1958 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88

Originally bought at Lesher-Muirhead Oldsmobile San Francisco in 1958, we happen to be the 4th owner of the car. The original buyer bought it as a muscle car, bought it stock with almost no options except an automatic transmission (I'm surprised by this) and power steering. It didn't come with a heater, radio, or any other amenity. This original owner passed a way a few years after he bought it (early to mid 60s) and his wife kept it in the garage until 1995 when she sold it to the owner of the Kezar Pub in the Haight district, San Francisco (him being the 2nd owner of the car). This means that it sat practically untouched for something like 30 years. He owned it for 10 years and would only drive it to Oakland A's games across the bay in Oakland. He religiously changed the oil and filters every 6 months. Besides the oil upkeep, he had it repainted a minty toothpasty-green, which was not the original color. He kept it for 10 years and in 2005 sold it to Juicy, also in San Francisco, making her the 3rd owner of the vehicle.



Can you imagine this car heading to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada? I can't either, but apparently it went to Burning Man twice! Juicy's husband welded a hitch to the back of the car and they towed their '59 canned ham vintage trailer behind it ... that must have been a sight :-)



In 2008/2009, Juicy decided to have a decent amount of work done. She repainted it back to the original Allegheny Green (paint code 31-31, matched though, as they couldn't find the original paint) and must have spent quite a bit doing so as everyone is really quite impressed with the paint job (the 3rd one for the car). They found dead-stock (old original material) for the interior and it looks like I imagine it would the day it came off the factory floor. The restoration and painting was done at Italian Performance in San Carlos. Don from Italian performance (who has sadly since passed away) and Andy performed the work, lovingly restoring the vehicle. Apparently besides the paint job and interior work, they did very little to the engine, just replacing all hoses (and brake hoses) and further did a little bit of brake work.



After the restoration, Juicy admitted that she was scared to park or drive it anywhere and it sat garaged in SF till mid 2015 where she decided to consign it through a dealer in the South Bay. We bought it in September 2015, making us the 4th owners of this magnificent Oldsmobile 88 and promptly named her Judy ... after none other than Judy Jetson whom would probably dig the rockety look!



Here is a log of what we have personally done to the car:



September 2015 @ 29,131 miles

- Added a red Oldsmobile Rocket decal to air filter housing per original spec

- Added black & gold Oldsmobile decals to valve covers per original spec



May 2016 @ 31,100 miles, we took Judy to Benner Automotive in Oakland and had the following performed:

- New old stock (but turned to spec) rear drums (both), new rear brake shoes

- Driver’s interior door handle fixed and installed

- Driver’s window: new sash/u channel installed, new rubber around window

- 2 qts of 30W oil added

- 1 qt transmission fluid added



July 2016 @ 31,649 miles had the following performed:

- New master cylinder

- New rear drive shaft seal

- Rear driver's side passenger door now locks & unlocks properly

- 2 new high pressure transmission hoses installed



Details about car



Wheelbase: 122.5"

Length: 208.2”

Overall Height: 57.4”

Overall Width: 78.8”

Front tread: 59”

Rear Tread: 58”

Read Overhang: 51.9”

~4400 lbs w/gas, water, oil

’58 cars were factory announced on October 30th, 1957 and were introduced in showrooms on Nov 8th, 1957



4th position of VIN designates where the car was built:



M- Lansing

A- Atlanta GA

B- Framingham MA

C- South Gate CA (this is where our car was built)

K- Kansas City KS

L- Linden NJ

T- Arlington TX

W-Wilmington DE



Advice given to us about the car



- Por 15 rust sealant (for under rear window), also the spare tire well (don’t bother fixing hole … per Rob “who cares, seal it, forget about it”

- More advice from Rob “drive it, don’t worry about fixing too much”, also “should be able to drive it most places, just be careful”

- Vacuum advance from distributor is not hooked up to carburetor, this would give more power. Need to tee into vacuum port on carb

- Lubricate a number of things … especially the gas tank nozzle section (it’s pot metal and can break) … WD40? No, use TriFlow, Rob's recommendation.

- Need to crank window down in rear driver’s side door, and fiddle around to lock

- Later on we can “build” a bar that will restore locking / unlocking abilities

- A corroded ground wire wreaks havoc on everything double check all grounds for brighter lights, making a working fuel gauge,

- Reverse lamp sockets were prone to corrosion, might very well be the sockets (turns out that the car didn't come with the reverse lamp "option", inside were blank off plates)

- Try LED bulbs for various bulb replacements, brighter and much longer lasting (more reliable, maybe not so original looking though)

- Trunk rubber seal is probably okay, might be replaced a bit later … try Sofseal (per Troy) or Steele (per Bill)

- Line the back of the interior door panels with plastic (like a cutout black garbage bag stapled to the inside)

- Use Maguire’s M6 wax for fixing little problems with paint (when a spot won’t come off)

- Use TriFlow instead of WD40 for lubricating joints, hinges, etc.

- Use clear caulking around back rear window (water is seeping in a bit, there is dew inside) … definitely passenger side, maybe driver side?

- Fuel pump is likely leaking

- Filister head screws for around the windshield trim

References / Links