There was a 62 Jetfire in the neighbor hood that really caught my eye. It was red with red interior and a white roof. It was an automatic. The more I saw the Jetfire the more I liked it. In 63 while I still had the 58 Olds I went to the Olds dealer and priced out a 63 Jetfire with everything except power brakes because with a 4-speed the clutch pedal was installed where the power brake booster was thus power brakes were not available with the 4-speed option. The salesman figured everything up and gave me a price right around $3800 and I almost fell on the floor. Needless to say I didn't get a Jetfire.
I think it was in 1964 that I sold the 58 to a friend of mine and I bought a 62 Olds Super 88 2 door hardtop with a 3 speed standard transmission with the shifter on the column. It was one fast car. I use to shift it between 6 and 7 thousand RPM. Did I mention it had solid lifters in it? I drove it back and forth from the navy base in Newport, Rhode Island and Peabody, MA. One weekend I was home and I decided to adjust the valves and wouldn't you know it, I broke one of the rocker arm adjustments so I wound up scrambling down to one of the local junk yards. They had a set of rocker arms off a 62 Olds and I had to hustle up some hydraulic lifters so I got 8 lifters out of a 60 Olds and 8 out of a 61 Olds. You talk about mix and match. I had used parts from different Oldsmobiles and still used the solid lifter cam. I'll tell you that Olds ran great and was quiet except for the exhaust. My brother took over the car in 66 when I went overseas and when I got off active duty in 68 I took the Olds back. Later I sold it to a neighbor and I bought a 63 Chevy Super Sport 409 2 door hardtop with a 4 speed. That was a nice car. Oldsmobiles were getting too expensive.
Eventually I got back with Oldsmobiles. In the late 70's or early 80's I looked at a 63 Jetfire that was local. I was told it had been in storage but it didn't look like it and I thought they wanted too much for it. They said they were going to put it back in storage. A few years later there was an ad for a Jetfire and when I went to look at it the Jetfire was the same one I looked at years earlier. I bought it and that was the start of my Jetfire career. I wound up cutting that Jetfire up and I still have the doors, trunk lid, hood and rear quarters. Since that one I have had 4 62 F-85's; two of which were Jetfires and one was a coupe and one was a F-85 Deluxe Wagon. I cut up one of the Jetfires and the coupe and sold the wagon. I just sold the 62 Jetfire. I have had 10 63 F-85's, 4 Jetfires, I still have 2 Jetfires and I sold the other 2 Jetfires. I had 3 2-door coupes, I cut up one and sold the other 2. I have 2 F-85 Deluxe 4-door sedans which I am working on. They are both MA. cars and have been all their lives. I have one F-85 Deluxe 4-door wagon, which I have stored for now.
I have been buying and selling parts for these cars for years. I am finding that it is getting harder and harder to find good parts. I think between me, Jim Noel and Ken Dennison we should be able to answer any questions that you have. If we don't have an answer, I'm sure we can find an answer between the three of us. I think Jim Noel has most of the answers because of his years of hands on experience. I can be reached at 978-777-2323. I have been doing a lot of traveling, especially during the winter months. So, you may have a hard time contacting me; but keep trying. You can try my e-mail address This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . When I'm away, I haven't had access to a computer but I hope that changes in the future.
Keep those Jetfires running.
Bruce (username: jetfireman)