In 1972 my family moved to a 545 acre farm in Missouri. A month later my dad drug my uncle's 54 Olds from the shop where it had been setting for several years after the transmission went out to the farm. He put it out in the lot in front of the barn. I was 5, my 2 sisters were 8 and 10. My dad said, "Here you go, have fun!" We played in that car for hours and hours. I usually got to "Drive" and we went all over the world. Africa, Europe, China and even the moon!!! We put a few million miles on that old car even though it never moved. We named her Ol' Blue and my oldest sister even painted the name on her hood with some old tin paint we found in the barn. In 1974 my cousin came for a 2 month visit. He was 15 and a total car nut. He fell in love with the car and my dad agreed if he could get her running he would sell the car to him. My cousin dragged me to every local junkyard where we collected parts. A new pair of tail lights (the horses had broken the original ones), a piece of side trim, a couple of door handles. My cousin was trying to earn enough money to get another transmission but they were like $15 at the salvage yard and that was a lot of money in the summer of '74. He left and never came back for Ol' Blue. The next year my parents split up and my mom moved to a town 45 miles away and us kids went with her. My dad sold the farm and worse off he sold Ol' Blue to the local salvage yard. Life went on but I always wanted a '54 Olds. Well, three weeks ago I bought 2. They were in a salvage yard full of old cars and they were headed for the crusher if no one bought them. They sat in that yard for 60+ years side by side. Unfortunately one is in really bad shape so it will give it's life to save the other. I got them both home last weekend and the better of the two is now setting in my shop where the restoration has already begun!!!
I love the story! I was always partial to Buicks, but Oldsmobile holds a special space in my heart, because the first dealership I ever worked for was a Oldsmobile dealer. I fell in love with this car, and have had some wonderful adventures in it. Looking forward to getting it on the road again when I get our old house squared away! Good luck with your restoration! You'll love it when you're done!
This video is amazing. I absolutely loved seeing the cold start from the interior view. Please take us with you as it gets colder outside and show us every cold start you can with anything carbureted like this!!! Thank you again :-)
Your most welcome! Your actually going to get the mother of vintage cold weather operation on this car as we are using it to take our vintage camper to Barrett Jackson in January! Don't forget to like and subscribe! Thanks for watching!
@@MrVintageRestoration I’ve been subscribed for a while now, and I make sure to like every single video. Can’t wait!!! Please always show us what you’re doing inside like on this video it’s so cool to watch the car struggle to start and react as you give it gas. It’s that interaction with cold starting that is so lost in modern cars and I could watch you do it every day!
You are correct. The original color was green. This engine was out and repainted when the car was restored maybe 35 years ago. It's painted Red with White letters
@@MrVintageRestoration Yeah, that's what I recall from my college days back in the early 1970s working in an automotive machine shop during summers. Buick "Nail Head" V8s were also a green color, but different shade. It's too bad that whoever rebuilt yours adulterated it with that freakin red engine paint. I know that it was a general practice for some engine rebuild shops to repaint the engines their own "signature" color to indicate that it was a rebuilt unit.
@@carlv8168 I wish it was the correct green but I can't complain. The transmission is also painted Red. The car was originally white and blue. When they redid it years ago, I think a previous owner had a custom thing for red. The interior and trunk are red too. I can see the outline of a Decal on the trunk that says " See N Red". I think someone had a lot of money in this car years ago before it was allowed to rot in that barn for 20 yrs. No complaints though, it's a good 20 footer for cruising
@@MrVintageRestoration Yeah, despite all the modifications, it's pretty cool to have a '54 in the "Ninety-Eight" model....more luxurious and longer than the 88. Was this car's origin from another state where they don't use salt on the winter snow or was this always a Michigan car? Any rust holes in the floorboards, etc.?
@@carlv8168 unfortunately I don't know a lot of back story on the car. It's very solid, except the front floor boards, which I attribute more to being stored in a dirt floor barn for 20 yrs. They tend to draw moisture from the dirt. Otherwise the underside was very heavily undercoated which probably saved it. I really prefer 98's to 88's. I'm surprised this car doesn't have more option content. No AC no pwr seats, window, or locks. It does have power steering and brakes. The Bendix treadlevac does leave a bit to be desired though. I like the longer wheelbase as I'm going to tow a travel trailer with the car from time to time. I'm using it next month to take the 1956 Little Gem trailer to Barrett Jackson. I'll be doing a video on the preparation to the car for the trip😉
V8 sounds so special.
