frmula505

A mechanic buddy of mine scored this car on a job. It's a low mile 4 door 1950 98 Futurematic. It was last registered in Arizona in 73. No rust, just three small dents. It runs perfect now that I gave it a tune up. I need to replace the tranny filter and oil, taking off a bit sluggish. Now heres the pics.




The skirts are in the trunk, just need the mounting hardware. Two bolts LOL.
Plans are slight drop, paint (flat lime with lime flake roof), and new upohlstery. Keeping the wheels stock, just adding a bullet to the center of caps

Danny Boy

Nice! Chrome looks great. How are the tires? Getting new, fat white walls are about $250 per tire.

redoldsman

Nice find but I don't think this car is a 50. It looks more like about a 52. The taillights are very different. If it says 50 on the title, he better check the numbers closely.

jaunty75

No, frmula505 is correct. This is most definitely a 1950 Olds 98. The front bumper for 1952 had a third chrome vertical support right in the middle. Also, the center horizontal grille bar extended only from one vertical support piece to the other for 1950 as can be seen in these photos. For '52, it extended beyond the left and right vertical supports to almost touching the top grille bar where it swoops down on each side.

frmula505

It's a 50 all right. I found out you could tell by the horizontal bars on the front park light bezels. And the 98 tailights and complete body (other than front end) is different from all the others. I'll wait to see if the wobbling from the tires goes away with a little use. The car has been parked for over 20 years. Tires are cracked a bit and have flat spots from sitting flat, but are almost new. Here are a couple of engine shots (I need an air cleaner, but after seeing what the stock one looked like it'll be aftermarket).

jaunty75

But you do have to be careful about what you call it!

First, the term is "Futuramic," not "Futurematic." But even with this, the point is moot, as, according to the book Setting the Pace, the term "Futuramic" was used only through 1949. For 1950, the car was simply called a "Series 98" sedan of some type. There were several different 98 sedans made that year, including Club Sedan, Deluxe Club Sedan, Town Sedan, Deluxe Town Sedan, 4-door Sedan, and Deluxe 4-door Sedan. I don't which of these yours is.

frmula505

Your right about the spelling, but I think the term was used until 1950. Just look at my side chrome.

jaunty75

You are correct. Even though the book doesn't use the term "Futuramic" in the production listings after 1949, several photos of '50, '51, and '52 Oldsmobiles in the book clearly show the word Futuramic on the sidespears.

frmula505

Thanks for the info. Hope I can pick your brain in the future. The best resource is someone thats knows more than you do. Never scared to ask for help. I have a lot of plans for it now that my 60 pu is getting. painted.

jaunty75

Feel free to, although you might not find that much there!

I'm not actually that knowledgeable about Oldsmobiles from that era, just what there is in the books I have. There are folks on this site who DO have early '50s Olds's, and I'm sure they'll be glad to help you out.

Olds64

Nice car!

OLD SKL 69

Nice find, congrats on the new ride.

redoldsman

I guess I never realized how different the taillights are on the 88 and 98. These taillights look like the 51-52 88 and 98. Live and learn.

frmula505

Here is the only shot I have of the rear. They do look like the tail lights off my friends 54

frmula505

Well it has begun. I removed most of the small chrome, and bumpers (not stainless). I had to strip the fake convertible top crap someone had sprayed. I got the roof and visor striped and ready for primer. Got started on the body work (4 small dents and about 10 dings).

citcapp

Nice start, keep the pictures comming

MN71W30

My Uncle has a 50 98 in a garage and he's in a nursing home. I got it running 2 years ago and put some miles on it. It has 26k actual miles.

50_Olds98

Hey frmula505 nice find. My wife found her 1950 Futuramic on ebay about a year and a half ago. Currently working on getting to be her daily driver here in Socal. Here's a link to some pics.

http://picasaweb.google.com/djtoledo...3spOv4-uzZyQE#

Never had an Olds before so just learning about them myself from books, magazines, and the internet.

Damien

frmula505

Hey 50 olds 98 I saw a you tube video of your car. Did you post it or the seller?

I got a little work done last night. Got started on the bodywork, and sanded most of the car.
To my amazement not a single dent on the roof, trunk or hood. All these years and no one ever climbed on the car.
As you can see I sanded to the original paint. Never had any work done to the body, just an ugly color repaint.
Here I am fixing one of the few dents. And a couple before I spray some primer.

