1977 Oldsmobile Delta 88 royale from North America - Comments

Replaced the tires.

Replaced spark plug wires.

A wonderful cruiser with a smooth, quiet ride. Bought it for $100 and have only put about $200 into it for normal maintainance items such as tires, plugs and wires, distributor cap and rotor, exhaust pipe and muffler, thermostat, etc. It has the Chevy engine option unfortunately, as the Chevy engines tend to leak oil around the valve guides and cause oil burning. (smokey exhaust on startup). Surprisingly fast for such a heavy car. Has lots of body lean on cornering. Tows a heavy trailer easily. Love this old beater, hope it lasts a long time..

I too own a 1977 oldsmobile delta 88, and it is great! It does have a lot of power due to the massive engine. And smokey exhaust, on startup, my valve cover gaskets have been leaking for quite a while, but it's dependable, it's big, and it's fast&furious. 1 thing I noticed is I need 2 get a bracket/ or some kind of plastic insertion in order to put on the front plate. whatever was there b-4 is no longer. If anybody knows what those plastic squares that the screw goes in are, please post your comment. I need 2 really bad.

Thanx.

Oldsmobile engines are known to suffer from sludge and carbon build-up under the valve covers. When this condition occurs the oil return drain holes can clog in the cylinder heads preventing rapid return of the oil to the oil pan. The oil will pool in the valve covers, causing the oil to seep through valve cover gaskets, and valve stem seals resulting in smokey start-ups. If you plan on replacing the valve cover gasket you should also consider cleaning out the oil drain holes and replacing the original junk aluminum rocker arm pivots with steel pivots available at AutoZone, Advance Auto, or some other inexpensive auto parts supplier. This will help to quiet the tapping sound usually associated with many Olds engines. I also replace the stamped steel rocker arms and pushrods for a few more dollars. It seems 1977 and newer Olds engines are more prone to valve train problems. Replacing the parts mentioned have always solved the nasty tapping that can sometimes be misdiagnosed as bad engine bearings. Hope this helps. -Tony.

I own a '77 Delta 88 Royale sedan and I am very pleased with it's comfort and performance, at present it's not my daily driver, but it has seen a good bit of road time (about 8k worth), and not only did it conform to my Sunday "don't want to wreck my classic" driving style, it also conformed to my street race "I just beat a Trans Am" driving style. It's a well rounded vehicle and with the addition of fresh paint (applied before I purchased the car for $800) and Chevy style ralley's sporting 225/70/15 on a 7" wide wheel upfront and 245/60/15 on an 8" wide wheel out back make it a good looking car as well. I hope everyone enjoys their Delta's as much as I do. -Austin.

I own a 1977 delta 88 coupe. It's a great car. I bought it for $1800 from a used car place. It was flawless. I've done some damage to it though. I have driven that thing from Orlando to Cleveland three times with no problems. It won't die. I love this car!

I bought my olds for $400. It sat for three years, but started up after just a few cranks with some gas in the carb. What a beautiful car! Not body wise, got surface rust and a good telephone pole sized dent in the back left, but runs excellent! These cars can run any new car right into the ground when treated right. Goes through a little trans. fluid and less than a quart of oil each month, but never any major problems. So quiet, too! Can't beat a big old four door boat! A/C works, but other than that, no power, not even a tape player. Oh well!

Rogan.

I own a 77 Delta-88 with 403. She runs and runs and runs.

Why does exhaust blow out the valve cover?

I replaced the gaskets, but the passenger side cover still puffs quite a bit of exhaust. Could be bent cover. I will try a second gasket.

But why exhaust?

I replaced the PCV valve and tubing is not restricted.

The head doesn't look cracked. There is a patch on the valve cover where the paint burnt off. What does this indicate?

Danarothrock@yahoo.com.