74 Olds Omega Pics

Here are some of the 74 Olds Omega Specs and Mods:

MILEAGE

• Mileage: 124,711.5 Miles - (08/25/2006).

POWERTRAIN

• SBC 305ci (5.0L) - Cast #14010203.

• Stock Rochester Quadjet Carb w/Chrome Air Cleaner :).

• GM HEI Distributor.

• NGK UR4 Plugs.

• Quaker State 10W30 Oil & PH5 Filter.

• 2 Core Radiator w/6 Blade Flex Fan.

• Dayco Radiator Hoses.

• Dayco Top Cog Fan Belts #15445 & #15455.

• Canadian Tire Battery - (TOP & SIDE Posts).

• Power Drum Brakes.

• Power Steering (Pisses fluids EVERYWHERE!).

• TH350 Transmission (Dual Bolt Pattern on Bell housing).

• 8.5" Rear - Non-Posi (No idea of ratio yet).

• Dual 2.5" Exhaust w/FloPro V-Force Mufflers (Work by DUALS - Glenn Scott).

EXTERIOR

• Tremclad Flat-Black Rust Paint (5 cans).

History:

I had first spotted the 74 Olds Omega back in 95 or 96 (I can't remember exactly) sitting a few blocks away from where I live. I spoke with the owner and checked it out. The car was in very good shape (it had very little rust). He told me that everything was for sale (car and some parts) for around $2,500 certified. Well, back then $2,500 was WAY too much for me. Had I been able to afford it, I would've bought it. My plan was to trade it in for my grandfather's Nova.

You can take a look at the Nova I am talking about here: 73 Chevy Nova

Over the next few years, I always kept my eyes on the 74 Olds Omega. A few years later, I spoke with Harvey (the owner of the Omega) again. He said he'd let it go for $1,500. But it was still too much for what I was thinking. Later on I found out that his son was driving the car all year round (winter too). The car now had signs of wear and tear including some rust and a small dent in the door.

One night, while cruising and hanging out with some friends, my friend Brandy mentioned that her step-father had a 74 Olds Omega and she was trying to get her hands on it to have something to cruise in. I found out sometime later, that this Omega was the one down my back lane. All that time and I had no idea we were talking about the same car. (hehehe ...)

During the fall/winter of 2004, Brandy informed me that her step-father was looking to get rid of the 74 Olds Omega now and was asking for $1,000. I drove by and took a look at the car... It was not in very good shape, the rear quarters were rusted out, the driver's door had a good ding in it and it had some business stickers on the doors. The paint was peeling off in chunks and it had a cracked tail light lens. There was more oil in the engine bay than probably in the Engine itself. The car looked more and more like a parts-car, so $1,000 was definitely out of question. My response to Brandy was to tell her step-father to contact me when he'd take $200 for it.

Throughout the winter season, I received a few emails from Brandy, informing me of what Harvey was now asking and time and time again my reply was the same. I guess he was getting desperate to get rid of the car as spring time was nearing, because Brandy told me to go down and talk to him.

I picked up the phone and finally called up Harvey and went down to talk to him. We did a little wheelin' and dealin' and agreed upon $200 for the car. Harvey also had a small cache of parts for the 74 Olds Omega and we dealt a little further and settled on another $200. The parts included new half-quarters, new HEI distributor and some new brake parts, e-brake cables and a lot of miscellaneous stuff in the trunk. So $400 later, I'm the owner of a 74 Oldsmobile Omega.

A couple of weeks later, my friend Kyle and I began the task of cleaning up the car. We cleaned out the interior and sorted through the trunk. I wanted to clean the car up so I could get an idea of whether or not it was salvageable, or if I had wasted my $400. After spending a better part of the day cleaning, vacuuming, and washing out everything including the removal of 3 rat nests, Kyle & I gave the car a once over. We decided that with the exception of the rear quarters & Wheel wells, which were shot/rotten ... the car was in decent shape.

The floors were solid, the door jams showed no signs of stress or rot and the interior was decent. Actually, one of the best parts of the car was the push-button velvet headliner. I then decided that maybe I'll have some fun and fix it up and maybe end up using it as my NEW daily driver. It'd be nice to have something to tinker around with. If I ran into any trouble, I could always use my nova as a template. I have the complete service manuals and everything for my nova, which should be about the same as the 74 Olds Omega.

Through the summer weekends, a bunch of us would get together and begin tinkering on the 74 Olds Omega. All depending of course whether I had money to buy parts for it. It was Kyle who came up with the name for the omega, 'SLOMEGA'.

