Hello,

This 1968 Delmont 88 2-door coupe is for sale in the Seattle area. Everything on it is original.

It has sat in a garage which has a leaky roof, for several years, unstarted. Hence the interior is starting to have the first twinges of green stuff. Engine compartment and engine block have rust. Paint and chrome show no bubbling or other defects.

The badge behind the right wheel well has a broken-off D, no idea how that happened. The trunk lid does not perfectly fit, is raised about 1/2 inch. Story is that the previous owner (who was the original purchaser) was in a rear-end accident, circa 30 years ago. The repair was of poor quality.

Inquiries to purchase, and suggestions for how to clean it up, and what to do to get it running, are invited.

Instrument cluster through steering wheel showing 16586 on odometer --640 x 480.jpg
Closeup of odometer showing 16586 miles --640 x 480.jpg
From right rear --640 x 480.jpg
Right side from front --640 x 480.jpg
Interior front left and center --640 x 480.jpg

 

It would be good to take a picture of the pedals, especially the brake pedal. If it's 16,000 vs 116,000 that will show in wear to the pedals. John

 

The fifth picture in the first post is actually a shrinkdown from a 3072 x 2304 original. I attach an enlargement of the pedal area of the same picture.

Original purchaser was a pair of sisters in --believe it or not-- Pasadena, California who only used it to go get groceries. In later years they moved to a seniors apartment about a mile south of my mom's house; my mom took care of them. When my sister needed a car, they sold it to her. But then my mom bought a '91 Olds Cutlass and both my mom and my sister shared that. So this Delmont has simply not been driven since --about six years, I would guess.

No kidding, it really does have only 16,586 original miles.

Pedals.jpg

I'll be going up there tomorrow, if anyone would like additional pictures please advise.

 

That may also explain the incorrect rear bumper.
That's a Delta 88 bumper. The Delmont bumper didn't have the holes for mounting the long "Oldsmobile" trim plate. Delmont's had an Oldsmobile script on the decklid.

 

Here's the fullsize picture from the right rear. As you can see, this garage gets a lot of leakage through the roof:

http://i41.tinypic.com/2mrtlxi.jpg

Can someone recommend a good way to clean and protect the white vinyl roof? I'm thinking, Marine Spray Nine and then 303 Aerospace Protectant?

 

Here's a picture from the left front. Turn signal lens is cracked, no idea how that happened. Left front tire has a slow leak, I had to pump it up:

http://i39.tinypic.com/rbf9er.jpg

Here's the fullsize picture of the dashboard, pedals et cetera:

http://i40.tinypic.com/bet44n.jpg

Suggestions for cleaning the seats and carpets would be welcome. Also, what's the best way to bring the luster up on the chrome?

 

Engine pics

 

What angles are most useful?

 

Think I'd be checking the trunk floor and under the carpet for rust, before attempting a clean-up!
Sure, you can attempt to DIY, but I'd try a professional Detail Shop, as they've the latest shampoos and chemicals that'd dry with no odor or harm to the interior!

 

Where in seattle are you located? I used to have a 68 delmont and would be happy to come take a look at it & give you an honest assesment of what you've got and give you some ideas what it would take to get it on the road again.

you will be able to get considerably more money for it if you can make it driveable vs if someone had to tow it out of there.

PM me your contact info and i'll give you a call.

 

An 81.5 MB .tar file of photos:

http://www.mediafire.com/?60sr09yu7i3c6y8

As you can see, sitting in a garage with a leaky roof undriven for ten years has not been kind to it. Even with only 16,586 original miles its 455 V8 looks awful rusty. But it's only surface rust. Underside of the doors is starting to look bad though.

The seller (my sister) has decided to put it into running condition and either have it detailed, or I will detail it myself (I have detailing experience with Mercedes'), then she will be looking to get at least $20,000 for it. It may be possible to identify the seller via the VIN or license number, but do not contact if you are not a serious buyer. You must supply references to look at this car (it is rapidly becoming well known in the area).

I did the vinyl roof last night, using Marine Spray Nine followed by 303 Aerospace Protectant. Looks beautiful. The mold on the carpet by the driver's-side sill came right out using Marine Spray Nine followed by Blue Magic.

Can anyone tell me the best way to clean the cloth portion of these seats?

It will need the front blinker lenses, both sides, and the right-side Delmont 88 emblem. Also, as noted above, the current rear bumper is a Delta 88 bumper, so could use a pristine Delmont 88 one.

 

That looks to be a cool car, but you will never get $20,000.00 for it. There is not that much demand for a '68 Delmont especially in this economy.

 

I hate to be the one to say this, but even if this car were frame-off restoration perfect, it would not bring $20K.
There simply is not the demand for full-size Olds cars of the late 60's to drive those kind of prices. It's actual market value is probably under $5,000.

