Best HM oil for 1978 Olds Delta 88 ?

[bxd20]

Have a 1978 Delta 88 that’s been in the family since new. Due to uncle passing away, it’s mine now. A true garage queen with no rust. 110,000 miles.

1978 could have had a Chevy or Olds 350, this one has the Olds 5.7 gas, not diesel.

Does anyone know if this is a flat tappet cam engine? Do I need ZDDP?

Runs pretty well. Minor oil leaks from a couple places.

Leaning towards a HM oil in 10W-40. Car is Only driven summers.

Has anyone ever done any testing to determine which HM oil has the most seal conditioner?

Thanks
Brian

 

[Chris142]

Yes it has flat tappits. If you are worried about the cam use valvoline vr1 in it.

 

[OVERKILL]

Have a 1978 Delta 88 that’s been in the family since new. Due to uncle passing away, it’s mine now. A true garage queen with no rust. 110,000 miles.

1978 could have had a Chevy or Olds 350, this one has the Olds 5.7 gas, not diesel.

Does anyone know if this is a flat tappet cam engine? Do I need ZDDP?

Runs pretty well. Minor oil leaks from a couple places.

Leaning towards a HM oil in 10W-40. Car is Only driven summers.

Has anyone ever done any testing to determine which HM oil has the most seal conditioner?

Thanks
Brian

It's flat tappet, the camshaft will be a broomstick and will work fine on any regular oil in the appropriate grade, you don't need any additional ZDDP beyond what's in your standard PCMO.

Regarding the seal conditioner query, is it leaking presently? If not, no reason to go that route. If so, I'd probably go with Maxlife in 5w-30 or 10w-30.

 

[wpod]

Any of the major brands would serve you well.

 

[Astro14]

The ‘78 Olds 350 was a low compression engine. Modest valve lift. Flat tappet hydraulic lifters. Non-adjustable valve rockers. HEI. Rochester Quadrajet.

Oil back then was pretty lame. You could run this on just about anything and be fine. I ran mine on 10w40 in the summer and 5w30 in the winter.

Valve cover gaskets were a common leak point. HM oil won’t help that, but new gaskets will. The little bolts don’t take kindly to over-tightening, they’ll distort the valve covers and then break. Be gentle.

Would love to see pictures!

 

[slacktide_bitog]

the one that's on sale

 

[Schwifty]

Fix the obvious leaks, do a UOA and switch to an appropriate oil for flat tappet engines. Seal conditioners are not going to magically make the leaks go away.

 

[bxd20]

A couple pictures of the car.

 

[Schwifty]

A couple pictures of the car.

Take it to Mecum!

 

[Astro14]

Looks great! Very well cared for, it has all of the original wheel covers.

Sweet!

 

[NormanBuntz]

Sweet ride. Your uncle cared very well for that car and deserves a lot of credit. I pulled up a pdf file of the 1978 Oldsmobile owners manual, and 10w-30 or 10w-40 seems to be the best choice for your Ohio climate down to zero degrees . I'd go with Maxlife. You can buy a used owners manual on eBay for about $17 if you don't have one, but I bet your uncle saved his.

 

[bxd20]

Thanks guys!

Seats were covered all 42 years. I took them off because the aftermarket covers were falling apart. Need to buy new ones.

Carpet still has factory plastic over it.

 

[oldhp]

+1 on Valvoline Max Life 5W30. Sweet car!!!! Also think about flushing brake, transmission, power steering and rear end oil.

 

[bxd20]

Take it to Mecum!

My uncle never married, had no kids, and I was his only nephew, so we had a special bond. Many good memories in that car.

For now I’m enjoying it. I may not keep it forever though. No clue what it’s worth. I’m 44 now and have dreamed of owning an 87 Grand National since I was 11. If I don’t make that dream happen soon, I may never pull the trigger and regret it. No physical room for both unfortunately.

 

[Creekside]

I wouldn’t go too extreme on oil choice and instead focus of getting quality modern fluids in the other system. A brake flush would be a good start and may ward off any problems when you start driving it more.

 

[Schwifty]

My uncle never married, had no kids, and I was his only nephew, so we had a special bond. Many good memories in that car.

For now I’m enjoying it. I may not keep it forever though. No clue what it’s worth. I’m 44 now and have dreamed of owning an 87 Grand National since I was 11. If I don’t make that dream happen soon, I may never pull the trigger and regret it. No physical room for both unfortunately.

Gotta follow those dreams man. You don't want to live and regret it. I can understand that care being very sentimental but I will guarantee there is a collector out there looking for one! That could be your Grand National money! Either way, I think it's a cool ride!

 

[addyguy]

A friend in school’s parents had that exact car. Very comfortable and quiet!

10W-30 high mileage oil of your choice would work well in it, as I imagine it is going to see very gentle use from here out!

 

[Benzadmiral]

A couple pictures of the car.

Ah, whitewalls . . . a full-sized car that really was full-sized . . . and an Olds!

 

[Brons2]

My uncle never married, had no kids, and I was his only nephew, so we had a special bond. Many good memories in that car.

For now I’m enjoying it. I may not keep it forever though. No clue what it’s worth. I’m 44 now and have dreamed of owning an 87 Grand National since I was 11. If I don’t make that dream happen soon, I may never pull the trigger and regret it. No physical room for both unfortunately.

Keep the family connection. Get a hot Olds 455 and make this your own take on the Grand National. With rumpity rumpity camshaft and all

 

[jstert]

wow, really wow, on o.p.’s olds delta 88! unless you can religiously maintain it as well as your uncle did, sometimes it’s best to sell a beloved and valuable keepsake to a collector and use the funds for something special to you, still in memory of your uncle.