Hot Rods 1948 oldsmobile series 66

My friend Ray found this neat '48 olds series 66 four door two miles from his farm, and got it for 300$ from the original owners son.




At 9:30 the night he got the OK from the old owner, he and I drove over to the lot where it was sitting with the big new holland tractor and looped a log chain around the axle and around the front loader of the tractor, put air in the only two tires that held (both fronts), and proceded to tow it two miles back to Rays, in reverse.

I steered it, Ray drove the tractor, and we were only given weird looks by one person who drove by us. But we got it to his place in one piece, and that was probably the more interesting mondays I've ever had. Ray took this sweet photo when we stopped to rehook the log chain

It was driven to where it was sitting about 19 years ago, so it ran fairly recently. But its seized and when we tried to take the spark plugs out, four of the six stuck in the head. Theres no porcelain in there, they all came out clean, but we still need to get the broken plugs out.

The engine is a 238ci flathead six cylinder, backed with a hydra matic auto. And other then the front floor pans there isn't much rust, but all along the roof are evenly spaced dents from the rafters from when the garage it was parked in once upon a time collapsed on it. The interior isn't roached either. So one of the ideas we were kicking around if the flathead was junk, was just buying a used 350 chevy small block with trans off craigslist for 300$ and working that into the olds. Has anyone ever adapted the shift linkage for the hydra matic to a th350? We were hoping to retain the column mounted shifter and just have the modern ish transmission shifted through the old selector. And anyone have any tips on removing the broke plugs? Would an easy out be alright to try? Should we remove the head (i assume it would be on the safe side to do so) or could we leave the head on it and use an easy out to free them. I'll post updates as we make progress, its mostly a weekend endeavor For us.

Charlie

 

have fun

 

stick a bolt down the hole in the sparkplug and weld the two together. should come right out.

 

I put a 72 350 olds motor in mine 350 trans but changed out the steering column ,so cant help adapting linkage.

 

It's actually a model 76 (B body) with 125" wheelbase, not the smaller 66 (A body) with 119" wheelbase. 66s doesn't have the wrap around rear bumper and have different trunk, tail lamp etc etc. Data tag on firewall will identify it; style 48-3609, Dynamic Cruiser '76' 4 door sedan. If there is a 'D' suffix after 3609, it's a deluxe. That truck handle should a 'T' shaped, looks like a model 66 handle that it vertical when trunk is closed. 76 model handles extend either side of key and are horizontal when trunk is closed

I'm adapting a 700R to my OEM 46 Olds hydramatic column and need to modify the column detents to match the transmission. The Hydramatic face also requires an additional hole. I was looking at possibly modifying a Limeworks column shifter to work with OEM Hydramatic column mechanism.

To be safe I'd remove the head to extract the plugs unless there is another way, otherwise everything will fall down the plug hole into the cylinder.

 

Great score. The grill alone is probably worth twice that.

 

Thanks guys. We have pretty much decided to go along with a 350 swap. The retired sheriff in town named Doug is a hotrod guy and we stopped in to talk to him today and we got to look at his current project, putting a 350 into a 3100 series PU. Once we told him what we were up to he wrote down his phone number and gave it to Ray and said he'd love to come help and we could just give him a call. Doug showed us how he makes his SBC motor mounts out of rectangular tubing that at a glance looked like 1x4 of a very heavy gauge. And Doug also mentioned that theres a good chance the olds' shift linkage might be workable with the th350 with a little bit of fanagaling.

At this point ray and I are just going to take the whole front clip off the olds, take the i6 out and stash that in the shed, and call Doug and see if he has a 350 block and trans we could use to mock up motor mounts and where to move the cross member to hold the transmission. And from there it'd be down to making some floor pans, and getting new brakes in it. What's the usual go-to brake master cylinder that y'all like to use?

 

I have a parts car if your needing any parts. I also have a '47 and '48 Olds 66 and 68 that I'm working on. Nice find for 3 bills.

 

oldwood, I'll have to let you know if we need anything.

Ray got the head off the 238 tonight and only the #3 (counting From firewall) cylinder looked nasty, but thankfully its at TDC. I think that might be whats causing the seize, or the bad valves

He brought the head over to my place and we just did some creative staring and i sprayed some carb cleaner on the combustion chamber for the #3 cyl and scraped at it with a screw driver and it suprisingly cleaned up.

