My new family cruise night car. Bet you can't make this car handle...

Ever since my first child was born, 7 years ago, I always wanted to get a cruiser to take the family to local cruise nights or the ice cream shop. Well, thanks to my CL addiction, it finally happened last weekend. I first saw this thing on CL about 2 weeks ago. My wife liked it too, but said I’d have to sell the Fiats if I wanted it. Went to see the car, and after over a week of back and forth debate decided to go for it. So here it is in all it’s 18+ feet of glory.

It’s a 1965 Olds Delta 88. The original owner had it from 1965 all the way until 2008. I bought it from the second owner, who was a mid-60’s GM aficionado. He took real good care of it, and kept it exactly as he found it. Even have the original keys, owners manual and protect o plate. It’s definitely a “10 footer”. Looks good from far away, but nowhere near show condition. Hood has hail damage, chrome is pitted, some prior body work coming apart, weatherstripping a mess, etc… But it runs perfectly. It’s got a 425ci engine with a 2 barrel carb. 310hp and 435lb/ft of torque. 3 speed auto trans. 128,000 miles. Steering on this car is more a theory than anything else. Turn the wheel, and it kinda, sorta wallows that direction. Straight ahead is pretty damn vague too. This is one car I’d have to just say that it doesn’t handle and never would.

First order of business is to get 5 four point harnesses installed. Even though this is a parade/cruise night/ice cream shop car only, I refuse to put the family in it without belts. Maybe get some front seats from a u-pull it yard that have head restraints. Down the road, I’m picturing side skirts, long duals out the back (maybe with flames).

Pics from PO house.

Wicked cool!

That is sweet! (but did you keep the Fiats?)

I love the massive rear overhang.

I am unsure I would put 5 point belts in something like that.. retrofitting some good 3 pointers should be perfect.. especially if it wallows around as much as you say it does.

Good find though.. been a LONG time since I saw anything like that

In reply to mad_machine:

I tend to agree with you, although he said five 4-point harnesses, not 5-point harnesses.

Bet you can.

Start by lopping 8 feet of of the trunk...

I hate living in the rust belt.

I had a 74 Olds 98 for a while. If I remember it had both an alternator and a generator to power all the things in that car. The 74 actually had ok steering for what it was. I got some sway bars from a truck or maybe it was a Caddy (don't remember what YMM) and with some fabrication they were fitted and boy did they help things. They maintained that soft ride but really kept body roll in the corners to something that was acceptable.

Big old 455 with a Rochester Quad on it. Stump pulling torque but I bet it had all of 200 HP. I loved that car. I camped out in it at the track in it many times while I was working corners for COMM . Ahhh the memories!!!!

my bad.. he wrote 5 four poimt harnesses...

not sure I would still bother...

i bet it wouldn't be too hard to fit a WS6 / F41 steering box to that beast....

pinchvalve wrote: Start by lopping 8 feet of of the trunk...

But if I did that, where would I put my kids??

Regarding the seatbelts, I had posted a question about that last week, when I was still considering a few different. The point was made that the door post on these old cars may not be strong enough to properly hold a shoulder harness. After looking at this post in this car, I tend to agree. Since it didn’t come with shoulder belts, I doubt it’s really strong. I figured the best solution is to mount everything to the floor. The 4 point harnesses coming with large mounting plates to reinforce the floor, and I may get even bigger ones. I do need to get 5 of them, as it’s my wife, myself and 3 kids.

Klayfish wrote: I figured the best solution is to mount everything to the floor. The 4 point harnesses coming with large mounting plates to reinforce the floor, and I may get even bigger ones. I do need to get 5 of them, as it’s my wife, myself and 3 kids.

Umm..

No.

There is a proper way to mount the shoulder belts of a four point and the floor isn't it.

You're in for a world of hurt if you're in an accident and the belts go over the seat and down to the floor.

You need a harness bar to mount them to so that you don't get spinal compression in an impact.

If you're that concerned about safety, you wouldn't put your family in that car in the first place.

I love my old cars but I have no delusions about what will happen if I get hit in my '62 X-framed Chevy.

You don't have airbags, proper belts, side impact protection, a padded dash or probably even a collapsible column.

Leave the car alone, keep it for sunny weekend drives, be aware of your situation and stay out of rush-hour traffic and areas that are loaded with idiot drivers.

Shawn

Do not mount the harnesses to the floor!!!! It will compress the spine. If you think just a lap belt isn't enough, I would try to reinforce the door post.

friends old Impala had the third mount of the 3 point belts (in two seperate belts) attached to the roof as factory.

And yes.. do NOT attach to the floor.. that is worse than no seabelts at all

I don’t expect the car to react like a modern car would, as there are no “crush zones”, airbags, belt pretensioners, etc…, but I want to do what I can to improve the odds in a collision. I’ve seen well over 15,000 crashed cars in my career. So I fully understand old cars just can’t compare to new ones. I also have seen time and again the results of not wearing a seatbelt, regardless of the age of the car. Obviously, 99.99% of the cars I see are factory 3 point belt cars, so I don't have much experience with really old cars that were modified.