Dan Wirth

Nice ride! What was it's original color?

Texas Jim

The '50 is beautiful, to say the least. The bars in the back window are great looking, and seem to have been popular back then w/ GM. Please keep the pics coming. And the engine is fantastic. How about alittle history of that particular Rocket engine. Did you dig into the spec info on it? Both beautiful and interesting.

OLD SKL 69

Only 4 small dents, 10 dings and no rust? What a great find and starting point. What color are you going to paint her?

frmula505

You can see I sanded to the original seafoam green, with a dark green top. That shows no work had ever been done on the car. I did find some rust on the floorboard once I removed the rubber flooring. Two small 1 inch holes.

As for the engine I did a little reaserch and it's a 303 ci v8 with 135hp and
263 tq . 7.21:1 compession. They came out first in 1949 same as the Cadillac v8's. The Chevy small block was an updated version of this engine.
I am painting it Hot Rod Flats sublime, with a lime (little darker) flaked out roof.

Dan Wirth

Very cool - not too bad on the rust. This car will be beautiful once restored, one of my favorite Olds of the 50's. Your moving it along nicely.

gps2do

Love your car. You might be interested in this:http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1950-...item1e59a2d1fe

(he's got some good pics of a nice car)

frmula505

I got the roof DA'ed and metal conditioned. Check out how cherry it is. This is to the metal.


Threw a thick coat of primer. Will leave it like that till final blocking.

Texas Jim

Cool info on the engine. I always find the old engines to hold some bit of interesting mechanical history, for-runner of the SBC, neat. The ignition wire retainers on the valve covers are great looking. The first time I counted chain links on a timing chain, I had already racked my brain f/ a day trying to set the mechanical timing on an old engine I was rebuilding and had to go to the local Jr. college automotive shop where an old instructor looked the info up in a big old "Motor manual." Count seven links, he said. Who would have ever thought... The cam had a ding in it from someone trying the same thing I was originally trying to do, but who went alittle farther and tried to start the engine like that. With lining up the marks, the #2 rod cap would come around and smack the fuel pump cam lobe. LOL. Ofcourse it didn't bother the lobe and the cam and solid lifters didn't even have a wear pattern on them, not a mark. They were "forever" items back then, and after having the engine checked, I was able to go back w/ the standard bore and bearings. That's when the American autos were "hard rock."
Keep the pics coming. The roof looks great and the new color sounds like it'll fit the car well.

frmula505

Got some more work done with all the days off. I got all the bodywork done, and the first blocking.
I just need to go over all the small pits with glazing, then the final primer and blocking. Getting
close for the paint. I am taking a break on the Olds to reassemble my 60 Chevy truck. It's finally back in my garage.

citcapp

Starting to take shape. Nice clean body. Good luck on your chebby

frmula505

Here's a teaser on the chevy.

redoldsman

As for the engine I did a little reaserch and it's a 303 ci v8 with 135hp and
263 tq . 7.21:1 compession. They came out first in 1949 same as the Cadillac v8's. The Chevy small block was an updated version of this engine.
I am painting it Hot Rod Flats sublime, with a lime (little darker) flaked out roof.[/QUOTE]

The small block Chevy was not an updated version of this engine. It was a completely new engine and the distributor cap was probably about all they had in common. Olds used this engine design into the 60's and increased the displacement several times. It did come out in 1949 which was the same year Cadillac came out with the OHV V-8 but they are different engines. Your car is looking good. I am anxous to see how it turns out. Those old 4-doors make neat cruisers.

50_Olds98

Sorry for the delay in answering. Been busy at work and haven't been on the net too much. Those videos were posted by the seller. Kinda funny that they are still out there.

I see you've made a lot of progress on yours. Nice work!

frmula505

Thanks, thing were going really fast on the Olds. I'm almost ready to get on it again. All i need on my 60 is to reassemble the bed (new wood, strips).

frmula505

Nothing to report on the Olds. Waiting on the VIN search to apply for a Title. Don't want to do much more until everything is clear. On a side note my truck is in one peice again.

