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New to the forum, and new to the exciting world of Oldsmobile ownership. Thought I'd pop in to say hello.
Long time classic car owner/driver/restorer, and I live in SW Ontario, Canada.
My new purchase is a 1964 Olds Ninety Eight 2dr hardtop. It's been very nicely restored in the original Jade Mist colour with a white top (not sure if that's original). It has a 394ci mill with a 2 barrel. After decoding the numbers, it looks like it is out of a 1962 Dynamic 88. It runs great, and pulls like a freight train. It is a North Dakota vehicle which was sold at an auction down there in 2012, and imported into Canada. If any of you guys are the previous owner, or you know the car drop me a message!
My 13yo son and I are going to do a bit of work to make it look a bit sportier and clean it up.
Hi Tyroma,
You have a very rare car, 64 98 custom sport coupe. This car had the 394 Starfire engine with dual exhaust from factory. Yours having tilt, A/C and other options is nice. I have this in a 63 in Antique Rose.
Good luck with this project and hope to see it around next year. I'm in Bradford (400 and 88) area.
Steve
Hi Tyroma,
You have a very rare car, 64 98 custom sport coupe. This car had the 394 Starfire engine with dual exhaust from factory. Yours having tilt, A/C and other options is nice. I have this in a 63 in Antique Rose.
Good luck with this project and hope to see it around next year. I'm in Bradford (400 and 88) area.
Steve
Hey Steve!
Thanks for the info...I'm learning lots about my car. I snagged it CHEAP at an auction a few weeks back. Unfortunately, someone replaced the factory engine with a 1962 engine, but at least it's still a 394 that runs very well. The tilt wheel is very handy, but the factory AC is long gone. You may see it next year! I know where Bradford is. I'm Southeast of London - located near lake Erie. What shows do you get to in the summer?
Welcome to the site. Nice score! Too bad someone swapped out the engine. Is the interior cloth and leather? You might be able to get the material to get the front seats reupholstered. Check Fusick Automotive for any missing parts, they have reproductions. I know they sell the sail panel light lens covers and the package tray. Good luck working on it.
Hi Tyroma,
The best show for Oldsmobile is Home coming in Lansing Mi on Fathers day weekend, it's on Saturday and about 400 Oldsmobiles on the showfield and a huge swap meet area and the best part is it's Oldsmobile only. There are two major Oldsmobile car groups, Oldsmobile Club of America and National Antique Oldsmobile Club. Both clubs offer info and help with advisors for year and model. The OCO Oldsmobile club of ontario is based out of southern ontario and have meets and get togethers.
Personally I go to Wasaga Beach cruise on Monday nights if time allows and we also do the GM show in Oshawa.
Your car having a 62 engine will require you to not only get the set of 64 manuals but 61 and 62 with supplement book. You should be looking for spare tail light lenses and a rear bumper as they are one year/one car only and very hard to find, The seats in yours look saveable, contact SMS in Oregon and ask for seat material samples and if they can match it I would get a local shop here to sew new material on the bottoms, the leather and morrecceen should be available in black.
Post a couple more pictures of under the hood and trunk when you get a chance. Look me up on facebook if you want.
Steve
Welcome to the site. Nice score! Too bad someone swapped out the engine. Is the interior cloth and leather? You might be able to get the material to get the front seats reupholstered. Check Fusick Automotive for any missing parts, they have reproductions. I know they sell the sail panel light lens covers and the package tray. Good luck working on it.
Hey! Thanks for the info! Yeah, it's too bad she doesn't have the 4 barrel 394ci...the current engine has a 2 barrel, but I'm going to resist the urge to bolt on a 4 barrel or tri-power setup because the engine running really good. Yes, the wings of the seats are leather with vinyl on the sides and cloth centers. I looked into having the seat re-upholstered, and I was quoted $5000! So, I have ordered a nice set of custom slip covers for now. I will check our Fusick for my parts needs! Thanks!
Welcome aboard and congratulations on your good taste in big Oldsmobiles. That is a very nice 64 and rare with the sport coupe option. Charlie will be in, touch, you need to join the Darksiders!
