1985 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale Brougham

[ChevyPusha]

@ Gearhead Tool- Thanks for posting the pics!!! That 4 door delta 88 looks pretty clean!

@Clevy- No far no issues at all with the MSD ignition stuff running like a champ.

The Oldsmobile 307 is like the Olds version of the Chevy 305IMHO

They came in lots of Oldsmobile cars Cutlass, 98 Regency, Delta 88, Toronado. Also came in some Buicks and Caddys.

 

[SS1970chrysler]

Originally Posted By: ChevyPusha


As far as my ignition system I went through that earlier this year and did the following:

New MSD GM HEI Cap & Rotor
New MSD GM HEI coil
New MSD HEI 8mm street fire wires
New AC delco plugs #41-630

This woke my 307 quite a bit, I saw MSD also makes a module like pertronix but I didn't know what the module did or what it was for. Can you explain that part to me please????


In short, it uses a different program to fire your ignition system. It is programmed to run more for power and higher RPM's than the stock module which is set up more for economy and emissions. The most immediate change was the sound of the engine after installing the module. it sounded like it had an old 350 instead of the quiet 307, kinda like the '68 Cutlass I had years before. Another change was it actually had some acceleration in top gear. previously, you had to push it enough to get the trans to downshift in order to pass things on the highway.

 

[crazyoildude]

i ran 10w40 pennzoil with a delco filter until the went e [censored] then went to purolator used it as a company car and logged a little over 400,000 miles on it before getting rid of it with a perfect running 5.0 307 engine. it was running perfect on the flat bed on its way out. by far the best car period! ours was an 83 custom cruiser wagon.

 

[Oldswagon]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
And where is this 307 coming from. I thought just the toronado's had them in the front wheel drive models. Were they an olds engine?


Your Olds used a 305 because it was a Canadian market Cutlass. Most Canadian Cutlass Supremes used Chevy engines, except the 4-4-2 models which used a 307-HO. However, all US models used an Olds 307, which was esentially a 350 Olds with a smaller bore. Both Canadian and US market fullsize Olds' used 307 Oldsmobiles. My brother had an 1986 Cutlass Supreme with a Chev 305 and it moved out decently with true duals (no cats) and a decent tune.

I have found the 305 Chevy generally longer lasting (other than the soft cam years), more powerful and better on fuel than the 307 Olds. I have owned b-b-body cars with both 305s and 307s and much prefered the 305 Chevs. I had one of my 307's which had issues with blow-by once it got to higher miles, and I know several others who experienced this problem too.

 

[Oldswagon]

My former daily driver was a 1985 Olds Delta 88 Royale. I used to use Pennzoil Long Life 0W30 oil, as I had coil weather to contend with. I used Wix filters. It was still running strong when we scrapped the car a few years ago, due to excessive rust. It was a tough reliable car, but rust was an issue after nearly 25 Ontario winters.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Some folks prefer the Oldsmobile engines to the Chevy small blocks, though the historical differences may have been largely moot by the 1980s. Oldsmobile blocks traditionally had a very high nickle content that resulted in fairly strong lower ends. You didn't have to remove the distributor to change an intake manifold, which was a nice plus if an intake gasket needed replacing. I also preferred the spark plug location on the Olds blocks (above the exhaust manifold). My roommate's Monte Carlo with the 305 required removing one of the wheels to get to some of those plugs.

I owned two Oldsmobile 307s, and replaced one of the 307s with an Oldsmobile 403 (same size externally). They were very good engines, with relatively few modifications through the years. Oldsmobile fans loved the Oldsmobile engines and Chevrolet fans loved the Chevrolet engines.

 

[crazyoildude]

both those engines are great engines i had the 307 in that big heavy olds and it was a little underpowered but very reliable. i always liked the 350 but the 305 was a good engine also not as good as the 307 in my book.
We rebuilt hundreds of each over the years im sure at my engine shop most of the chevys had cam problems most of the olds engines were from coolant leaks around the intake manifolds. i think those engines were some of the most trouble free engines made in the beginning 70s through the late ninetys of course some got sludged up from the oil of that era we has a 69 impala we changed the oil on every 2500 miles that i remember scooping out the sludge in handfuls it was unreal i was just a kid then but i remember that like it was yesterday and those days my dad used pennzoil with z7 lol
We always liked pennzoil and still like it today the only reason we dont use it these days is because we buy oil in the drums from whoever has the best deal on oil with the ratings we use.

 

[Oldswagon]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Some folks prefer the Oldsmobile engines to the Chevy small blocks, though the historical differences may have been largely moot by the 1980s. Oldsmobile blocks traditionally had a very high nickle content that resulted in fairly strong lower ends. You didn't have to remove the distributor to change an intake manifold, which was a nice plus if an intake gasket needed replacing. I also preferred the spark plug location on the Olds blocks (above the exhaust manifold). My roommate's Monte Carlo with the 305 required removing one of the wheels to get to some of those plugs.

I owned two Oldsmobile 307s, and replaced one of the 307s with an Oldsmobile 403 (same size externally). They were very good engines, with relatively few modifications through the years. Oldsmobile fans loved the Oldsmobile engines and Chevrolet fans loved the Chevrolet engines.


I like Olds V8's, just not 307's, especially small port post-1985 engines. They didn't seem to last as long, and were very underpowered compared to other 5.0L engines (Ford and Chev). I had better luck with the 350 Olds. They were torquier than the Chev 350's, but didn't have the same top end or willingness to rev. I am not a huge fan of a 305, just had much better luck with them than the 307s.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: Oldswagon
I like Olds V8's, just not 307's, especially small port post-1985 engines.


