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Every single 1966-67 Oldsmobile originally SOLD in California came with the A.I.R. "smog pump" system. If yours does not have it, then it was either originally sold outside of Californina (in Nevada, for example) or the system was removed sometime in the last 60 years. If you have the build sheet, it would have showed RPO K19 for a Calif-delivered car. This would not necessarily have shown up on the window sticker.
The "Pure Power Electro-NOx" system was a California-required emissions retrofit on pre-1970 cars. All it did was disable vacuum advance to lower NOx emissions. This is the only time in history that emissions controls were required to be retrofitted onto older cars. The Transmission Controlled Spark system that Olds employed with the 1970 model year performed the same function.
Yes, that A/C fitting is for R134.
I crawled through the car with an endoscopic camera (the lower part of the seats, above the fuel tank, the bottom of the fenders = but I didn't find the assembly sheet, but I have the original service book where the dealer codes are, but I couldn't decode mine.
Car delivery date: June 9, 1966
Selling dealer code: 23-520
Nebo někdo vyměnil vše za hardware, který není od AIR. Pravděpodobnější je, že auto nebylo původně prodáno v Kalifornii.
I don't know if you can see the remains of the A.I.R. system on the air conditioning compressor bracket, there is a position for attachment in the A.I.R. location, see photo
California car owner, based near San Francisco. I live under California smog rules, so the AIR injection pump is familiar to me. I took my K19 pump and plumbing off back in the 1980s. The AIR system was an early effort at smog control, but it made the Olds 425 run not well and made the engine compartment very cluttered/busy.
The belt-driven AIR pump forced fresh filtered air into the exhaust stream to supposedly continue the burning of exhaust gases so that the mixture leaving the tailpipe was cleaner. I suspect what it really did was simply dilute the exhaust gases. In use, when you let off the accelerator the air pump could cause the engine to backfire or burble as it decelerated. To fix that, Olds put on vacuum driven “gulp valve” which may have helped, but it’s at least 40 years since I had all that stuff sitting on top of my 425…
K19 was a belt driven 3 vane pump required on CA delivered cars as Joe P says. My CA-delivered 98 (my Dad bought it new) still has one empty groove on the water pump and crank shaft pulleys from those days. One more clue you can check is whether your heads have ports on the exhaust side for the K19 air injectors. I plugged mine with pipe plugs. If your heads have the ports, and you believe them to be original, it’s highly likely your car was delivered in CA. If your heads have no ports then that car was delivered outside of CA and brought in which was not at all unusual at the time. Or the heads have been changed.
In case you’re aiming at originality, please know that as a band-aid, the K19 wasn’t really something Olds wanted to do. They were forced to do it to sell cars in CA. The system makes the olds 425 run worse and I question whether it really runs cleaner at all, as you can tell. Unless I were triyng to make my car a perfect concours 1966 California restoration, I would not put that system back on, even if it was original. I can confirm that my 98 drives much, much better without it.
That’s about all I have the great mystery of the California-only K19 AIR pump system. I still have the parts under my house in case California ever gets crazy enough to legally force me to put the stuff back on.
Doufám, že to pomůže (Hope that helps)
Chris
For anyone watching, if you ever get the chance to drive in the Czech Republic or Slovakia, do it. Beautiful countries, nice people, great roads and you can rent great cars to enjoy them. I was in Slovakia a few Summers ago and drove an Audi A4 Diesel wagon. Fantastic road trip and Waze works great in Europe.
Just in case a picture helps. Here is a shot of the passenger side cylinder head with the California only exhaust port injection holes. Mine are plugged to make the engine run better and get better mileage.
1966 Olds 425 Big Block California heads with AIR/ K19 injection ports. Originally the AIR pump shoved fresh air into the exhaust stream.
Just in case a picture helps. Here is a shot of the passenger side cylinder head with the California only exhaust port injection holes. Mine are plugged to make the engine run better and get better mileage.
