Oldsmobile Delta 88 diesel - dailying the delta

[sutty2006]

It was the 30MPG highway* figure that got people buying them, post-oil crisis and high gasoline prices.

Diesel cars were reasonably popular in the US in the 80s. They got all sorts, VW, Audi Peugeot and Mercedes diesels from Europe, domestic cars with Japanese diesels like the Mazda-powered Escort and Isuzu-powered Chevette (the automatic version is much slower than this Olds). The mid size GM cars had a chopped down 4.3 V6 diesel.

Briefly Lincoln Continentals were available with a BMW 2.4 diesel.

 

Yet my 5.0 EFI V8 mercury will do a steady 30MPG on the motorway. Go figure.

 

A bit like the 2.3 TD carlton ive just bought. The 2.0 Petrol will get 52mpg at 56mph, yet the diesel will do 54mpg at 56mph...... its a no brainer. lol

[flat4alfa]

Nobody else wants but me.

 

Oh, I do...  LUSH !!!  A Proper Olds 88 Derv !  That's one special bit of kit.

 

{Edit, just read back the auction thread] 

So, it's the Morris Leslie auction car you were pondering over.  Did the Feb sale fall through it and you picked it up I assume?

 

 

Suckers to the side I know you hate my 88

You're gonna get yours

 

Cruisin' down the boulevard

I'm treated like some superstar

You know the time so don't look hard

Get with it, the ultimate homeboy farmers car

 

All you suckers in the other ride

Whenever I'm comin' get to my side

My 88 Olds is tough to chase

If you're on my tail I'll clagg your face

 

[flat4alfa]

It was the 30MPG highway* figure that got people buying them, post-oil crisis and high gasoline prices.

Diesel cars were reasonably popular in the US in the 80s.

 

I love this educational* commercial 

 

[flat4alfa]

"The family car that didn't forget the family "

 

[Lacquer Peel]

Wonderful machine.

Bosch pump?

Stanadyne, an American Lucas-style rotary pump.

[PhilA]

"The family car that didn't forget the family because they were already all sat in it for ten minutes while you wait for the glow plugs"

EFA

[Rocket88]

they turbo'd??

 

You are. I presume, 'avin a giraffe?

[flat4alfa]

Stanadyne, an American Lucas-style rotary pump.

 

Veg not recommend.

[lesapandre]

Yet my 5.0 EFI V8 mercury will do a steady 30MPG on the motorway. Go figure.

 

A bit like the 2.3 TD carlton ive just bought. The 2.0 Petrol will get 52mpg at 56mph, yet the diesel will do 54mpg at 56mph...... its a no brainer. lol

GM was looking over its shoulder at Europen imports taking its market share. The Beetle led to the Corvair and the Mercedes D Series led to this. Neither were an unmitigated success.

[AMC Rebel]

Like all cars with a 'bad reputation' its often all down to maintenance and a little understanding - particularly from new tech...or what was new at the time eg Hillman Imp problems etc. 

 

That second article I linked to was making the same point - also a bit like the V8 in the Stag (actually nothing wrong with it) and the Rover kettle (a few issues with the larger ones but easy to solve).

[flat4alfa]

they turbo'd??

 

The Olds 350 diesel regularly grenaded when just NA !

 

There is a guy who has done this though, has some vids on YT.  He had the pistons machined to lower the compression ratio and used ARP head fasteners. Doubt he still runs the factory cast crank as well.  Runs it at 9 psi.  Nutter.

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

Well purchased fella - I've only ever seen one other diesel of these, down the side of a garage I know who always has weird n wonderful around. As mentioned, ex service dude who left it behind.....

it was pure horror...... slow was not the word, it felt shit and wondered all over the road. Engine sounded like a boiler full of masturbating skeletons and it stank to high heaven. Of course I pondered, but some other masochist beat me to it thankfully.

 

Very best of luck sir, I see you wanting the P38 back in very short order!

[flat4alfa]

"The LF9 is a 350 cu in (5,737 cc) diesel V8 produced from 1978 to 1985. Earlier versions and those used in pickups produced 120 hp (89 kW) and 220 ft⋅lbf (300 N⋅m) torque, while later versions produced 105 hp (78 kW) and 205 ft⋅lbf (278 N⋅m) torque."

 

Pretty dreadful! As little as 18bhp per litre, the original XUD9 was good for 34bhp per litre for comparison.

 

So that's 20.9 for the 120hp and 18.3 for the 105hp, but a fairer comparison would be to focus on the torque figures I would have thought.  Let's see.

 

Hauling an 18ft long car that weighs 3430 lbs (1556 kg), carrying a fella who takes breakfast at Dunkin Donuts, needs a bit of push.  Also, there was never a manually-shiftable Olds 88 since the sixties model range.  That might have helped the acceleration time.  A bit.

 

The direct-age comparison would be something like a 2.3 (NA) Indenor XD over the later OHC XUD, I reckon, giving:

66 bhp, 97 ft·lb, 30.4 bhp/litre. 

 

Torques per litre

Olds 350 : 35 or 38 ft·lb / litre 

Indenor 2.3 (NA) XD : 42 ft·lb / litre 

Not quite* so dreadful.

 

The Peugeot 504 was just 256 kg lighter.  That's two donut men.

The Peugeot 604 was only 106 kg lighter ...but that got turbo-charged XD Indenors, not NA ones.