Texas Jim

frmula505, Do you have a "good estimate" on the weight of your bed in it's present garb, like it is, w/o the bed-floor? Any "good estimate" would be very much appreciated.

frmula505

It took 4 of us to move it around (not cause of weight just bulk). I know i got one of the front(heavy) corners and wasn't lifting more than 50 lbs. So a guess would be between 150-200lbs. Now with the wood and trim around 300lbs.

Texas Jim

My late come-back doesn't mean that I don't appreciate the info on the bed's weight. I've been working on all the needed components to install the 455 in my '62 Ford pick-up. When I saw your truck w/ the bed off, my truck came to mind immediately as I have the bed off also, part of getting it ready f/ the '71 455 I'm dropping in it in the near future. Your weight estimate is about what I figured, and the floor being my concern as far as the weight goes. I won't be using the bed f/ hauling anything, but only f/ the battery, hydraulic motor and pump, and batteries f/ the hydraulic system. I'm installing hydraulics w/ accumulators in the front, as the back will be quite low and set up f/ traction, have had a 9" rear in it f/ years now, and I'll want to run it low f/ looks and beable to raise it f/ unfriendly road conditions and also f/ weight transfer f/ hole shots along w/ the old traditional "Gasser" look, high in the front w/ the original straight axle. W/ the accumulators, the ride will be extra smooth and I'll beable to adjust the stiffness of the ride if I choose to. I could have gone w/ soft ie; 6 cyl springs and light shocks to get weight transfer, but I wanted alittle more than just that. So, I imagine I'll be just sheeting the floor w/ something light. I have a fleet side bed f/ it, from another '62. My truck came originally w/ a utility tool box bed. It was first an Army engineer truck. Walt, who has owned Walt's Texaco here in Killeen f/ ever, bought the truck here on Ft. Hood from an auction, back when they had auctions here. Walt sold the truck to a masonry contractor here in Killeen, Jim Sharp, who I worked f/ on and off f/ years on large custom houses, and when the truck was sitting in Jim Sharp's stack lot w/ a steering box problem, I offered to buy it and got it f/ $200.00. That was 24 years ago. It's been a great truck, original 223ci engine, rebuilt one time, by me in '90 summer, and still has the standard bore and bearing size and runs like a top. These engines are the old rock-hard stuff that lasted f/ ever. Good American engineering. Anyway, I had to rescue the truck after we got back from overseas after 6 years, as a so-called friend of mine let it out of his hands when he got sick, to his son, who thought he had his own '62 p/u truck. LOL.
Your truck looks like it's coming along well, very nice color combo and overall work. The white interior is super nice, been my favorite interior color since I was a small kid and saw a brand new '63 Stingray, red w/ white interior and white conv.top parked on Grand Street, right down from our house. But your over-all truck is a beauty f/ sure.

I do have a question: Do you know of any place that sells the old Rocket engine valve covers w/ the wire loom on them? Just like the ones on that '50 98 Futurematic. I saw them, believe it or not, f/ small block Chevys but not f/ the 455. Please let me know if you know of a place. I love the wire looms on them, and the original color of them.

I'll be installing the ram air system funnels in the inside horizontal slots right under the front edge of the hood. I'm also going to put four "Supreme" wheels on it. I'm considering getting a header "kit" to beable to fab "fenderwell" headers, or something very close. Those kits are alittle expensive, but I haven't been able to find any "fenderwell" headers applicable to my year truck and the 455 Olds engine. I was going to put a small block Chevy in the truck, but kept hesitating because I wanted something different. When I heard that my neighbor was selling this '71 Olds 98 that he bought new, I knew this was the one.

frmula505

Wow you said a mouth full there. Where do I start, you said a lot of buzzwords I haven't heard in ages. As for Hydraulics, Have you thought of air bags. I had a Mitsubishi with a dancing set up. Every time one of the o-rings in the dumps would go bad, the whole bed and rear of truck would be covered in oil. Even after cleaning the dirt would stick to the oil coming out of the nooks and cranny's. Another thing is will they let you on the track with hydro's. Not sure but might want to look into it. They might not want to take the chance of the track getting oiled. Nice to hear about Supremes. I might go with those on my 59 Chevy build (that's my faster truck project).

