1968 Oldsmobile 98 LS review from North America

Radiator, carburetor, timing chain, water pump, valve guides.

This car is pretty outstanding. we got it in 94 with around 48000 miles on it. I am the second owner and have had some major problems with the engine. we lost compression in the number eight cylinder and had to get the heads redone. I got the valve guides changed so I wouldn't have a problem with unleaded gas. about 2 years ago the timing chain went. in the earlier models they were made with a plastic in the timing chain to make it quieter. the plastic clogged up my oil pump and I blew the main bearings and lost all timing. if you get a older olds the first thing I would do is changed the timing chain and the oil pump. the olds 455 recieves a lot of crap because its only a 2 bolt main, but the truth is the late 60 and early 70s block are stronger than a 454. a chevy engine weighs almost a 100 pounds more because they had to reinforce the block to make shur it was strong enough. between olds pontiac chevy and buick big blocks the olds is the lightest by far. the only time olds blocks ran into problems was the mid and later 70 do to the cut back of nickel content in their blocks. a 455 block made in the 60's weighs less than a block made in the mid 70's and you can tell the difference in years especially buy the oil filter where it is visibly thicker.