Fixing up 91 Olds 88

[chemicall]

60% of the dash has to come off to remove the stereo

I always wondered why they made it so difficult to replace the stereo. Built in theft protection? I don't have the fancy interior features you have. But when my manual heater/ air conditioner display lamps burnt out, I had to remove another 20% of the dash to replace those two little bulbs. If you have any replaceable dash bulbs, you might want to replace them now. Otherwise you have done a phenomenal job on your 91 Olds 88

Thanks for the tip and the kind words, I'll replace some bulbs when I have the dash back apart to install a stereo, right now it's put all back together with no stereo.

I got a few more things done, nothing much, painted the blower motor as all the paint came off it when I degreased the engine compartment, finished up with the wire protectors. I finally managed to get time to go get antifreeze, some rubber hose for new vacuum lines, hose clamps.

Now I can flush my rad, put new antifreeze in, change the t-stat to a drilled 180 I have ready and get new hose clamps on the rad hoses. I also grabbed some smaller hose clamps to double clamp the transmission cooler lines.

not much left to do at all now, just a bit of brake work, which i'll be doing soon.

Have a good night everyone

[Ol' Timer]

not much left to do at all now, just a bit of brake work, which i'll be doing soon.

With so much thought into the detail, I just want to make sure you replace the rubber brake likes that go to the front calipers.

[chemicall]

not much left to do at all now, just a bit of brake work, which i'll be doing soon.

With so much thought into the detail, I just want to make sure you replace the rubber brake likes that go to the front calipers.

Thanks for that tip too, I picked up the pads/shoes today. I'll check out the front rubber brake lines when I pull the wheels back off.

Also picked up a drain pan today, which I meant to do yesterday when i bought antifreeze.

Edit: adding some pics.

Rubstrip Before


Rubstrip now(dupli color bumper/rub strip coating, it looks 100% better but you can still see a few marks, overall though it's much better, I might try another coat in a few days, as the stuff is really thick and builds up.



Couple engine shots, all wires/wire protectors finished, Just need to change the serpentine belt, change antifreeze/oil, I was waiting to do these until I had everything else buttoned up. This afternoon i'm going to try to get the antifreeze/tstat changed, but then I have no time for the next few days to work on the olds :(





ANOTHER edit: I received my parts in the mail today, i'm all teeth everything is in good shape and is as said. I'll be able to make the front end really nice now.

[jdronzek]

Well I figured it was time for an update, I got the driverside rear door opening, The latch was sticking. First I took the door panel off, Then popped the door open. I cleaned out the latch with some throttle body spray(was all I had), then I greased it up good and worked it back in - door works great now.

I got the front floor ground down, holes fixed and primed. Tomorrow i'll be painting it.

I talked to my cousin, i'm going to spray his shop out with the airless sprayer and he is going to drop exhausts from both cars, put all the good off the Buick on the Olds....and replace the rear brake lines front to back on the olds. Sounds good to me he will spend about the same amount of time on the car as I do on his shop. It's a 3 bay shop, with the airless it will be done in no time....

Oh yes my drivers power seat now works also, I just cleaned up all the connections.

All in all I'm working out all the bugs. One thing I'm wondering about is the power antenna. It was unplugged when I got the car, so I plugged it in, tryed turning the radio on and off, I can hear the relay at the antenna motor clicking when I turn the radio on/off but the antenna doesn't go up and down. Any info on troubleshooting this?

I wrote up this tutorial for you,

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=13667

[myfirstbonnie]

You also should go to the JY and get a strut tower brace. I know you are not thinking performance, but you would not believe how it stiffens up the front end on corners. After I put mine on my 89 i could feel the difference.

[chemicall]

jdronzek, Thanks for the write up! I was worried about stereo last, so when the time comes, I will refer to your guide. I believe my nylon cord is still attached, and that the motor may be the culprit, i'll see when the time comes.

myfirstbonnie, I had this in the plan already sir :D A page or two back this was being discussed as to what all cars I could pull them from. It's hard to find them around here. Luckily the guy I got my other parts off has a few, he's not too far away so shipping is cheap. i'm currently working on a deal with him for 2 of them, 1 for my olds, 1 for my friends 90 cadillac coupe deville.

But in other news..

I got the grill and bezels, headlight rubbers, front metal trim all put back in. looks good! here's a few pics...Other than that not much, a little bit of sanding and crap like that before I bring it out for paint. It's coming along anyway. Still been raining alot, but i'm at the point putter on the car for a bit and run out of things to do! But it was hot today though so I got some things done. Oh yeah I got a couple more coats of bumper coating on the front rub strip the other day, as you can see in the pic's it looks pretty good now! (the front had to all go back together so I can drive it 50 miles to my friends to paint the car, atleast it's all done and it all will pull apart at his place in 5 minutes)

You can now view all the pictures by following this easy link; http://www.Oldsmobile.tk/

I think I'm going to like the flat black grill/bezel on a dark blue car. Anyone else like what I've done? I know the car is not blue yet, so I've included a picture of a friends 76 chev short box done in the same brand paint/color.









Edit:

Got my price on braces,$15 a pop for strut tower braces, $15 for core support braces, plus shipping, good price I think. Getting some FE-3 Emblems and a couple other small things in on the deal aswell.

[Ol' Timer]

I think I'm going to like the flat black grill/bezel on a dark blue car. Anyone else like what I've done? I know the car is not blue yet, so I've included a picture of a friends 76 chev short box done in the same brand paint/color.

