I know its not exactly HAMB material but I also know know that a lot of us have other types of cars. I have the opportunity to pick up a very clean 57 Super88 hardtop with the J2 option. Has anyone ever owned/driven one and what do you think of them?
371 inches of triple carb fed Rocket power. What is not to like. The only thing I am not in love with is the auto trans used. They are not nearly as rugged as the earlier cast iron units if you plan on driving it hard. But if you are looking for a cool cruiser with power to spare, I would go for it.
IF you are silly enough to pass on the purchase, pls let me know. My Dad's looking for another cruiser....and you know how our family likes Olds'
I drove one everyday about 25 years ago. I bought the J-2 set up but never installed it. The super 88 is the best looking one with the shorter wheelbase. The trunk is too long on the 98. The only thing I didn't care for was the trans. I think it was a Jetaway. 1st gear was super low and then the rest of the gear spacing was odd. One trans went south and was replaced with a used one so my experience may not be typical
Come on now I know your running buddy has 10 of them in his barn...have him fire one up for you ! Pat
I've got a '58, though I haven't dropped my J-2 setup on it. The stock linkage is vacuum-operated and was supposedly often replaced with a 4bbl when the dealer couldn't get them to run right. Supposedly, a garden-variety Vintage Speed progressive linkage works well on them, I've got one on mine and though I haven't actually installed the manfold on the car yet, the linkage appears to work as designed. As for the trans, other than the leakiness (which I've got parts to fix as soon as I have time), I love mine. It seems like the thing's never in the wrong gear, but then again 371ci makes up for a gearing mismatch quite handily. I once raced a blown '49 mercury neck and neck. I know overhead valves breathe better than flatties, but I still think he let me win...
Redneck-A blown flathead on the street is still only about 300-310hp. So I don't know if he let you win...Don't under estimate a 300hp overhead, I would think the torque rating to be around 400lb/ft or so. He would not have been too much lighter (3-400 pounds?) so the race may have been much more accurate than you think. My dad says in 58-59 out in San Fran. he knew someone with a McCollough (sp?) supercharged J2 Olds(Not sure how that worked with the intake/carbs) that only lost one race on the Great Highway-to a Hemi powered glass bodied car-perhaps a Kellison or something similar. I wouldn't hesitate to buy it if I had the dough for it.
Rich: I think I've seen that one around before and if it is the one I'm thinking of,it is beautiful. I would buy it in a heartbeat! The Super 88 was definitely the best of the three.The only problems I remember were some of the 57-58's had camshaft/lifter compatibility problems(usually wore the cam lobes down).I replaced several for friends and even got to where I could do it without pulling the motor. The fuel pump is also a bugger to replace;especially if the car has A/C.Did one or two and had to pull off the front wheel to get at the bolts.Getting them off was only half the fun;getting the bolts started was a whole other bag of worms. Buy it;it's YOU!!!!!!!!!!
I haven't owned one but a friend had one back in the eighties. It was a nice ride, fun to cruise around in. That one looks real good, I wouldn't regret buying it.
I had a single 2bbl and a bad accelerator pump on the way home from the Cinematic last year and the other car was Blown49 in his merc that's almost too beautiful to drive on the street. He had a stick and most certainly let me win, we were just fucking around. It's okay, I've prolly got $2k in my olds including the $700 worth of tires...
Supposedly, the cam lobes are pretty narrow for a 371ci motor. I've heard that the '59 and later rockets, including the 371s had a longer cam which addressed this issue. If you do wipe the cam, that's a pretty good excuse to order a lumpier cam from http://www.camcraftcams.com/. You don't need all that vacuum anyhow, just run Rain-X and convert to manual brakes. I've also heard that some later '58s came with electric wipers, so you might be able to fit those. As for the fuel pump, it's a bitch to get off and install, you can prolly run an electric if yours goes, does anyone know if an electric fuel pump would be too much for an electric system based around a 50s GM gennie? I don't like alternators on my old crap...
Dad had a black 57 J2 four door hardtop when I was a teenager. We had a lot of fun with it on the weekends I got to go stay with him.
gads! at the dealership, drove many of them right off the delivery truck. I was the used car lot boy at the local Olds, Caddy dealer. They were a Hertz rent a car place also. We used to get 4 or 5 guys to drive the Olds to Hertz rental places like Palm springs L.A. etc. and also do dealer trades all over socal.Man those things were fast, and we had a ball, got a few tickets too. Never made any money. One of the mechanics had a 55 chevy hot rod with 331 Caddy in it. He challenged my buddy to a race with a J2. It blew the door,s off that Chevy.[hot rodding was-a-changing] Hey that was only 51 years ago, my Model A was comparable in age to a 1981 Olds today! Its all relative ya know. We never got to drive any Caddy,s
My uncle had a black 4 dr J-2. I can't remember if it was a 4dr ht or a 4dr sedan. I do vividly remember that he shit canned that high dollar air cleaner for 3 of the hot rod chrome pots. I've always thought that a 4dr J-2 was rare.
Thanks for all the input guys. Does anyone know what nice clean original J2s are going for these days?
Nice car! but not a Super 88. It's a regular 88 2 dr hdtp. The super 88 had different side trim (like a a 98) and had the same tail lite lenses as a 98, and the Super 88 emblems were on the front fenders right below the top fender ornaments same as the 98's,not on the painted areas below the tailights. Also had a different interior , much more luxurious than the standard 88 57 super 88 2dr hdtp 57 Super 88 Vista Cruiser wagon
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