JF's '61 Olds is available again.........

[JollySipper]

I just saw where the '61 Oldsmobile Super 88 from Jimmy Flintstone has became available again. I really want to get one this time around! I have a quick question, though...... I have a '61 Impala that has fallen to disrepair that I want to use the chassis from. Would this be an ideal chassis for this project? It looks like the glass may even be the same between the two cars? Also, if I wanted to add an engine, what engine would be the one to use?

Has anyone built one of these? If so, please share!

[MrObsessive]

TJ, you'd want to use the chassis out of the AMT '62 Pontiac (tweaked to suit the wheelbase). Starting with the '61's, Pontiac and Olds shared the perimeter type frame with the side rails running along the rockers. Chevy, Buick and Cadillac still hung onto the "X" frame during those years up until '65. Certain GM makes though (Riviera comes to mind) were still using the X frame through 1970! 🤯

Here are a couple pics of what the chassis should be like for that '61 Olds.

Hope this helps! I've not built the Olds, but I have Ray's (R&R) kit from years ago. JF's I thought was always a bit nicer as the roofline looks better on his, which is correct for that as the '88's were B bodies..........same as the Chevy "bubbletop".

Edited May 31, 2022 by MrObsessive

[JollySipper]

Thanks, Bill man.... That helps a bunch! and If I get the custom Pontiac kit, I'll have a cool button-tuck interior and such kustom stuff.....

So which engine would be best suited for the build? Would the 421 be pretty close?

 

[MrObsessive]

38 minutes ago, JollySipper said:

Thanks, Bill man.... That helps a bunch! and If I get the custom Pontiac kit, I'll have a cool button-tuck interior and such kustom stuff.....

So which engine would be best suited for the build? Would the 421 be pretty close?

 

You're welcome!

I can't think of an engine offhand that would work for that. Perhaps one of the old AMT street rod kits has an Olds? The 421 may work.....I'm not that familiar with the architecture on that to know for sure. One of other folks on here that know more than I can give a more definitive answer. I know that MCW years ago did a resin Olds engine as I have one. I don't know where it was copied from, but I know it's in the resin kit I have as that's one of those "someday" projects I'd like to do.

[MrObsessive]

Just now, MrObsessive said:

You're welcome!

I can't think of an engine offhand that would work for that. Perhaps one of the old AMT street rod kits has an Olds? The 421 may work.....I'm not that familiar with the architecture on that to know for sure. One of the other folks on here that know more than I can give a more definitive answer. I know that MCW years ago did a resin Olds engine as I have one. I don't know where it was copied from, but I know it's in the resin kit I have as that's one of those "someday" projects I'd like to do.

 

[sfhess]

Maybe the engine from the Lindberg/AMT 67 Cutlass or AMT 66 Cutlass?  Also, the MPC/AMT 69 442.

[MrObsessive]

1 hour ago, sfhess said:

Maybe the engine from the Lindberg/AMT 67 Cutlass or AMT 66 Cutlass?  Also, the MPC/AMT 69 442.

I just thought of the engine out of the '64 Cutlass. That I think is closer in architecture since they're only a few model years apart perhaps? 🤔

[sfhess]

1 hour ago, MrObsessive said:

I just thought of the engine out of the '64 Cutlass. That I think is closer in architecture since they're only a few model years apart perhaps? 🤔

That's a good possibility.  Did the Olds 394 have the same architecture as the 330?

[MrObsessive]

11 minutes ago, sfhess said:

That's a good possibility.  Did the Olds 394 have the same architecture as the 330?

That I don't know..............I'm not familiar with those engines at all. 🤔

[Rodent]

I was thinking that the 303 from the Revell '50 may be the closest, but any of them will need updating / backdating.

[JollySipper]

1 hour ago, Rodent said:

I was thinking that the 303 from the Revell '50 may be the closest, but any of them will need updating / backdating.

I was kinda wondering about that one, it being the 'Rocket' engine, and the custom '50 would have the automatic transmission.......

[Rodent]

Valvecover shape is closer that the later ones.

I don't know what transmission the 1:1 used, so that may have to come from something else. Remember Mr. Guthmiller's quest for the correct transmission for his Grand Prix?

[Can-Con]

For a stock engine, the only one I can think of that would look correct is from the JoHan '63 Olds Starfire. Pretty crude but it's the only one with the correct stock valve covers. 

The hotrod engine in the AMT '40 Ford sedan is also an Olds but it also looks earlier.

Personally, I'd just swap in a later engine from one of the 442s but that wouldn't be very "stock". 

[Can-Con]

Here's a pic of a '61 Olds 88 engine 

[JollySipper]

1 hour ago, Rodent said:

Remember Mr. Guthmiller's quest for the correct transmission for his Grand Prix?

I seem to remember he had to modify an existing kit piece into what he was needing.....

30 minutes ago, Can-Con said:

Personally, I'd just swap in a later engine from one of the 442s but that wouldn't be very "stock".

I might end up doing something similar, or I could always LS swap it! It's gonna be a custom anyways.....

[Ace-Garageguy]

14 hours ago, JollySipper said:

...So which engine would be best suited for the build? Would the 421 be pretty close?

A 1961 Olds 88 would have a first-gen (1949-1964) OHV Oldsmobile V8 in the 303-324-371-394 family, specifically the 394.

All those engines share architecture and are very similar visually, except for things like valve covers and accessory drives and induction.

The Revell 1950 Olds 303 is an excellent starting point, and it's easy to change valve covers, intake, and pulleys/drives.

The much earlier Revell Anglia / Thames panel also have excellent 394 engines with injection, the Revell SWC Willys has the same engine with a GMC blower, and the Revell Orange Crate has the engine again, but with a Potvin front-drive blower setup.

The old AMT '40 Ford has a nice Olds 3X2 intake manifold that's readily adaptable to any of them, and a better front cover than in the Revell kit...and though the '50 Revell pulleys and fan look better, the lower pulley is wrong for a '61, and you'll have to research and probably fabricate brackets for the generator, power steering, and AC if so equipped.

A single 2 or 4bbl would be right for a stock '61, but the '50 Olds manifold can be modded to look good to anyone but a real hair-splitter; just use a later carb.

For a '61 stocker, the above mentioned '63 Olds from Johan would be the preferred valve cover donor, but if you're building a custom, any finned valve covers with a similar bolt pattern will work. The Revell Anglia / Thames, SWC Willys, and Orange Crate parts are correct.

If you prefer something simpler, the '63 Johan unit will get you pretty much there, but it is, as mentioned previously, kinda blobular and simplified.

EDIT: The Johan '63 Olds kit would also have the closest representation of the correct stock automatic trans for a '61.

The OEM slushbox would most likely be the Roto-Hydramatic 375, widely referred to as a "Slim Jim". The Johan has a not-good version, but it's the only representation of that particular gearbox I'm aware of.

Manual transmissions were still available in the big Oldsmobile, but they're very rare, and were essentially a side-shift version of the ancient LaSalle 3-speed box dating back to the 1930s. That trans is behind the '50 Olds 303 engine in the first version.

Edited June 1, 2022 by Ace-Garageguy
CLARITY and ACCURACY

[ChrisBcritter]

What about the engine from the '65 Olds 88 Modified Stocker? Transmission would have to be changed to the earlier one.

Edited June 6, 2022 by ChrisBcritter