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Hey everyone. I've spent the last 20 years or taking a break from the hobby to raise my family amongst other things and am trying to get back into it. That means starting from scratch almost, tools and all, but I'm getting there. Purchased a pretty rough 56 88 4 door (tan/cream car) which I thought would be pretty straight forward to bring back to life. Quickly realized as I was going through it that the extensiveness or the rust was beyond repair for me. Not to mention the amount of damage done by mice that were apparently calling the olds home was significant. The car came from Washington state and was parked in a field, so I don't know what I was expecting. Had that for a couple months and decided to sell. Don't have much room here with HOA restrictions and I found a far more complete unit and needed the space. Bought the 4 door for 3k and sold for 1k. Didn't want to part out because it was too complete. Someone needed to get her back on the road again and I'm happy I found the right folks to do that. The new one I found was in Detroit of all places. 100% rust free 2 door post with an accurate resto done back in 1990. I wanted as much stock as possible, and this was the best example out there for the price. Took a big risk and paid 18k which hard to digest at first but my search for a rust-free non modded unit that wasn't north of 25k wasn't very fruitful. I have it here now and am excited to get this one back up to full original snuff. I'm trying to keep it as original as possible. I don't need it exact numbers matching but other than AC (I live in Phoenix AZ), I don't want to upgrade much else beyond some new tires. She drives pretty decent but given the tires being ancient bias plys and the gas in the oil I have kept driving to a minimum. Only neighborhood runs to move the juices around for a few minutes so to speak.
I had put a pause to the hobby when I was in my early 20's due to life circumstances. I previously owned and daily drove a 53 Buick Roadmaster (nail head), 66 Fury 2, 64 Chevy Pickup, a long termer 78 Cheyenne, amongst a variety of others including my foray into the 80's with a Monte SS which I totaled because I was a super responsible 19 at the time. I'd be offered a variety of trades by folks and would jump on it most time, sometimes smart trades, sometimes not. I grew up with mid 80's Cutlass 4 doors all the way through the early 2000's. Mom loved them and we always seemed to have one, so Olds has had a bit of a special place in the heart. My current 56 2 door post has a couple of awardsfrom what I can tell for local car shows from the early 90's from the Oldsmobile Club of Canada. I'm hoping to get in contact with them soon to see if they have any additional info on the car. It's been garaged and taken care of. Being a stripped-down base model with power nothing, nobody seemed interested in it. I felt it needed the care its previous owners dedicated to it and that it deserved so I took the leap. This will be my most expensive classic car endeavor ever so it's a bit intimidating to say the least.
As of current it needs at least the following:
Tires are Bias plays from the early 90's - upgrading the bias ply look radials
Some of the ventilation controls are goofy so I'll need to sort those
There is fuel in the oil from what has to be one of the leakiest carbs I've ever seen in my life (It runs so rich is almost scary)
Full tune up is needed as well (keeping ignition stock)
Radio turns on but doesn't appear to work
Wipers don't work
Other than a classic old school tune up, the work I am going to be taking on here in the near term will be a carb rebuild. Now I've never rebuilt a carb so I'm intimidated for sure but there are plenty of video resources out there now that hopefully will walk me far enough through it. I tried a carb rebuild on my 53 nail head 20+ years ago before the glory of the internet was a plentiful as it is now. That ended with me taking a bag full of parts to a shop with my tail between my legs and asking them to put it all back together.
Anyways, looking forward to talking with you all.
Last edited by Royals4630; Dec 31, 2022 at 05:11 PM.
Welcome to ClassicOldsmobile. Nice looking car. There are some very knowledgeable people and owners to help you. Is the car two tone green or two tone blue ?
It's an Ice Green and Canyon Green combination. The body tag shows that it was actually only Ice Green originally which was surprising to me at first because I didn't think any were single tone. The interior dash which shows some scuffs around the glove box is the original paint. They did a good job matching it on the respray. They just decided to add a secondary color which isn't stock of course but I definitely think was the right choice.
It's an Ice Green and Canyon Green combination. The body tag shows that it was actually only Ice Green originally which was surprising to me at first because I didn't think any were single tone. The interior dash which shows some scuffs around the glove box is the original paint. They did a good job matching it on the respray. They just decided to add a secondary color which isn't stock of course but I definitely think was the right choice.
My Dad owned a '55 two tone in the same color combination. The "secondary color" was stock, but probably as an option. Your car may not have been ordered with two tone paint.
Welcome to the site, a very solid start compared to the 4 door. Read through the Vintage forum, there are many knowledgeable people that can answer any question you may have.
Fine looking ride, and you couldn't build what you have for 18 thousand. As mentioned above, drop on down to the vintage forum, where the fifties guys congregate. I'm sure we can help you out, most have been there done that and like to help. Lost in the fifties... Tedd
Starting off with a car that has been previously restored is / was a very good move. That allows you to focus on "noodling around" with various fixes / updates without having to worry about the heavy lifting.
Did the green one pass through NY a few years ago? I knew a guy that had pretty much the identical car.
I'm not sure. Doing some research on the history of the car, I see it spent most of its time in the Detroit area. It's very possible it spent time in NY just from a proximately stand point but it's homebase was Detroit. It appears that was the case for quite some time. I'm glad to have in Phoenix now. Rust which undoubtedly prevented the car from seeing many winter excursions will no longer be a factor. Quite the opposite actually. Given there being no AC, winter time here is when it would see the most road time, at least for the near future.
Welcome !!!
