The following is a short story of how I got my 1971 Olds Delta 88. I was 15 years old and didn't have my drivers' license yet. I was working a lot at a nearby golf club as a caddie since I was 12 to save up enough money so I could have a car in high school. A car was more important to me to get instead of football or wrestling. My parents said that they would buy a car for me but I had to be 17 because that was when my sister got her first car. Well, I figured that since I was going to use my own money, it would only be fair that I could get it sooner right? Yes, that was acceptable. After 3 long years and numerous discussions with my parents, I had enough money to buy a car with enough left over to cover immediate repairs and bodywork ( which was if I did the work myself. )
My dad thought it would be a great "father and son" project if we both worked on the bodywork and mechanics together. So we searched in the papers for used cars and found a 1971 Olds Delta 88 for $600.00. We went to look at it, and it needed some work, but not too much. It had a 350cu.in. 2 barrel carb, four doors, and bench seats front and rear with some "old person" patterned seat covers, and it was a very bad Earl Shieb wannabe blue color that was all over the car. You know the guy..."I'll paint any car any color for just $99.95 no ups and no extras" What a total eyesore, but soon it was mine. It looked bad, but in my eyes, it was the most beautiful car a kid could have.
The work began. The car went in the garage on blocks, and immediately we started in on the bodywork. Stripping paint, sanding, bondo, etc. Along with this came some of the repairs to the engine, power steering, wiring, you name it. My dad even found a guy who was pretty much giving away a 1971 Olds Delta 88 2 door which we got for parts. That car ran $50.00 but I must have stripped off $1200.00 worth of parts. What a deal! Slowly the work got done. Then in June I went on a weekend fishing/camping trip with a friend. I had a speeding ticket at the time, and drove my dad's 1977 Cutlass ( which was going to be next on the restoring list ) when on the way home I got into a car accident. It was a real mess. Fortunately it was not my fault, but dad's car was totaled.
This made a change in plans. We had to hurry up and finish the car until dad got another one. I was in the process of rebuilding the 455 cu.in. engine from the parts car, and got some bad bolts ( unknowingly. ) It seemed like a week only, but it was finished. The first time the car was painted Dark Pewter Metallic and had a Dove Gray half vinyl top, Keystone Classic mag wheels and this bad ass 455 cu.in. super gas guzzler engine, and dual-exhaust. Over the next couple of years I did other work like replaced the seats, wired in a new stereo system, touched up here and there, and kept it running.
I then turned 18 and after school I enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. I asked my dad if he could take care of my baby while I was away, and he agreed.
One day while I was in Okinawa, Japan I gave permission for my sister to use the car and give it a run to Indianapolis where she was living at the time. Unknowingly to me there was a problem when she got down there after her trip. The engine blew. Yep, those bad bolts. The heads broke off the bolts and went down in the crank and chewed up the whole block inside. My dad promised to take care of my car, so he went and had another 455 dropped in it. Along with that, he redid the body again because it was not holding up to storage very well. This time it was painted 1988 Porche Cassis Red Metallic.
They all came to pick me up in my car at the airport 41 months later when I finally came back home. The car looked so nice. I didn't even recognize it. I had it for a couple more years and drove it everyday 44 miles to and from school for a couple more years. 4 years later after the night at the airport, the car was not doing so well. The engine was blowing smoke, the radiator blew, this vibration was coming out of the differential, the rust was really coming back with a vengeance.
What to do...What to do! I decided that I needed a new car after graduation to start my new job, and to put my olds back in the garage. Little by little I started in on the body again. This time I went bare metal with the paint stripping front to back, and chewed off all of the old bondo everywhere. I learned that some of this bondo wasn't even necessary. It didn't fill any holes or dents, it was just there. I took off the fenders and redid those with fiberglass filler and undercoated the high rust areas. This third time I gave the body a serious overhaul. While this was being done, I got financial backing from my wife to have the engine professionally done at a machine shop. 7 months and a lot of money later, I got the car back with a super cherry 455 bored out 60 over ( equal to a 468cu.in. 7.7L ) with a mild cam, conversion to HEI distributor/ignition, Edelbrock performer manifold with a Holley 650cfm 4 bbl carb, 10:1 compression pistons, new lifters, push rods, timing chain, valves, and a new 4 row core radiator to handle the heat. Complete with blueprints and balancing, and chrome accents. This thing hauls ass for such a big sled.
Finally I was finishing up the bodywork. I decided to keep the color the same, but ditch the half top and go with a full black padded vinyl tucked around the back window, like limos. Eventually I completed all I wanted. I ordered and installed the seat covers myself, the rugs, the trunk recarpeted, the stereo system, new American Racing mags and tires, etc. I had it appraised back in April of '99 for $8,500.00.
No, I won't ever get all of the money out of this car that I put in to it, but after 15 years...who will? This is my first car which I still have. Not too many people can say that in this world. The third time is a charm for the restoration process. From now on I'll pay to have it done little by little. Check out the photo album of my car, the specs are there too for those of you gear heads.
Thanks for reading my tale. Now go see the pictures!