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Just bought a 64' jetstar 1. I know nothing about olds and am hoping to learn here. Always had a body chevrolet cars. Looking forward to something different. All I know so far is the factory engine is long gone and its a auto trans.
Welcome to the Oldsmobile group...Plenty of info here for the asking... Since the factory engine is gone, do you have any idea what replaced it... If there is an engine in it, photos of the engine compartment may help for identification...
Starfire style and performance without all the high $$ unobtainium Starfire trim!
These things are full-size performance cars and would have originally had a Starfire 394cid engine and SlimJim HydraMatic transmission unless it's one of the super rare 3-speed stick column shift cars. Chambered dual exhaust standard on this and the Starfire as is 3.42 rear gears. Most I've seen have power steering and brakes.
Good find even with no engine. Check the rear bumper close, they rot out from behind at the mounting plates.
Thanks for all the welcomes. I had done a little research before purchase and figured out the main specs. Was very disappointed when I found out that the "bad engine" was no longer with the car. Seller claims it had a cracked block so he scrapped the whole thing. I mean, heads, intake accessories... everything! I'm getting over that but don't know where to go from here. It is in poor primer and has appeared to have some rough bodywork in the lower 1/4s. A friend went and purchased it for me and I'm driving to get it tomorrow morning (2hr drive). So as for plans, it really all depends on what I find. My friend facetimed me while he was with the car. Seems to have the factory exhaust which I thought was pretty cool and a trans that us chevy guys could only identify as not a th350 haha. Definitely console shift auto though. Power breaks and steering. Trunk contained a lot of small stuff. But the factory air cleaner was in there! So if its in decent shape I may paint it the factory color which I'm still unclear of and see about getting an appropriate engine. No clue where I will get the right one and I'm not quite enough of a purist to look too hard. If its rough around the wheel openings I'm not going to do a ton of sheetmetal work. I'll likely tastefully radius the wheel wells and go a bit more hot rod with it. 60's stock car feel.
63-64 394 is the best fit. Timing cover and front mount are different on 59-62. A true Starfire engine has an S suffix on the engine ID # on the driver side head.
Big difference between SF and the other engines are cam and pistons.
Shame PO scrapped the orig engine. It would have had the heads and the left side dual exhaust manifold, which in itself is a $250-400 piece.
One key to a J1 is to remember that except for buckets/console and the roof, they are part of Dynamic 88 series as far as body and interior trim. They do have a "unique" trunk lid as it is the only 64 B car to have OLDSMOBILE spelled out on the trunk. The others have it on the panel between taillights.
The SlimJim automatic can be weird. Unfortunately nothing else fits without some trans tunnel surgery which the console complicates. There are people on here who have successfully installed a T350 or 400 behind 394s but that also requires some modification to the trans case.
Without orig engine, I'd consider a later Olds engine and THM. 403, 425 or 455 with a 200-4R behind it. If my blue 64 Starfire ever gets done that's prob the way I'll go. A Chevy engine swap in these cars is a lot of aggravation and I'm prob one of the few people on the planet that dislikes the whole concept of a GM LS engine swap. Good engine and powerful, but does not belong under the hood of anything earlier than 1995. Plus these hotrod shows that stick them in everything never show all the **** you go thru to make one work.
I'm definitely with you on the anti LS wagon. I found one cylinder head (don't know which one) , both valve covers, the intake, distributor and a late model edelbrock carb in the trunk. Today when I went down and picked it up PO was adamant that the original engine was not available. Both exhaust manifolds are still on the ENTIRE ORIGINAL EXHAUST SYSTEM! I'm starting to wonder if the 9k odometer maybe hasn't rolled over. Pedals and door strikers are in mint condition.
Look on data plate underhood and we can determine original color. With the dark green interior, probably white, one of the two greens, or gorgeous Tahitian Yellow.
Look on the head you have, above the center exhaust ports. Driver side has a machined pad with engine ID stamped in it. If it has the S suffix odds are good it's from original engine. Having the exhaust manifolds is a big plus.
Good lookin out. I'm starting to doubt that I'll return this one to remotely factory shape. Between the limited parts availability, lack of aftermarket support and insane cost of many of the correct parts I am finding I think it makes more sense for me to sell a lot of the parts off this car and just clip the front end. Either way I'm not doing anything to it until after the holidays so I've got time to think.
