Hello all. today for your morbid curiosity I present to you one 1965 Dynamic 88 convertible. You might say she's a crusty turd, but I would rather say she is weight reduced and optimized for natural 360 degree air conditioning, and the Fred FLintstone power pack. Still recovering from the tetanus last time I drove her... damn jaw..

She has a slight issue in the, well powerplant area. So the place I got it from had driven it in and taken the top end apart to do a head gasket replacement, and found one of the pistons to be also weight reduced slightly, so they put the parts in the trunk and it sat (since 2019). I picked it up last fall, saw that the cylinder wall looked ok, and was able to free up the then seized motor with about 3 weeks of soaking and working a breaker occasionally every couple days. Got 720 degrees of smooth motion, so called that a win. I have all new pistons, 4bbl camshaft, bearings, seals, etc to fully rebuild the bottom end.

Got the heads apart, which looked, well, terrible. But after fighting to get all the valve retainers free, stems demushroomed and cleaned up enough to be removed, and the heads blown out, degreased, scrubbed, pressure washed, and blown out again - they look pretty good. Will be throwing them in a tank later today to get electrocuted for a while and liberate some oxides. Will have to rig up some sort of electromagnet later on to check for cracks to fill up before painting and rebuilding with all new valves, rockers, springs, and seals.

Tranny is probably fine, but I'm rebuilding her as well since I'll have her out. Why not - easy insurance.

Body exterior is pretty good, other than missing hat and a few rot holes. I have plenty of old construction signs left, and .023 wire. Bigger issue is the somewhat missing floor. I'm ordering some impala floor pans today which may? work with some.. persuasion. Was able to score a new set up torn old seats and second steering column from another sixtysomething olds. Obviously I'll be learning upholstry on this one. Cool.

I am also trying to figure out what I want to do about the brakes. I really want to go 4 wheel discs, but am unsure which way to go. Will Impala conversions work? Am I just a silly girly man hipster who should just rebuild the drums and rock em? What do you guys suggest?

 

Impala parts will NOT fit.
Drum brakes on these cars are completely adequate.
However, if you do want front discs, 67 thru 70 full size Olds disc spindles, hubs, calipers and rotors will fit.
All 1970 full size Olds were equipped with discs, so they aren't that hard to find.
Rear disc brakes are totally unnecessary.

 

You want an electromagnet to magna flux the engine parts? You can check parts for cracks and damage with dye penetrant. No magnet needed.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/ar...ye-penetrants/

 

So for the time being I have decided to just rebuild the drums, as the adaptor plates in the sticky thread for front caliper conversion won't even be available for a minimum of 2 months. New dual M/C on the way (the caddy one so I don't need to swap out the rod), raybestos shoes for front and rear, etc. another benefit is I can keep my kragers for the front at least. Am heavily thinking of getting a pair of 15x10s in the back to match the originals up front..

Now just to finish up my daughter's CR-V reassembly so I can have my garage back and pluck that powertrain out of the 88 to start rebuilding the bottom end and tranny. Should have the new floor pans in by then so I can delete the yabba dabba do package.

For the top - is the plastic rear window typically ok or should I just pony up for glass? My only other convertible that I ever had had glass (TT Roadster) and it was nice, so I'm not sure the alternatives.

Thanks guys
-scott

 

Got the heads getting a good zap now, and the new rockers just came in. Should have the new Ferrea valves tomorrow, th400 rebuild kit, and some other parts came in today.

And, ended up just going for the glass. At this point, why cheap out on something that will **** me off on the road? New bright white top kit with all new seals, padding, cables, strapping, etc on the way as well. Thanks for the birthday gift grandma!

 

Gotta love the Keystone Kustomags up front!

 

Amen. I thought the same. I would think those are rare as hen's teeth.

 

Thanks. Yeah I have 14 inch Keystone Klassics up front and the rears and spare are 15" 60's GM rally wheels. Have my tire guys looking for a good option for tires. How do you guys like the Milestar tires? Thinking of some streetsteels. How about the MS775 Touring SLEs?

 

Still considering down the road is to get some 15x10 keystones in the back for extra grip.

 

Are they even available for that car? That would surprise me.

 

Luckily anything 5x5 should work. 78.3 center hub, but adaptors can be used if it's not a perfect match for the hub. Kragers also tend to be unilug as they call it, which for 4.5 and 5 inch wheel patterns.

Of course, I haven't checked clearance yet. Can do that once she's running

 

Keystone Klassics look great on Oldsmobile's, especially if you get tired of seeing Cragars on everything.

 

I do love the look of the Keystones... but aren't they actually Kragars themselves?

 

I think Keystone is owned by Cragar now but originally was their own separate brand. Had a set on my '67 442 back when!

 

Correct.

 

I had a set on a '64 Impala 409. Thing looked nasty.

 

Well I know it's a trivial change but man does it immediately upgrade the looks. New tires, floor pans are in, new valves. Should be able to do the head rebuilds in a couple days, just want to exterminate more rust first. Also got new M/C, brake shoes, floor pans, alternator, and a bunch of other parts.

 

So now have finally made some progress on the olds after getting my daughter's car back on the road. Got the new wheels working better (cleaned up the cragar hardware on the wirewheel). Then pulled the driveshaft, moved the car, yanked the hood, loosened the trans from frame and engine, and pulled the motor. Also fully rebuilt the distributor, coil bracket, and repopulated other with NOS or performance upgrades (did use a moroso kit for the advance weights and springs). Dizzy also needed new vacuum advance. Next to it is the unit I prepped for my caprice.

 

Well, the oil was obviously drained before it went into storage, which explains why it was stuck when I got it. But, was able to get the pan off, rotating assembly looks and feels good - just needs a good cleaning like everything. It's getting new bearings and seals of course. Was able to get more than half of the lifters out as well. Cam and lifters are all pretty smoked. Again, I planned on this and am upgrading it to the 4bbl bumpstick anyway.

 

So, got the block pretty much torn down. Nice clean wear on all the bearings, so I should be good with the kits I bought. Will check of course. 3 of the middle pistons had really nasty stuck rings, but all cylinders look good at least so far. Still have to clean the hell out of everything, do some more inspection on the walls and the block in general, but I should be good to start putting it back together soon. Still need to yank that trans and get that in the garage so it can be torn down once this mess is cleaned up a bit. I'm (probably stupidly) looking forward to heating, removing, and pushing the new pistons on their pins and getting them all ready. Nothing fancy, just cast OEM replacements, but just having her fresh parts ready to go in will be so nice.

 

Have you checked the cylinders with a micrometer or cylinder gauge yet?
If any of the cylinders have more than .010 "taper" (from bottom to top), the cylinders should be bored and honed to the next oversize.
Putting new pistons and rings in worn cylinders will accomplish little.

Same thing goes for the crankshaft.
If the rod journals are more than .002 out of round, or if the main journals are worn more than .002
The crankshaft should be re-ground to the next undersize

 

I have not yet, but I'll be taking all measurements later after pulling the plugs and giving it a really good scrub inside and out. Whether I give in and take anything to a shop or not, it still need 58 years of grime removed before any useful data can be obtained. I'm just hoping the bearings I got will work, but so far with what I have learned about this engine I'm mostly optimistic. The mic will tell the truth though.

 

Here's a little tip.
Evaluate the condition of your block and crankshaft with a micrometer BEFORE you buy any parts.
If the block needs boring, or the crank ground, you may have to send that "kit" back.
And then get one with the proper oversize pistons and undersize bearings.

 

Intresting thread , thanks for sharing pics and info everybody.