Well since we added a new member to our family about 6 months ago me and the wife (stichbitch) both knew we needed to get going on our "family" car, our two other daily driven old cars (34 p/u and 65 camino) only have 2 seats, so we needed one with a back seat, my wife bought this 59 olds 98 from a freind a few years back and its just been sitting in the driveway waiting for us to get on it, well the time was finally here. My freind Ryan (guyontheHAMB) was gonna be in the area for the holidays and was wondering if we had any projects we were working on that we wanted any help with, i said no but we could start one, so the night before my freind Terry was over and we had the fun task of digging it out of the snow and getting it in the garage, we did that but had to let all the snow melt off before we could get going on it. So it was time to start on it. when we got the car the motor was long gone, i had first ideas of running a newer olds motor like a 403 or something but the SBC prevailed, im sure alot of you wont like it but its what it is, this car is going to be daily driven and i want it super dependable for my wife to drive around, so behind the sbc i put a th350 trans. so we threw a mock up block and tranny in and fabbed up some motor and trans mount, i positioned it so i could use the stock driveshaft with out shortening it, the engine bays are huge on these things so it was easy.
The car was a south dakota car so it wasnt badly rusty, but the front floors were bad cause it say with carpet in it and window leaks, so i patched up the floors and po15 them. Its funny, i always say a rusty car is strait and a rust free car is always beet up, well this car being for the most part rust free has some dents and dings and alot of the trim is beat so itll be a fun timing finding replacements and fixing what is there.
So sunday a couple of my freinds came over to help, thanks Luke and Jake. We proceeded to throw a real motor and trans in so the ride hieght could be determined, we new the sbc was alot lighter than the olds, we got the front end pulled apart and got the springs out, i cut 2 coils out right off the batt, it probably sat about stock and i new that wasnt gonna fly, so i cut another coil and threw it in there but it still didnt go as low as i wanted it, so i cut another, yep 4 coils, but guess what, it was no too low! i love where it sits but it only has about 2" of travel and thats just not enough for one of these cars, so im getting another set of spring and we go back to 3 and see how much it settles once all the engine parts and radiator and water are in it, i will also probably trim and reinforced a little on the bottom of the spring pocket to add some clearance. so far we ended up with 3" blocks in the rear but im thinking its gonna get a 4" block. we also mounted up some 710 white walls on some chrome wheels, i bought a "set" of 4 a while back but knew 1 was mismatched, so while at another swap i picked up another pair of matching chrome reverse wheels so i know i had 2 pairs, one for the fronts and one for the rears, well it turned out that the first 4 rims were all different!! so i have a matching pair on the back and dimmentionally matching pair on the front, so if anyone has any 15x6 chrome reverse 5on5 wheels let me know, i could use some singles to match my singles! so we rolled it out for a look and im pretty pleased with where its at. the basic plan is to build a mild custom, a little shaving here and there, primer paint for now, and a mild to mid wild interior. i started removing the oldsmobile letters from the grille, thers about 30 little tabs where the letters originally bolt so its a slow process of cut them out with out damaging the thing grill. stay tuned for more progress.
I've got a 59 flattop... these cars are just different! Let me know if you're looking for anything, I might have some extra parts I could part with. I like the low stance, did you throw a block in back?
I'd love to have a 59 Olds 2 door ht. Make mine candy red if you would. Good luck with the build. I'm sure it will turn out great.
Titus, Those things are a big old boat but they just look like they are runing 90 to nuthin just setting there. Having had several of that era cars, big old cars that hey wre they make the world's best family car. That is aside from just being a bad ass cruiser. I don't have a problem with your engine choice by the way, not that my opinion makes any difference. That is going to be a car that makes good memories for the little one in your family.
