surfin_phil

I was visiting family in Phoenix, AZ and went out to some garage sales. Found this 1966 Olds Dynamic 88 Convertible and bought it. Met the original owners daughter at the sale, she said her mom got it for her birthday in 1966 in Michigan and then moved to Phoenix shortly after. It has 65000 miles and is completely original including the convertible top cover.
I decided to make an adventure of it and drive it the 1300 miles from Phoenix to Portland. First attempt, blown lower rad hose 20 miles into the trip.
Went back to the inlaws house, replaced the hose, water pump, thermostat etc. Put on some fresh tires (already had new brakes).
Set off again, made it to Vegas where the bypass hose sprung a leak. Went to a great little rad shop and had him throw in a new thicker rad. Pushed on to Reno that night without incident. Got up the next morning and drove 9 hours straight to Portland.
Now the fun begins!
Will need lots of advice starting with exhaust (still has that silly crossover thing) and ignition, would like to get modernized set up like HEI or something.

oldcutlass

Welcome to site Phil. Thanks for sharing the story and pictures, she sure is sweet.

Oldsmaniac

Awesome find and a true time capsule! HEI no problem and you can upgrade to dual exhaust. The special left side exhaust manifold is reproduced and can be had from Thornton. It will give some xtra HP too.

Rocketowner

Welcome Phil,you've already past the first testof owning a classic "Bravery", for trying to take on a 1300 mile trip without completely knowing about your purchase. Just don' t get discouraged and quit before you get it like you want it. Olds was a good choice . Larry

rcorrigan5

Welcome to the site, Phil! And another beautiful find that seems to come up here every once in awhile, and she's all for you! Thanks for sharing!

Randy C.

Allan R

Sweet find! You're braver than I am driving it with rubber parts that old. Hope it had an oil change too. Be wary of the oil you use as most of it nowadays doesn't have enough zinc for the old flat tappet engines. I'd also check those brake hoses, brake hardware is one thing but hoses can look fine even when they're not. Don't ask...they let go when you least expect them to.

How much did you pay for that gem?

surfin_phil

It did have all new brakes and lines as well as some front end parts and new front springs. I paid $7k.
What is the recommended oil for this engine?

Allan R

10W30 with high zinc content. Something like Shell Rotella T or Amzoil Z-Rod would work. So will a lot of others. Just google 'high zinc motor oil' and you'll find a lot of product.

I wouldn't use the stuff for new cars though as they all use roller rockers and very little zinc. You want oil with at least 1300ppm of zinc. IF you decide to buy regular oil, you can add ZDDP additive to boost the protection level if you want; that's another option but it's your call.

7K sounds a bit high, but I'm inclined to think you did fine to get a survivor car like that. You know the old saying - When the top goes down the price goes up!

surfin_phil

Yep, thought it was a little high to but went for it due to the fact that other than the front seat material, the interior is perfect. There is absolutely no missing trim anywhere on the car. I like cars that are all original like this and unfu$#ed with

Allan R

I probably would have pulled the trigger too. These don't come up all that often in fantastic survivor shape.

You probably can find a good upholstery shop that can do a repair on that seat, unless you want to just leave as is for the sake of originality. Dad had those plastic seat covers put onto our 67 when it was newer to save the cloth inserts on the seats. It was good for that but really uncomfortable to sit on especially in the heat. In the winter it was a bee atch too.

FYI, I really like the body color - Lucerne Mist? Paint code D? It will be on your cowl tag (right side of the firewall beside the brake booster) Looks similar to this one for a 1966 Cutlass Supreme Coupe

[IMG][/IMG]

Oldsmaniac

Well you could not restore a car like this for under 7 G's so I think you did ok, I like it! Not a bargain but fair.

tru-blue 442

Welcome, I like it. Probably will be the only one in town. Square deal, enjoy.

jcdynamic88

congrats on the purchase .i think you did just fine on the price.i sold one in similar condition last fall for $8200.only problem with your car is when you hit the road with the top down you won't want to come back.i run the rotella 15-40 in my 425.

Magna86

Sweet looking ride! I bet the ride was sweet once you got back on the road.

MDchanic

Beautiful car. Welcome to ClassicOlds!

Why?

