Hey All,

I am a total newbie when it comes to classic cars. I am looking to learn though. I just picked up this 4 door Dynamic 88 and am trying to learn more about it. Any good sites for late night reading would be cool. Trying to figure out what to do with it. It is all original, down to the glass window washer fluid bottle. Needs a tun up and some transmission work. Overall its a solid car. 93000 miles. (I wouldn't mind having more power)

I know this is going to sound stupid for you guys that have been out there for a while but, what kind of fluids do you put in these cars? Recommendations would be cool. (has the rocket 394) (Has the Slim Jim Transmission) Some one told me I should be putting in Lead additives to my gas. (Ratio I was told is 1 oz per 10 gal). Looking for someone to not mind my seriously newbie questions.

Anyways, looking forward to learning.

 

Welcome to the site and congrats on your purchase. The first thing I would buy is a chassis manual for your car, they can be had off of ebay or perhaps someone has one on here. I'm not 100% sure for the trans, others will chime in, but I believe it takes standard off the shelf transmission fluid. I use VR1 for street use oil, dot 3 brake fluid, and standard power steering fluid. Lead additive is personal preference not a requirement. From what I understand the slimjim is a persnickety transmission and needs someone that knows them to work on one.

 

The slim-jim trans works just fine on the current version of Dextron.
If you don't know the service history of the car I would suggest this:

Get a trans filter from Fusick Automotive or E-bay.

Pull the trans pan off and change the filter. If I remember correctly you can even drain the trans before removing the pan!

Do this every five years or 30,000 miles.

To a driver who has never driven a slim-jim , the experience will leave them with the impression that there is something wrong with the trans.
The slim-jim 's shift points and methods of shifting are very different than later turbo Hydramatics.

First gear is a "granny" gear. Which gets even these heavy cars moving quickly. Then there is a long "jump" to a much higher second gear. And it's usually a rather rough shift . And finally a very smooth, almost unnoticeable, shift to third.

Like Eric said, a factory shop manual is your best friend .
Most of the guys that know how to work on these trannys are RIP already.

 

Welcome aboard and congratulations on your choice of a great large Oldsmobile. My first Old was a Dynamic 88 similar to yours. Does your car have a two-barrel or four-barrel? If two-barrel it may be the low compression version that will run on regular but even the high compression ones should run on pump premium without lead additives. Good advice from Charlie on changing the trans fluid, you drain the pan by unfastening the dipstick housing. Filters are also available from Fatsco. I use Shell Rotella T 15W-40 diesel truck motor oil.


If you haven't already done so pull the wheels and drums and check the brakes and front suspension carefully. If the brakes are OK flush and replace the fluid and bleed them, this is something that is seldom done leading to brake failure.


Good luck, post more pics when you can.

 

Dexron

 

Thanks for all the good info. this gives me enough to start on.

DON R. this is a two-barrel Rochester Carburetor. I have done some research and am a little confused on how to tell if its the High compression or low compression motor. The engine stamp is 585786 - 4 1/8.

I was looking at this web site: (its the OldsFaq website.)
http://http://www.442.com/oldsfaq/of...identification

It talks about it being a high compression motor If the 4-1/8 follows the number. but then i see other articles talking about a green valve cover as an indicator for a low compression motor? My motor has the green valve covers and the 4 - 1/8 after the engine stamp.

Any thoughts on this and whats the Pros and Cons for Low vs High Compression?

thanks In advance,

JC

 

As far as I have seen the green engine / valve covers are all lower compression lower HP engines which may be a good thing as the higher compression engines are hard to adjust for the lower octane gas we have now. I could never get my 63 to quit pinging under hard load / acceleration....Tedd

 

JC, they did make both high and low compression two-barrel engines. I don't have any 64 info but my 63 FSM does say that all low compression engines both domestic and export were painted green. It shows the engine number stamped on the center section of the head right below the valve cover bolt and says a domestic low-compression two-barrel engine would have an "H" prefix and "L" suffix around the engine number. If you can access a 64 FSM it will tell you specifics.


The low compression engine is an advantage in a driver car due to allowing the use of cheaper regular gas and not having the potential knock issues of a 10.25 or 10.5 ratio. The tradeoff is they are a bit down on power but since the 394 is a torque monster I don't see it as that big a deal.

 

My 63 was a high compression 2bbl and was painted red/orange and ping was still a problem even with ih test gas even in the 60's....Tedd