I have looked here a few times over the years but thought I would make my first post. I am into anything Oldsmobile but even more so the Jetfire model. The Jetfire was turbocharged with 10.25 compression so they water meth injected them from the factory. My latest restoration is a 1962 4 speed Jetfire that was just on the Jay Leno Garage You Tube channel a few weeks back. I done a search and don't see to much here about the Jetfire model but did see that the late Ken Dennison was here. He is one of the guys that got me into these cars and was a major player in keeping these cars alive through the decades.
I love those cars. I have a line on a complete engine setup, with turbo , complete and in excellent condition. A friend has it and is wanting to sell it. Let me know if you have a use for it.
After such an exquisite restoration did you dyno-tune it to see what they really put out? I’ve always been curious to know what the real life output of the turbo 215 was. Advertised horsepower and torque don’t really mean anything. Growing up, my neighbor’s dad had a Buick Special convertible with a 4 bbl 215 and a 4 spd, it was fast and fun. I’ll bet your little Olds is fun too.
i had a '62 full-size chevy with 250 hp 327 and raced a buddy who had one of those jetfires. no substitute for cubic inches...
My best friend's father bought one new & I think we drove it more than him. The acceleration was smooth & felt pretty damn awesome for the time, with what seemed to a limitless top end. I cringe when I think about it, but I know we did excess of 120 mph with it on the new highway they had built in our area, that (thankfully) had very few cars on it. I thought that was as good as it was gonna get until he traded it in on a first year 442. Then the real fun started.
My oldest brother had one of those cars when I was very young. He ended up selling it to one of my sisters when he got something else years later, so it was in the family for a number of years. I recall it very well, it was the same color as the one in the video. Cool car, it ran very well and sounded great under acceleration.
My friend Al retired from Oldsmobile after several decades as a development engineer. His job was to drive them, break them, and work with production engineers on required fixes. He was involved in testing at all the proving grounds, as well as long distance testing of development mules two or more years before production began. I asked him one time what was the most impressive car built during his time there. I expected to hear stuff about W-30s, Hurst conversions, etc. He told me that the number one car on his list was the Jetfire. That's high praise from a former drag racer, sprint/late model driver, and the best wrench I've ever known. Your car is striking, especially the underhood detailing, the color is perfect. I like hot rods but would hate to see something like this engine swapped. This was really ground-breaking tech in 1962 and it took another twenty some years for GM to fully utilize what they learned and build the Buick turbo cars. I look for the value of these to skyrocket, being the granddaddy of all the turbo stuff they are building now.
My last build was a 70 W-30 and dyno tuned it. This one I did not do because we did not have any kind of hub to mount it to the dyno and didn't want to take the time to make one. That is something that a friend and I plan to do in the future. We want to do a couple of these engine, One bone stock and another one with some modifications. Sadly, this is likely the only pure bone stock one out there. I found an NOS cam and used the original shim head gaskets. It only had 44,000 miles and the cylinders looked great so I did not even pull the bottom end apart. This is as stock factory as you can get.
Thanks. That is very cool to hear! I actually feel it took almost 60 years to find production cars with the same vision Oldsmobile had. Olds wanted the high compression to maintain good economy and also have a low "turbo wind up" time as they called it. It has almost no lag time since it is a small turbo with high compression. Every manufacturer since then has used the low compression to band aid the detonation issues. Sure, the fuel injection and electronics has been a major player in that as well. Today I think nearly every production car with a turbo is over 10:1 compression and has returned to the original vision Oldsmobile had. They wanted economy with a nice power increase when needed or wanted. Olds had to do it with fluid injection but today's cars are doing the same thing without it.
When these are working correct, they don't use all that much. I doubt he even used a full cup. I got it done last April and put a gallon in it. I think it has used about 2 quarts in that time. Maybe 500-600 miles
I'm going to try to get in touch with Al to see if he can share any memories of the build on these cars. It would be great to get together to look at your car and do some bench racing but you're probably far away and Al is getting up in years. He actually moved into a nursing home with his wife to take care of her until her recent passing. When he told me he was going with her, he said, " I have to do this." A truly good man. He is not back in the area and I don't know if he is coming back. He isn't on social media so it may be a while before I can reach him. I know you would enjoy talking with him. I truly believe he is the best wrench I have ever known. I referred to him as "Dr. Oldsmobile" and he just laughed, but he could have been the inspiration for that character in the ad.
My dad had a '63 Jetfire. I was just a kid. The thing would scoot and he drove it like the ex-fighter pilot he was. The problem was with the turbo. Olds mechanics just couldn't seem to keep it running and, of course, you had to keep buying the special Turbo Fluid. Dad paid a premium $300 to get the turbo but it was worth $300 less than the carb version when he had to trade it in on a '65 Olds two years later. That was significant money in the '60s. But, I love that car.
Those are one of the coolest cars of the 60's. My little league baseball coach bought a new one and took me for a ride I remember it well.
I have always been a fan of blowers, and yours is beautiful. That said, the Jetfire turbo was, at best, troublesome. Olds offered a "trade-in" in about 1965 to Jetfire owners to swap the turbo set-up for a 4-barrel intake and a Rochester 4-barrel. They had lots of takers. There was one in Moberly, MO in 1964 that was maroon in color. It wasn't particularly quick (I had a '59 Ford 332 that out-accelerated it) but he always would pass me in the end, as I believed in speed limits, and he didn't. The carburetor used is wild; a Rochester single side-draft with lots of vacuum controls. I think every part with the exception of the bowl cover screws is unique. We still sell a rebuilding kit occasionally. Jon
Well, I always wondered why there was no discernible turbo lag, as compared to the '63 Corvair Spyder has at about that time. Thanks you for finally clearing that up in my mind.
Do not have that information at my home computer where I use the forums. Call me 9-12,1-4 Mon-Tues central time at 573-392-7378, and I will look up the bill-of-material. Jon.
Here is a build thread https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...oration-turbo-charged-fluid-injection.924403/
What a great example of what we used to call a small car. Later models but I've had 5 Cutlasses. For 1962 GM must have had a corporate pow wow to enter the compact mkt. Each division had a different 'hook' to win sales. Pontiac took a slant 4 and rear trans axle. Buick went with Aluminum V8. Olds of course chose performance worthy turbo power. They all offered upscale trim packages, ( including convertibles ) to entice buyers into smaller cars. A different world. Thanks for sharing your achievement here. It really is a winner.
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