I hear what you guys are saying regarding the shoulder harnesses pulling downward. If your shoulders are the ones providing direct vertical support for the belts, I agree compression is a significant issue. However, look at the installation instructions from Wescoperformance. http://wescoperformance.stores.yahoo.net/4-point-seat-belt.html I think the idea is that the seat itself provides a buffer between your shoulders and the belts for downward force? The front bench in the Olds is too low , hence why I was planning to pull seats from a u-pull it yard. The door post on this Olds is pretty thin. I’m concerned if it would be strong enough to hold a shoulder belt.

I know this car will never be as safe as any modern car, and have no expectations of that, but I want to improve on what’s there now.

Wait... so with a 4 or 5 point harness, none of it should be mounted to the floor?

How does that work?

I don't know if any production front seat is going to be sturdy enough to prevent the belts from crushing it as you are pulled forward.

In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac: The shoulder straps should not be connected to the floor,especially in the manner shown on the instructions above. The lap portion can connect to the floor next to the seat.

You might be surprised on the handling part. First of all the car isn't as heavy as it looks, and secondly, all BOP B-cars from 64-97 and all B-Chevys from 71-97 pretty much shared the exact same frame and chassis.

I used several of the cast-offs from my 96 Impala SS on my 66 Bonneville.

curtis73 wrote: all BOP B-cars from 64-97 and all B-Chevys from 71-97 pretty much shared the exact same frame and chassis.

The BOP big cars prior to 1971 all used their own chassis and suspension, 1971 and newer they were all pretty much the same. There are some parts that may be adaptable like sway bars, but there wasn't a lot of direct interchange between the different makes prior to 1971.

To the original poster - decent tires, shocks and some sway bars (adapted from a later car as mentioned, or from an aftermarket source like Addco) will make a big difference.

edit: As far as safety belts go, personally I would be okay with the stock lap belts, but if you want to upgrade there are several aftermarket companies selling three point belts - Juliano's, Ssnake-Oyl and others.

The other issue with 4 point harnesses is the fact that it holds you upright in the seat and the roof of that car would be crushed in a rollover. Safety equipment consists of quite a bit more than seatbelts. Some of the other issues are door pillars that arent designed to avoid head injury in a side impact, no door reinforcement, no collapsible steering column (I dont think gm started doing that until the last 60s), no side frame rails, etc.
If you are really concerned about safety (which is completely understandable), by far the best course of action would be to sell that car and buy something from at least the early 80s. By then cars had better brakes and suspension, and a reasonable amount of saftey equipment (at least in cars like volkswagens, volvos, mercedes, saab, alfa milano and 164, and other such cars).
If you are going to keep that car, 5 lap belts and possibly a more modern steering wheel (like momo or nardi with a collapsible adapter) would be as far as i would go with those type of modificatipns, and some wider wheels with good tires and any suspension and brake work necessary to help avoid accidents in the first place.

No, not a daily driver. Sunny day cruise night only.

I'm not paranoid or scared. If that was the case, I wouldn't own a Miata, let my wife drive a Honda Fit, and I certainly wouldn't have bought this car. Hell, I'm hoping to have the budget to get back into HPDE soon, so I'm not afraid.

As much as anyone here, I understand that an old car will never meet the safety standards of new cars. That's why I mentioned all the crashed cars I've seen. If I was looking to put ABS, stability control and deer avoidance whistles on the car I'd agree that I'm paranoid. I realize there's no perfect answer here. Each potential solution has significant drawbacks (rollover w/4 point harness, mounting a shoulder belt to a small door post...) The car will never have the safety standards that newer cars do. I get it. I don't expect that. I understood that risk when I bought the car. But I don't see why I can't enjoy the car and try to improve on the safety, even if only a little.

NIce boat. Some huge springs and swaybars would make it handle...

I wouldn't put anything more than lap belts in it-unless you plan a full cage, racing seats, and everyone wearing helmets.

I strongly strongly urge you not put 4 point harnesses in. Beside the compression of the spine issue, the harness will hold you upright so if the car rolls you will be held upright. I would only do lap belts unless you are willing to spend a lot of time with a welder to strengthen the pillars to put in 3 points.

i'm another voice for just basic lap belts... enough to keep people from flying though the windsheild if something does happen....

side note... kewl car... I wish I could justify buying my friends '65 monaco sedan for just a weekend family cruizer :(....

Unless you are an engineer well versed in this sort of modification, I would leave it alone.

There is a fine line between safe and stupid. Just don't drive like a jag, or where other fools are around too often, and you should be fine. For the occasional road trip/weekend cruise/trip to the ice cream store, you will be fine.

Life is full of calculated risks and you can't prevent everyone from everything. If you are that concerned with safety of the vehicle, sell it. You can't add air bags, traction control, ABS, modern safety belts, crumple zones or anything like that easily, and without a thorough understanding of the systems, some FEA, a few crash tests, etc you will end up with a car that is far more dangerous than the General designed it back in the day. I would hate to see little Jimmy and Susie end up in a wheelchair because Daddy installed safety equipment without understanding the consequences of his actions all in the name of being a good parent.