I recently purchased a 59 dynamic 88. I discovered some seriosly janky "repair" work done which caused me to have to replace the carb (which I did with a same generation Rochester 4gc) as well as the distributor. Now that my struggles with getting the car running again are over....who knew that when you put the plug wires on counter clockwise an olds engine runs better...anyway...I'm trying to figure out the carb adjustments. I'm not super familiar with oldsmobiles or carburators in general. The manual I have is pretty vague. If someone here who is familiar with the car could offer some guidance it would be very appreciated.

 

The first piece of guidance would be to have you get an original Chassis Service Manual (CSM) for a 1959 Oldsmobile. Its really no secret that the plug wires on Oldsmobiles and several other brands are installed in a counter clockwise rotation.

 

I have the service manual and even made notes to myself that the distributor runs counter. I was pointing out my own stupidity in missing the obvious.

 

I'll add that E-Bay is a good place to look
1959 Oldsmobile Service Manual for sale | eBay
Original printed copies are preferred.

 

Chrispy VT, Welcome in case I missed that,

My suggestion or working on any older engine is to start with a compression test and if that shows good results proceed to a basic tune-up e.g., plugs, points, condenser setting the point gap/dwell and then the ignition timing. The carb adjustments happen last,

Was the replacement carb gone through for cleaning and gaskets etc.?

I think Vintage Chief/Norm did an extensive write-up on carb adjustment using a vacuum gauge. Norm, Y / N?

 

Thanks, I've done a complete tune up. The Carburetor is newly rebuilt. The compression is great. The car is running great. What I'm looking for is help with fine tuning the 4gc carburetor. I own the manual that everyone keeps telling me to buy and it's pretty vague about tuning. I would be appreciate if someone could point me towards a video or a good write up with pictures about fine tuning a Rochester carburetor. I'll try to search for the write up you mentioned.

 

Send a PM to Vintage Chief, I think he did a write up on this recently. Perhaps he can send you the link.

 

What sort of "fine tuning" are you referring to ?

I didn't think the 1959-60 "371" used a 4GC.

You do know the 1959-60 "371" engine block and intake manifold are different than the 1957-58 "371" ?

 

I don't recall having written anything up specific to this engine & I'm not clear the engine has a 4GC (as noted by Oldster Ralph). I've been involved in very few specific discussions regarding tuning the 4G/4GC.

I have the 4G/4GC Service Manual (attached) which includes specifics for tuning if that's of some assistance.

 

Norm I thought you posted about how to tune using a vacuum gauge. Maybe it was using a vacuum gauge as a diagnostic tool

 

Thank you much. I knew that the carb on my engine is a 4gc for sure whether it's what was on the car originally or not i have no idea. The gentleman I purchased the car from said it was 100% original...who knows it's 60 years old. Anyways thanks for the manual.

 

Sure thing. Good luck, I've read it several times.

 

I might be able to help because I've practiced enough times on my carb which is very similar to yours. I don't think the instructions are vague it's more like a little confusing because of how they instruct to make the adjustments while the carb is off the car and then adjustments again after it's installed on the car. And then to confuse even more to make an adjustment when the engine is cold and then another one when it's warmed up but make the adjustment for cold after it's been adjusted for warm.
Hopefully who ever rebuilt the carb made most of the initial adjustments and you only need to do the final ones. I'm not sure if it's the same for your year CSM but I found the linkage adjustments are found in two places in the manual, one in the carb section and the other is in the transmission section. Before I get going explaining, is this the same carb you have or very similar?

 

I am confused . . . . . . . If the car is "running great" then what do you need to "fine tune" ????