Made some more progress on the oldsy.... Went to French lake auto parts and pulled a power brake set up out of a 60 olds and installed that, got the motor cleaned and painted and installed, got most of the stuff on the motor, ill post another pic later of the completed motor. also finished shaving the olds letters from the grille. I also yanked the gas tank out yesterday and its condition in ok, theres some crud in it, i dropped a couple chains in it and am going to throw it in the back of my truck and drive it around and that should clean it out pretty good. Minus the gas tank i should be able to have it moble in a day or so. jeff
Great Olds, nice to see the orphan gettin some love. This is going to be a fun cruzer. Luv what you are doin to her. Congrats ~sololobo~
Olds gold! Heres a pic of the motor with all the stuff bolted on it. I also got the torque converter bolts in and got tranny fluid in it and fired it up and it goes into gear. I pulled got all the brake drums turned and am no gonna pack front wheel bearings and put new seals in, then time to bleed the brakes. jeff
Nice to see I am currently putting a 350 SBC in my 1960 olds 88. I have a friend with a nice but rusty parts car if you need trim. Bob
Nice car! I like what you've done with the engine, looks stock to the car at a casual glance. And a bonus, it's already painted!
unfortunatly not, it does move under is own power but havnt been able to do much on it lately, but soon!
The 59 holiday coupes are just wow cars, I have a 55 coupe as a daily driver, but would love a 59 if they weren't the size of an oil tanker. My kids love the olds as in car seats , they sit up higher and with the fishbowl glass thing going on they can see everything. Plus family wise, with the low back seats you all feel like you onthe one area, not divided off like in a modern car. Plus the boot -trunk-can take all that kiddy stuff for holidays that my wife grocery getter just can't.
Gettin back on this thing, actually drove it down to my neighbors today, still need to do alot of little stuff but getting there. I was working on patching up the trunk floor today, there was just one rear section that had rusted out and was pretty easily patched and wont be a noticable patch when all said and done. so no that thats done i can finish cleaning out the tank and reinstall that. i also scrapped up all the old tar/padding from the trunk floor, nasty stuff! I got all new shocks installed and got the brake working, i was having issues with the brake booster, i first had a bendix single diaphram and it wasnt working for me, so i got a delco moraine dual diaphram type (both options in 60) and put that in but still didnt have the best brakes, well this car has a vacuum canister under the fender, so i noticed a light wistle sure enough i found a vac leak, so i clamped off the line and the brakes worked very nicely! When i first had cut the coil i took 4 out, a little to much, funny thing is that it still had about 2" of travel, so i got another set of springs and cut 3 out, much better and it still sits nice and low. while i was working on the trunk floor i decide id pull the rear bumper and straiten it out as it was tweaked to shit, so i worked on that for a bit and got it back on too. Jen is also working on getting some temporary seat covers on it so we can put the little one in the back seat and it be clean and comfortable for her. JEFF
I guess i never did do an update on the car.... We got it all drivable for back to the fifties, i got the brakes working correctly (bad vacuum canister) and got the gas tank back in it, got exhaust put in it also, i had him run the pipes thru where the original back up lights would have gone. the car runs and drives pretty good, a little noisy inside because of the lack of interior. also got a new windshield put in and got the power windows all working. I also had a issue with the hanger bearing, the bearings is noisy but standable, but the rubber mount for it broke off a day before bttfs, so i pulled it out and took all the rubbber off the mount, drilled thru both pieces and put some rubber chunks between them and bolted it all back together, it was good enough to get us around for the weekend, i then bought a nos rubber mount but am still in need of a new hanger bearing, anyone know where to get one or a nos one? heres some pics. jeff
Subscibed, dude. This is my kind of car! I also cut 3 coils out of the front and it sits where I like it but I have weak springs in the rear and looking for leaf spring helpers, then lowering blocks. New shocks on order. Also have a 305 with a 700R4. Mines a daily driver and I get comments almost every day.
Hi Jeff, are you referring to the center support (driveshaft?) I had a 60 impala for which I used a super HD driveshaft bearing that was made with a HD polyurethane rubber and HD bearing, if I remember correctly the vendor advertised this on LowRider magazine (same?), I heard that some people have used the Ford Ranger bearing?? Not sure if it fits your application but worth a look. Hope I'm referring to the correct part you need. JW
JW, thanks for the info but i got it all taken care of, the hanger bearing in a impala is a whole different animal unfortunatly so its much harder to find parts for the olds, i ended up finding a NOS rubber mount part of the hanger set up and then found a new bearing thru rock auto and got it all fixed. So weve been cruising the olds as much as we can, its runnin great, i made some door panel boards for the doors so its much quieter inside, over the winter Jen is probably going to start the interior. JEFF
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