Hi Tyroma,
The best show for Oldsmobile is Home coming in Lansing Mi on Fathers day weekend, it's on Saturday and about 400 Oldsmobiles on the showfield and a huge swap meet area and the best part is it's Oldsmobile only. There are two major Oldsmobile car groups, Oldsmobile Club of America and National Antique Oldsmobile Club. Both clubs offer info and help with advisors for year and model. The OCO Oldsmobile club of ontario is based out of southern ontario and have meets and get togethers.
Personally I go to Wasaga Beach cruise on Monday nights if time allows and we also do the GM show in Oshawa.
Your car having a 62 engine will require you to not only get the set of 64 manuals but 61 and 62 with supplement book. You should be looking for spare tail light lenses and a rear bumper as they are one year/one car only and very hard to find, The seats in yours look saveable, contact SMS in Oregon and ask for seat material samples and if they can match it I would get a local shop here to sew new material on the bottoms, the leather and morrecceen should be available in black.
Post a couple more pictures of under the hood and trunk when you get a chance. Look me up on facebook if you want.
Steve
Thanks for the info, Steve! I'm not really worried about the tail light lenses or rear bumper...mine are shockingly good! I am just going to cover the seats for now. The re-upholstery is a future project. I found an eBay seller that custom makes really nice slip covers for this shape of seat. I'll add a few more pics when I get a chance.
So, I was doing some more research now that I know that I have a 64 Custom Sport Coupe. Along with the higher output Starfire engine… Which unfortunately was swapped out out of this car… they were also supposedly outfitted with heavy duty transmission and a 3.42 gear ratio.
I checked the number on the rear differential, and confirm that it is an 8 stamped diff which indicates 3.42!
I wondered why it had so much get up and go for a big car!
The Ninety Eight CSC was a street brawler wearing a tuxedo.
With original engine gone, my guess is one of two things happened. The Starfire engine was used as intended and wore out or blew up, or someone yanked it for another car and put the 2-barrel engine in its place.
Or it could have been the victim of a misguided attempt at increasing gas mileage in the 70s.
yes, I have been wondering about the exact scenario… Did somebody rob the Engine for another project? Maybe swapped it into a 62 dynamic 88?
oh well, no point in dwelling on the past. The car is fantastic, and the two barrel lots of pep.
Few more pics
here's the Engine… the date code shows it as a 1962 out of a Dynamic 88. I'm not sure if it's the right colour for this year. It was a factory AC car but AC compressor is long gone.
this is my 13-year-old son, Hudson. He is very excited to start wrenching on this car.
here she is after bringing her home last week… I snagged it at an auction for $4575 CAD.
The correct color for 61 thru 64 engines was red.
With silver or chrome valve covers on 4 barrel engines.
A few engines were painted green, those were low compression "regular fuel" versions.
The car is fantastic, and the two barrel lots of pep.
Both your original engine and your current hit 410 lb ft at 2500 rpm. Mated to the 3.42s and I'm sure you can destroy your tires on a dead punch even at 5000lbs. The extra 85hp and 30 lb ft of the Starfire engine will only really materialize at a prepped track, a wide open highway, or if you drive around on drag radials, etc...
Originally Posted by Tyroma
I can see remnants of red paint on my engine. Somebody did a decent job painting it gold… So I'll just leave it that way
Take it as a compliment. Gold is sort of the de-facto color by assumption for Olds engines... Even though not correct, it's done from a standpoint of admiration.
Great price by the way. That's a lot of car for the money. Its original msrp was 6000 current Canadian.
I hope everyone is having a safe and happy holiday season! My boy, Hudson, and I continue to wrench on the Ninety Eight. When I bought the car, sight unseen, at auction in November, I noticed a slight engine tick from the driver's side. Being a long-time car guy, these things don't bother me. I know that a tick, rattle or pop is likely a fix-able problem.