Almost a month later, the majority of it all was done, lots of little stuff remained, but at least it was mobile and I could get it out of Glenn's garage. Glenn was nice to let me use his Garage, but I didn't want to over-stay my welcome. I can do this little stuff myself (have the tools) just need to find a new spot to stash the car in to get the small stuff done. I didn't want to bring it home until it was more or less complete. Still had some bodywork left to do before worrying about the interior. The whole project have been documented and HUNDREDS of pictures are posted on the Slomega website located at: "www.chevynova.ca/slomega/" I believe there are close to 500 pics.

So it's late June, and I still haven't finished up the Omega's bodywork. I guess from going so hard-core on the work back in March/April, I had burnt myself out. So burnt-out in fact, that I never got around to changing the transmission in the Nova till the end of May. Only got around to that after Shelly & Brandon finally bugged me enough to do it (hahaha). I just didn't want to see or work on anything car related. So now Slomega is hiding over at Shelly's place for a bit where we slowly worked on it to get it running decently.

Even after rebuilding the carb and the distributor, the car was still a dog. We reseated the distributor to make sure it faced Cyl#1 at TDC... Still run like a dog. After doing some troubleshooting with Clint, Brandon & Shelly, it's been determined that the camshaft was probably rounded, as there wasn't much valve action on a few cylinders. This got me wondering on the true mileage of the car not being what the speedo showed. I suspect that the Speedo has turned over twice, because I've never seen or heard of a cam on a straight 6 ever wearing down. So the search was on for a small-block v8.

A nova-buddy of mine who I've met through another friend has a stock 350 from his 74 Nova that he just pulled out as he built and installed a fresh 355 into it. He's also looking for some parts for his Nova, so we've come to a little wheelin' & dealin' and I ended up with a 350 for the Omega. Ernie told me the 350 was running good & strong, just burnt a little oil at start-up. It sure couldn't be any worse than the 6 that was in the Omega. Anyway, a trunk lid and a 73/74 front grill later, the 74 Olds Omega "has" a 350.

All said and done, it took me 8 days to do the engine swap. What a way to waste my holidays from work. The worst part was the hot humid weather. 30C to 40C days in the garage took it's toll on me as I suffered heat stroke in the 4th day of the swap and had to take some time off. Drank a lot of water for the rest of the day and went back at it the next day. I was careful to drink lots of water and Shelly brought out some fans from the house to help cool down the garage ... and that was a BIG help!

The 74 Olds Omega is running good right now... Even with some little problems, it still runs WAY BETTER than it ran with the 250. It was still plagued with some minor problems which took us a couple of nights to iron out, but we fixed most of them. I was glad to get the power steering hooked up and working, as the 'armstrong' steering was killing me. I'm really starting to hate cars! I am thinking of buying myself a nice cavalier or something without a headache attached.

August 1, 2006 - the day I've decided to bring the Omega home. After all this time, along with my friends, we've put a ton of work into this car and I'm tired of hiding it and not being able to drive and enjoy it. I am proud of what has been accomplished, even though it's not finished yet. As I had expected, my dad was not too impressed. He's not big about hobbies or anything that costs money. He overlooked all the work done and skills learned and just criticized me for wasting ALL that money on the Car.

Webmaster's Comments:

I am sure you'll agree that with so much said by the owner, there is nothing else to add. Just enjoy the 74 Olds Omega Pics, Specs and History.

Here are some of the 74 Olds Omega Pics:

	Nice Picture of the 74 Olds Omega. This is a very nice Muscle Car in the making. Make sure you read how many mods this Car already has and how many more the owner has planned for it. Click on the Pic to enlarge.
Here is the SBC 305ci (5.0L) - Cast #14010203 Engine of the 74 Olds Omega. I am sure this Engine will look great once the owner finishes cleaning and detailing it. Click on the Pic to enlarge.
	Great interior Picture of the 74 Olds Omega. For such an old Car that has not been restored yet, the Interior of it doesn't look bad at all. I wonder how much nicer it'll look once the owner is done restoring it. Click on this Picture to enlarge.
Rear view of the 74 Olds Omega. It's obvious that some of the temporary paint job is peeling off in certain areas of the Car. However, this Car will look great with a decent paint job which the owner has planned for the near future. Please click on the Pic to enlarge.
	Here is the Side Pic of the 74 Olds Omega. Even with this temporary paint job, the Car looks great. I can't wait to see it after it's painted and these wheels are replaced by a nice set of Alloy Wheels and Low Profile Tires. Click this Pic to enlarge.

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