So after introducing myself i'll start with a project thread on my 1950 olds 88. At the moment im trying to get the car running. After installing a new battery and changing the fuel i got it idling for the moment, but when i push the throttle a little bit it stalls. Changing the fuel filter (which was extremely rotten) did not change anything. Im about to deinstall the original rochester carb and take it apart, but i'm not sure if im heading the right direction. I'd appreciate some helpful hints -Michael Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I had a 49 303v8 and was always taking the top cover off carb. The filter is in fuel pump glass remove empty and install. When removing carb top cover clean any dirt and watch not to lose and parts.
I always start by changing. cleaning and going through everything. If that filter or your tank was grungy, crap may have gotten into the carb. Go through everything and repair or replace as needed. BEFORE firing it off. Preventive maintenance. Last year, a friend was having trouble keeping his 216 running. Car had been sitting for 20 years. The problem was, he hooked up a battery and gave it a try. Didn't change the fuel filter or inspect/clean the tank. Or inspect the fuel lines. And that's just the beginning. He shot himself in the foot, before he could even turn the key.
Accelerator pump. Sounds like you need a carb rebuild. Keep clean gas going to it. Looks like good car.
I think i found the problem... Edit: Cleaned the carb and reinstalled it, the olds fired right up and had a really nice throttle response. At the moment im having trouble with the idle adjusting screws, does anyone know the standard setting for both? I turned them in to the max and turned them out by 360° Btw: I noticed after running the engine for about 1-2min that the center intake manifold (don't know if it's the right word for it...the manifold that delivers the central cylindres on each bank) and the carburetor base got pretty hot while the front/back ones we're only warm. Is this normal or am I getting backfires from the engine? Thanks Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
First: Sorry for double-posting Finally managed to get the car in my garage. It was a pain in the a**... our driveway is ~45° uphill and the brakes are as bad as you would imagine on a 64 year old car that has barely been touched over the last couple of years.. Space to work is very limited...but it will work, at least the car is now indoors. Said brakes will be one of the first things I'll do on the car, all wheel cylinders look pretty bad and I got a drip at the master cylinder too. Better be safe and replace everything. At least the brake shoes and springs look good. I'll give the springs some good cleaning and paint the mounting plates. Fusick seems to be the only adress for master cylinders? Found plenty for wheel cylinders but with very high price differences (10$-50$). Do the cheap ones lack quality? Regards, Michael.
The center two ports are the exhaust crossover to warm the carb in cold weather, not unusual they would be warm/hot.
Good news, thanks @BobF I'm used to hand-warm carbs in my former classics, but as the car runs pretty smooth everything seems to go just fine
Try Car Quest for brake parts if there is one around you. Used a lot of their stuff on my Olds. Don't forget to replace the rubber lines too.
Back again, spent the last couple of days on stripping the car on the inside and take a look at the metalwork that has to be done, cleaning of surface rust etc.. It seems this will take much longer than I hoped. One of the previous owners thought it would be a good idea to flood _all_ of the rockers and parts of the body mounts with foam (styrofoam). Im getting some help from my dad now who has a much more experience in bodywork/repair than i do. We'll have to replace front/back floor panels, complete rocker panels and most of the trunk, everything from scratch as I don't think we'll find suitable replacement panels. At least the frame/crossmember only has some light surface rust Got to look at the bright sides... Cheers, Michael
Making some progress on the olds, or more like "1 step forward, 2 steps back". I took the front apart to have more space to work on the front suspension/frame/motor. Today I took the valve covers off to check everything, and found some minor problems... 2 bolts to support the rocker shaft are broken and one doweled support is cracked. Seems I have to take both heads off and start to drill.. Does anyone have some spare rocker shaft bolts(cylindre head bolts)/a doweled support for sale? I only found complete rocker shafts online for sale (mostly exchange), but I think this would be a bit to much. Cheers, Michael.
There are a couple of 303/324/394 threads on here. Check them all out, as they all have some real nuggets of wisdom. Check out Tony Ross's stuff. He's Goatroper02 in the HAMB. He has the parts and info. Also, search threads, real old threads, by Don_Wow.
Tony has a bunch (many) engine cores lying around in the warehouse. He would be your best source for used parts.
Make sure that the heat riser valve is not stuck. It is in one of the exhaust manifolds, I think the left one. Make sure that it moves freely, it closes off one side of the exhaust and makes it go under the carb and out the other side exhaust manifold. If it sticks it can boil the gas in the carb and cause vapor locker and bad performance.
Gonna whipe the dust off this thread... (Being lazy in terms of writing I copypasted this from another thread at the classicolds board...) Bodywork is pretty much finished. All the holes are closed and the trunk is rebuilt. Engine runs fine, just needs some minor stuff like setting the ignition right and getting the radiator fixed (small leak somewhere..) I faced a major problem as the transmission was working pretty badly (gears slipping, burned oil) so I had to pull the Hydramatic to get it rebuilt. Was pretty expensive with the tight budget I have but hey...in the end you got to spin the wheels somehow. The driveshaft was also refurbished and the differential got new oil (Burned differential oil is the absolute worst smell on cars...) The last couple of weeks were painting the interior and putting everything back in there (Seats, carpet etc.) and messing with the wiring as we are converting it to 12v. While we are at it everything will be redone, I dont trust these 60 year old cloth isolated wires... Gas tank is also cleaned and rebuilt including a new fuel sending unit. Plans are to have the car registered in summer to visit a couple of events. As the laws to pass inspection in germany are very harsh (safety-wise..) I will concentrate on the mechanical and electrical parts of the build, not so much the looks. Get some cheap paint on the already horrible paintjob, hoping the chrome will hide the worst and fix this part in the future. I know pictures are the main part everyone watches these threads. Most of my pictures are uploaded under: https://www.getpatina.com/vehicles/ss0g5m1tZj as some kind of online project diary... Feel free to browse. See y'all, trying to update a little more frequently...
Looking good so far!! I love '49-'50 Oldsmobiles. If I could find a nice fastback or coupe, my already critical storage problems would only get worse!
Thanks everyone. Did some final bodywork today sanding and putting on primer. Getting really tired of all the dust everywhere... Also cant wait to drive it again Martin, even though creeping in first gear feeling the transmission taking its final breath isnt what I would call driving
I sure am Even though i know it wont be long until i'm lusting for more power. How is your ross engine doing? I think i'll better start feeding my piggy-bank to get one myself sooner or later :x
This kind of projects just rock on days like this when everything works, comes together and starts to look good. After painting the car (color is a dark grey, anthracite-like) i removed the masking tape today. Man do i like how it came out... After that I went on and spiced the door panels a little...just rattle can paint but it does look quite good as I dont have the money to let an upholsterer do his magic. So long, Michael
It seems I am finally done with the Olds, for now at least. This was a couple of weeks ago, missing the windshield and some other bits. Towed it to my workplace to get the windshield in with my boss. The finished result... I just installed a new carb as it was running very,very rich (lovin' the fumes though..), thanks to Tony from Ross Racing Engines. It runs A LOT better now. So much for now.
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