ent72olds

Nice to see this "big mamma" saved!

Allan R

Some things you'll find out fairly quick when you start driving this big cruiser. My 73 had a tendency to overheat (or at least run hot). Fuel: when you top it off, the fuel gage won't even budge for about 90-100 miles. Then it goes pretty quick; probably due to design. And if I remember right, this car is only rated at 225 HP. With the extra weight it's not going to take off like a rocket. But it's a heck of a comfortable car to drive, and the visibility on the front, side and rear is incredibly good. Take really good care of the skirt latches; oil or lube them really good so they don't crud up on you. Are you planning to give it undercoating to keep the frame and underbody protected better?

I'm wondering if the weight listing for the STP guide might be just the base car without some of the options you've got. I'm under the impression the GVWR for the front and rear weights is the distribution based on the actual load the car is built with. I don't think AC was standard equipment for example, and the added weight would bring the GVWR up a bit. Anyway, something to think about.

jaunty75

I was 16 at the time, but I don't recall that my father had problems with ours overheating or running hot. I do recall that, very early on when the car was maybe just weeks old, it did have some hard starting problems when hot. I don't remember what the problem turned out to be, but I do remember that it went away.

I haven't put any fuel in it yet, and that's something I need to do, so I don't know how the gas gauge moves or if it does. Given what I've gone through with the gauge on my '67, I'm hoping this one works fine and will be one thing not to have to deal with. In going through the repair records, I found that the car did get a new gas tank at one point. I don't remember the date, and I can dig it out again, but it means that I don't have what would be the original, 37-year-old fuel gauge sending unit in there, as I'm assuming that a new sending unit would be put in at the same time. Maybe not?

Setting the Pace lists the horsepower for this engine this year at 275.

I do remember those fender skirt latches as I used to remove them myself on occasion back in the day if I was helping my father rotate tires or just to check the tire pressures. I do remember that they got dirty quickly. I haven't tried to remove these yet.

As far as undercoating, I looked under the car, and it looks as though it has already been undercoated, and it looks fairly recent (not something done in 1973 or thereabouts). I think it might have been done when it was repainted, which I found out was in 2005 when I found the receipt.

Speaking of that repaint, when I saw on the receipt what the owner spent, my heart nearly stopped. $5,000 even. The paint job IS beautiful. But wow.


Here's a nice logo from Royal Oldsmobile from 1977.





Here's a current image from the Royal website. The company is apparently still in business in the same location, but now is known as Royal Automotive or Royal Jeep Subaru. The website is at http://www.royalautowv.com/

Hey, you gotta change with the times.

Aron Nance

Jaunty: Congratulations on a great save on a bigggggg wagon! Keep posting the pics on your progress.

jaunty75

Thanks. I will.

jeffreyalman

I took my driver's test in a 73 Impala clamshell and passed!

Summerof84

Congrats on the buy. This car is very lucky to have you come to the rescue!

toro68

WHAT AN AWESOME STORY ABOUT AN AWESOME OLDSMOBILE!
As a teenager in the 1980s, I remeber my peers shunning wagons, today this rigs are the hottest thing in the classic car hobby!

jaunty75

Thanks, everyone.

Since this is no longer really a car-for-sale story, I've picked this topic up in the Station Wagons forum.

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...un-begins.html