There is always a story when this happens...

 

Not much to say really... I have been running down my road about 2 or 3 times a week to try and breath some life back into this old machine. Guess I let her run too long without checking into it just a little more. My guess is the rods were stopped up, and not pumping oil like they should.

 

With five bent push rods, It would appear you have some serious damage on the bottom end...

 

Dont know yet... I live on a dirt road, so I was moving at not to much more than an idle. Doesn’t look too good though.

 

Yikes...not good.

 

The first thing that came to my mind was water got into the cylinders.

 

yeah for real... The more I think about it the more I am leaning towards pre ignition problems. I think I will buy new lifters and rods and do a compression check on it and maybe go with it. I had a little backfire problem the last time I fired it up and the carburetor does load up a little bit while trying to start it. I am hoping for the best.

 

i have no smoke or steam at the exhaust. I will find out when I pull the plugs and do a compression test

 

Although this looks bad... I did some work towards getting body work done... I got the rear glass trim off, and started scraping some of the glue away to get the window out. I took the bumper off and removed the tail lights to see what damage I had to fix. All in all it was a good day. No major rust around the lights. No rust behind the bumper. I got the trunk seal removed to fix a couple of holes from rust. I have some bad cancer around the window, but I have seen worse.

 

Is the trunk gutter

 

Doubtful it's detonation or preignition, or bad fuel. If the engine sat around forever, there's a good chance the valves were stuck to the guides, esp. since it's random [both intake & exhaust] on five cylinders. You might want to perform a leak-down test? It's interesting no two pushrods are bent in the same cylinder.

 

yes. I will pump the cylinders up next weekend, and do a compression test also. There are actually 6 rods bent. One is barely noticeable by just looking at the photo. I guess I did want to open the motor up and see for my self, and now I get my wish. I have around 3 hours of run time on the motor now since I brought it home, and I do need some carburetor work. It has no choke right now, and the vacuum hoses are gone for the distributor and the transmission.

 

What's really interesting is they are all intake pushrods that are bent.

 

Nice to see another "turquoise metallic" Oldsmobile. If I am not mistaken I saw your cowl tag, 1966 paint code K "ocean mist", which is, if I am not mistaken is the same color as my 1970 442, paint codes 34 34, "reef turquoise metallic". Looks like you have your work cut out for you on the trunk areas; yikes! I ran out to the garage to check my trunk! As good as my trunk looks I found some scale and rust on the lower left in the weather stripping groove. Old cars, I guess that's what you get. Good luck with your Cutlass, the color rocks!

 

colors were regularly being "tweaked" to be "NEW" for the new model years

1965-'66 * K - ocean mist metallic * WA-3305
1967 * K - aquamarine metallic * WA-3569
1968 * K - ocean turquoise metallic * WA-3761
1969 * 55 - Tahitian turquoise metallic * WA-3851
1970 * 34 - reef turquoise metallic * WA-3977
1970 * 38 - Aegean turquoise metallic * WA-4006

were all "different" turquoise Oldsmobile colors

 

Interesting! I assumed they were all a GM color that was the same, just different names.

 

yes it is the same car from the Newbie forum. I do have some work to do, but those areas in the photos are the worst ones. There is no rust under the car.

 

I am surprised that it even ran. Last tag that was on it was from 2000. I have another tag from 1996. I am guessing the man’s mom passed away around 1996 and it sat. Then he put it back on the road in 1998 or so because there is three stickers in the year block on the tag. Then his age got the best of him and he had to find a newer car and it sat.

 

Did you run old fuel through it or clean the tank first?

 

i didn’t drop the tank. I added some fresh fuel to the old. The old man had a shop and he told me he had it running a while ago before I bought it. So that’s what I went by... But it had old gas in it

 

That may have caused your issue. Old gas turns to a glue like substance that gets into the valve guides. If you get it to run and warmup it melts, the more heat cycles the more it builds until the valvetrain is glued in place when it cools.

 

is the same thing my Dad said... He said replace the rods. Lube it up real good. Put fresh high test gas in it. It will be fine... He’s a retired mechanic, and I trust his judgement

 

First you have to free the valves up.