I love those years of Ford trucks. My brother had one with the rattleproof box. He sold if for cheap before they became valuable. Good luck with your build. If you have any questions about hydros ( I did quite a few setups back in the day). Just shoot me a PM. Here are the links to both my builds. First the 60.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=350780

Next my 59 build.

In some of the pics you can see my 51 Plymouth I have been working on for years. Here is It's thread.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=348746

As for the rocket valve covers, I have seen the looms alone, and the ones for a small block on e-bay. I was searching for 50 Oldsmobile parts. This was just last week. I'm sure you could modify the loom part to fit your covers.

Texas Jim

Thanks f/ the quick reply. Yes, I do get wordy sometimes. I can usually spit it all out w/ my fingers as the words whiz through my head, thanks to a half-year basic typing class in tenth grade, 1972, at good old Ossining High. LOL.True about the possibility of the hydros not being allowed on the drag strip. If that's the case, I'll have to disconnect when I take it there and go w/ the 6 cyl springs and soft shocks. It's going to be a daily driver, so the track would be only weekends here and there. As younger guys, we would drive our car, at that time only car, to the track, full cooler of beer and etc., plan a quarter tank of gas or so, put tires on it and sometimes new plugs in, run it "f/ the trophy," the big boys would run f/ the cash, and swap stuff back around and drive home. One friend, Greg Oxley, had a '69 SS 396 Chevelle that would take the trophy every Sunday. We'd go to Raceway Park or National Speedway. We'd load up, 4 or 5 guys, w/ all the necessities, personal and auto, drive to the track, swap stuff out, run the car and take the trophy, and swap back and go home. One big party. He ran E/O= E Stock, but optional w/ either open head pipes or cheater slicks (w/ the two lines in them), so the class was E/O. He ran a 12.99 at National Speedway and it was the track record f/ over a year. It was an all stock car w/ 4.88 gears and some carb work. It was just a freak-running motor that just ran great. The only cars that would give him problems and come close to beating him were the 340 Darts and Dusters, as they'd come out of the hole quicker and he'd catch them on the big end. Man, did we have fun. I also went to the track w/ some older guys I knew who's families were close w/ mine, got to go because I'd help w/ the car, unloading/loading, uncapping and capping carbs, wiping tires before the burn outs, etc. These guys had; one a B/Gas Vega, another a C/Gas 'Vette, and three guys (family) who had a H/Modified Production Falcon which was an NHRA record holder. As you can see by the classes, this was late '60s and very early '70s. I was in the end of Jr. High, late '60s, and High School early '70s then. I ran afew bikes since then, but not since '90-'91. Marriage and family put an end to it all. Oh man, wordy again. LOL. Oh well...

I'm only using the hydros to go up and down once in awhile, no intensions of jumping around. My first encounters w/ hydros was in '75 when it was all home made systems. I'm an older style hydro guy and will only go up or down when needed. I had this system on an '83 Fleetwood f/ a couple of years and it's all the same components I bought together new. I don't do much moving unless I need to, so nothing goes bad from heavy usage. It's a ProHopper Pro Comp set #11, w/ Parker accumulators. I'll use half the set-up and store the rest again. I'm just not an air bag man.
That purple Chevy truck is another beauty. You're very fortunate to have a number of projects. I'll check out the links you gave me very closely when I sign off from here. We have afew houses, which is what I do alot of, and I need to build a good shop sometime soon. The garage and other area I have is getting packed very well. My wife wants a '66 Mustang and I've been keeping my eyes peeled f/ one. She says there are too many rules in driving the 'Vette. I just don't want the rides parked close in lots or drug through the low spots in the road. Does she think the Mustang will be any different??? LOL.
Thanks again f/ the come-back, and I'll be getting back w/ you soon, when I finish checking out the links.
I really want the "whole" old style valve covers, w/ the wire looms. I love the looks of them. Again, great getting back, later, Jimmy.

big mean

You might rethink the accumulators unless you like replacing seals a lot. The stress of of no springs will really kill the seals. Another consideration is dialing in the accumulators on a heavy vehicle, i have heard from a very good source that it can be a pain to get a good ride, even with adjusting the pressure.

I am going to go with hydraulics on my 66 starfire, but am going to run a coil under set-up all the way around with shocks. Only going with 2 switches to raise and lower. Either way, good luck to both of you and the Olds is kicking some serious ****.