In 1972 my family moved to a 545 acre farm in Missouri. A month later my dad drug my uncle's 54 Olds from the shop where it had been setting for several years after the transmission went out to the farm. He put it out in the lot in front of the barn. I was 5, my 2 sisters were 8 and 10. My dad said, "Here you go, have fun!" We played in that car for hours and hours. I usually got to "Drive" and we went all over the world. Africa, Europe, China and even the moon!!! We put a few million miles on that old car even though it never moved. We named her Ol' Blue and my oldest sister even painted the name on her hood with some old tin paint we found in the barn. In 1974 my cousin came for a 2 month visit. He was 15 and a total car nut. He fell in love with the car and my dad agreed if he could get her running he would sell the car to him. My cousin dragged me to every local junkyard where we collected parts. A new pair of tail lights (the horses had broken the original ones), a piece of side trim, a couple of door handles. My cousin was trying to earn enough money to get another transmission but they were like $15 at the salvage yard and that was a lot of money in the summer of '74. He left and never came back for Ol' Blue. The next year my parents split up and my mom moved to a town 45 miles away and us kids went with her. My dad sold the farm and worse off he sold Ol' Blue to the local salvage yard. Life went on but I always wanted a '54 Olds. Well, three weeks ago I bought 2. They were in a salvage yard full of old cars and they were headed for the crusher if no one bought them. They sat in that yard for 60+ years side by side. Unfortunately one is in really bad shape so it will give it's life to save the other. I got them both home last weekend and the better of the two is now setting in my shop where the restoration has already begun!!!
I love the story! I was always partial to Buicks, but Oldsmobile holds a special space in my heart, because the first dealership I ever worked for was a Oldsmobile dealer. I fell in love with this car, and have had some wonderful adventures in it. Looking forward to getting it on the road again when I get our old house squared away! Good luck with your restoration! You'll love it when you're done!
Agree with Gearhead, everything about this video was spot on! Can't wait to see more.
This video is amazing. I absolutely loved seeing the cold start from the interior view. Please take us with you as it gets colder outside and show us every cold start you can with anything carbureted like this!!! Thank you again :-)
Your most welcome! Your actually going to get the mother of vintage cold weather operation on this car as we are using it to take our vintage camper to Barrett Jackson in January! Don't forget to like and subscribe! Thanks for watching!
@@MrVintageRestoration I’ve been subscribed for a while now, and I make sure to like every single video.
Can’t wait!!! Please always show us what you’re doing inside like on this video it’s so cool to watch the car struggle to start and react as you give it gas. It’s that interaction with cold starting that is so lost in modern cars and I could watch you do it every day!
cool car
💋
Nice ‘54 98 you got there! I like it. Looks good in red and white. Power steering? Is it a little whiny?
Thanks Ray! Yes it was a little low. I rebuilt the system before my trip out west with it. Nothing like a 2000 miles journey in a 54🤔
Not a lot of difference with the 55. I had a Holiday, never let me down.
I thought factory color for Olds Rocket V8s were a sort of muted green color with yellow lettering on the valve covers; not this Chevy orange/red.
You are correct. The original color was green. This engine was out and repainted when the car was restored maybe 35 years ago. It's painted Red with White letters
@@MrVintageRestoration Yeah, that's what I recall from my college days back in the early 1970s working in an automotive machine shop during summers. Buick "Nail Head" V8s were also a green color, but different shade. It's too bad that whoever rebuilt yours adulterated it with that freakin red engine paint. I know that it was a general practice for some engine rebuild shops to repaint the engines their own "signature" color to indicate that it was a rebuilt unit.
@@carlv8168 I wish it was the correct green but I can't complain. The transmission is also painted Red. The car was originally white and blue. When they redid it years ago, I think a previous owner had a custom thing for red. The interior and trunk are red too. I can see the outline of a Decal on the trunk that says " See N Red". I think someone had a lot of money in this car years ago before it was allowed to rot in that barn for 20 yrs. No complaints though, it's a good 20 footer for cruising
@@MrVintageRestoration Yeah, despite all the modifications, it's pretty cool to have a '54 in the "Ninety-Eight" model....more luxurious and longer than the 88. Was this car's origin from another state where they don't use salt on the winter snow or was this always a Michigan car? Any rust holes in the floorboards, etc.?
@@carlv8168 unfortunately I don't know a lot of back story on the car. It's very solid, except the front floor boards, which I attribute more to being stored in a dirt floor barn for 20 yrs. They tend to draw moisture from the dirt. Otherwise the underside was very heavily undercoated which probably saved it. I really prefer 98's to 88's. I'm surprised this car doesn't have more option content. No AC no pwr seats, window, or locks. It does have power steering and brakes. The Bendix treadlevac does leave a bit to be desired though. I like the longer wheelbase as I'm going to tow a travel trailer with the car from time to time. I'm using it next month to take the 1956 Little Gem trailer to Barrett Jackson. I'll be doing a video on the preparation to the car for the trip😉
to bad you couldn't record under the hood showing engine and carburetor while doing cold start
Great idea! We'll try to work it in to our next video
@@MrVintageRestoration cool cool just wait til it gets really super cold out 😉
@@MrVintageRestoration are you on Instagram?
No unfortunately Mr. Vintage is not on Instagram. Only so much we can keep up with