'59 Olds Diesel

[jimoshel]

Neighbor's got a '59 olds with the GM 350 diesel. Tried for an hour to get it started. It turned over OK but wouldn't fire. I think it wasn't getting fuel. It's been sitting for 10 years. Or more. Just looking at it I think it's to big and heavy for a MJ swap. I didn't try to hard to get it to run. I figured if I got it started and he heard it run it would jack the price up.  I can probably get it for a $100 or less. He just wants it gone. Anybody got any experience with these? Opinions? :dunno:

[dasbulliwagen]

Ive only ever heard bad about them. It was never originally desined to be a diesel. I think I heard they like to break crankshafts.... Just NOT a good engine.

[dasbulliwagen]

LF9[edit]

The LF9 is a 350 cu in (5,737 cc) diesel V8 produced from 1978-1985. Earlier versions and those used in pickups produced 120 hp (89 kW) and 220 ft·lbf (300 N·m) torque, while later versions produced 105 hp (78 kW) and 205 ft·lbf (278 N·m) torque.

Applications:

• Buick – varying model years of Century, Electra, LeSabre, Regal, and Riviera
• Cadillac – varying model years of de Ville, Eldorado, Fleetwood Brougham, and Seville
• Chevrolet – varying model years of C/K, Caprice, El Camino, Impala, Malibu, Monte Carlo, and Suburban
• GMC – varying model years of C/K, Caballero, and Suburban
• Oldsmobile – varying model years of Custom Cruiser, Cutlass/Cutlass Cruiser/Cutlass Salon, Cutlass Supreme/Cutlass Calais, Delta 88, Ninety-Eight, and Toronado
• Pontiac – varying model years of Bonneville, Catalina, Grand Prix, and Parisienne
• 1980–1982 Checker Marathon

[gogmorgo]

From what I've read about the Olds diesels, most of the issues with them were down to people treating them as if they were gassers that ran diesel fuel. I've only ever seen one of them on the road, but it was in a rez bomber so it could be complete coincidence that it wasn't running so great.

My guess is that as you suspect, it would it would be pretty heavy for an unreinforced MJ.

[airspeed]

I have heard nothing but bad about those engines.  GM took the 350 gas engine and tried to convert it to diesel.  At this altitude they have about 70-80 HP and smoke like an old locomotive.

[terrawombat]

I'm assuming you mean a '79 Olds diesel.  This may be one of the biggest epic blunders in the history of General Motors.  As mentioned before, they took their reliable and proven 350 block, changed up the chemistry of the metal material a bit, changed the heads and slapped an injection pump on it.  I believe the crankshaft was beefed up as well, but this engine had a myriad of problems.  In fact, many mechanics were making some decent money in the early to mid 80's by offering diesel-to-gasoline swaps.  That's right, this engine was so bad that people wanted to go back to gasoline.

 

One of its biggest problems was the head gaskets and bolts.  The stock gaskets would often blow out after a relatively short period of time.  Eventually GM came up with a better design, however, they were still having problems because the head bolts were being reused and really needed to be replaced every time the heads were removed.  There are some GM 350 diesel diehards out there that swear once you upgrade the head gaskets and put a good set of headbolts on, the engine is actually very reliable, however, all of these "upgrades" didn't come in time for everyone (including GM) to just write the engine off as a loss and move on.  It's a shame that this engine was such an epic failure because it really tainted the American perception of diesel passenger cars and it wasn't until the mid to late 90's that VW was able to start getting some traction on their TDi line of vehicles.

[knever3]

This engine block is VERY strong!  Some Olds folks use the block because of it's higher nickel content to make a stroker 430cu in small block gas engine with a stroker crank.  Not worth the money for a Comanche using an Olds motor and custom grind parts, but whatever suits your fancy.

 

And to add, the stock Diesel motor was underpowered and was garbage for it's size.

[jimoshel]

It's been a fun morning. Gave the guy $75 for the car.  Drug it into town to the shop of a '50's oldsmobile collector, restorer, nut. He gave me $300 and removed every piece of chrome that was on the car. Plus the dashboard. Then ran it across the scales, with the diesel engine still in it. for another $223. It was for the best. :yes:

[johnj92131]

Had a 1981 Chevy Impala Wagon with the 350 diesel engine.  Blew one head gasket, fixed it.  3 months later the other head gasket blew.  Car was less than 3 years old at the time.  Head bolts were an issue (quality and number of them).  1982 they had a new head with more and better head bolts that supposedly fixed the problem, but the reputation of the engine was cast in stone.  Understand the injection pump was also problimatic, but I did not have a problem with it.  Got hight 20s mpg on the highway, 20+ in town.  Lighter engine than the 350 chevy v8.

 

Sounds like you made a killing!!!!

[knever3]

So what year was it?  Was it really a '59?

[Keyav8r]

Hat's off, Jim. Buy a clunker and make close to $450 on it in one day! You should have a reality TV show, call it "Flippin' Cars".

[Geonovast]

He'll grab two more MJs with that $450 too..

 

Nice score Jim.  Also a nice informative thread!

[terrawombat]

So what year was it?  Was it really a '59?

 

Yea, this has me scratching my head too.  A '59 Olds with a diesel 350 swapped in?  

 

Either way, nice turn-around there.  Don't spend it all in one place.

[jimoshel]

 

So what year was it?  Was it really a '59?

 

Yea, this has me scratching my head too.  A '59 Olds with a diesel 350 swapped in?  

 

Either way, nice turn-around there.  Don't spend it all in one place.

The car was a 1959 98. The title VIN was checked twice. By me when i first got it and by the scrap yard so it was a '59. The guys son was in the Air Force and bought it from another Airman at Lowery AFB in the early '70's. He drove it home in '76 when he got discharged. It was diesel then and as far as the guy knows it's always been diesel. I would just take a wild *ssed guess and say somebody did an engine swap. The auto hobby shop at Lowery would be ideal for something like that.