66starfire

Does anyone know what parts are interchangeable from other oldsmobiles onto a
66 starfire 2dr hardtop?

I need new balljoints in the front and its hard to find them. do the 88 / 98 /cutlass balljoints work does anyone know?

Anyone know where i could order parts

(mostly suspension) for my 66 starfire?

any help is appreciated.

66starfire

Ok thank you so very much! I kenw that some sheetmetal interchanged between starfire and 88's, but wasnt sure about the 1/4s. Yea Ive seen the funky rear window roofline, but i still love it. Its not a big problem thankfully though, there is a tiny bubble of rust one one rear wheel, and a smaller than dime size hole in the other. but its got some bondo work where there was a dent, but the riginal metal is still there so im going to do all the bodtwork/paint at once to make sure everything is in tip top shape.

Partswise i knew the headlights were interchangeable because i ahd to get some for a 66 delta 88 since my starfire application wasnt in the checker / autozone computer. Ill go to napa next, does Fusick have a website or anything to check them out? Im in wyoming inthe middle of nowhere so i have nothing better to do then work on my car and fin new places for parts.

also i read in a book in a barn and nobles, that 66 cutlass and starfires shared sheetmetal. Ill try and look into it, it was a book of classic american cars, and thats about all the info they had on starfires hahaha.

Ok thanks again man, I really appreciate the help. i need to get my car running, it ahd a 750cfm holley race carb on it that loaded it up on fuel and flodded it, so im buying a new carb (this one has the choke-delete) to fix the problems. then it shoudl run like a top again.
and its got a suspension clunk which i believe to be balljoint(s) so that comes next. then bodywork.
got a good solid project car. you know anyplace to get say...service manuals? there was a place that had them on CD but they were for cutlass, 88, 98 and it didnt specify starfire, noth sure if starfire would just fall under the 88 lineup. a manual would rock to get it back in shape, tach and blower isnt working so i need a bit of help.
-Scott

66starfire

yea, i had sorta wondered about that. it was in a book at barnes and nobles, on the discount rack(s) and thats all it said. the starfire shares shetmetal with the cutlass.

thats about it. since there isnt a B&N for 60miles near me, i cant go find it or buy it to show ya. I know it could be bushings but its the same noise that happened when my 94 blazer balljoints were shot, and also my 95 chev pickup. so im figuring balljoint. If not ill replace them anyways most likely. If I can get the money im going to re-do all the suspension work, shocks/struts, springs, wheels/tires, balljoins and bushing all at the same time to save me stress. they are all most likely original parts...they look about that old. and it rides like crap above 55. fornt end is wishy washey. Ill figure it out. im trying to get it running right now, its got a 750cfm holley double pumper race carb and it floooooods like mad. it doenst drive needless to say. thats the a list priority. but i always have time to price out parts im goign to buy anyways.
thanks again though.
-66starfire.

Oldsguy

About the Holley, if it is a double pumper then it has mechanical secondaries right? They make for rougher street driving and if it is flooding then it could probably use a rebuild or your engine could use a milder carb. I presume you mean the carb is a race carb and you suspect it doesn't match the engine. I would agree with you on that. If the rest of the engine appears stock or you know that it is stock, you would be better off with a different carb, rochesters are good and have very good manners for a street machine.

66starfire

Sorry, nope. Found out its a model 4010 (circa 1978) with vacuum secondaries. It has the chocke delete option and we did rebuild it. at least most of it. A renew kit from anyplace costs 40-80$ and will take like 2 weeks to get here. So we put new power valves, diaphrams, needle and seats in and it floods worse then ever. even hough nothing was changed, we just adjusted the needle and seats. Thing is, the OLD needle and seats were black with carbon/crud and so we think they restricted fuel flow until there was so much vacuum (flooring it) that they opened, flooding it, thats how it was able to drive. now with new properly working needle and seats, they let the correct amount of fuel in all the time, making it run worse because now its flooding all the time. I found a guy about 2 mi. away that supposedly knows alot about holley carbs, and he has pretty much the only parts for them I can find. Im taking my car there (if it makes it) so he can take a gamble at the problem.
Personally I think the carb is just too big. As stated, its a 750, and this is a stock 455. All of the calculation (holley.com AND out of hot rod magazine) say stock, I need about a 650 and so I think that may contibute to the problem. Ill try to find out today though. Im just trying to find a way to make it run decently at the moment so I can title/register it (have to drive quite a ways to do that..) and then dyno it because that would be free, and THEN also because I dont have alot of money for a new carb.
whew long post but I think its worth it.
Scott