1966 Olds 425 Big Block California heads with AIR/ K19 injection ports. Originally the AIR pump shoved fresh air into the exhaust stream.
thank you very much for the new information on the AIR system, I like the originality of the car, but I don't plan to put it back in the car, it has no benefit :-) I looked at the engine this morning and my Olds was previously equipped with the AIR system, there are remnants there = vacant positions on the pulley, blinded entries into the engine head, another air conditioning compressor bracket and a missing bracket on the air filter.
question for Joe: did clients have to additionally install the ELECTRIC-NOX system in the car in CA even if they had cars equipped with the AIR system (code K19)?
Your car has all the marks of a car delivered in CA originally. The good part is that the body is very likely to be rust free!
The plugged ports in the heads and especially the 2 screw holes in the air cleaner tell the tale. We’ve talked about the ports but I had forgotten that my 98 has the silencer/air filter for the AIR pump screwed to the air cleaner on the passenger side.
Follow up with Joe on the NOX reduction system. I saw tons of cars with them added in the junkyards in the 1980’s, but as those cars got crushed and turned in to toasters or Toyotas, that add-on system is quickly disappearing into history. Since I had already converted my car to no-K19, I never bothered to pull and learn about those after market systems at all. They always looked like a cheap piece of junk to me and it was clear they did not help power or economy.
Excellent use of the English word “remnants”! Even here in the USA we don’t hear that word too often. Well done since it’s not your first language.
Your car has all the marks of a car delivered in CA originally. The good part is that the body is very likely to be rust free!
The plugged ports in the heads and especially the 2 screw holes in the air cleaner tell the tale. We’ve talked about the ports but I had forgotten that my 98 has the silencer/air filter for the AIR pump screwed to the air cleaner on the passenger side.
Follow up with Joe on the NOX reduction system. I saw tons of cars with them added in the junkyards in the 1980’s, but as those cars got crushed and turned in to toasters or Toyotas, that add-on system is quickly disappearing into history. Since I had already converted my car to no-K19, I never bothered to pull and learn about those after market systems at all. They always looked like a cheap piece of junk to me and it was clear they did not help power or economy.
Excellent use of the English word “remnants”! Even here in the USA we don’t hear that word too often. Well done since it’s not your first language.
Cheers
Chris
My 1966 Delta 88 Holiday coupe has no rust.. the only thing I'm worried about is the condition of the metal sheets under the vinyl roof, it was installed afterwards, that might be a plus, the roof underneath is painted (I think the metal sheets weren't painted on vinyl roofs from the factory) I'm thinking that maybe I'll take the vinyl roof off at some point, check it out and fix any bad spots, seal the holes for the leaf bracket with tin and have the roof painted to match the bodywork.. but just a thought, I really like the white vinyl on the car, but the car is garaged
So long as you like the vinyl top, sometimes it is best to leave these things alone. In English we say “let sleeping dogs lie”. This means if it’s not an obvious problem, sometimes it’s best to not go after the problem.
One way to think of it is so long as the vinyl is not a problem, leave it be. If you get tired of it and want to go back to _exactly_ what Oldsmobile built in 1966, well, take off the top, fix the body work (filler/screw holes or whatever) and respray where the top was. But, truthfully, if you get that far in, you will be tempted to repaint the whole car.
If it were me, and I liked the top, I would leave it alone until some rust bubbles showed up.
Truthfully, both of my California cars have a little bit of rust. Both have some rust damage on the outside of the main body behind the drivers side front fenders where the water could not escape and eventually it attacked the metal. It’s nothing serious at all, nothing structural. Hell, it’s not even visible. But if I really wanted things perfect for big money, I would have to deal with it. For now, and for the last 40 years, it has not been a problem for me the way I use my ‘66 cars.
Anyway a warm recommendation for enjoying the car and leaving it alone if that fits with your needs.
If you have questions about ‘66 big cars, I’ve been working on them for 40+ years. I think I know them pretty well. If I can help, please get in touch.
Today I did a basic pre-season service, I drove the car, changed the oil (I use mineral Millers Classic 15w40 contains ZDDP), the car pulls slightly to the right when driving, I checked the front axle and the stabilizer links are KO (the rubber parts have fallen apart), can this have an effect on the geometry?
