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Wanted to say hi and Introduce myself. I'll start a build thread soon. I am in Texas, south of Dallas a little bit. I build offroad rallycars among other things, so this is out of my comfort zone, but should be fun! I just picked up a 1968 Olds Delmont 88 from my friend for $500. He got the car running with a brand new Holly 600cfm carb, and new battery. The car still has to be hotwired to run, but it runs. I'll take photos and videos as I work on it. I am not sure what the direction of the project is, but for now I am just going to get it to drivable condition.
Post the block casting number by the oil fill tube. You might have an original 68 455 2bbl that someone swapped the intake to a 4bbl.
What letter or # are the heads?
Post the VIN derivative # on the block below the #1 spark plug. Does it match the end of the VIN on the car?
Is the original paint on the block red? The oil fill tube looks slightly bent, that was 68 wA/C only.
Most importantly, welcome and good luck!!!
Last edited by Sugar Bear; Apr 7, 2020 at 12:40 PM.
Welcome from another Texan Gage. I had one of these in a vert back when the kids were younger.
Olds64, Dad needs to come get the 66, just a few miles South. Ya'll come on, bring cash.
Pretty sure it is a small block , the timing cover stamp is 395558
The VIN is 35169X130625
I scraped off the gunk from the ID tab under the cylinder 1 spark plug, and it appears blank. nice and smooth. I cannot see any number/letters
It is an original AC car.
. The previous and previous previous owners tried their hands at electrical repairs... luckily this is something I am good at. The brown (accessory) wire to the back of the key switch was melted. There is also a wire that im unsure of where it should go, but may have been on the positive terminal?
Looks like the heads are #5? and yes there is a 2 on the timing cover after the other numbers. I didn't see it before! I had to go scrape some more gunk off
Later model intake with that EGR valve though. HEI dist. And the bend is 180* out on the fill tube.
Thanks for the info! I would not doubt if the entire engine was replaced. Did these come with 2 barrel carb 350 engines? maybe someone just swapped it for a 4 barrel
I do have a question about this valve on the driver side exhaust manifold. Its seized up. How can I tell if its seized open or closed?! haha. I can take a photo of the position that it is in
Mine was a 455. I know in the 70 88 you could get either a 350 or a 455. I think the Delmonts were 455 exclusively, but not sure on that.
Joe P. may know. The valve on the exhaust if frozen, usually are open. Mine was on my 69 442. Ran just fine froze open. They did away with
that stupid thing in 70.
Probably a 68 350 born with a 2bbl but maybe a 4 bbl. #5's are desireable. Try to get a look in the cylinder to see if the pistons are shallow or deep dish if you want.
Good luck!!!
Last edited by Sugar Bear; Apr 7, 2020 at 06:55 PM.
Driver's side engine head was getting at least 40 degrees hotter than the passenger side. Pulled the Manifold to repair broken studs from the previous owner to find the valve stuck almost all the way closed!! I cut the valve out and got the studs extracted today.