The ports certainly got smaller in 1985. I had a 1984 engine and a 1987 engine. I actually preferred the 1987 engine for smoothness...it was a very smooth, very smooth, engine. It also had more off-idle torque than the 1984 engine had. The 1984 engine would spin out a little freer, while the 1987 engine was pretty much out of breath by about 4,000 rpm.

I never even had to choke the 1987 engine in warmer weather. It acted very much like a fuel-injected engine. Both had the same somewhat rudimentary computer-controlled Quadrajet carburetor. I still have Doug Roe's excellent book on tuning Rochester Q-jet carbs.

Alas, the '87 engine had a knock in it. To the best of my recollection, it'd rev up quiet, then clack-clack-clack its way back down to idle. Many suggested a bad wrist pin. Could have been, I'm not sure. That car (an '87 Buick Regal I bought for 500 bucks) had the more desireable 200-4R transmission with 3.08:1 rear gears. My nicer car (an '84 Olds Cutlass) had the 200-C with 2.41:1 gears. Both cars had the F41 suspension, but the rear bar on the Buick had gotten gone at some point before I owned it. I swapped out the 1987 307 for a very much un-computer-controlled 403 from a 1978 Regency 98. Paid $325 for the (running) engine, tore it down, had it bored .030 over with new valves, polished crank, installed a fat Wolverine cam, and had a lot of fun in that car.

 

[Oldswagon]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd


The ports certainly got smaller in 1985. I had a 1984 engine and a 1987 engine. I actually preferred the 1987 engine for smoothness...it was a very smooth, very smooth, engine. It also had more off-idle torque than the 1984 engine had. The 1984 engine would spin out a little freer, while the 1987 engine was pretty much out of breath by about 4,000 rpm.

I never even had to choke the 1987 engine in warmer weather. It acted very much like a fuel-injected engine. Both had the same somewhat rudimentary computer-controlled Quadrajet carburetor. I still have Doug Roe's excellent book on tuning Rochester Q-jet carbs.

Alas, the '87 engine had a knock in it. To the best of my recollection, it'd rev up quiet, then clack-clack-clack its way back down to idle. Many suggested a bad wrist pin. Could have been, I'm not sure. That car (an '87 Buick Regal I bought for 500 bucks) had the more desireable 200-4R transmission with 3.08:1 rear gears. My nicer car (an '84 Olds Cutlass) had the 200-C with 2.41:1 gears. Both cars had the F41 suspension, but the rear bar on the Buick had gotten gone at some point before I owned it. I swapped out the 1987 307 for a very much un-computer-controlled 403 from a 1978 Regency 98. Paid $325 for the (running) engine, tore it down, had it bored .030 over with new valves, polished crank, installed a fat Wolverine cam, and had a lot of fun in that car.


Yes, they were pretty smooth, and had great off idle torque. I remember the peak power was 140 hp at only 3200 RPM! The 1985 and newer engines also had more peak toque than the older engines. I had a lot of exhaust leaks on one of my 307's at the exhaust manifolds which kind of made them sound rougher. My '85 had those weird stainless manifolds, but I had more problems with the cast iron ones. My 85 Detla 88 was a Canadian emissions car so it had no feedback carb, just a standard Q-jet. It too started very quickly, I could just touch the key in the summer and it'd fire up. In the winter it'd start without the choke when I used a tank heater even at -30 (the hot air choke shut was disabled by the heat of the tank heater).

I had an Olds Custom Cruiser wagon with a 307 that I had planned to swap a 403 into until the car and engine were distroyed in a garage fire. It was a 1978 Olds 403 out of a Trans Am, with a mild cam and intake. That 307 had a hard time moving that big heavy wagon, especially with trailer in tow. It had the feedback carb, which I rebuilt once during my ownership. I much prefered the mechanical carbs.

 

[mechtech2]

Originally Posted By: SS1970chrysler
Originally Posted By: ChevyPusha


As far as my ignition system I went through that earlier this year and did the following:

New MSD GM HEI Cap & Rotor
New MSD GM HEI coil
New MSD HEI 8mm street fire wires
New AC delco plugs #41-630

This woke my 307 quite a bit, I saw MSD also makes a module like pertronix but I didn't know what the module did or what it was for. Can you explain that part to me please????


In short, it uses a different program to fire your ignition system. It is programmed to run more for power and higher RPM's than the stock module which is set up more for economy and emissions. The most immediate change was the sound of the engine after installing the module. it sounded like it had an old 350 instead of the quiet 307, kinda like the '68 Cutlass I had years before. Another change was it actually had some acceleration in top gear. previously, you had to push it enough to get the trans to downshift in order to pass things on the highway.


What program is different?
When you change all sorts of parts at the same time, why arbitrarily choose one to bestow any improvement on?

 

[Hokiefyd]

I had an exhaust leak from the driver side cast manifold on my '84, and replaced the manifold to fix it. No gasket, just two smooth surfaces trying to seal perfectly. The manifold started to pit, causing the leak. The '87 had the "log" exhaust manifolds, which looked like they had horrible flow. But I guess they worked because that motor had a lot of torque.

 

[SS1970chrysler]

In the case of my previous Olds, the module was the only part changed at that time. I know it was programmed or setup different because I used to have to reinstall the factory module to pass emissions testing.
What that difference was, I do not know.