Hello everyone, this is my first time joining a forum. My names Tony, and this is my grandparents 1968 cutlass supreme.

My grandpa bought this car for my grandma right before they got married. The car doesn’t have a speedo or odometer, but in 1984 it had 200k miles on it. (Last written record)

The car has not been driven much in the time I’ve known it, but my grandpa recently passed it on to me, and I am going to do my best to give it new life. I have so many questions, as I’ve never worked on pushrod motors, or with carburetors. Also a long of vacuum lines and things have been disconnected or deleted, it seems.

The cutlass has a rocket 350 in it, with a 4bbl carb, and jetaway 2 speed transmission. I attached pictures for viewing pleasure

 

Welcome, You are at the right place. It looks nice, is it on the road?

Do you know if the engine is original? a 350 4bbl would be a high compression engine from the factory, because of that I'd use premium fuel only.

 

Thank you, it’s not on the road right now, I drove it to baseball last night and it overheated as I pulled into the parking lot.

I believe it’s the original motor, still has gold paint on the pan, block, intake heads and oil fill. I’ve been chasing some problems with it blowing oil out of the valve covers, and the overheating issue is new.

I think the rings are toast, or gummed up from sitting, I know there’s mixed opinions on sea foam, but I ran it through the oil as a last ditch effort to drive it a couple times this season, before going through the motor in the winter. I still have to compression test and leak down test the motor.

 

The Seafoam or Marvel Mystery on the top side of the piston would do more than in the oil but with 200k miles...? Don't drive it with the overheat. How did you know it was overheating, what happened?

 

would the heads need to be pulled to seafoam the top of the pistons? I was really just hoping to get a few cruises out of it this season, which is short in Washington state.

and I smelled coolant while driving, and the temp gauge started dropping, I believe because it’s in line in the top rad hose, so it was reading air temp. Car was definitely hot when I shut it off, waited a few hours and restarted it cold, then shut it off after about 20 seconds, and had it towed home. I haven’t had time to dive into where the coolant escaped from though.

 

Great car, welcome aboard.

Still possible, our car's love running in 50* weather. But I would go over everything with a fine tooth comb first. Literally go through the troubleshooting checklist from a-z before trying to drive her again.

Yes, our cars hate cheap gas.

P.S. you may want to start a separate thread regarding the cars potential issues. Admin frowns upon too much talk outside of introductions in the newbie forum.

 

69cshs, I see you’ve spent some time at atco! I lived in south Jersey for a while, and my friend Steve, and his father Steve sr. Used to race there. Their last name is Everett, if you happen to know them! I will start a new thread, hoping to stay on the admins good side. Apologies for spamming the newbies feed.

 

Also which forum do you think I should begin my discussion in?

 

Congrats on inheriting your grandparents car. That gives it special meaning. There are lots of people on here that know a lot and are glad to help. One thing that could be causing the overheating is a stuck thermostat. You need to go over this car carefully before you really drive it very much. One thing to pay particular attention to is the brakes. They are the most important thing on a car. One think many of us suggest is getting a factory service manual for your car. They are available on ebay and do not get the CD version or a reprint. Good luck with your new car.

 

Thank you. Is the service manual I should look for the 68 chassis manual with green binding?

 

Welcome to the site, looks like a solid start for a project.

 

Welcome, '68s are my favorite. There's something special knowing where a car this old has been since new, especially if its been in the family that long.

If you haven't already, change the oil and coolant and be sure the system is full. If any hoses look iffy (I've never seen a temp sensor placed in the middle of a radiator hose like that, the factory place is on the intake manifold near the T-stat housing), now's the time to replace them. Great advice on the brakes, those HAVE to work properly to drive safely (most critical!). Any wetness around the master cylinder or wheel cylinders indicates a leak. Check / replace the PCV valve and breather filter to be sure those are not plugged. Be sure the trans fluid is full and red, not brownish (change it if its brownish). At 200K miles, the timing chain is probably not long with this world (water pump has to be pulled to get to this.....MAW throw on a new pump while you're at it for cheap insurance). Check for leaks around the fuel pump and carb, get them fixed if any are found. Quadrajet rebuild isn't too difficult, you might get away with just running some Gumout through it if necessary.

