´74 Olds Delta 88 straight out of hibernation, Q-jet´s fixed, now it´s wheels

Another cool thing we used to do back in the day Baumi was flip the lid on the air cleaner it'll sound like your running sixpack carbs when you nail the throttle! It sounds awesome on the stock early 70's gm air cleaners it will make people wonder what's under the hood lmao

 

Sorry. Info I gave for APT pertains to late model carbs. Yours may or may not have a APT. If it does it would be in the base plate, located between the idle mixture screws. They are sealed at the factory when new, but you can remove the screw and Cliff has a externally adjustable kit. They can be a pain to remove if frozen in but doable with a small amout of heat.
If it doesnt have APT, you have to play with primary rod height by trial and error.
Best to ask Cliff on that as I play with the late model ones.

 

I tried that and the result is the carb is way louder than the exhaust , that´s weird. It´s still got the stock single pipe exhaust... plus right now I still have other thing to worry about , hahahaha

Last night I fell asleep watching Mike´s youtube videos on Q-Jet tech and ATPs and assembly and so on. From what I caught or dreamt I may have an issue with both or either the float level or the power piston stickin, and additional to that the idle circuit acting up... I´ll try and stay awake tonight and watch them again with the carb on the bench for comparison.

Still amazing how well this car runs when it does. It´s probably got really numerically low rear gears, I think 2.75 or thereabouts. But it runs great for what it is.

 

I had a girlfriend in high school that had a 72 delta 88 4 door 455 it was a sled but nice on the highway.

 

The inside of your gas tank is a beautiful thing. The filter sock still inside. We used to place the sending unit in a bucket of gas, filter sock attached, to a electric fuel pump. Turn the pump on and watch the filter sock collapse upon its self. Fuel pump would start struggling and stop pumping. Now you can sleep at night and know your problems aren’t in the tank. I would suggest taking a closer look at your brake booster for a vacuum leak coming and going as pedal is applied. Make sure gas tank is vented.

 

The flipped air cleaner sounds like a megaphone when the air sucks in. My '72 Monte Carlo was awesome sounding the Chevy's worked the best for flipping over

 

To me these symptomps tell intermittent weak spark.
If you got oscillosscope, take some measurements right after cold start at battery voltage and ignition coil pri and sec voltages.you might have bad diode in alternator etc.

 

ok folks, it‘s me again
My Q-jet‘s back in pieces and only thing I found being different from everything I found on qjet power pistons is that I have both, a short wide and a long power piston return spring, where all manuals I could find only one small long return spring. In my assembly the wide short spring goes over the small long spring. Are the two springs supposed to be in there?Or only the long one like shown in the manuals?

 

The diameter of the second spring fits perfectly, I almost certain it belongs there…

 

Dont think I have ever seen anything like that.
What is the carb number? I will check my Delco book when I get back to it.
I am more familiar with the late model stuff though.
That primary metering rod retaining spring look funky as well.
Make sure that is not keeping the rods from being in full down position when assembled.
Maybe assemble without it and see how far down they go and try it with the spring and check again.
Even if it was hitting when assenled it would add to the spring pressure that the power piston is using.
Did you figure out if you have an APT in the baseplate?

 

Thank you, the # is 7043251 RB 0324

 

I still owe you a compression reading! I promise I‘ll do that as soon as I get a helping hand!
As for the intermittened spark , that could be true but I don‘t know enough about diodes and the like to have a clue how to approach that, but I am ready to learn!

 

Find someone, who has bosch kts diagnostik tool and knowledge how to use it.
Then check those voltages.
Have you clean the carb in ultrasonic bath?

 

My carb rebuild didnt help so I threw in a new condenser which is the same new condenser than the first new condenser I put in… problem solved. Holy carp, who would have thought… I‘m feeling kinda stoopeed right now for chasing my tail for so long, but certainly learned a good lesson: dont trust a new Part!

 

Good to here.
Cruzin season is upon us.
And boating season is just starting as well.
You got both of them covered.
Fill that up with a pile of friends and hit the autobahn.

 

All the work that you have been doing, is a good thing . Rebuilding your Quadra Jet is a good thing . I’m glad you’re keeping that. Nothing wrong with a Quadra Jet. Auto correct is messing with my wording. Happy Motoring.

 

Well, it was indeed weak spark issue.
Im glad i havent lost my "touch"
Whats main thing is fault has been found.
Thats all is matters.

 

Now that we have finally fixed the Q-jet by putting a new condenser into the distributor we might as well try on some wheels…personally I prefer the fenton sharks over the centerlines, but I‘d really hate to see them leave with the car , I‘d rather get rid of the centerlines,… I still need to check if the centerlines are really mine , I don´t remember buying them and I have no idea where these came from, hahaha Let´s call them leftovers

 

Send the centerlines on their way .the Fenton's are cool you could always refinish the spokes

 

Now that we have finally fixed the Q-jet by putting a new condenser into the distributor we might as well try on some wheels… That’s funny.

 

Glad the issue was found and fixed!
Don't worry about diving into the carb, now you know what's in there when running right. I agree that the top retainer spring for the metering rods looks funky. I have seen 2 springs below the piston, but it's been decades since I dove into those regularly.
As for the wheels, it's all a matter of taste, run what you want. I'd go with the 5 spoke. The Chrome matches other parts on the car. Not trying to run lightweight (?) aluminum on a big heavy American car.

 

Here in the States those 12 hole AL rim were cool until that style became the premier trailer wheel.
Oof.

Convo Pros seemed to pickup from where the 12 holes fell off.

Fentons will look good on the Delta.

FWIW.
The only 5x5 styled Olds wheel of the era is the 71-71 Super Stock IV

But its really just a plastic cover on a steel wheel, 'Polycast'.

I have seen the Chevy truck 'Blazer' rally wheel used in 5x5 with the bowtie emblem replaced with a Rocket emblem on a few Deltas as an alternative, not too bad when painted to match and the appropriate rallye beauty(trim) ring is added.

 

Another vote for the Fenton's here. They will suit the car really well with the right size and profile tyre.

 

I wouldn't put them on if your going to flip it though save them for something cooler?

 

My not -problem concerning wheels kind of solved itself... someone interested in purchasing the Olds came over yesterday to take a look at it and take it for a spin. Turns out he likes the Centerlines (which I don´t like), and he said he wants the Olds and left a deposit. He´s working stints on offshore windmills and will have a couple weeks off at the end of July, early August, that´s when he is going to pick up the car, eventually earlier, depending how well building those windmills goes...he was very happy with how the cars drives and handles . Looks like it´s going to a good home!