Turning to the forums for advice on the rebuild of my 1954 Olds 88. This car was purchased new by my grandfather and passed down through the generations. It has been in a barn for 15 or so years and time for a father/son project to get this car back on the road. Keep in mind this car will never be sold so I am not concerned about increasing value or anything like that.
I have 2 trains of thought on this. First is keep original (nostalgic but not real fun to drive). Second is put a little performance in that car and some upgrades to make it more drive-able and eye catching. (Can you tell I am leaning towards the second option?)
If I hot rod it a little, what is the motor of choice for these? Seems like the 324 is not ideal for performance and Oldsmobile parts seem expensive. Scratch it and go with a Chevy 350 or something like that?
Lastly, the last guy who worked on it thought it to be a good idea to spray paint all the chrome silver. So not I am having to either get it sent off for rechrome or try to find new pieces. Are replacement chrome pieces hard to find?
Looking forward to the ideas from here.

 

Let's see some clear large pictures, in, out and under the hood and luggage compartment interior. Underside views would also help a lot.

 

I have had people tell me (and I am not vouching for the accuracy of their statements) that there are only 10 1954 Oldsmobiles known to exist. What I do know is that they are, relatively speaking, few and far between.

To alter it from original would be a shame, in my opinion. What would gramps do if he were around?

 

I wonder how I could go about finding out about the 10 or so left? That is very interesting to me. You just hardly ever hear about people having these cars.
Maybe I can make it a sleeper. Rebuild original motor (while making a little more performance) then just change the hidden things to make the care more safe and easier to drive (disk brakes, power steering and vintage air system). So many decisions to make when starting this.

 

Welcome to the site, post some pictures as stated above so we can see what kind of shape its in. Is there a budget in mind for the project?

 

I don't know where somebody came up with 10 total for 54 Oldsmobiles. There might be 10 Super 88 convertibles (I have never seen another one in person) but I suspect that would be low. There are still a bunch of them around but I agree you don't see them that much. Here is a link to a thread on here that may give you an idea.

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...ers-unite.html

The 324 can be made to perform pretty decently but for a price. Switching a later engine in is not an easy task since the 324 uses a front motor mount. If you want to add power steering, it will need to come from a 54 or 55. I added it to me 54 and I also added the original treadlevac power brakes. There are kits available to add disk brakes and a swinging pedal. Ross Racing has lots of performance stuff for the 324. Tony is very knowledgable of these engines. Here is their link.

http://rossracingengines.com/c/2/old...early-catalog/

And yes, we need pictures.

 

Sweet! Another 54. Mine has a very similar story - will never be sold, not looking for a trailer queen show car, etc. I rebuilt the 324 to "stock", but I replaced the generator with an alternator, replaced the points with an electronic ignition, and replaced the carb with a FAST fuel injection system. Starts and runs as smoothly (and reliably?) as my wife's 2 year old Honda.
Still working on other refurbishments, but she's definitely drivable now.
Good luck! Looking forward to pics!

 

Got to keep it original, indeed -- would be a shame to butcher it!!!
As far as keeping it inexpensive, call me -- I have plenty of NEW and N.O.S. parts for this car -- and I try to "keep a hobby -- a hobby"....

 

My '55 Super "88" is as Stock as can be,original engine,transmission ,carb, generator ,and I've added aftermarket Air conditioning for comfort,and it will still "Bark the tires when going in to second gear " . It will cruise at 65-70 and still get 18 mpg,even using the air conditioner! What more could you ask for? As for finding chrome parts ,it's not easy ,but you can probably find some parts cars on the Internet. The cars are not as rare as stated,there's about 15 listed (For sale now on different sites on the Internet) Larry

 

Being a tad on the purest side I say let it be original. My car is as stock as I can make it and it gets around just fine.First and second gear scratch is doable and 75-80 MPH on the freeway is no problem (though I prefer 55-60 it's more relaxing.Remember you are trying to propel a 4,000 lb car it will take a pile of HP to make a truly fast rocket ship. Why not just cruse around and be cool, Any ricer can go fast it takes a 60 year old car to really stand out in the crowed..... Lost in the fifties ...Tedd

 

What would your grandfather want to see,it put back as close to original as possible, or hopped up ,jacked up ,and made a "Hot Rod". I turned down big bucks for mine to a once famous NFL player,but I knew it would be "Bagged" and hopping up and down the streets of Nashville. No way,not in my lifetime. Larry

 

Another vote for keeping it at least with the original drive train. You can still hot rod it a little, I would do something period correct - lower it a little, wide white walls, hubcaps that you like. There are performance goodies available for 324's.

I would argue that an old car in good working original condition is fun to drive. Nothing like driving around in old iron, with everything in good working order, your car is more than usable on the road today.

 

Stock it is. As fun as it would be to drop a 442 in the car I know it would be terribly expensive. But like most of you pointed out... What would your grandfather want to see? He was a purest and always loved this car the way it sits. I do like the idea of replacing the generator with an alternator for reliability and maybe just rebuilding the motor to make sure it is dependable and ready to cruise.
I hope this is a project my dad and I can start in 2016. Do slowly but surely and make it something we can drive anywhere we want anytime we want. Reliability is going to be my top priority along with keeping it as close to original as I can. (While adding vintage air since we live in South Georgia and hidden radio for some music.)
I appreciate all the tips and how people on here have done their restorations. I am working on getting some picture to post as the car is not at my house right now.

 

When you get ready to put the AC in let me know. It takes some engineering and fabrication. I got my AC working good but now I am trying to cool the car down so I can use it. You made a good choice in going stock or close to it.

 

Congrats on keeping close to stock,your grandfather would be proud.X2 on the pics,and when you are ready to think about the air conditioning ,you may want to give mine a look on my albums .I went with Southern Air out of Florida, using stock radiator and 1 long belt to run generator and AC.Did not even change the original pulleys. I've never had the heat gauge go past half way and it cools the whole interior in 100 degree weather. Larry

 

Hello,

I found this forum and I hope someone can help me. My friend drives a 1954 Rocket 88, but the "E" on the hood is missing... :-(

Is there anyone who knows an adress or contact where I could find one letter or the complete O-L-D-S-M-O-B-I-L-E letters from 1954?



Thank you,
greetings SCOPE

 

There was a whole set of letters for sale on ebay a couple months ago and I almost bought them. Unfortunately these are pretty hard to find.