Oldsguy

You are right, I forgot about those marine application carbs. I am going to have to disagree with you about the carburetor cfm rating though, 650 cfm seems a little too small for the 455. You will probably get great throttle response from a smaller carb like that but my experience is that the 455 likes about 750 to 800 cfm. Anyway, even if you end up using that carb, it should work well being a vacumm secondary, espcially with a 600 cfm rating, for the street use.
I still wonder though about the thing flooding the engine, is there fuel gurglining out the vent pipe? Or does it kill the engine and then the thing stinks of excess fuel? It couldn't be a vacumm leak could it? I have a '76 Omega with a chevy 6 cylinder and single barrel carb on it and that thing got a loose baseplate once that was leaning out the engine but it was acting just like a flooding engine. The thing would bog down and almost die during highway driving especially on high throttle situations like merging or passing. I misdiagnosed that for a week until we figured it out. Tightened up the baseplate nuts and the problem vanished! Let us know what your friend finds out ok?

texasred

I'm with Dan on this one. QJets are rated at 750 and don't "overcarb" a Ch*vy 327 much less a BBO 455.

Holleys are square bore and QJets have smaller primaries than secondaries. That means Holleys (and Edelbrocks, Demons, Dominators, etc) are good for one thing...dumping a lot of gas down the intake. Qjets have different jets and metering so is is sweet, neat, and petite on the street...but wait 'till you romp on it!

You can get a smaller carb so it'll run on the street, but then you'll run out of top end. Go with a QJet!

IMHO...and experience.

C.J.

66starfire

Holley has a 650 Qjet replacement I was looking into (650cfm) because my friend has an early 80s I believe with a qjet (not 100% sure) and when he opened it up on the highway....it blew me away. I love that feeling personally, when the secondaries open and just dump fuel in.

Ok onto the carb area. later today (since its 3am) Im going in to talk to the guy about my carb, im trying to do everything in my power to keep this carb, so im not pitching it anytime soon. BUT seeing as at sea leve the jets should be 75, and im at 7k ft. they are at 70 primary side and 72 secondary side, the secondary diaphram spring is a purple one (dead middle of economy vs perf. according to holley) and we adjusted everything there was to adjust. But it still dumps fuel. Im not sure why honestly, the jets are right about where they should be (technically) Ill post again later today after I talk to him. my only real problem with this carb is the no choke, but its workable...just alot of pumping is involved ha.

Ok oldsguy to answer your questions as best I can:

while i was in the car hititng gas and such my friend (knows a crapload more about carbs then me...74 gremlin and 72 camino as well as multiple camaros) saw excess fuel being pushed? into the carb. also, after we drove it for about 25-30mins we took the aircleaner off and fuel was coming out the air bleeds. But also it does kill the car, and it smells of excess fuel, you could smell it while the car was running if the hood was up. Anytime I press the gas pedal, it pretty much stalls out.

Now my .02$ again. I think POSSIBLY it could be a lean tip in condition NOW, after we rebuilt it. MAYBE the jets are 2 sizes small per say, and they dont give enough fuel at first throttle to keep the car running so it dies. I was a bit worried to push it past that point until I had my friend over to look because I couldnt see what was happening and he knows more. Another problem could be that a power valve we replaced was/is defective. Not sure on that one.
What do you guys think of that? As i said im not a professor of carbs and this one really has me stumped so far. it doesnt want to coroporate. once I can get it running I can take it to the place where I dyno, and I can tune it from there se if im runnign lean/rich and such, but it wont make it there yet, im trying to get to that point.


ok now i know this is off topic a bit. My car has the throttle linkage, not cable, anyone know a place that sells a conversion? the throttle looks to want to twist rather than exert force. also there is a elec. connector connected to where it mounts to the firewall, any idea what that is?