 

yeah forgot to mention that. A block of wood on the rockers and a hammer tap might do the trick.🤔

 

Anyone have a link on a good stock pushrod set, and maybe rockers for a 1966 330? I want to replace the old rods, and maybe a few or all rockers.

 

...or the lifters are clogged up, turning them into solid lifters with zero lash. I'd pull the valve covers, compress each spring that had a bent pushrod to see if its valve is free, change the lifters and pushrods, and get ready for some carefree driving. (Unless the valves are stuck, in which case you'll probably be removing the heads.)

 

Yes thanks. I will be working on it this weekend, in between rain showers again. Seems like every weekend the rain comes. I think I can work on the lifters and get them operational. I will still need rods and maybe a couple of rockers. Unless I can get them in a set of everything (rods-lifters-rockers) for a reasonable price. I asked about a link to purchase the items, because I don’t trust the local advance auto parts to get me the right parts the first time. I was looking through the manual and didn’t see the specs on the push rods.

 

MARK and SAVE any parts you replace, until you know the new parts function correctly. Compare old parts to new parts before you install them. One gallon Ziploc bags work well.

 

That is a great idea... I will definitely be getting some ziplock bags

 

You are wise beyond your years...

 

well I don’t know about that, but I did grow up with auto parts laying around home, and parts dealers with actual manuals, who could actually look something up and cross reference an item from a couple of books, or mechanics to help you get the right items. Now a days you go to a part store and they want to ask you...”What vehicle- What year- What motor...” Only to push a button and tell you what you need, from a computer that someone programmed wrong in the first place. And these (Parts Professionals) Probably never even herd of a Oldsmobile 330 motor, or a parts manual.

 

To be fair parts books are the same as a computer program. They are only as good as the information put into them. The difference is a program can be updated with the correct information a lot quicker than a book.
I started in the parts game in the late 80's when it was still mostly catalogs. I saw the gradual change over to computers and for the most part it is a good thing. It speeds up the process and helps newbies get through things faster.
That being said, the older guys that understand catalogs are a major asset and need to teach the younger guys how to use their heads to find things. But all too often they don't want to help them for one reason or another. Usually it has to do with sales. If they know more, they will sell more (I.E. take sales from the old guy) so they keep the "secrets" to themselves.

 

is why I joined a forum like this... I would much rather deal with a few old guys in a forum than I would have a young punk who just wants a pay check tell me what I need

 

Lifters do not come in contact with fuel, they should be fine with the exception of any damage from being bottomed out. The valves will take more than just 1 blow from a mallet. You will need a lot of penetrating oil to break down the varnish the bad fuel left behind. Don't ask me how I know.

Rockers and bridges are the same as any other later Olds V8 engine. The length of the push rods vary.

 

Thank you for your comments... As I have been reading a lot, I am taking this all in. My next move will be to take out the good pushrods one by one, and compare lengths, as I keep them separate in ziplock bags. I will be able to pre-order the components as I am working to free up the gue on the valve train. I believe this is accomplish able, and my Father has stated that he would love to come spend some time and give some useful advice and a helping hand. Have a good evening😁

 

For keeping the push rods organized, I use a rectangular piece of cardboard with two rows of 8 holes punched along the length (use a pencil or nail to punch the holes). Label the holes corresponding the the cylinder locations from front to back, then insert the push rods into the holes as they are removed from the engine.

 

Push rods in the cardboard like Fun71 says. Also get some sandwich and quart size bags for other things. Sandwich bags for each lifter. a "Sharpie" works well for marking the bags.

 

thats even better than a bunch of bags... The same could be done for the lifters and rockers and such. Just make a bigger hole. Thanks🤔

 

Oh, and one other nasty complication: If the valves were stuck open they may have been smacked by the pistons, bending the valves or worst case, breaking the pistons. You might want to do the compression test before installing new parts. Hopefully you won't have any "zeroes", but if you do, focus on those cylinders. The good news is, I think you said you weren't burning any oil, so the pistons should be OK.

Oh, and the link for pushrods:

https://www.jegs.com/i/Proform/778/6...276+4294829275

I think you can do better price-wise, but this listing says all 260-403 engines, '64-'84 have the same 8.328" long pushrods. I remember when pushrods were a buck apiece...