I recently got a 59 Olds Dynamic 88 that has an almost perfect interior and good exterior. Found it at an antique dealer me and my wife go to alot. It had been sitting inside an old railroad building for 25 years. The engine is seized and the winsdhield is cloudy but I cant wait to drive it.

 

Pictures!

 

That car has an Olds 371 engine and a four-speed Jetaway HydraMatic transmission, both of which are pretty durable but not cheap to rebuild.

Your first purchase should be a 1959 Olds Chassis Service Manual- the same thing the dealership mechanics used to diagnose and repair them. Ebay is as good a source as any for one.

It is a GM B-body meaning glass, weatherstripping etc will be the same as for same year and bodystyle Chevy, Pontiac and Buick.

www.fusick.com is a good older Olds reproduction parts source. You can download their 1935-60 catalog.

You wanna see some amazing advertising, google "1959 Fisher Body time travel ad". Here's the one for Olds. Set the controls for the heart of the Sun...

 

These are pics of when I picked it up out of the building it sat in.

 

Factory air! Is front bumper with it?

 

Yes it has factory air and the front bumper. I took it off to tow it home with a tow bar. I will never buy cheap again. took me 3 days, 2 tires and another tow bar to get it home. it was only 2 hrs away. I pt the bumper back on it but took the right fender off today to work on the only 2 rust spots on the car, lower rear corners of the front fenders. body only has a few dents. I polished it up after I got it home and looks great butdoesnt run

 

I Like! You need to remove gas tank and evaluate and clean if possible before trying to start the engine with tank gas. Varnished gas is real bad and can really gum up an engine.

 

I like the tail end view!

 

WOW!!! that is a great find.... welcome to the Forum,.....

 

Just wondering where your speedometer needle is?

 

The engine wont turn, its locked up. I took the spark plugs out and two cylinders were full of coolant. just got the left head off tonight and one cylinder is rusted. the others have very little wear at all. Now for the other side

 

Now you are sure, the engine needs a rebuild.

 

If you are going to let someone else rebuild the engine, could I suggest you let the builder do the teardown?? It does help with looking for issues. Its a diagnostic thing.

 

Firstly welcome to CO!
Great car but im biased lol
They all rust there but easily fixed.
But AC is a double edged sword, rare option but it means regular parts are different (carb, fuel system, fuel sender, bulkhead glove box, inner fenders etc) and generally not available and trying to do Anything on the passenger side of the engine results in a major Tourette's outbreak.
To take the head off you need to leave the rocker gear in place and the 2 back head bolts...bad coming out worse going back in. Pull the motor and do it on the bench save some knuckles.

It has the Safety Spectrum Speedo, no needle, it is a drum that changes from green to yellow at around 35 then yellow to red at 65miles. cool


I have survived 4 yrs of work and if you have any questions feel free to ask.


Scott

 

WOW what a cool car!!! 59 GM are ALL cool,but Olds is still my fav!

 

Welcome,sounds like you are well on your way. The Venetian blinds really jogged my memory,haven't seen those in a long time. Larry

 

Scott- I was trying to see if the new 59 owner had learned enough about his car yet to figure that speedometer out. I grew up with a Sixty so am well acquainted with the colorband speedometer. Also remember seeing it turn black a few times when me dad thought it needed to have the carbon blown out...

 

Nice find, welcome to the site. Seems there are 59's popping up all over lately.

 

Hmmm I am yet to see that, your Dad must be braver than I !!
In stock car trim they would do 140+, when they won the inaugural Daytona in '59 in a Super 88 at an average speed of 135! Now there are some brave people!

 

Ah, remember it well. The speedo would indeed go to black with speeds in excess of 120 mph! Ask me how I know. Ah, youth!