dmruschell

I just drove my 1956 Olds 88 for the first time today! It was my great-grandfather's, and sat for a while upon his death. But, I was fortunately able to acquire the car and had my mechanic get it running again.

One question that I have: The gas pedal does not press down smoothly. After pressing it down a little, it hits a stop, which can be overcome by pressing harder. However, once the stop is overcome, the gas pedal is easy to press again. It also catches when releasing the pedal; it will release, but then catch at that spot. When I pull my foot back some more, the gas pedal will then spring back and smack my foot. It's annoying because the perfect place to maintain speed is right in the middle of the catch, so I'm constantly accelerating or decelerating with the pedal either above or below the catch.

I have 6 classic cars total (the only new car we have is my fiancee's daily driver... I even daily drive my classics), 4 of which are carbureted, so I'm not new to dealing with carburetors at this point. I've just never experienced this before, and I know that the throttle linkages on the Olds is different than my other cars. I haven't started investigating the issue (if it is an issue... is it supposed to be that way?), but any help is appreciated!

oldcutlass

Welcome to the site. You need to follow the linkage and see where its binding and what it's binding on. Should not be that hard to find it. Post some pictures of your car when you get a chance.

Rocketowner

I have a '55 OLDSMOBILE,and no this is not a problem that most of these had.Check where gas pedal goes through the carpet, and lubricate all linkage between throttle and carburetor,check tension on throttle spring, and make sure spring is not binding against something.Under the hood there's a return spring that goes from the linkage and fastens to a bracket on the firewall. Work the linkage there by hand and see if it seems to be binding.Hope this helps,Larry

Ozzie

You didn't say which transmission the car has. If it's a Hydramatic, what you are experiencing is normal. It's the bellcrank portion of the linkage which provides the downshift ability of the transmission. When you feel the resistance that is the wide open throttle position. Beyond that only the transmission downshift is provided. It is made that way so you can have full throttle without doing the downshift if so desired. Just be sure that all frictional points of the linkage are lubricated and you should do well.

dmruschell

I have Park, so I must have the Jetaway transmission. It also happens right at the top of the pedal travel. That is a pretty neat design for the hydramatic transmissions, though.

I did find where it's binding. The linkage that connects the pedal (the rod that goes through the firewall) to the rod that disappears towards the transmission is rubbing against the rod that comes back from the transmission and connects to the rest of the carb linkages. I need to move the car over my mechanic's pit in order to see the other end of the linkages and figure out how to get them to not rub against each other. Is it possible that those two rods are just connected backwards down by the transmission? The engine was just rebuilt (with a newly rebuilt Fusick carb), and the transmission was removed from the car as well (we were debating having it rebuilt as well, but none of the shops around here would touch it), so all of the linkages were apart at one time or another.

Thanks for the responses! I'm glad that these relatively uncommon cars have an active online community. It makes ownership much easier!

dmruschell

As soon as I got under the car and looked at it, I could tell what the problem was. The tab that the linkage fits through that attaches to the transmission just needed to be bent a little bit so that the linkage would then not hit the throttle linkage. So, I bent it a little, and now the throttle is smooth (though I do feel a stop at the end of the pedal travel like Ozzie said. I'll wait to explore that once the engine is broken in). Thanks for the help!

Also, here is a picture of the Olds after its first drive. (My fiancee and I stopped for dinner on the way home.) image_zpswknwljnr.jpg

ignachuck

Wow! That's beautiful.

dmruschell

Thanks! It's not perfect ,but it looks like it from 10 feet away. The amazing part is that I'm 99% sure that the paint, chrome, and interior are all original and unrestored. If this car ever ends up needing (cosmetic) parts of it restored, I'm going to be conflicted about it.

redoldsman

What a nice car and the fact that it was your grandfathers makes it even better. Welcome.

oldcutlass

Glad you found where its binding. Very nice car.

Rocketowner

Georgeous,glad you found where it was binding. Larry

D. Yaros

Great looking ride! It is obvious that Gramps liked his Olds!