So this saturday's project is liberating a 50$ engine stand from harbor freight and getting the engine out and the front clip off. If enough of the engine is able to be saved we might leave the 6 in it after a rebuild.

 

We got the radiator and front clip off on last sunday, and we also got the motor cleaned up and unlocked! It probably would run happily with a quick valve lapping and hone on the top of the cylinders to clean up the ridges.

This saturday were hoping to get the old 6 out, and if it'll run with a little bit of elbow grease it'd make a cool stationary power plant for something or for my gow job model T project.

All the valves move smoothly and the oil looks good, so I'm optimistic that it would be a good little motor for something.

The car looks very empty without the hood, but soon enough it'll be emptier and a 350 will be in there.

Now, I'm a mopar guy and basically everything I've ever worked on had three pedals. So I'm not too sure as to how the linkage on the hydra matic comes off. Does it have to be removed from under the car or is there an acsess pannel inside the cab?

 

It's been a while since I stripped mine down. Remove the shifter lever at the bottom of the column along with neutral start (Not shown), the column has a DD flat from memory where the shifter arm attaches. There are linkage arms from the carburetor to the transmission. U-bolts with nuts top and bottom of column tube hold things on. I totally disassembled mine to modify and paint.

 

Thanks for that diagram! We'll be using that!

 

I think you should overhaul the motor. Rings, valve grind, new bearings, and a gasket set. Might be easier and cheaper than the V8 and definitely cooler.

By the way broken off spark plugs are a common problem on Chev V8s. I used to take them out with a square easy out, you get them at any parts store. Heat the plug red with an acetylene torch, seat the easy out with a light tap, and it turns right out.

 

X2 on rebuilding the 6 and keep it in the Olds . That would be quite a lump in a Model T.

 

Forgot to add, that appears to be the same OEM colour combination (63A) as my sedanette, 'Pawnee Beige' metallic over 'New ivory'. Great factory 2 tone that I will be reusing when I repaint my car. He's an example.

 

Yesterday Ray and i stopped by Doug's place and he said to throw a 12 volt battery in it and try to crank it over. He runs a 12 volt battery in his 46 chevy and its not converted to 12v other then he put an alternator on it. All the gauges work spare from the oil pressure gauge, I've never heard of a 6 volt system not frying gauges or wires when putting 12v through it. Being that we're already planning to gut the old wiring would it be safe to try to start it with a 12v battery? Once Doug told us that we decided to clean the fuel pump and carburetor. I Took the carburetor apart, which was probably a dumb idea considering I've never worked on a WA-1 carter before, and it was very clean inside. Only dificulty i ran into was i found one steel ball bearing in the float bowl, and i put it back where it belonged (i seen where it fell out of) but when i was all done with it and was sweeping the floor i found a second little ball bearing looking thing on the floor identical to the one in the carb. Is there more then one BB hidden in there somewhere? And also, there's a large needle that is spring loaded and it is attached to a little plunger that goes into a chamber in the bowl with a spring under it Thats a Little bigger then an ink pen spring (which is the same Chamber that i put the first BB into) and it seems to have a spot worn on part of the accelerator pump linkage that to me looks like its supposed to be held down to the accelerator pump linkage and slowly open the needle from its seat when the throttle is opened, which is what it does when you hold it down to the accelerator pump linkage and work the throttle paddle, But i believe i did something wrong because the spring tension holds the needle up all the way out of the seat. I really regret not taking pictures yesterday, but i will as soon as i see Ray when he gets off work, the carb is in his car.

 

Great find...
And talk about a rear bumper !!! Wow.

 

You won't have wire problems running 12V, assuming they're not roached out. Wires in a 6V system are actually heavier gauge. If the oil press. gauge is mechanical - no worries. Amp gauge or volt gauge - no worries. Switches - no worries. Fuel gauge could be a problem. Change all bulbs, alt/gen, regulator, wiper motor and heater motor and maybe the ignition condenser. Points don't care what voltage.
I have run 6V starters on 12V in long term use. Just don't crank for long periods. The starter will spin much faster, too with 12V

 

That is one kool find!!!!Heck I have to pay that much just for parts on my 56 buick wagon.Nice sore!Bruce.

 

I paid 10 x that, for my (running) '49 Fleetlinee!

