the "Beast"

Paul Steinberg said:
If the 1979 Olds couldn't make it to the top of the hill with a full load of passengers, it had some serious engine problems. It might not be rabbit fast, but it should have enough power under its hood to move the car and passengers up the steepest grade that you will experience in normal driving. I'll bet that somewhere in its life, or possibly when it was manufactured, they put the wrong gears into the rear differential, if it was a rear wheel drive. If it was a front wheel drive car, then the problem might have been in the transmission. If it were like that from new, I can't believe that the manufacturer wasn't overwhelmed with complaints, unless you owned the only one that they built.
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I've had a pair of Olds 98's, both with the 140 h.p. 307. One was an '83 coupe and the other, which I still have, is an '81 Hess & Eisenhardt convertible. I had always thought there might be something wrong with the '81, as it was so gutless. When I bought the '83 it was identical in the lack of power. On several trips through the mountains I'd be doing 35 mph by the time I got to the top of some inclines with it right to the floor. The H&E also weighs an additional 390 lbs over the coupe.
I eventually ended up having the engine in the '81 completely rebuilt due to a mechanic's mistake (they picked up most of the tab). I was hoping that I might end up with just a little more power after the rebuild. Unfortunately, it is just as much of a slug with the rebuild as it was before. Suprisingly, back in '81, the 307 was an option. Believe it or not, a V6 was the standard available engine for the 98.
 
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