Introducing, the Bronze Battle Cruiser, the 1977 Delta 88

So uh.. I bought a '77 Delta 88, 350, automatic turbo 350, new tires front and rear, still got the steel hubcaps matching the ones I had on my '86 Custom Cruiser.

The good:

GM Crate engine put in 1993 when the car had about 81k miles on it, has about 173k on it now, so less than 100k on the engine, trans had a new filter and the fluid changed in 2k3, has a new alternator, starter, battery, radiator and radiator hoses. Runs like a dream, shifts butter smooth, four barrel opens pretty much on command, eager to turn the tires into smoke. Almost rust free, drivers side door has some rust, suspect there may be some creeping around under the vinyl top. Headliner is up, heat seems to work fine, no AC, has it, but doesn't work. Valid inspection sticker thru 2nd of next year. Reliable, got me 20 miles home without a single problem other than the staggering realization that the brakes are a tad touchy in the rear.

The bad:

Rear brakes lock up if you go on 'em hard, almost slid turning the car around. Little rough around the edges, drivers seat is torn and spewing foam, think it may have been in a front end wreck, header panel seems to be white underneath from over spray. Muffler muffles too well, (More of a nitpick, 'cause I like 'em loud), and it looks like it got punted by a rock or speed bump, will probably replace. Suspension is a bit bouncy, tolerable, and safe, just bouncier than I like. Exhaust leak somewhere, faintly heard, probably won't fail inspection. No power options, solid bench seat up front, no tilt column, no rear speakers or wiring (means I have to run wiring when I put a stereo in it). Speedometer may not be reading properly, was doing 5 under and keeping up with traffic. Passengers side mirror is oddly the wrong one for the car, mysterious duct tape on the rear Oldsmobile emblem. Covered in bird dirt, absolutely COVERED!


Here's the pics:

http://s55.photobucket.com/user/Dead-Reckon/library/1977%20Delta%2088%202013

I'm gonna make y'all guess how much I paid for it. Personally? Make it a tad louder, get me a new seat, tilt steering column, and a working stereo with four speakers, and I'll love my "new" car. Oh, it still has the original 1977 gas cap, oddly enough.

 

Looks exactly like the one my uncle bought in 77, except his was a 2 door. If you were driving on I-81 and keeping up with traffic when the speedometer was showing 5 under, then your speedometer is indeed off.

 

*cough*noplates*cough*

Was gonna try to make it to the DMV in time, but I didn't, and I didn't take I-81, took 220 back home to Salem... But managed to get lost in downtown Roanoke, find my way back to Melrose, and then home. I'm not too worried about the speedometer, I got use to the car about half way back. Thing has waaaay more power than my '86 OCC did. I may have squealed the tires by accident a couple of times, but I plead the fifth. I think the turning circle is different on it too, not sure if it's larger or narrower, oh also forgot to mention the power steering pump whines near full lock, will probably need to be replaced eventually.

What do ya' think I paid for it? It's no fun if you don't guess.

 

I'll be da first to guess 'how much' ....

my guess,,, 500$ :d

 

Nice! Thats a real battle cruiser for sure!
77 was the last year of an automotive era at GM.

I'll guess $750.

 

I was gonna guess $500! Oh well. I guess $452.

 

Looks good huge trunk. You could put a Zombie in the trunk if you so inclined.


My guess... $625.00

 

Well Fannie got the closest, so I'll go ahead and say it, $650, would've haggled a bit more if the car didn't have nice tires. I'm thinking of getting one of those fake arms that hangs out of the trunk, as a matter of a fact Fannie. Maybe next Halloween I'll rig up said arm and some fake blood. Doubt it'll hurt the paint, it's survived 36 years and it really looks good all things considered. I've seen people 36 years old that have fared worse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL23slT1ckU


I've since covered the seat in a twin bed sheet which, amazingly is almost the exact same color as the seat. I tucked it at the bottom, pinched it at the headrests, shouldn't go anywhere. I've also pulled the radio to see if it had the plugs I needed, and behold! It has them AND has a diagram on the back stamped into the steel of the housing its self. I'm going to use the front speaker plugs and the existing hot wires for a new stereo when I install it. I can use the plugs off the stereo by unsoldering them and re-soldering them to the wires of the plug that comes with my new head unit, so it's an adapter. Only wire I've gotta tap into is the hot wire for the cigarette lighter 'cause I need an always on circuit for the memory wire. I won't be using that to do more than charge my phone, so, it'll be fine for that. got a full 1.5 DIN opening there now because of the 1989 dashboard panel, it's a slightly different shade of plood, but oh well. Once I have the brakes sorted out, change the oil, and see if it needs any other work, I'll get a Pioneer head unit, two 3.5" kicker speakers for the dash, two 6x9" kicker speakers for the rear deck, and some speaker wire 'cause it hasn't got any too the rear. May have to find some brackets for the rear speakers, not sure, but I think so.

Oh, before I forget, inventory of the car, automotive archeology as I call it.

4 empty packs of marlboro cigarettes
6 empty cans of redbull
1 empty mc-d's french fry container
1 old blower motor for the heater
1 not so safe full sized spare tire + wheel
1 funnel
1 empty coca cola can
about 30 cents worth of change, so that brings the cost of the car down to $649.70.
A fork wedged beneath the bottom and back of the passengers side of the front seat. (Yes, a metal, household fork.)
A seemingly unused AC Delco oil filter
1 toy Smurf statuette
1 toy Minion (From the Despicable Me movie franchise, think it makes noise but the battery is dead)
And some paperwork, documenting things like the transmission having its fluid and filter changed back in 2k3.
Lastly, 1 dead cigarette lighter.