I'm encouraged with each post, seeing the six get attention. Makes for a very interesting ride....There can't be many left!
And I love seeing old, off beat motors tweaked for a few more HP. (My Fleetline still has a 216.) Get her going, then mill the head, Petronix HEI conversion, and split the pipes (and a mild regrind on the cam, perhaps?).

Certainly no hot rod, but it should make it easier to keep up with traffic!

 

There is nothing wrong with a flathead 6 or 8. Be happy with OLD school and run it like it was built. That is what I'm doing with my Oldsmobile model 66 and 68. Just my 2 cents!!!

 

Good score for 3 bills, even if it IS a 4 door. I drove my flathead 6 [239 cu in] Pontiac from Omaha to Bonneville and then to Joplin for the HAMB drags a few years ago. A good tip is to swap a later [up to 1956] third member into your current rear axle for much more friendly hiway gears..mine were 3.90s and I swapped in a set of 3.23s from a 56 Pontiac...olds are almost identical.

 

Another vote for keeping the 6.
Looking forward to your progress!

 

Well I am seldom a big fan of more doors but that one is cool enough for me. Can anyone say Bombita? Come on say it with me. All together now, Bombita.

It would be noting to make the gear selector work with an SBC, the letters won't be in the right place but who cares right? There is another option, Oldsmobile made a little v 8 that everyone calls a Rocket. They are a pretty good motor, they even came in something that they called a J2 although I am not sure what that means. Anyway I see them for sale on a pretty regular basis and it would actually work with your hydromatic.

Nice score for damned sure.

 

The Olds J2 wasn't a little V8 by any stretch. 371 cu. in. and lots of torque. The J2 meant it had three two barrel carbs. Hooked to a Hydromatic, they were used in everything from rail jobs to gassers back in the day. That engine was available in 57 and 58 only.

 

Dang i missed a few few replies! Well now I've got good news. Ray and i got plugs in it and new wires, and today we got the master cylinder cracked open (oddly a 22mm socket fit perfectly on the resivuar cap) and three of the four bleeders opened. I think the pistons stuck in the master cyl so we shot a little PB blaster in there and filled it with dot3 brake fluid and were going to let it sit over night. If it comes un stuck i assume it wont be much different to bleed non boosted breaks then boosted ones?

Also for just running this thing, run a hot wire from the positive batt. Terminal to the coil and one to the starter motor, and jump the terminals on the solinoid with a screw driver and it'll go right? And if we were to put a simple little in line fuel pump in there somewhere to just bypass the mechanical fuel pump, would the electric one overflow the demand of the carb at an idle ? It'd be wired into a switch on the dash so we could flip it off if fit hits the shan.

 

I've never seen beige look so good. I love how the car matches the drab winter foliage. The before photo with the old building in the background will make you proud when you're cruising around town in it.

 

Barn find: the first place we're planning to stop with it for pictures once its running and moving under its own power is right back to where we pulled it out of.

 

One update so far today. We got the left rear wheel off, and we got a pair of used tires bought and mounted for 40$. Literally, these tires are about 80% tread so we won't need to worry about bad rear tires. Tonight our plan is to wire in the starter, and with any luck get functional brakes because tomorrow is actually Ray and I's final day of high school, and if we can get the olds to drive and stop, we're going to be rocking our way to school tomorrow morning. And for the limited amount of time that this thing would be running would we be OK to reuse the old exhaust manifold gaskets but adding in a ring of thick leather cut out of an old pair of welding gloves to put in between the gasket and the manifold? For the intake I have gasket cork that I got from the lawnmower repair shop. But i was just thinking of adding in the leather to kind of have something to squish the old gasket with to try to seal it up.

 

For gas use a motor boat gas tank or similar, if you connect direct to the carb set the tank above the carb and gas will feed by gravity. This will do to get it running and move it around, and avoids the problem of rusty gas tanks and contaminated gas!

You can also connect to the fuel pump, then you don't need to worry about gravity feed. Unless the pump is shot, then you can just leave it out of the picture.

6v wiring will handle 12v and so will the motor, up to a point. Don't grind and grind the starter or it will overheat. The coil will work on 12v for 15 minutes or 20 minutes. Too long and it can overheat but they usually work ok when they cool down. Although, you may burn out the coil if you run it too long.

Make sure all lights, radio, heater etc are turned off.