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Hi everyone !
I'm a 26 years old french, and I just bought a 1973 Delta Royale :-)
(Not very easy to found in my country !)
It's working and in correct condition, but there is a lot of work to restore it correctly.
Actually I'm trying to replace the heater core, and after that i'll replace brakes and master cylinder
If someone know this kind of model, anything special i have to keep in mind ?
Thank you :-D
Last edited by Lylosys; September 19th, 2018 at 11:03 AM.
Welcome to the site. Looks like a very nice car to work with.
A couple of comments:
1. I don't believe that's the correct air cleaner. By 1973, all Olds air cleaners were black, and the "Rocket 350" decal was sliver with red lettering. I believe yours should look like the one in the photo below, which is also a '73 350. I wouldn't necessarily be concerned, but the fact that the air cleaner has been changed makes you wonder what else might have been changed by previous owners.
2. You definitely want to get a set of factory service manuals for this car as that will help you with the heater core replacement and anything else you want to do with the car. These manuals (Oldsmobile Chassis Service Manual and Fisher Body Manual) come up for sale on ebay all the time. I'm not sure about shipping to France. You would have to check with the seller.
The two above are for sale as I write this for a good price. This seller does say he ships worldwide.
jaunty75, thanks for the precisions about the air cleaner, i had no idea !
I already have the Fischer manual, and a Haynes repair manual, i'll see for the Oldsmobile.
Unfortunately there is nothing interesting about the heater box in the Fischer, a little more into the haynes !
A Haynes manual is fine as a secondary reference, but you want a genuine (paper, not CD) Olds chassis service manual.
No, servicing the heater core is not covered in the Fisher Body manual, but it IS covered in the chassis manual. But you do want the body manual as well because certain things, like power windows and locks, power seats, trim and molding attachment, and much more, is covered there.
Here's the Table of Contents from the Chassis Service Manual. You want Section 1.
Last edited by jaunty75; September 19th, 2018 at 03:55 PM.
I am impressed ! A young guy at age 26 owning a 73 delta convertible
Its really cool to see you younger guys driving the floats that were built years ago !
Jaunty75 took the time , posted and pictured the service manual needed to help you keep you 73 running beautifully with loads of information to keep you going and interested in your Olds.
So many guys here to help you with any questions you may have with regards to troubleshooting and part sources.
Take all this site has to offer in, enjoy your 73 Delta for many years to come , your in good hands here with these guys !
Cheers'
Eric
Last edited by 76olds; September 19th, 2018 at 05:17 PM.
I always been fascinated by this kind of car, designs are amazing, and mecanic is interesting ! I think I'm in the good place here ! By curiosity, how much worth this kind of car in the USA ?
Last edited by Lylosys; September 20th, 2018 at 04:29 AM.
I see 71-76 Delta 88s for sale often. They ask for about $5000-$12000 depending on the condition. It seems that in the U.S. they're more common than the coupes and just as plentiful as the sedans.
If you haven't already sourced a new heater core you might take that one to a local radiator shop (if you can find one). They can sometimes be repaired.
I found Bishko Publications reproduced service manuals for several cars on Rock Auto. A particular benefit of sourcing parts from there is they have no problem shipping overseas.
You aren't the only Oldsmobile owner from France, what part of France are you from?.
About Rock Auto, is it a good website ? I found almost everything I need, but I haven't tested it yet. (To order my heater core for example, not very expensive).
I'm from the East, Besançon in Franche-Comté. I didn't look for other owner, but maybe i'll find one here
Rock auto is very good , I have never had an issue when ordering parts from them. Good shipping prices etc, had many parts shipped to Canada without issue.
Summit Racing is another I use often, good shipping prices along with great customer service.
I agree with Eric. Rock Auto and Summit are great suppliers. I also like Jegs. Whenever I buy parts I compare to Amazon Prime for price but it might not be as easy for them to ship overseas.
Rockauto is very good with parts availability and promptness of shipping. But watch carefully if you order multiple items because Rockauto maintains warehouses all over the country, and if items ship from different locations, you will get charged separate shipping for each location. This can cause shipping charges to rise rapidly.
If you're ordering just one item, like a heater core, this is not a problem. But if you're ordering, say, six different parts for your brakes, and two are coming from one warehouse, three from a second warehouse, and one from a third, you could end paying three times the single warehouse shipping cost. If it's, say, $10 to ship from each place, that's $30 in shipping charges where it would be only probably something like $15 total shipping if all six were shipped from the same location. Just something to watch for.
Here's what I'm talking about. Just now I went to the Rockauto site and put various parts into the shopping cart and then had it calculate shipping to my zip code. Note at the bottom that the parts will come from three different locations, each with its own shipping charge.
Last edited by jaunty75; September 21st, 2018 at 06:49 AM.
September 19th, 2018, 09:27 AM
Hello from France ! (Delta 88)
