jensenracing77

Well, I am headed out in the morning on a trip to look at another Jetfire. It is a factory 4 speed car parked in 1976 and off the road since 1971. Still owned by the original owner. If it is like the pictures show I will be bringing it home. Still have the original turbo setup on it. I sure hope the engine is not locked up but even if it is I will likely bring it home. My plans are to make it run and drive again but not restore it. I will leave the body dirty and likely take it to MCACN for the barn find section. Ryan Brutt from the barn find section will be going tomorrow to take pictures and video of it.

redoldsman

Eric that really is a barn find. No garage there. Good luck with it.

Weezer

Dirt floor... yikes.

jensenracing77

It appears to be a "dry" dirt floor. A dry dirt floor is MUCH better than a concrete floor in an open air building. The pictures I got of the bottom side look very good with nothing rotted out. The pictures don't even show bad pitting on the floor pans, just light surface rust. I will know tomorrow if he took strategic pictures is select spots...

I don't plan to keep the car long term like our other cars. Just a short term winter project.

jensenracing77

They said that they drove this car to where it is sitting in 1976 and never touched since. Even if I don't buy it I will get more pictures and help him get it sold.

Weezer

Last car I saw left on a dirt floor barn literally rusted away. It was almost criminal, because it was a 69 convertible Camaro, white w/ orange stripes. Yes, that would've made it the Z11 SS/RS Pace Car, which fetch a pretty penny. The fenders, doors, and qtrs were 2/3 gone. That farmer made a huge mistake.

Gmcdually

carbizguy

Wow, thats a great find. Best of luck brother, let us know what happens!

CRUZN 66

You are definitely looking to be master of the breed...

jensenracing77

More often than not, they find me. This one is the same way. I was honest with him that I would only have it long enough to make it a driver and try to get it to boost proper again and then likely sell it after that. I will just have to see if it is worthy of the effort. The pictures say yes but pictures don't tell it all.

jensenracing77

Jim Noel will always be the master. If not for him there would not likely be a single one with a correct working turbo on the face of the planet. I would not be able to work on them like I do if not for his teachings and guidance. I may have gotten where I am eventually without his help but it is unlikely.

Tirekicker

Great find!

Texas442

jensenracing77

Should have been a couple more there also. I did not get to go this year.

I will post pictures tomorrow, just got home for the 18.5 hour round trip.

jensenracing77

Last plated in 1971 and parked in this spot in 1976. I am very pleased that the engine is not locked up it it. I would guess that the lifters are stuck like my other car was but I should be able to have it running soon. There is some rusty spots but nothing at all to serious. The floor pans a very solid and the worst spot I can find is the very back driver side corner, just in front of the bumper. The doors, trunk, and hood are also very good.

It is an original paint car so should not have any bad filler jobs hiding. I am going to start pulling the interior out of it and getting it (the interior) cleaned up ASAP. Needs to air out and be scrubbed up really bad. Got pictures of the original owner, he is 77 and was happy for me to get it. He knows that I am not keeping it long term, but I did tell him that I plan to have it back roadworthy before I let it go.

Ryan Brutt was there and said it should be in Hot Rod in a future issue.

tru-blue 442

Very cool Eric. Good luck with it!

jensenracing77

I found a document that backs up the original owners story. He said he put a new muffler on it and very soon after he decided to park it. Well, I found the receipt where he got the new muffler. Mice had eaten the outside but the important part was still there. On July 31 1970 he got the new muffler and the car had 88224 miles on it. The car was last plated in 1971 with 90,000 miles on it. The car was on the road for 8 years.

jensenracing77

I went right to work on this car. I am pulling out the interior and going to clean everything the best I can. It is dry inside but smells really bad. I want to let it air out and deodorize it several times. I will use the Goop hand cleaner on it like I did my 62 on anything vinyl. I pulled the back carpet swept it and then hung it up to beat it for a while. I ended up using the garden hose on it with dish soap. I will still use some deodorizers on it. Tomorrow will be the front carpet and pull the door panels and kick panels. I don't plan to put the interior back in for a while. After it is all clean I will start on getting it running.

Hairy Olds

Don't forget your mask!

stevengerard

did those mouse traps come ith it? Great find Eric

stevengerard

Some where on the way home from Indianapolis to Chicago I took some side roads and saw a property full of 73 - 77s. Nobody was around but there had to be 30 or more in various conditions. Nothing mint but plenty usable - maybe Eric or Scott remember where it is.

Weezer

Great to see that you're already getting after it! Can some of your motivation rub off on me, please? I still haven't gotten my PS pump fixed, and it's been over a month.

jensenracing77

I have to park it in the garage and can't have the smell in there. I also have to have it back together by the MCACN show in November. I prefer to take it as it was pulled from the barn but I have to take care of the interior for health reasons.

jensenracing77

I got the interior out and scrubbed the floor pans and trunk pan. I also washed the carpets really good. They are drying in the sun now. I will use lots of pet deodorizer on them when they are dry and likely do it all over again. For the car having 90,000 miles, the carpet is in really good condition.