 

There is already a firm offer of $12,000 on it. A Spokane auction dealer estimated its value, yesterday afternoon, at $14-$20K.

They are unrestored original, with this low of mileage, only once.

 

The price guide gives a value of 15,500 for this car in #1 condition. That means perfect. You said the car has been involved in an accident and been repaired. That means it's not original anymore. I seriously think, in the present condition, that you would be lucky to get $5000.00 for your car.

 

Ask him to give you $14-$20K for it then. You are right, they are only original once, but you said it has been crashed & poorly repaired, that lowers the value some & even though it is a nice car, it's not a very popular or sought after car. Not to sound like a jerk, but I'd have to agree with cooper128, you might get $5,000.00 for it, maybe a bit more.

 

I would then sell it to him immediately.

 

Take the 12 grand and don't put any money into. Nice car though I do like the looks of them. Cheerio and good luck

 

Could you give my contact info to your buyer? I have 2 Delmonts which I would gladly sell for that kind of money. I advertised the red '67 in my avatar a few years ago for $8500 and didn't get a nibble. It's a clean southern car with 73K miles and you could hop in and drive it anywhere tomorrow.

 

Take that $12k and run!!
New, it might have been $5-6k and you're doubleing your money - consider that!
Without touching it!
You might see that elusive $20k if an Arab Shiek falls in love with it, but doubtful!
Either that, or put a lot of wax on it, as it'll be sitting a long time!!

 

Yeah, let's be clear. It's a cool car, but the Delmont was the bottom of the Eighty Eight line. List brand new was probably on the order of $3500-$4000. Adjusting for inflation, a BRAND NEW, off the showroom floor version today would be about $22,000. Your car is far from showroom condition and frankly you'd spend significantly more than $22,000 to get it there. I agree, see how firm the $12K offer is and RUN all the way to the bank.

Sadly, too many people have been watching Barrett Jackson on TV. The owner of the 62 F-85 wagon I'm trying to buy has a similar problem.

 

Unless the bumper is damaged, I would leave it on. The OLDSMOBILE script that's on the bumper may have been added on since it looked so nice on the Delta. It was available for purchase back then. As a matter of fact, I saw one for sale on Ebay the other day.

 

Thanks. We'll leave it on for now, then.

The $12,000 offer is firm and is not going away. The offerer says, he would prefer an unrestored original with this low of mileage, to one which is a frame-up restoration.

I suspect his interest may have something moreover to do with this particular engine. The seller, my sister, tells me that she was once (in the late '90's) offered $20,000 for this engine, by a drag racer. She also tells me, and again I don't doubt her, that she used to routinely get challenged at stoplights by Camaro, Mustang et cetera drivers, and invariably the duel would end with the opponent catching up at the next light with an astonished look on his/her face. My sister says, you don't drive this car with your foot, you drive it with your big toe.

To hear my sister tell it, I am beginning to think this may be the car which originally inspired the Beach Boys song.

Can anyone explain to me how to tell what the factory horsepower rating is, of this particular (edited: thought it was a 455, but nope, it's only a 350) V-8? Is it deducible from the VIN (354878C107643)? Is there a code stamped somewhere on the engine itself? Or the firewall plate (a picture of which is included in the .tar file I've posted)?

Also, I would like to completely remove the carpeting and seats, and give the interior a thorough detailing. Can someone point me to a how-to explaining how to get the carpeting and seats out? Thanks.

 

Why would you bother to do that? Let the new owner take care of it. Once you start taking seats and stuff out there's more chance of damage happening.

 

BTW, base price on a Delmont 88 Holiday Coupe in 1968 was $3202.00.

Regarding the horsepower: If it is a 4bbl carb, 365 hp, if a 2bbl carb either 310 or 320 hp (there were two different versions, the 310 could burn regular).

 

The $12,000-offerer says he would pay more, but is uncertain how much it will cost to bring it back up to running condition.

Meanwhile, a local mechanic, owner of a Firestone dealership, who is familiar with this car from the last time it was on the road, ten years ago, has agreed to bring it back up to running condition, with payment to be deferred until the car is sold.

The idea is to maximize the sale price.

Meanwhile, as explained above, it has been sitting in a damp garage for the last ten years. It stinks of mildew. I want to eliminate that. I have experience with stripping interiors from Mercedes' and soundproofing/detailing them, so am not a total newbie at it. I just need to know if there are any Olds-specific gotcha's I need to be aware of.

Also, I know better than to believe the "Wikipedia party line" about factory horsepower ratings of Olds engines. You see, my own first-ever car was a '63 Dynamic 88 which had been dealer-modified (by a dealer in your neck-o'-the-woods in fact, Grand Ledge, Michigan).