- Eric

35tac

Phil, nice car and a great find. My 66 Cutlass was a Lucerne Mist. Love that color. Any chance you can post a pic of the cowl plate with the codes on your car?
Congratulations
Wayne

Allan R

X2 on this. I seriously doubt that you're going to be driving this a ton, and a properly maintained stock ignition and distributor will work every bit as good. This path has been discussed waaay to many times in the past.

I'm also not sure why you'd do it because maybe I read into your post that you were a fan of keeping things original?

Changing to a dual exhaust is your call. Be aware it will increase the noise inside a fair bit although it will allow the engine to flow a bit better. Chances are this car is equipped with a 330 CID and Jetaway trans? I'd keep it stock for exhaust as there never was a true dual exhaust for the SBO IIRC. They just used a block off plate and called it the N10 option. Only the BBO got a true dual system. You could go the header route but it's also a bit of a PITA to install, plus it won't look stock either. Just my 2¢....

tru-blue 442

Allan, I thought these boats were equipped 425, no?

Oldsmaniac

That is correct the 330 only in the B body Jetstar88.

Oldsmaniac

The key to quiet dual exhaust on these cars is to use resonators with the stock mufflers and stock pipe sizes. But yes I agree it will get just a tad louder but never annoying or harsh with resonators.

surfin_phil

Yep, think I will stick with stock ignition. I ordered a set of manifolds from Thornton (he gave me a nice deal). Will go with standard pipes, mufflers etc to keep it to a nice rumble.
Yes it has a 425 in it with a 2BBL Rochester, freshly rebuilt.

Allan R

Sorry guys, I was looking at the wrong application. Yup, 425 so it could easily have a dual stock application right? X and W exhaust manifolds?

Just wondering here about whether resonators are the best way to go. Didn't these cars have chambered exhausts from the factory?

MDchanic

Just bear in mind that on a 425, any performance gains with dual exhaust will be pretty much negated by keeping the 2-Jet.

There's nothing wrong with the 2-Jet, and on a smaller engine, changing to a 4bbl will have a very minimal effect on performance, but on a big engine, a 4bbl will improve performance, especially when mated with dual exhausts, but the exhausts alone won't make much difference with the smaller carb - It's fine to let the air get out easier, but doesn't matter if the air can't get in in the first place. ')

- Eric

Oldsmaniac

The left manifold for duals is S the right side is the same for duals or single, I dont know the letter.

On the dual exhaust cars there were 2 resonators and a single resonator on single exhaust cars. No chambered pipes on the B bodies at least in 65 and 66...

Oldsmaniac

Manifolds? You only needed to order the left side or S manifold unless yours were junk.

MDchanic

Ah, yes, the old "nice deal" on the unnecessary parts...

- Eric

surfin_phil

Correct! Unnecessary but no crossover thingy to block off and shiny!

Allan R

W - but I cheated and looked it up.

Troy will sell just the single manifold you need for 229.00. This is the only one you needed. Your old RS one could easily be removed and freshened up to match if you wanted them both shiny.



Please don't say he sold you the pair for 350.00?? Those will cost a fortune to ship with 2x the weight. They only look new and shiny for a little bit till they are used a few times.

surfin_phil

Nope not $350, shipping will be 30 odd dollars. Promised him I wouldn't tell anybody what I paid

Allan R

Wow, you got a deal on the shipping. Doesn't really matter what the deal was as long as you're happy. BTW those pics are the ones from his ePay website.

MDchanic

Shiny is good.

Sounds like a great deal.

- Eric

jcdynamic88

you can buy the S manifold from amazon motor co for $149+ when available, currently 1 left.

Allan R

Shiny cars go faster

surfin_phil

How do you figure out the color?

Allan R

Color is just to the left of 'PAINT'.
D is Lucerne Mist lower body color. A is convertible top color - white.

MDchanic

You look at the PAINT code, in this case D-1, and then look up the meaning of the number in your model year.



In your case, you have a convertible, so the Paint code contains a letter, for the body color, and a number, for the top color.
"1" is the GM code for a White convertible or vinyl top.

For the rest, if you Google "1966 Oldsmobile Cowl Tag Decoder," you will see this page as your first hit.
It should answer most of your questions.

- Eric