1952 Oldsmobile | SITTING FOR 60 YEARS!!! - Will It Run??? (Sitting Since 1962, 303 Rocket V8)

I bought this 1952 Oldsmobile 88 sedan about 10 months ago from a junkyard where it had sat since 1962. I have worked on it a little here and there over that time, and have done a lot to it in order to attempt to bring it back to life and make it run again. However, this car has sat for many years and time has not been good to the old car, can it be saved, or is it doomed to be a parts car?
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[@bluerazor7049]

I honestly don't know why people would ditch it after only 9/10 years after it was bought, it must've been in alright shape..it's kind of confusing to me-

[@zaneburnside3362]

I would definitely rebuild that old 303. For 1953 a 303 over head valve engine was legendary. Great video!

[@jotice9]

To me, it's crazy to call a dwellmeter old school, but then again, I'm 65. When I was in my late teens and early twenties, most of my friends owned timing lights, dwellmeters, etc. I had those and a lot of other cool stuff, because I owned a Chevelle with a solid-lift bored-out 396 in it. I literally had the valve covers off every other weekend. I experimented with the timing and dwell on an almost-daily basis, making very slight changes in those and in the carburetor settings. I was running a Holley dual-line double-pump 780 during most of that time. If I started talking about my quarter mile times and top end speeds, nobody would believe me anyway, so blah blah blah on that. I'll just let it be enough to say: various law enforcement agencies pursued me several times during those wild days and nights, and none of them ever actually succeeded in catching me to give me a ticket, except for two times. There was one night in Shreveport on Greenwood Road when I voluntarily stopped out of concern for the public safety. Oh wait. I just remembered. The Officer didn't give me a ticket that time. There was this other time that I was only going about 66 in a 55 mph zone coming into Jefferson, Texas on US 59 Northbound. I wasn't going to try to run through Jefferson in the broad daylight. That's a 75 mph zone now. It was 55 back then because of the Nixon Era politically generated gasoline crisis, and the Texas State Trooper who made the stop wrote me up appropriately for 11 over. I think he didn't like my car, or didn't like that I was driving hung over and sleepy. Maybe he was a Ford guy.

[@deweygill1973]

303 was one of the quietest smoothest engines ever built. Its hard to tell they’re running when you stand next to the car at idle

[@TheREALOC1972]

I JUST bought a 1950 Rocket 88 4 door that was a father-son project of a buddy of mine after they realized it was more work than they wanted to do. There was no motor or trans so I'm going to take a 307 and the 3 speed auto trans and suspension out of a 85 Delta 88 Brougham LS that I bought for $250 and put it in the 50 and then paint it Dyna Brown with a Silver roof, I'm using tractor paint to paint it, it's boring black now and make it a simple restomod daily driver. The good thing is there is no chrome other than the hood emblem, grille and bumpers but the bumpers were never chromed from the factory on the 4 doors anyway, they were painted silver so i'll just repaint them the same silver ae the roof. I'm going to redo the interior in black though and although the seats are in decent condition I'm going to trade the front seat for a couple of buckets so I can move the gear shift to the floor and figure out a center console.

[@melmcclure3710]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again you Ryan are one of the most tenacious people I’ve ever seen. It’s a feature you really need to work on these old cars. I love your content.

[@cadillacpeet]

Don't give up on that Oldsmobile it will run you done the hard work already. I just went through this with my 53 Packard that had been sitting for years and stuck. It had the same low compression, I poured motor oil in the cylinders and that seals them enough to build compression to start and then they will seal once the engine has heated up a bit. Pull that rocker shaft off and try a little heat to the base of that valve and hit it with some Blaster, you'll get it loose. Don't give up on that Olds its almost there!!

[@paulsheehan5010]

Automatic, was a four speed unit, manual, three speeds.

[@victorrobinson9116]

I do like I did I hooked up a external fuel pump to clean the varnish and old gas from the carburetor I use solvent and every kind of cleaner and recirculated through the carburetor and flushed out everything including marvel mystery oil fresh gasoline a little bit of diesel fuel makes good solvent to run through the carburetor just in case you want to get it back running I would just strip everything down and start from new

[@bombasticanimal1853]

I'm guessing that's Tigers pitcher Mark "The Bird" Fidrych, who burst on the scene in 1976, and briefly took the baseball world by storm before hurting his arm which unfortunately curtailed his career.

[@kapekodbob]

Love the car and certainly can be brought back. The cylinders that have no compression probably have rusty valve seats. Pull the head off the worst side and look at the valves. If rusty then pull the valves apart and do a simple valve job on the bench and put it back together. You can check out the cylinder walls too.

[@ronbunker5778]

I had a 1954 Olds years ago and it was great! I would start the engine and it was so quiet I would often hit the starter again thinking it wasn't running! Great little car.

[@papagiorgio85]

Great video Ryan, it's unfortunate that it did not run but you learned a lot which is good. I definitely want to support the channel after the holidays because money is a bit tight now. Thanks for sharing as always 👍🏻

[@mr.goodpliers6988]

I've been looking forward to seeing this video for a while. Great process. Like you, I never considered myself very mechanically inclined, but it's amazing what can be done with basic hand tools, the advice of some oldtimers, plus a little continuing education from ye olde TH-cam University.

[@2001rams]

That motor would look great restored as stock (or add the 4 bbl carb and manifold) to go in another Olds or in a period 50's hot rod (when that motor was king). Great video for those of us who do not normally do this.

[@dombutler7685]

Thanks Ryan, I'm sure it's just stuck valves and some bent pushrods, but if you take it apart you'll probably find a dead bird in there!!

[@CliffordRainwater]

It seems like there is a lot of the car community that could help you get new floorpans.

[@kshsghahah5631]

Mark "The Bird" Fydrich. Famous for talking to the baseball before he pitched it.

[@jimtomassetti8928]

Hi Ryan.....Great vidio...Your doing a great job! I love the old car's that have been sitting 60yrs good luck!

[@bozodog428]

Great old car. Jackie Brenston wrote the song "Rocket 88" back when the Olds V8 first came out. Many have covered it including Ike Turner and Bill Haley and the Comets. Song would have been a great intro to this video.