Olds1957

Hi! Have just bought my dreamcar. It's an 1957 Oldsmobile 98. The car has threepack but how do i know if the car is original with this J2 option? I have searched the internet for some info but cant find anything.
I really hope that i can get the info here. Sorry for my bad english but im from Sweden.

Best Regards/ Fredrik.

oldcutlass

Welcome Fredrik, post some pictures of your car when you get a chance. I'll let those that know more than me chime in with information for you.

Charlie Jones

The J-2 , three carb option was optional on all 1957 Olds models.
There is (as far as I know) nothing on the car itself , besides the engine, that would have identified the car as having the J-2 option.
There is no way to prove (or disprove) that the car was originally ordered with J-2.
Over the years I have seen many 57 Oldsmobiles under the hood. I would say that a majority of the 98's were equipped with J-2, so yours is most likely original.

BTW your English is better than some of the Americans on this forum.
The only way to positively prove (or disprove) it's a J-2 would be to get a copy of the original sales invoice.

Diego

I don't think that's a fair way to suggest his car came with the J2 carbs originally.

Olds1957

Thanx for the answers, but more info is welcome. Don't know where to put the pictures but hope it's allright in this thread. Here´s some pictures of my "girl"

Charlie Jones

I didn't say his car was a J-2.
I said it was "most likely" a J-2 , based on my years of observing 57 Oldsmobiles.
I worked as an auto mechanic from 1966 to 1985, with a 4 year haiatus when I served in the Air Force .
I would say that the majority (but not all) 1957 Ninety Eights were equipped with J-2. It seems to me that there were two places that I would encounter J-2 tri carb systems most often;
1. Ninety Eights, especially loaded ones .
2. Plain Jane 88 post 2 doors, often with a standard shift.

As I said before, the only way to prove (or disprove) that a 57 Olds is a J-2 would be to find an original sales invoice ( which some dealers archived). Or the window sticker ( which a few original owners soaked, peeled off, and kept).
All factory individual production records were destroyed many years ago.

Diego

The GM Heritage Center says that 7,248 J-2 Oldsmobile 98s were built in 1958. That's out of about 60,000 Oldsmobile 98s built.

Charlie Jones

That was 1958, What about 1957?
It seems to me that Olds was pushing their dealers and salesman to try to sell as many J-2's as possible in 1957. In particular to their well-heeled 98 customers.
This led to their un-doing. A lot of the 98 customers could be discribed as someone's Grandma or Grandpa. They NEVER stepped on the throttle hard enough to engage the end carbs. As a consequence, the gas in the end carbs would go stale and turn to gum and varnish. This led to problems with needles/seats and floats.

1958 was a recession year, and everything changed . Oldsmobiles were hard to sell. And fancy options , like the gas thirsty J-2, even harder . The 1958 figures don't superise me .
Also in 1958, probably because it was a recession year, Olds offered a super cheepie Dynamic 88 that had a single 2 barrel. The intake manifold for this model was none other than the J-2. It had 2 small metal plates over where the end carbs would have been.
This may be one of the reasons that there are so many "J-2's" still around.

Diego

D'oh! Was thinking it was a '58.

10,813 98s had the J2. Over 79k 98s built for 1957.

starfire

So about the same percentage as in 1958.

Charlie Jones

I just noticed something.
The valve covers have "dimples" in them.
These were used on J-2R engines.
There were two versions of the J-2 engines in 1957. The J-2 and the J2R. The J-2 was rated at 312 HP and was the one sold to John & Jane Public. The J-2R was also rated at the same 312 HP but was rumored to have been closer to 375 to 400 HP, The biggest difference was that the J-2R had a much "hotter" camshaft with solid lifters. As a consequence it also required adjustable rocker arms. Special valve covers with the "dimples" were required to clear the adjustable rockers.
The J-2R motors were sold to NASCAR racers such as Lee Petty and others.

Charlie Jones

There's a discussion on J-2's over on the H.A.M.B.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/t...-motor.589134/

Olds1957

Charlie Jones. Do you know if the J-2R engine had manual trottle linkage to the front and rear carburator rather then vacum?

Olds Dad

Original was vacuum but prone to problems if not set up correctly - many were converted to manual / progressive linkage to improve performance. I have a J2 setup from a '57 - original carbs and intake, but somewhere along the way it was set up with progressive linkage

Olds1957

Again! Big thanx for your answers. It's mean a lot to me.

Octania

Cool info
I have seen the J2 intakes with blocked off fore and aft carb ports. I had heard that they just made SO MANY J2 intakes that they did that to use them up. Thus the low price of a J2 intake [have seen 'em for $50] compared to a rare L69 intake.

jeff in colorado

I know almost nothing about these cars in general. I do know that is one sweet looking ride you got there Olds1957. Very pretty car.

ericsolds

I manufacture many reproduction J2 parts and know the units well. Looking at your pictures, I think this unit was added to your car because many of the correct hard to find parts are missing and the center carburetor is a 1958 unit. Many people buy cheap bare intakes and try to just add 3 Rochester 2 bbls. and try to fake the correct J2 unit.

tinlizzie23

Olds1957 - You really do have a nice ride there, but I have one question. Where are the ninety-eight scripts that were on the sides of the front fenders and the trunk lid ? There should also be ninety-eight scripts on the lower front corners of the front door upholstery. Unless the Swedish export cars were different than the American cars. Regardless, I wish you many hours and years of fun driving your "girl".

Tedd Thompson

Good information here but this post is two years old. I would be surprised if you got a reply back.... Tedd