The only gasoline that Dynamic would run well on was Chevron White Pump or Enco's equivalent grade, which were 102-103 octane. It had "only" the stock 2-barrel carburetor. But very few Corvettes could beat it, either for off-the-line times or for top speed.

I suspect the car my sister has is something similar. So I would like to learn what its factory hp rating is, and perhaps if there is any info available on dealer modifications. The original yellow-on-black California plates are in the trunk.

 

No offense intended, but giving the car to anyone short of a restoration shop to "get it back in running order" is a huge mistake.

The reason being, if the car really is as original as you indicate, and the buyer is specifically paying you for that originality- then the ONLY people i'd trust with it are KNOWN restoration experts.

Unfortunatly, the corner mechanic who may have worked on it in the past likely has Zero regard to what was correct or original about the car, and IF it still has any details & what not... its very likley some of those details may be lost during this work.

Same is true of taking apart the interior for "cleaning".

There is a lot of potential damage that can be done by someone who doesn't know how these cars go together.

If the car really does have that value as an original item, then anything other than a restoration specalist is doing it more harm than good.

 

I had heard that you guys smoke some wicked stuff up there in the Northwest, but, WOW, the stuff your neighbors are on must be mind-blowing!

Do tell us if you are able to get more than $3,000 for it in US currency (payment in pounds of Nature's Finest does not count!).

The song that came out five years before the car was made?

- Eric

 

don't do a thing to it, take the 12 k and run, yes its a cool car - even the bare bones painted top adds to the coolness. But again you have someone offering you top dollar for a car that is "all original" that really isn't (rear bumper). And who knows what else is wrong with it, you may end up opening a can-o-worms.

If I had a buck for every oldsmobile owner that told me their car was
"all original" that had the wrong radio, or wrong fenders, etc I'd be a millionaire.

We have seen Police packaged 88s go for less than this, and those are much rarer and much more desirable to the masses.

 

Sorry, those numbers are not from Wikipedia, they are from the 1968 Oldsmobile Salesmen's Prices/Equipment/Colors and Trims/Specifications book.

 

stop talking about this thing and take the guys 12 k and help him push it home i think your being greedy

 

+1.

If you keep squeezing a fistfull of sand, you'll open your hand and it will be empty.

Take the money, leave town, and change your phone number, in case the buyer wises up.

- Eric

 

Was wondering, in light of the original post being on the 1st, but he didn't mention $12-20K until the 3d!

I agree that it would be quite a coup if you were able to get $12k for this car.
Best of luck!
Please keep us posted.

On EDIT - just for grins I googled up this car.
Of course, that seller is well known for underpricing its offerings!

 

The only Olds motor in history ever worth anywhere near $20K MIGHT have been one of the all aluminum factory experimental 455s used by the CroSal CanAm racing team in the late 1960s. Yours isn't one of those.

Good luck with your sale, but don't let hearsay cause you to miss out on hard cash. $12K for that car as it sits is at least twice what it's worth. Don't wait to accept that deal.

 

I just looked at the pictures (sorry - took a while).

That engine is a 350. Maximum rated horsepower is 310 GROSS.

HOWEVER, that looks to me like a 2-barrel air cleaner, so I'm thinking it's a 9:1 2bbl 250 horse motor.

You might get $600 for this motor, if it was running and driveable, on a good day, with a tailwind.

All that being said, I'm beginning to think eds may be on the right track... April 1st, hmmmm...

- Eric

 

Shiny turd is a shiny turd 12k for this project vehicle is insane.

 

A Delmont is not a "turd".

 

Yep, definitely a 350 2bbl. low compression engine. The base powerplant for the Delmont in '68, factory rated at 250hp. At least they optioned for the TH400 trans instead of the Jetaway.
After looking at all the pics, I don't doubt the mileage is accurate. I think the car will clean up fine and make a nice driver for someone. Unfortunately, without a little realism in pricing, it probably won't sell. That said, I will revise my estimate of it's market value a bit upward. $6500 is probably in the ballpark.
The most important thing is to get it out of that damp garage and into a dry storage place. The trunk shows signs of the typical rear window leakage from rust in the channel. If allowed to continue, the trunk floor will rust out too. Almost all 65-70 2-dr GM full-size cars have this same problem.

 

Yep, gold engine, black air cleaner, looks like a 250hp 350 2bbl. If your sister was beating Mustangs and Camaros with it the year must have been 1984.

 

I think a lot of the responders to this thread are being needlessly harsh. Of course the supposed 12K offer is pie in the ski, never gonna happen, not in a million years, pure unadulterated bullsh*t. But there'd no need to be mean about it.


Here's a link to an article about another guy who thought his big Olds was just a little more speshul that it actually is:

http://web.archive.org/web/200006111...icles/mo-1.htm

(click the "impatient" button if you care).