We had all the heater hoses, plug wires, etc. pulled off and threw a new coat of paint on the intake. I told the boy "we may as well pop the valve covers off...see if we can't find that tick and check the valve seals"
Well, that was a good idea! Most of the valve stem seals appear to be destroyed! They look OLD...maybe original. I don't know the history of my engine other than the fact that it was pulled out of a 1962 Dynamic 88 at some point and stuffed into my Ninety Eight!
As for the ticking sound? Found the cause of that too! One of the spring retainer keepers had either popped out, broken, or wasn't seated. So, the rocker arm was wearing on the keeper. The valve appears to be fine, and the retainer is not damaged. On seven of the rocker arms, I can see where the top of the valve stem has "tapped" a round divot into the arm. Those may be original too.
So, I got a new set of valve stem seals from NAPA, I have a spring compressor, and a cylinder pressurizer. I ordered 7 new rocker arms from Fusick, a few sets of keepers, and a bunch of other stuff that was needing. As for the valve seals, the engine was NOT burning any old! Based on the missing/wrecked valve seals, I gather that my valve guides must be in good shape!
Here are some pics of my findings: Broken/unseated spring keeper. Missing valve seal Valve seal graveyard More chunks 'o seals!
You MAW (Might As Well) pull the other cover and do that side too.
Why only 7 rocker arms?
Hey!
oh, I sure did pull the other cover! I only ordered seven because only seven had noticeable indentation wear. The other ones only had light wear. That's seven total out of 16.
Hudson and I got back to the Oldsmobile project this week. We received some new parts from Fusick and Napa.
We removed all the valve springs and replaced the valve stem seals. Fixed the broken keeper on the #3 piston exhaust valve. It looks like my suspicions were correct. The keeper somehow had been installed incorrectly, and the rocker arm was riding on it.
We replaced seven of the rocker arms with brand new ones from Fusick.
I had to make a specialty tool to compress the two springs that were directly underneath the air conditioner fan motor. Rocker arms re-installed with assembly lube This was the offending keeper New rocker arms from Fusick
Today, we installed the valve covers, heater hoses, spark plugs, plug wires, a new coil, new cap and rotor, fresh oil with zinc additive, coolant, and a set of gauges. Ready to fire!
Then it was "go time"
She fired right up, and ran like a champ. Temp
came up to 195, and the thermostat opened and droped the temp to 190.
Oil pressure is 25lb at idle and 38lb at rpm.
So...opinion time:
I ran a compression test on all the cylinders before I buttoned everything back up. Two of the cylinders were low. Cylinder compression test results
should I be concerned about those cylinders? I don't really wanna pull the engine for a rebuild. Any risk to laying down some miles on this machine the way it is?
Also, I am getting 15v at the battery when the engine is running. Is that too much? Should I replace the voltage regulator?
To determine why those cylinders are low, do a "wet test" on them.
Using a squirt type oil can, squirt a couple of pumps of oil in the cylinder.
Try the compression test again.
If the compression reading changes very little, the valves are leaking.
If it comes up considerably, then the rings are at fault.
This way you will know whether to pull the heads for a valve job, or pull the motor for an overhaul.
If this is a "hobby" car that sees less than 2000 miles a year, I wouldn't' worry too much.
It may be several years before you really need to dig into it.
15 volts is a little too much.14.5 is usually accepted as a max.
However, check it with another volt meter before changing any parts.
Cylinders 4 and 5 may benefit from a chemical ring soak. I'd also recommend getting it fully warm and pushing it hard from 20-50 mph and letting it coast from 50-20 mph, repeat this about 10 times. This was the "back in the day" way of seating the rings. I don't believe you will do any damage running it with those numbers. If the numbers don't improve, put air in the cylinders to see where it escapes e.g. tailpipe, carb and/or the crankcase.
B E A U T I F U L car!
Last edited by Sugar Bear; Dec 29, 2024 at 06:33 PM.
Cylinders 4 and 5 may benefit from a chemical ring soak. I'd also recommend getting it fully warm and pushing it hard from 20-50 mph and letting it coast from 50-20 mph, repeat this about 10 times. This was the "back in the day" way of seating the rings.
sounds like a fun way to "fix something"! I can certainly give that a try.
did a little more today. Added a bottle of Rislone ring restorer to the oil, and got the leak out of the oil pressure gauge.
