Projects 1954 Oldsmobile 88 Coupe

I really like this car, but then again, I'm a sucker for anything old and Oldsmobile. I am immediately drawn to any thread about fifties Oldsmobiles. I think it's because my dad was an "Oldsmobile man" (from Jean Sheppard's "A Christmas story"). He had a new '49, a new '51 88, a new '53 Super 88 two door, a new '55 Super 88, and a new '58 Super 88. My older brother and I (who were in high school then) managed to talk him into adding the "J2" option. My brother (who had a D/L then) and I would borrow it on weekends and go "hunting". There was one particular "rich kid" from school who had a '58 Pontiac Chieftain with the base two-barrel engine we really liked to find.

Those were the days.

 

Well, got the new fuel sending unit installed, works great and I was able to shift the tank over the left slightly to gain more room for the exhaust.

And here's how the exhaust turned out, 2.5" all the way back, SLP Bullet Muffler inline, hidden exit cut flush with the rear quarters.

^Not banging on the crossmember anymore!


And discovered that we're coming up on the 71st Birthday of the frame in June!

Of course, on the drive to the exhaust shop, discovered I have an inoperable temp gauge and Speedometer, which is weird because both were working a few months back...

So that's next on the list, along with some drivetrain/fluid services.

 

Hey, back the truck up !!! That "only 185hp" put the fear of God in many a Chevy and Ford owner. There were probably more "Mom and Dad" cars on the streets racing than many others.
Remember when hot rodders would install a 160MPH speedo to make their rods look faster... Well, a set of "dimple" valve covers would probably give the mighty 324 another 50 horse !!!
Love it !!

 

Is that a factory rear sway bar? Sure looks factory

 

That's some nice work on the brake system! Never did see where you said how well it works.

 

Yes, as far as I know.

Works great, pedal height a little taller than before, but I got used to it pretty quickly. I probably have 200+ miles with zero issues.

 

I put duals on my 55, with PS and PB. Tight, but got it to work.

 

I unfortunately do not have pictures right now, but my '54 has true duals. Tons of bends and looked like it was a straight pain to get in there. But its in there and sounds pretty dang good.

 

Well I guess my Olds must be defying the odds, because I have true duals on mine with a Treadle Vac under the floor and a factory starter.

 

My 98 has a factory sway bar as well. Unbelievable how much it improves the handling of the car

 

What year? Got any pics of how it's routed? There's no holes in the X frame on the Driver's side for passing exhaust through.

 

56 Holiday 98 Coupe. I'll take come pics next time I have it up n the lift.

 

Yeah that's a the next gen chassis when they re-designed things like adding normal shocks and the frame is a bit different, especially the X member.

 

If you watched the videos where foose refreshed the Barris 53 olds convertible whoever did the first dual exhaust on it cut a hole for the other pipe

 

Had planned on retrofitting a newer rear bar to my 53 Chevy. May try to find an original olds setup and use that instead. Would likely look more natural

 

That's the exact car I learned to drive in. About 1956. Great fun.

 

You have a much smaller and more modern steering gear than 54 and 55, a huge benefit to owning a 56 and it’s unfortunately not a bolt in mod to the earlier models. It allows more space to run the exhaust.

My 55 also has tube shocks.

I have dual exhausts run by a prior owner and can take pictures, but I would not consider it a “good” installation. They ran it past the steering gear and under the drag link so it is about the lowest part of the car to the ground.

 

I remember when I was in the 3rd Grade ( school grade class not 3rd Class Rank ) when a neighbor kid's mom drove a 1956 Ford wagon. He said his mom's car would go 110mph because that is what the speedometer said. Even in the 3rd grade I knew better but could never convince him. Maybe he was right ?

 

A friend of mine had a 1973 Plymouth Satellite station wagon with a 318 and a 150 mph speedometer, which we always thought was funny.

 

Maybe they were thinking KM not MPH ? First time I saw a new American car that had a kilometer speedometer in it I thought WTF. Don't think they sold too may here but was one of those so called Go Metric things that fortunately died a rapid death.

150KM is like what 90MPH which would make sense for a 73 Satellite station wagon. Doubt it could do even that.

 

Honestly I've found most old cars with higher mph speedometers would do every bit of it. It's just a question of how long it'd take and how happy the engine would be after lol. Growing up there were a LOT of muscle cars in my town. Both bad boy versions all the way down to four doors with six cylinders. Every one I rode in was able to peg the speedometer. A straight six three on the tree four door Chevelle took literal miles to get that high and the little six was running hot and blowing a lil smoke after but still got there. Gotta love flat, straight Missouri highways lol

 

I remember my dad had a brand new '49 Oldsmobile 76 (six cylinder). We would visit relatives in Eau Claire from our house in Minnesota, which was 100 miles, mostly on a very good road (Hiway 12). Once, about half way there, the old man said, "Hey kids, look at this!", pointing at the speedometer. It showed a touch over 100 mph!

I didn't notice it back then, but I would bet we were on a downgrade at the time.

 

Yup, a down hill grade always helped. You know when the car is topped out, the engine starts to get that hammering sound. That's all she's got and there ain't no more. Did tire safety ever come to mind ? Dad, the car has started to smoke a little, don't know why.

 

The early 73 models still had the 150mph speedo from 1972, they switched mid year to a 120 speedo

 

My old 55 Super 88 [202 HP] would peg the 120 MPH speedometer but it took about a mile to get there.
One day I took it out for a speed run [120 MPH] and right afterward while driving 25 MPH on city streets it blew a right front tire!!! I said a little prayer of thanks. Holy shit!

 

Having seen a 49 model 76 in person (and will be doing a large portion of the build once he's ready lol) I could only imagine what that flathead six sounded like lol

 

I had an 80 Impala with that abomination of an sbc known as a 267 with the dual jet(not to be confused with a 2 jet lol). I actually pegged it out a bunch of times. That was the weirdest engine peg out ever lol. Like it would keep raising in rpm till it didn't. Engine was capable of more rpm but those dual jets weren't. Being they were literally just the primaries of a g jet they worked as a very effective restrictor plate lol.

 

Here are pictures of the sub-optimal routing on my 55. One day I will do something about it, but for now it clears the suspension and only rarely kissed the ground. The car also has terrible O/T wheels getting replaced with steelies and baby moons that will have larger diameter tires fitted, so the ground clearance should only improve.

 

Thanks for posting, always good to see another perspective. I have less ground clearance so I had to run mine high and tight.

You engine is cleaner than mine, for now...

 

And that is a bad thing, because the reason why is that is has zero miles on it yet. I can’t wait for it to be covered in road grime and oil leaks…