Here I thought I was pretty special around here (PHX) having attended quite a few of the local cruise ins and always being the only 56 Olds 2 door sedan !!! but it appears My Olds has a really cool cousin !! and that's great !! welcome to the forum CUZ !! (I'm in Peoria AZ.)
Welcome !!!
Here I thought I was pretty special around here (PHX) having attended quite a few of the local cruise ins and always being the only 56 Olds 2 door sedan !!! but it appears My Olds has a really cool cousin !! and that's great !! welcome to the forum CUZ !! (I'm in Peoria AZ.)
Very nice! Can't believe there's a couple 56 2 doors so close to one another. I'm actuality in North Buckeye, basically west Surprise. What part of Peoria are you in? Do you have factory setup still?
How original is original to you. You speak of adding AC, is that an original AC unit or maybe an aftermarket unit. The cost différance and parts viability is large for an original unit with all the special dampers brackets and plumbing, not many made in 56, Just asking... Tedd
My '56 has a working Factory AC system (known in all the service and parts manuals as CAC- Car Air Conditioning), and as Tedd noted above, the AC system is a completely separate system, and uses all special dampers, brackets and plumbing. It even has it own blower motor and ductwork. It doesn't connect to anything in the heating and defrosting system.
Royals4630 My 56 is basically stock/original with these exceptions, has converted power front disc brakes, Edelbrock carb (which I have adapted the original oil bath batwing air filter to use with paper element) and dual exhaust with FlowMasters (which I hate) and it has a knee freezer (R134 ) A/C unit. my orig radio works intermittently and like you the wipers are in- op, I tried the transmission fluid trick, it was unsuccessful my options are rebuild the orig vac unit or get the elec conversion. For the radio concern I bought a cheap Walmart stereo (very small and thin, no cd player) and mounted it in the back of the glove box now I have am/fm thumb drive, and blue tooth. but retains the all stock dash.
Your carb may need a rebuild, but with that much gas in the oil be sure to check the fuel pump diaphragm a that is a common entree place for gas to get into the crankcase. I wouldn't drive it much or at all till you fix/find the problem or you will be replacing the lower end bearings...Tedd
Your carb may need a rebuild, but with that much gas in the oil be sure to check the fuel pump diaphragm a that is a common entree place for gas to get into the crankcase. I wouldn't drive it much or at all till you fix/find the problem or you will be replacing the lower end bearings...Tedd
Yeah, I rebuilt the fuel carb once and tried it again. It started up and ran much smoother, but gas was pouring out between the carb body and throttle plate. I had a bad choke setting I think too because it started popping after a few seconds then backfired and actually caught fire. Fire was just inside the carb so after shutting it off, a quick squirt of a fire extinguisher to put it out meant I'd had to rebuild the carb again. No damage to anything else thankfully. I tried another carb that was a fresh rebuild from someone to test and it leaked in the same spot. I gave that carb back and went back to my original having of course rebuilt it for the second time and it leaked in the same spot again.
All three carb builds leaking from the same spot between the carb body and throttle body. The only thing my wife and I can think of is that the fuel pump is bad which it is pretty old and that may be putting too much fuel pressure out. With the pump being a few years old and sitting a lot in all that ethanol, I'm sure the diaphragm is toast. I have a fuel pump arriving today from fusick so we'll see what happens. I know my windshield wipers don't work either which from what I understand uses the fuel pump vacuum so that might explain that. If this doesn't work, I guess into the shop it goes.
How original is original to you. You speak of adding AC, is that an original AC unit or maybe an aftermarket unit. The cost différance and parts viability is large for an original unit with all the special dampers brackets and plumbing, not many made in 56, Just asking... Tedd
The AC that I hope to put in will be a vintage air unit which won't be original in the slightest. The car never came with AC so that would be a straight alteration there. Everything else I am trying to keep as stock as possible. My 53 Buick I had many years ago I put a lot of new stuff on. New carb, electric fuel pump, started to convert the ignition before I sold it. I want to try to keep this one as close to factory as possible. That includes the sometimes-troublesome carb. The tires also I am switching over to modern radial bias ply look units. It has bias ply now and it sure is floaty. No idea how folks drove around on these in the Northern states during the winter. Takes a whole 'nother level of calmness that's for sure. Now power brakes or steering, all that I want to leave alone. I also want to try to fix the radio which turns on but doesn't seem to put out anything but static.
Royals4630 My 56 is basically stock/original with these exceptions, has converted power front disc brakes, Edelbrock carb (which I have adapted the original oil bath batwing air filter to use with paper element) and dual exhaust with FlowMasters (which I hate) and it has a knee freezer (R134 ) A/C unit. my orig radio works intermittently and like you the wipers are in- op, I tried the transmission fluid trick, it was unsuccessful my options are rebuild the orig vac unit or get the elec conversion. For the radio concern I bought a cheap Walmart stereo (very small and thin, no cd player) and mounted it in the back of the glove box now I have am/fm thumb drive, and blue tooth. but retains the all stock dash.
Thats great that you kept the original oil bath. I was thinking about moving to a paper filter inside the oil bath unit but decided to try and keep the oil media in place. Granted after a year I may say screw it and convert everything over, who knows. What kept you from keeping the original carb? I can definitely understand the front disc upgrade. I have to really plan ahead with the non-power brakes on mine. Definitely want to add some AC in mine, probably a vintage air under dash unit or something. I can understand the frustration with the Flowmasters. I used to run them on a Monte SS and C10 I used to have but got tired of the constant growl so would rather have peace and quiet now a days. I'm only 40 but think I've spent enough time in that loud speaker / exhaust phase to get all I needed out of it so I can feel your pain lol.