 

How does a car not have a speedometer? Or do you just mean that it's there but doesn't work?

Did your grandfather do this? Why? These "vacuum lines and things" were not put on the car as decorations. They actually serve a useful purpose, and their absence can cause all sorts of problems including possibly the overheating problem you mentioned.

If you're of a mind to, post of a nice clear photo of the engine. It would be interesting to see just what it looks like.

 

Welcome aboard! You only have to remove the spark plugs to put some SeaFoam in the cylinders above the pistons. Put about an ounce in there and let it stand for a day. Then crank the motor over with the spark plugs again removed to push out any excess that may not have drained down past the rings. I personally use Marvel Mystery Oil for that purpose. Don't be alarmed that when you start the motor it will smoke out the tailpipe while burning off the excess oil residue. You can also add SeaFoam or MMO to the gas tank to help clean and lube the upper end of a pre catalytic system motor that has sat for a while.

 

Yes that's the service manual for all 1968 Oldsmobiles. Check the miscellaneous classifieds right here at classicoldsmobile.com for an original copy. There's one listed here:

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...manual-172425/

 

Great track wish it was still around.

Good stuff, unfortunately not off the top of my head. Atco was the farthest track for me. I was more of a Englishtown guy, but visited all 3 Jersey tracks over the years. From 2009-2019 I would go with a Burgundy 1987 442 and then midway I started going with the 69.

I would think general discussion is your best bet. Unless the issues are down to specifics, like engine or transmission, etc. Admin will relocate the thread if need be... This is an awesome site, run by good people, and full of good people. And above all there are plenty of very knowledgeable people here.

Yes, at a minimum make sure the emergency brake is in working order, and conduct some make believe scenarios to get acquainted with it.

And the Chassis Service Manual is like the bible for our cars. I was lucky enough to get one from the previous owner of my 69. Maybe granddad has one ?

 

the speedo was removed because it wasn’t working, and I think it is gone forever, now that my grandpa has started to develop dementia. I think some backwood mechanics worked on the car in South Carolina. Here’s pictures with air cleaner removed.

 

Is there a way I can move this forum to general discussion, before the admin has to do it?

 

Sweet ride!
Nice to see a young'n turning Olds.

 

Yes. There are several on ebay. This one looks to be in pretty good shape. There are some cheaper but in poorer condition. This will be the bible for your car and the best money you ever spend on your car.

1968 Oldsmobile Toronado 442 Cutlass 88 98 wiring service shop manual ORIGINAL | eBay

 

Nice Cutlass, glad to hear it's remaining in your family since new! I may have a 68 column shift speedometer if you need one. I'm also in Washington, Kitsap county. I ship parts frequently so not a problem there.

 

I'd bet a $1 that the vac hose from the firewall that is plugged w/ a nail (feeds the HVAC controls) goes to the vac port by the coil that is plugged w/ a screw. Of course, if one of the vacuum door motors has a leak, that may explain why it is disconnected and plugged (although the nail is not necessary except to keep dirt out of the system).

 

I moved the thread to the General Discussion forum.

Welcome, cool Oldsmobile.

 

Thank you! Knowing how much it meant to my grandpa is what makes it so special to me, especially after experienced the dynamic him and my grandma have.
The column shift speedos are different than the console shifted cars? My car is shifter on the floor.

 

Thank you very much! And thank you for running such an amazing website!

 

Just get it done mechanics are some of the best. My 69 came with the same assortment of doo dads. Eventually I swapped them to formal end caps. Car runs like a top so in my case I never bothered to correct them to factory setup.



By the way glad that you and your thread have finally settled in nicely.