The Dark Blue will be nice.
It doesn't look like you need new tires yet. But if you do replace your tires, you need Whitewalls with those OE Wheel Covers.

[chemicall]

[/quote]
The Dark Blue will be nice.
It doesn't look like you need new tires yet. But if you do replace your tires, you need Whitewalls with those OE Wheel Covers.[/quote]

Thanks I think it will look good too. She spent $350 on 4 of those tires new last year.

I'm looking for some rims off a 80's olds cutlass ciera fwd, The 'sport' or 'rally' rims you would call them. I think they would look cool.

Will 205 60 14 tires fit stock rims? I have 205 75 14 on the olds and 205 70 14 on the buick. A 60 series would be nice if it will fit, anyone know?

[Ol' Timer]

Will 205 60 14 tires fit stock rims? I have 205 75 14 on the olds and 205 70 14 on the buick. A 60 series would be nice if it will fit, anyone know?

205/75R14 - Revs per mile - 796.9
205/60R14 - Revs per mile - 878.3
205/70R14 - Revs per mile - 822.4

All three tire sizes should work, but only the OE 205/75/14 will give you the correct speedometer/odometer reading.

[chemicall]

Will 205 60 14 tires fit stock rims? I have 205 75 14 on the olds and 205 70 14 on the buick. A 60 series would be nice if it will fit, anyone know?

205/75R14 - Revs per mile - 796.9
205/60R14 - Revs per mile - 878.3
205/70R14 - Revs per mile - 822.4

All three tire sizes should work, but only the OE 205/75/14 will give you the correct speedometer/odometer reading.

Thanks Ol' Timer.

So that would mean my speedo would be approx 1/8 faster with the 60 series, and obviously the odometer will log 1/8 more kilometers. I can handle that.



I'm bringing the Oldsmobile into my cousins shop today to have the exhaust dropped.. Havn't had the car out on the street yet, so I'll find out how she really runs today. It ran good last time I drove it about a year ago - I had borrowed the car before when it was still the old owners

Oh yes, not only am I getting a strut tower brace, but also some core support braces off a C body Cadillac. These run from the front strut towers to the core support on the front of the car. I'll have to drill to install them, no big deal.

One of my near-futures investment in the car is going to be rear shocks. Anyone had any good/bad experiences with any certain shock? I don't want a soft shock, something rigid as I 'can' pull a small trailer etc if needed.

[Ol' Timer]

One of my near-futures investment in the car is going to be rear shocks. Anyone had any good/bad experiences with any certain shock? I don't want a soft shock, something rigid as I 'can' pull a small trailer etc if needed.

I like the ride/performance with KYB GR-2 Shocks/Struts. But many on this site swear (@#$%!!!) by Monroe Sensatrac Shocks/Struts.

[chemicall]

One of my near-futures investment in the car is going to be rear shocks. Anyone had any good/bad experiences with any certain shock? I don't want a soft shock, something rigid as I 'can' pull a small trailer etc if needed.

I like the ride/performance with KYB GR-2 Shocks/Struts. But many on this site swear (@#$%!!!) by Monroe Sensatrac Shocks/Struts.

Thanks, I've been reading reviews between the two and seems KYB has less bad reviews with GR-2 compared to Sensatracs.

I got the car to the exhaust shop, ran amazing!!! half throttle commands a downshift, sweet! shifts all the gears at proper speeds and really smoothly, So i'm really happy about that, it runs really good. At half throttle you could hear the intake giving off a really deep sound, like a set of 4 barrols kicking in .

Bad news is my DIS(Driver Information System) sort of quit. I hooked my negative battery post up, started the car to take it over to the shop, and the DIS quit. When you first turn the key to 'on' the DIS was flashing 'good morning' and the date maybe, then black. Was doing this everytime I turned the key to on. It has been raining alot, maybe this has had some effect. On Sunday I'll be heading to his shop to check it out a bit more. It is still coming on a bit at first, so there is still hope.

I know there is a bare wire or 2 behind the glove box(who does that??), and I just had it open within the last few days, so I may be getting a short(just thought of this). I'll be heading over with some shrink tube. Wish me luck everyone, I'm going to need it.

[Jrs3800]

Can you snap a Picture of the wire/s

[chemicall]

Can you snap a Picture of the wire/s

I checked it out, the bare wire(only found one) was for the trunk popper in the glove box. It was not touching anything though, so I don't think that is related to the problem. It's still only flashing 'good morning' and the date. Tomorrow I'll try pulling the battery cables for a bit and poke around under the dash.

All the button's were beeping like it was changing modes also.

[chemicall]

Well I received my strut tower braces, and core support braces in the mail. Woohoo! Got a strut brace for my friends caddy too, so he is happy. Also got nice 'FE-3' emblem and 'fuel injection' emblem from him in the package.

In other news, my cousin said the downpipe was rotted right off the olds, So that was my upfront exhaust leak. So the downpipe is also coming off the buick for the Olds.

As soon as the exhaust is on, body/paint time!

[chemicall]

G'day everyone....

Exhaust is all on the Olds now, sounds good, much better than the old. Drove the buick home(only 3-4 blocks) with only manifolds, she really barks!

The DIS started working, started the car to take it from the shop and it was functioning fine. So we will see if it acts up again or what....

Today I got the drivers door on the buick stripped of the door panel/wiring. Tomorrow I can just bolt it off and do the body work, then install it on the Olds. The Buicks door is in much better shape and will be easier to do bodywork too. Also the power window motor functions in it still also. This is the first part of the body work, I guess.

It's September I want this thing painted REAL soon.

Have a great day!