At the same time, I measured the distance of the front wheels Toe-in in the garage conditions and currently my geometry is distance "A" is 7/8 greater than distance "B" :šílený:
I will replace new the front stabilizers and new shock absorbers - do you have any recommendations for brands and quality? ( 1966 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Holiday Coupe 425cui AC )
Thank you
Last edited by LuckyLuke; May 15, 2025 at 07:18 AM.
Luke,
Certainly if the rubber is worn, gone, cracked or not round, then you can have bad alignment geometry, or at least measuring it will be hard or inconsistent since the parts you are measuring can move around more. Consider all the rubber parts service replacement parts meaning you will have to replace them sometime during the life of the car. Usually the car will make some suspension "clunk" noises or you can see the cracked rubber which tells you it is time to replace the parts. For some of us, we do many or most of the front end suspension as 1 job so we know it's all correct from one point in time. Or at least it is correct one time.
The traditional US company for suspension bushings and parts is Moog which I think might have been an OEM (original equipment manufacture) supplier in the 60's for GM and the others. They may or may not have suspension bushings for your car today. There is a guy here on Classic Olds in New York, I think his name is Craig who seems to be able to find all kinds of rare suspension parts for these cars. Shocks are very much a personal preference so there are many opinions. For many years I used KYB nitrogen filled shock which gave the car a slightly firmer ride, but they sent their manufacturing somewhere off shore and the parts are not the same quality that they were 20 years ago. That is a common story here. My front shocks are OAI adjustable shocks, but I don't know the model numbers.
Usually when we talk about front suspensions in the US, we refer to the front upper & lower control arms as either control arms or "A-arms" (since they have the general shape of the letter "A". The Brits call them "wishbones". Only the upper A-arms are on any kind of stabilizer bar, the lower A-Arms bolt right to the frame if I recall correctly. On these old cars the only axle is in the rear. The front stabilizer bar here is less formally called a sway bar and the rubber bits are generally called bushings. Again, I don't want to correct you, but I want to be sure you can order the right parts using names a supplier here would easily understand.
Suspension and brake parts are getting harder to find for these cars since they are now pushing 60 years old. You should know that Olds 88/98 front suspensions did not change much between 1965 and 1970, that is the range of parts you can search for. The biggest change they made was in 1968 or so when disc brakes became available and became standard in 1969 or 1970. That change did not affect the suspension bushings as far as I know, but let others here confirm that.
The other big thing to look out for when changing the steering arms is that Olds used 2 different suppliers for steering components: TRW and Saginaw. The parts don't mix so you must find out which system your car uses before going hunting for new idler arms, tie rod ends, inner tie rods and centerline.
Hope that helps. Have fun with your car this summer!
Chris
- TH400 pan gasket replaced + transmission fluid replacement - replaced the master brake cylinder and changed to a two-circuit system - original steel discs repainted - new American Classic 215/75/R14 tires (correctly they should be 225/75/R14 on cars with the air conditioning option - but it is impossible to get radial + 1" white sidewalls) - lubricated parts of the front axle - new spark plugs - replaced engine oil Millers Oil Pistoneeze Classic 15W-40 incl. filter, proportion of ZDDP 1020 ppm - installed completely refurbished, ultrasonically cleaned Rochester 2bll ( 2JET ) - added fuel filter between fuel pump and carburetor - the cable harness in the driver's door has been repaired (the windows did not work when the doors were fully opened) - installed dust covers above the arms of the front axle (Fusick)
Two questions: Since you are from Europe, where are you from? (I'm from South Germany)
And could you post some pics of the dust cover, especially how you cut and fixed it? (I also bought the cover but am not sure how to fix it)
Cheers, Steffen
yes I am from central Europe, from the Czech Republic. I order a lot of things from Fusick Automotive specialists, they have a lot of parts there and they have never let me down.. A-Frame fender seals for 1966 Olds 88/98/SF have the code FCD22 + 18pcs of clips code 3774 everything fits like the original