 

My OCD has recovered now.

[danthecapriman]

Woof!! That is fucking outstanding!

There’s a weird attraction to US cars of this era for me. They were allegedly absolutely awful but I still love them!

 

Back in 2006 a guy I worked with pulled a Delta 88 diesel out of a barn. He took it to Arena Essex for the Firecracker banger event still running the diesel lump!

It was about the same age in white with the same interior but in beige.

It did well, actually retaining poll position until the last lap when he spotted a slow moving Jag xj6 and rear ended it flat out completely wiping out both cars!

It was a glorious old thing to sit in before he stripped it out, shame really but it was pretty rotten underneath. In places the chassis legs looked like lace curtains! They didn’t tend to rust proof them much in the states I don’t think.

 

Anyway, we’ll bought! I’ll put my name down as a buyer when/if the time comes please!

[motorpunk]

Can you imagine the first buyer, smugly pulling up on the driveway in Stenchflap, Alabama, and nodding knowingly at his neighbours; "Yessir - it's a Royale Brougham", like the same twats who, upon parking, would scarcely be out of the door of their Scimitar before mentioning Princess Anne to anyone stupid enough to listen. 

 

Anyway. This car is shite. And I love it.

[purplebargeken]

Outstanding..... just wow.

[sierraman]

How many of these are in the UK? I can imagine the diesel was popular in Spain etc.

[hairnet]

thats insane and 100% nicer than eddys

 

are you gonna:

 

be able to move the indicators

 

become pimp

 

sell it cos petrol version is more frugal

 

make another insert for badge that says derv

 

not likely to see one coming the other way

[flat4alfa]

Rear badging is missing.  This is required to win at badge conkers

 

 

 

Rear badge #1

https://www.ebay.com/itm/OLDSMOBILE-OMEGE-REAR-TRUNK-GATE-LID-EMBLEM-LOGO-BADGE-SIGN-SYMBOL-OEM-USED-SET/142740046990

 

Rear badge #2

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/910-1978-1985-OLDSMOBILE-Cutlass-Supreme-Diesel-Emblem-Badge/112866605360

 

Improved* authentic turn-signal, flush mount on rear panel

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-OEM-Oldsmobile-Cutlass-Supreme-4-Door-Sedan-Turn-Park-Lamp-1990-91-PAIR/273110683017

 

Hat

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Adult-Purple-Velvet-Fedora-Hat-Pimp-70S-Gangster-Disco-Fancy-Dress-Costume-Prop/272731875372

[eddyramrod]

I too was expecting something like a Multipla.  Well done!  Wouldn't be my choice of engine but that interior is pretty hard to beat.

[PhilA]

No, those rear lights are for a later Cuttlefish, K-car stylee.

 

Phil

[danthecapriman]

Rear badging is missing.  This is required to win at badge conkers

 

 

 

Rear badge #1

https://www.ebay.com/itm/OLDSMOBILE-OMEGE-REAR-TRUNK-GATE-LID-EMBLEM-LOGO-BADGE-SIGN-SYMBOL-OEM-USED-SET/142740046990

 

Rear badge #2

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/910-1978-1985-OLDSMOBILE-Cutlass-Supreme-Diesel-Emblem-Badge/112866605360

 

Improved* authentic turn-signal, flush mount on rear panel

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-OEM-Oldsmobile-Cutlass-Supreme-4-Door-Sedan-Turn-Park-Lamp-1990-91-PAIR/273110683017

 

Hat

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Adult-Purple-Velvet-Fedora-Hat-Pimp-70S-Gangster-Disco-Fancy-Dress-Costume-Prop/272731875372

Ohhh I might have to get one of those pimp hats...

[morrisoxide]

Fantastic top purchase! I do love this kind of stuff.

 

This is my favorite car on BeamNG drive PC game. Same hue of brown and in diesel also. 

 

Good look, from a fellow Yankee barge owner.

[drum]

Thanks for all replies! Glad this barge is going down well on the beige. Lack of updates is due to a FTP by bt broadband for a week now and my dwindling mobile data. I might have to visit the grumpy thread to have a moan.

 

No moaning as far as the Olds goes though. Despite its reputation for being horrendous, it's putting a big smile on my face. I'll catch a glimpse of it through the window and have to stop and gaze upon its bulky beauty.

 

I have a couple of vids but will have to wait until I have broadband before I can upload them. It might be the most pithless, gutless, giant pansy of an engine in the history of the universe, but I like its roar, its instant throttle response and the torque reaction the whole car gives whenever you blip the throttle. It actually picks it feet up quite briskly from slow speeds although if you floor it at 60 not much happens.

 

There were a couple of worrying moments on the drive home yesterday when it lost power, like the fuel had been cut, only for it to pick back up again. Both times during the first couple of miles and didn't happen again.

 

This leaflet was in the glovebox, warning of the water in fuel problem.

 

The fuel filter looks like a normal diesel filter as fitted to my tractor and land rovers. I'll add a pic in a minute.

[drum]

[hairnet]

*waiting, sweetheart.........waiting.........'

[eddyramrod]

thats insane and 100% nicer than eddys

Traitor!  You've had your last ride in Huggy after that!

[drum]

The headlining is a bit* saggy. Wife likened it to a Bedouin tent.

[hairnet]

turkish delight advert FTMFW!!!!

[eddyramrod]

That's normal, TADTS.