Thread: New Olds 56

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Hello all out there,
My name is Pauly Boy and in the next week I will be buying a 56 Oldsmobile Rocket 88. It is a hurting car right now but I have fallen in love with it. It has 53K miles on the original engine and leaks a little oil. Not bad though. I am very excited about this car and hope to make it a custom cruiser. Almost everything is there. Original hub caps, chrome badges, interior, spare tire.....everything. The only thing missing is the original door pannels. The bumpers need to be re-chromed and there is a tiny little rust spot on the underside of the hood. All in all this car is sound. It drives strait and true and has good power for how big it is. I can take my hands off the wheel and there is no drift. I am very excited about this car. Its my little gift to myself for finishing 8 years in the Navy. I hope to be on these boards often to get some tips and tricks of the trade. Happy cruising.


P.S. Rockabillys rule!!!!! lol

what a great rod this could be. keep us posted

welcome, sounds like a nice ride, post some pic.

Welcome, let me guess your a s.d. fan ,hope you like what you find here,and just a little hint theres not to many of us rockabilles here , just alot of gearheads

There ain't that many Rockabillies anywhere any more.

First off welcome to the club and these forums, The members seem to be very friendly and real helpful.
I'm a fairly new member myself and also have a 56 88 2drhdtp in my stable. My first old car and also the only one I wll never sell. Quite a few others have been sold since.
Fell in love with mine just like you. They have tons of power and some really nice styling. Let the masses have a 56 belair. Olds put that rocket on the fenders for a reason. One of the best kept secrets in the hot rod and old car world I think.
If there's anything I can help with just let me know.
Meanwhile welcome aboard, Randy

Welcome to the forum. Oldsmobile guys are in the minority, but we are starting to grow.

Sounds like a great ride. By the way, tripower setups for this particular engine go real cheap on Ebay. I sold one a few years ago with 3 Strombergs on it for $ 250.00 and I see some still going that cheap. They look great atop these Rockets.

Like randyshotrods said, anything we can do to help, let us know.

Don

Forgive me, but whats a tripower? I love cars but haven't done much with them so my knowledge is pretty limited. Thats why I am here though. I'm sure I will have many questions. Thanks.

oh, okay. For better feul delivery? I do know what a carb is, but what would be the benefit of this set up?

Welcome aboard SickBoy and fellow Oldsmobile enthusiast! The 56 is a great car, last of the shoebox Oldsmobiles. They have beautiful lines (almost as nice as the 57's) and can be made into really fine customs. Or you can keep it original and make a great crusier out of it by improving the suspension and brakes.

I have a 57 Rocket 88 that has been customized. Nose, decked, shaved, and frenched. All new interior including custom console, but still runing the original 371 cid V8 with the J2 package which is the Tri-power setup. What good is Tri-power? Well it certainly is an attention getter and a magnet for people who remember then when they were new. It will put a deep dent in your gas budget if you run it hard enough.

Does the 56 have the 324 cid engine in it, if so, that is a good mill. Only problem with the old Olds engines is that some parts are becoming difficult to come by. Many parts are available from www.fusick.com and Egge Machine also makes engine repair and upkeep parts. Some people tranplant newer engines into them, like the Olds 455 or Chevy 350 or 454.

When you get your ride post some pix.

I don't know what engine is in it. It has blue valve covers with Rocket in yellow. I will see what info I can find stamped on the car. I haven't bought this one yet. I am going to have a mechanic buddy of mine check it out before I buy it. I have decided that I will buy this year and model somewhere, no matter what. I just fell in love with it. I even had a dream I was cruising in it. Sucked when I woke up! hahahaha. I will get some pics of it for you guys too. Its so beautiful. Now I just gotta think of a name for it. I was thinking of calling it my Oldlady. Get it? Old-lady. hahaha, okay, not funny.

Sweet ride Sick!
My best friend from Jr High inherited his family's '56 98. Our first excursion into hotrodding and customs. We frenched the tail lights and put everything on it we could get out of the JC Whitney catalog.

d

Hey old-Oldsmobile guys. If you find you need parts for your older V8 rocket motors, remember, there are a lot of parts that you can steal from small block chevies. Not everything will fit, but quite a few hard to come by parts will. If you need more info, here you go http://www.442.com/oldsfaq/ofeng.htm

Wow, I gotta hand it to all of you. I have never gotten any kind of welcome like this. I'm very happy I found this forum. Thanks for making me feel like family. I'm going out this weekend to get some pics of her. I will be sure to post them. I was listening to Brian Setzer this morning. He sings a song says "who could really love this car but me". Made me think of this one. Thanks again, I am sure we will have some good times here. Is anyone from the Dallas area? I live in Wylie, maybe in the future we could cruise together. Have a great day everyone.