Now I'm just waiting for a bit of decent weather to get out and seat those rings! Pressure at 900RPM Pressure at 2000RPM Temp at idle with no extra fan All buttoned up! Hudson and I...enjoying our daily dose of carbon monoxide 🤤
Looks great! If seating the rings doesn't work do the air test to see where the air escapes. If it is in the crankcase indicating leaking rings I'd do a chemical soak on those cylinders.
Kudos to you for what that last picture depicts...good work Dad!
weather was nice today, with no snow, so I thought I would get out and run the engine through its paces… Try to firm up those rings.
The improvements I made to the electrical system (plugs, wires, cap, rotor, coil) made a HUGE difference! She pulls a lot harder than before!
Oil pressure maintained a steady 40 psi while driving down the road. Engine temperature was 190.
I haven't gotten around to another compression test yet. I will do that next time I am out playing with it.
So, all that being said, I have a few more questions for the gurus…
I seem to get excessive window fogging. It doesn't matter if I have the defrost on or if the windows are open. My first thought was a leaking heater core, but there's nothing dripping into the cabin or anywhere else. Anyone have any ideas on this? Could it be something to do with the fact that the air conditioner components are gone?
After today's run, I've noticing excessive PCV
Out of the oil fill tube vent cap. It sprayed oil out of that cap onto the inside of my hood and the air cleaner. What would be the cause of that?
New to the forum, and new to the exciting world of Oldsmobile ownership. Thought I'd pop in to say hello.
Long time classic car owner/driver/restorer, and I live in SW Ontario, Canada.
My new purchase is a 1964 Olds Ninety Eight 2dr hardtop. It's been very nicely restored in the original Jade Mist colour with a white top (not sure if that's original). It has a 394ci mill with a 2 barrel. After decoding the numbers, it looks like it is out of a 1962 Dynamic 88. It runs great, and pulls like a freight train. It is a North Dakota vehicle which was sold at an auction down there in 2012, and imported into Canada. If any of you guys are the previous owner, or you know the car drop me a message!
My 13yo son and I are going to do a bit of work to make it look a bit sportier and clean it up.
The fogging could be the heater core, not good to breathe that stuff or it could be a plugged drain on the bottom of the AC evaporator core housing causing the housing to fill with water.
The excessive oil could be worn piston rings allowing cylinder compression to leak into and pressurize the crankcase. If I recall the car sat for a while and may have stuck piston rings, you might get lucky with a chemical ring soak.
The fogging could be the heater core, not good to breathe that stuff or it could be a plugged drain on the bottom of the AC evaporator core housing causing the housing to fill with water.
The excessive oil could be worn piston rings allowing cylinder compression to leak into and pressurize the crankcase. If I recall the car sat for a while and may have stuck piston rings, you might get lucky with a chemical ring soak.
Okay! I don't think it has to do with the AC system, as all of it is gone. I'm gonna try some interior glass defogger… Maybe it's just some residue on the windows.
As for the PCV, I'm going to do a ring soak and see if that helps. I'm also going to check the oil level… I think there might be too much fluid in there. The dipstick doesn't seem to be reading properly. It's got 5 quarts of oil and a bottle of Rislone in there. Today I found the factory specs for that engine is 4.7 quarts.
The evaporator box can still hold water even if the AC is gone although the water would have to come from washing the car or rain. A plugged evorator drain is usually associated with a musty odor. Look or feel under the evaporator for a black rubber duckbill type valve about 1.5" in diameter. If you can locate it push something in enough to open the duckbill.
The evaporator box can still hold water even if the AC is gone although the water would have to come from washing the car or rain. A plugged evorator drain is usually associated with a musty odor. Look or feel under the evaporator for a black rubber duckbill type valve about 1.5" in diameter. If you can locate it push something in enough to open the duckbill.
Oh! I did not know that! I'm not really familiar with AC systems. Where would the evaporator be? Under the hood? Under the car? Or the dash?