Thanks so much for the help and I hope to have it running soon. its too nice of a car to sit in a driveway. and again i really appreciate the help. its invaluable to me.
-Scott

66starfire

oh yea i know we tightened the baseplate and all parts down tightly. Also there are no vacuum leaks we could figure out from looking/listening. the carb has a few plugged vacuum ports, but there is vacuum going to brake master cyl. and vacuum advance distributor. uhm...we never found a vacuum leak while looking.

Oldsguy

Look at the carb baseplate throttle shaft itself. If that wears down (it only runs on bronze bushings usually) then you get air leaks there. I am not going to recommend spraying starter fluid around the baseplate but some people have done that. With an air leak you will get a jump in the idle speed. Just saying, some people have done that before. If you do, be careful!!!!

66starfire

HA dont have to. we found the major problem(s)

Carbwise, the NEW power valve / gasket we put in, was the wrong part (kit came with the wrong pieces??) so it was leaking fuel into the chamber. Also while reinstalling it we found that the diaphram spring was a bit crooked, opening the secondaries at idel. it took 3 more tries to get that darn spring in straight! But good news is that now it runs although its a bit lean. Im putzing with the idel screws and such, but he gave me a set of 74s to trade for my 70s. Ill be running 72primary and 74 secondary to see how that works.
and i checked again when i got the car started, there are no vacuum leaks

yay!

69oldsguy

C.J. is right, a Holley is a bit tempermental for street driving. You can tune it in just sweet one day and start it the next day and it just isn't quite right. HOWEVER! If you want speed then I'll take a Holley any day. C.J. they do make spreadbores. I have an 850 double pumper on a '69 455 sitting on top of an Edelbrock Torker intake. After doing all the math, it is right at 11.5:1 CR. Crane cam 572 lift 310 dur. Man is it fun! But no, if you try to drive it around town it will give you whiplash from all the bucking from the cam not smoothing out yet.
Kevin

66starfire

Hey so I figred out my suspension problem finally. I need a new front end.

New..
Balljoints upper and lower
inner outer tie rod ends
centerlink
idler arm
springs struts
sway bar bushings
control arm bushings
uhmm...I think thas it.

I was just wondering how many of these parts were interchangeable between my car and a same year 88? Im just wondering because parts are hard to come by and maybe it would be easier to search out parts for an 88?
I talked with fusik and they dont have enough items, steve referred me to a guy or store? named Kanter. Anyone heard of it?

66starfire

Not compared to napa. Napa quotes 211.97 for an idler arm
357$ for a centerlink
158 for an upper or lower balljoint, prices may be a bit off, but for a front end, the parts estimate was 1,314$ for parts

yea kanter has a package with
135$ for a centerlink
2 upper balljoints
2 lower balljoints
2 outer tie rod ends
upper inner bushings
lower inner bushings
2 stabilizer link kits
2 strut bushings

for 169$, thats 304$ for a full front end compared to 1,300. alot cheaper if ya ask me. only thing that might hurt is shipping. I have the price list from napa, just cant find it at the moment.
and thenits like 149$ for 4 struts, not sure on coil springs. but yea, from what ive seen compared to napa, fusick, and checker, kanter is the cheapest. Checker has some cheaper parts possibly though, havent yet looked up every price.

teto1977

i have the same 66 starfire and i bought all my suspension parts from Kanter, its better to call them and they will give u everything u need.ball joints upper and lower, stabilizers,sway bar bushings,tie rods,lower and upper control arm bushings, springs, shocks, control arm bumpers. hope that helps