Cincinnati Rick

Couple of things. First, congratulations on another cool find. Second, did you get to meet Danni, Mike or Frank from Antique Archaeology?

Oh BTW, there's a local home improvement talk show host that swears by a product called odorxit. People call in all the time saying how well it works.
https://www.odorxit.com/

jensenracing77

We seen one girl that I have seen on an episode but not sure what her name was. Most of anything they had picked had been sold. It is mostly their own merchandise. They said the stuff that they pick and put in the store sell really fast.

My wife has something she is picking up that is supposed to eliminate pet and mouse smells. If it don't work I will look into that.

Cincinnati Rick

If she had tattoos all over her it was Danni. Were you planning on stopping there or just seen it and stopped in?

jensenracing77

We stopped on the way to get the car but there was no place to park with a trailer. We had enough time to stop on the way back so we checked for a place to park. I got out and asked if I could park in the middle and take a couple pictures. They said to go for it. It was funny because people thought it was something for the show because it was so dirty. The people that were there were taking lots of pictures of it and didn't even care what it was, lol. We just wanted to stop and see what they had.

I know it wasn't Danni. It was another girl that I have seen on the show.

jensenracing77

Goop hand cleaner is great! I can not remember who here give me this tip but it works really good.

66-3X2 442

GOOP is also great for those OEM grommets that are not available. You have to soak them,not rub them to get the best results.

Hairy Olds

Hmmm?

66-3X2 442

You're a pervert Paulie.

Rustbucket2

Nice, saw it posted on another web sit too

61Bat

Good to see someone truly interested and knowledgeable in these obscure Oldsmobiles finding and preserving them properly. Great find and thank you for sharing the pictures and story. Looking forward to more!

jensenracing77

My allergies are to bad to leave it as dirty as it was. I ran the hose over it lightly to get the thick stuff off. I am taking it to MCACN so I did not wash it, just got the bad stuff off. I don't have more pictures yet but the interior is turning out really nice! Other than the driver seat the original parts are really good. Even the carpet is really good. I was going to use some SEM on the carpets and lower door panels but I think I am just going to leave them as is. This way the next person can see for sure the real condition.

The car is growing on me and the thought of keeping it has crossed my mind. I just can't justify keeping it long term.

jensenracing77

This is the worst rust on the entire car and the only rust that is through. For sure has surface rust in many places but I have not found anything serious at all other than this spot. The second worst spot is inside the back passenger side window cavity. There was a mouse nest in there and has a little deeper surface rust. Still very solid inside there though.

jensenracing77

I got the heater box all apart and cleaned up. That is the last of the mouse nests! Just scrubbing everything and deodorizing everything still. I had to pull the turbo to get the heater box off. Everything came apart really good. I am very pleased that the foot flange gasket is still good on this turbo. I have an extra but these are so hard to find that I did not want to have to use my extra one. I pulled the float bowel cover off and I am going to have to rebuild the carburetor. I am not going to restore the carb, just a rebuild. I don't think I am going to rebuild the turbo or fluid system either. Just going to rebuild the carburetor and see what I have with the engine before I go any farther.

Tomorrow I will pull the valve covers and distributor and run the oil pump for a while. If the lifters will not pump up I will pull the intake manifold and rebuild the lifters.

While working on it tonight we had a rainbow show up..

jensenracing77

I figured out why they quit driving the car. I pulled the valve covers and distributor to spin the oil pump. A couple of the rockers were still loose while running the oil pump. I pulled the intake and found a bent push rod. After pulling the rocker shafts and lifters I found that a couple of the cam lobes went flat and many others were worn. I have been told many times that the cams in these engines were soft and this one is for sure bad. I saved the original cam out of our automatic car and I check it to an NOS one I have. I just check the overall with the base circle and it is the exact same as the NOS one. I still have those lifters and are marked for the correct lobe. I am just going to use that used cam because the engine would be rebuilt with a complete restoration anyway.

The engine is very clean inside. I was betting that it was going to be ugly inside.

jensenracing77

I have found that this pet deodorizer works great for the old nasty smell and even mouse pee smell. Also got better pictures of the bottom side of the floor pans. I pulled the tank to clean it out. The trunk pan is also really solid. The tank is really nasty but no leaks. I am thinking about changing it out with a better one I have. I also pulled the fuel gauge apart and have it soaking in carburetor cleaner. I believe I can get it to work without any problem. The bolts for the gas tank straps come right apart. Most of the time these are rusted so bad I have to cut them. Sure glad this car was parked on a dry dirt floor.

I have Friday off work so I am hopping to have the timing cover and intake back on and start rebuilding the carburetor. If everything goes well I may be able to fire it up Saturday or Sunday.

OLDSter Ralph

Do you dilute it or use full strength ? Where do you spray it ? What do you use to spray it ? Only one application or do you have to go over it again a couple times ?