well doesn't it? My '69 did.

Yeah I like the red Rockets to

But it doesn´t have the rocket on the dash, only has a small rectangle that turns red when you hit the high beams

Originally Posted by frdmftr

Very nice!! Did you 'bag' this yourself? I have a 67 Delta 88 convert and have considered the air bags for both stance and when loaded with pretty girls (parades).

Yes I bagged it myself this winter, was easier than I thought it would be!

Originally Posted by Aussie67Delta88Custom

Vargen,
You are bound to "pick up some fluff" in that baby !

That's one sweet ride you have there Vargen.

You've got me rethinking the suspension on my 67 Delta 88 Custom.

Max - if you find someone over there that has an air-ride kit for a 67 Delta 88 please let me know the price and how difficult they reckon it is ... everyone here I talk to has never done an Olds, so they use the old "We'd need to custom something up, so it will cost ya" defence... so see if it would be cheaper if you got kits for TWO cars

Pfiffle - I just sold a 66 88 2door that was apparently a rare 3 speed manual .

cheers all

Thank you Aussie!

Originally Posted by The_Jeremiah

Is that thing a floor shift or column shift ? im not really a fan of scraping my bumper on the ground, and gigantic wheels, but overall that car isnt half bad looking. I love the color, its also in amazing condition from what i can see. good luck

Its a column! Thank you, but the pics doesnt tell the truth - it is not in amazing condition but its good for a 40 year old unrestored car.

Originally Posted by aliensatemybuick

I'm sure its a 3 on the tree. To properly convert it to a 4 on the floor (or even easier, a 3 on the floor), I'd try to source a steering column from the same year car (or maybe a '70) with buckets and a console automatic (hard but not impossible to find). Would look "clean" AND be fairly reversible. Hmmm...might need the speedo too from that console shift car to REALLY do it right (no shift indicator, I THINK its on the speedo for this year?).

NICE car by the way...and regardless of what I said above, if it were mine I'd leave it just the way it was.

Thanks! Yeah that would be the best way to do it - definitely!

[Vargen]

Got rid of the coil spring and shock.


This is the spring pocket in the frame seen from underneath. It is going to be a lot of cutting in this part.


Cutting some plates that is going to be airbag mounts.

The bag.


Drilling holes in the airbag mounts.


Nuts going to be welded in the centre of the upper airbag mounts for pin bolt.


Upper bag mount welded, 4" tube.


I made the tube quite long so I can cut it shorter after testing.


First test.


There will a bag mount in the bottom as well...


Starting to trim the spring pocket for clearence againt the bag.


More space, but it will be trimmed more later on.....


Another view.


I´ve now reached the point where the swaybar stops further lowering. i made the decision that it had to go. No more swaybar - I´m goin´low!

[Vargen]

The spring pocket and the lower control arm collides - to get lower more cutting is required!


Trim...


Looks better.


Some clearence - almost ½".


14" rim...


Marked the cut-out on the left side.


Trimmed.


Took out the lower control arms to make bag mounts.


A thick plate.


Drilling 2 new holes in the lower contol arm, I also use the hole for the swaybar linkage so the plate will be mounted with 3 bolts.


Like this.


With the bag mounted.


Bag mounts for the rear axle.


The rear bags were a peace of cake, no modification of the car at all needed, just replace the old coil-springs.


Bag mounted on teh left side in the front.



And the right side.


High!


Low!

[Oldsguy]

That was an excellent post you made with very good pictures! I vote it for a future tech article. Good work!

[frdmftr]

Now that is 'slammed'! Very good details and pics.

A little lower than I was looking to gain. My car has a good stance now with the current wheels/tires. I'm looking for a more 'improved' ride with good shocks/springs/bushings. I would like to go bigger wheels and smaller profile tires.

Very nice!!

[4door88]

What air ride kit is that. Looking for one for my 88 thanks