I found this last weekend, and just had to bring it home. Kind of like a lost puppy, it needs a lot of care. It appears to be all there except one piece of trim, the rear bumper and the lenses from the front bumper. From the back story and the odometer, I'm pretty sure it really does just have 88,000 miles on it. The motor fired right up and ran like a dream, but I'm having a little problem with it now. I'm pretty sure the ignition wires are in poor shape and need to be fixed. Two years ago, the previous owner had the generator rebuilt and replaced most of the ignition system. He didn't bother with the power line from the battery, or the trigger wires. He also replaced all of the wheel cylinders and ran new brakes lines. The master cylinder is shot, but he couldn't fix that. He has a bad back and just couldn't lay on the ground to get to it. He found a wiring problem with the passenger headlight. All of the other lights on the car worked, but that one. He discovered somebody had monkeyed with it before, and he just gave up. So, my first priority is to get it running and rolling down the road. Brakes, ignition and lights need to be cleaned up for that. Then, I'm going to dig into the body work. The floors are pretty beat, and the rockers needs some attention. They're not yet totally gone, but definitely need to be helped. I'm looking forward to bringing this car back to its former glory!
Congrats on your new companion - it looks like it's going to be quite demanding, but take it one step at a time and it'll be fun. Keep posting updates please. Cheers.
Hind sight tells me I shouldn't have junked my straight no rust one for $20 but that's hind sight. I should have bought the 300SL gullwing tha thiat the tree and bent the grill a little for $1200 too.
My 52 has a 4 bbl, I thought all the 98's did. Looks like you have a good start. Rockers are available on Ebay. I just put a pair on mine this week. They fit pretty good, but be prepared to do a little fabricating. I'm having fun with mine. Going to start to lower it next week. Tom
Cool, looks like a good start to a nice Olds .Those cars have good lines but you dont see many people doing them ,
I had a couple 53 88 2 door sedans years ago and would like to build another again but this time a 2 door hard top.
these must be starting to rise up from the grave... If things go right, I should be nabbing a 53' 98 2 door hardtop this weekend! 303 4 barrel aswell. Does anyone know if the bodies where different from the 88 and the 98. I just haven't seen many of either of them. 98's look longer.?
I have a 1952 Oldsmobile 98. They are very unique cars. The previous owner of my car told me there were only 48 of the Holiday coupes registered in the whole country. I've seen many 88s since I bought mine but not another 98. As far as differences between the 88 & 98 models. I believe I read somewhere that the extra length of the 98 is made up mostly in the area between the back window and the trunk lid. My buggy. Have fun with it. They are worth the work. Jay
When I went to check this one out I thought it was an 88. When I got there and saw it was a 98 I was surprised. I was wondering about the 4bbl too. From what I've read and the others I've seen in '53 it should be a 4bbl, but knowing the people who had it I'm sure nobody messed with the motor. Maybe Olds had this one roll out with the 2bbl. I'd honestly like to set it up with a 4bbl at some point, but I'm not worried about it right now. I need to get the body straight and it driving nicely before I dig into that. I also need to get rid of the helpers in the back. It has a nice 'aggressive' stance now with the extra coil springs over the shocks. You can tell it was farm owned and they needed the extra carrying capacity. If anybody has a line on bumpers, please let me know. I don't have a back one at all, and that front one will take more than I'm willing to invest to get chrome again.
One thing I forgot to mention - my wife loves the car. It's amazing how much that helps keep the project moving forward.
she's purty. what are the big plans? are you gonna chop it? lower it? a de soto or 54 Chebby grille would fit quite nicely in there.
I'm not really sure for the big plans. Step 1: get it street legal and see how long it takes to eat up those new tires. Then, I'll address the floor and rocker rust. Down the road it will need to be lowered a bit. Chopping it could be an option, but I'm not sure if I'm up for tackling that job with four doors and all of those vent windows. I hadn't thought of those grills. Hmmmm, good point.
like the car, i have a 98 olds myself i am redoing. its nice to see more people redoing moredoors also.
There are some cars that definitely look better as 2 doors, but I really think the 98 looks classy in 4. Has that 'executive' feeling. And it's easier to pile in with friends and family.
All the glass is there, trim, stock motor...... Flush it, new fluids, lights, brakes, new gas.........Drive it till the wheels fall off. Then Chop it.
I've begun digging in, and already having fun. There's nothing like a couple of years sunk to the rockers to freeze some lug nuts! After soaking them in PB Blaster for a couple of days, and then applying a lot of heat you can see the result: Looks like a lot of pressing and new studs in my future.
Yes it does. It surprised me when I went to remove the wheels on mine. Bet they'll come right off if you turn them the right way, lol! Tom
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