Surprisingly, thought he car was likely smoked in, I don't see any ash, or any signs the ash trays where used, doesn't smell like smoke either. Perhaps they only smoked out side of the car, though I'm not sure. I haven't found any bolts with unknown origin either, so that's good, I hate finding those in used cars. You can't help but thinking "What, if anything, should this be fastening onto this car?"

 

Yeah, my father and I found over $10 in change in that Camaro he bought about two years ago. We had to soak most of it overnight because it was sticky with whatever was spilled into the center console, but that was a nice chunk of gas money. Love it when cars pay you, 'cept when they do it like that commercial where the car starts spitting coins out of the vents.

 

Congrats on the new ride!

 

Great deal on the battle wagon! Those Oldsmobiles are neat cars, that's for sure. Too bad you didn't save the front seat out of the 89 wagon. It would have fit right on in! Well, the front seat out of either wagon, come to that. It is the same floor pan after all. I have a feeling you are really going to enjoy this new car even if it is not a wagon. And yes, that 350 is a LOT more power and a lot more torque than the 307 in your old ones. With good tuning, the fuel consumption won't be very much different, either, even without the overdrive.

 

You mean the battle cruiser? Also thanks. As for the front seat, it wouldn't have worked, power seat, door controls, too much wiring. I just want to find a manual seat for this car. Wish I would've saved the dashboard though. The Delta 88 went 20 miles highway, 10 miles wondering through town lost 'cause I missed my turn (I don't go to the northeastern side of town very much at all), on about 1/8th a tank of gas. I think it's doing great, I have some paperwork that the carb was rebuilt and tuned about a decade ago. I'll probably keep this car as a project, and do a little top end work to the engine to make her sit up and talk to ya' a bit more. The shocks are history, they are already driving me nuts, I crawled in the trunk to try to see how the spare tire mounted, and the rear end sank quite a bit. I mean, yeah I weigh 215lbs, but putting one person in the trunk or back seat should not make the car lean unless they weigh 350+. Front is just as bad, they look original.

So, list of things to do:

Have my father help me tighten the exhaust manifold bolts, one or both of the manifolds are loose and ticking, like my '86 did after we had the exhaust put on, drove us nuts, we thought there was a valve ticking or something. It's the same noise, and I can hear the exhaust leak when I get down beside the passengers side of the car, as well as smell the old gas.

Oil change

Check why the rear brakes are locking when the pedal is pressed down
hard, possibly just needs a bleed, could be a bad piston or two. Might need rear brakes rebuilt and/or master cylinder. Hopefully just needs a bleed.

Stereo, pioneer head unit, model DEH-x7500HD, Rear speakers Rockford Fosgate Power T1693 6x9", front speakers, JL Audio C2-350x 3-1/2" speakers. No wire to the rear, or speaker brackets, so I'll have to run wire and get creative for the 6x9's, there are openings, so I'll likely just line 'em up, drill holes, run bolts with self locking nuts, cut holes in the rear parcel shelf cardboard / insulation, attach the grills that come with the speakers, and and presto, clean installation in a ratty car. Front speakers are easy and simple to install, won't use factory wiring, think it uses common ground, meaning the head unit (stereo) shares the ground with the chassis.A common ground will fry a modern MOSFET (Chip based) head unit.

Tie rods, center link, idler arm, new steering shaft (Don't think they've been replaced, at 178k miles, it's high time they are.). Steering shaft takes a lot of slack out of the wheel, though there isn't much in this one.

Exhaust, muffler looks like it has been bashed on something, probably a rock, the driveway where the car lived was pretty bad. The muffler works, and works too well, I'm going to have a Cherry Bomb 2" in/out Turbo Muffler installed, they idle real quiet and growl quite loudly. I've grown fond of turbo mufflers since the short time I had to spend with that one on my '86, it steadily grew louder over time, but not harshly, it was like someone was slowly turning up a volume knob. Probably should've pulled it, but I couldn't have been bothered to jack the car up. Also remove the catyletic converter, the state doesn't care if it isn't on there for something that old, I don't want it stopping up and blowing a head gasket as I've seen happen before. Might just run a pipe through it like we did to the '86.

Shocks, springs seem good, remember, stiffness is the shock, bounce is the spring, if the car does neither, you need both, as was the case with my wagon. This car, however, bounces, not a lot yet, so I've got time to replace the shocks. Probably go with some Bilstein's like I was gonna put on my wagon.

New bushings, ball joints.

Check front sway bar, if it's in good shape, keep it, if not, replace it. Add rear sway bar, strange that the sedan doesn't have one, they almost always did. Might try to get one off a 9C1 caprice, same chassis. Possibly change rear control arms for beefier ones.

That's all I've got for now, I will be on the look out for a drivers side door, as mine is rusted quite badly at the bottom right hand corner, maybe a passengers side fender, because it is starting to rust, though can likely be patched. Doors don't patch well, all the abuse they go through makes things come loose. Also want to find another front seat, and if I get lucky and find one with a nice back seat, I'll take that too. Wouldn't mind finding a passengers side mirror for my car, the one on it isn't right for the car, but that doesn't matter much.

 

Base suspension on these cars was a front bar only. The Handling Package, available on both the 2 and 4 door cars, and I think the wagon, came with the upgraded front and added a rear bar. It also included uprated springs and shocks, even though the factory shocks SUCKED more than a Hoover! The stock 205/75R15 tires sucked just as much.

 

Congrats! Looks great. You did good!