gearheads78

Thanks man its nice enough if this was a 66 with the same combo I would have to keep it.

UPS showed up today with a small box of goodies. On part was my new signal switch. Someone at one time had this column apart and had the assembly all jacked up. With the help of a service manual I was able to put it all back correctly. Now I have a works, emergency flashers, signal and a horn. My electrical system repairs are finished.

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Up next new tank , fuel sender, exhaust system and dig into the brakes and see how much of a mess they are. Hoping to have it ready for a new home in the next month or so.

gearheads78

Trying to squeeze in an hour a night after everyone is in bed.

Tonight I finished up the dash. Most of my time was fighting the installation of a new glove box liner. What a b&*$h that was. I also finished the column and steering wheel and the horn works perfect with either button.

I wish I had taken before and after pics but I never expected it to work so well. I picked up a used under column plastic dash filler. It was very distorted around the bolt holes from being over tightened. The holes area was almost 1/4" away from being flat. My solution was heat up the piece with a heat gun hot enough to just start to smell hot plastic. I then pressed it between two flat body dollies for about 10 seconds. I did both sides and it came out like new.

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ent72olds

Richard, I really enjoy your threads with your used cars(and obviously with your '66). I know you are doing what you are doing for extra cash, but you make it seem so fun! Nice to see you are getting things done.....keep it up my friend!

gearheads78

Got most of the the new exhaust system mocked up tonight.

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My442

Nice work.

Thanks for sharing.

jerseyjoe

Agreed, very nice job. Glad you have the time and patience to save it. It is going to make a nice car for someone

gearheads78

thanks guys

Its been a crazy weekend since we were celebrating my 40th b-day but still managed a little work tonight. I finished the exhaust got the new sending installed in the new tank. I also got the new tank in the car. I hope it to start up with in the next week. Getting closer

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tru-blue 442

The BIG 4 Ohh aye?
Congrats. Looking good Richard.

oldcutlass

Coming along nicely Richard - Happy B'day

crzyjef

What is the blue car in the background.. in your exhaust series of pictures

gearheads78

Thanks man
69 Cougar project collecting dust

van Dyck

Nice job! It is tedious work restoring an abandoned/defective wiring harness but is rewarding. Many guys are of the opinion that some small part of the electrical system has failed and that its old, the entire harness "needs" to be replaced. The usual malfunction is corroded connections. Nice tip using the Dremel to clean 'em up!
Again, hats off to a job well done.

gearheads78

Can't take credit for the Demel thing. That was right from lady72nrob71 from ths sight.

GAOldsman

Looking great Richard Happy Berfday

Joffroi

Very cool find and great work!

gearheads78

Thanks guys.

OLD SKL 69

Hope your supervisors gave you the day off for your birthday.

gearheads78

Well over the weekend I finished a bunch of odds and ends and got the fuel hoses all installed. I tried to get it to run but after several tried with starting fluid it never primed. After a little investigation the fuel pump was trashed. I guess the ethanol in our gas was not to kind to a pump that say dry since the early 90's. It worked fine when I got it running out out of gas can several months ago but not now.

Ive been waiting for the new fuel pump to arrive so I started working on the clutch linkage. I was a mess. The bracket on the pedal was bent way out of shape causing the rod to hit the pedal bracket and bind up and the hole in the pedal was the shape of an oval. The Zbar was just as bad. The top bushing was about 80% gone and the bottom hole was oval shaped too.

What I did was bend the bracket to the right shape and then replaced the top Z-bar bushing with a new replacement. This would have been a huge improvement by itself but I wanted it to be right and leaving the oval shaped holes was out of the question. I did a little measuring and got on line with McMaster-Carr and spend $2.00 plus shipping on bushings. I had to drill the holes over size and used oillite bushings to take up the clearance. I installed the Z-bar tonight and its very smooth now.

I then installed a new fuel pump tonight and ..... (click on the image but not the bar at the top for video)


That was with no tuning and after only 2 quick 5 second starts with starting fluid. The is no coolant in it yet. The buzz noise is the factory key buzzer (I sounds like an electric pump in the video) The whine noise it the power steering pump was near empty

tru-blue 442

Sounds good Richard.
Nice work, someone is going
to like owning this one when your'e through.

Magna86

Nice she lives again!

69442C

Great job Richard....it lives again.

Brian

scott442

I remember seeing that car on Craigslist. I wanted to look at it but did not have the money at the time. I am glad it went to a good home.

gearheads78

Thanks everyone!!

I managed the day outside. First I spent a couples hour cleaning up and then got back on the car. Nothing really to see. I got the fuel tank vent in this week so I installed it.

About a month ago I started to get a slow steady drip from the pinion seal. Looks like it had also been leaking for a long time when last driven because the whole nose of the diff was caked with 3/4 thick layer of greasy dirt. I pulled the pinion yoke and sure enough the seal dry and cracked. After a new seal was installed and topped off the lube no more drip.


I then moved on the to the brakes. The old master cly. bench bled just fine so I am using it. I was able to bleed the rear brakes no problem but the front did not go as well. The RH was kind of hard to bleed but it finally did. The LH front nothing. I tried to just take the bleeder out and just pump the brakes to push some fluid through but not so much as a dribble. Disconnected the lined from the master and tried to use compressed air but still nothing. Tried to disconnect the junction block but the fitting was froze to the line. It started twisting so I had to cut the line. Air blew right out the block so moved down the line. I disconnected the wheel side of the flex line and air blew right out the bleed line. I have never seen this happen but the flex line was the obstruction. You can hold 125PSI to one end and the other end nothing. I'm going to have to make the line I broke and replace the flex lines and brakes should be ready to use. The condition of the shoes makes me think the brakes were pretty new before it was parked.

I see the light at the end of the tunnel on this one.

rktolds

I bet you are itching to get this done and started on the 54. I wish I had the extra $$ to add this to my wife's 68 Vista and my 68 F85 projects.

gearheads78

Understatment of the year right there!!

gearheads78

Little bit of progress this morning also back tracking a few pics that I never posted


This is the new fuel pump that was installed to get it to run last week. I will same the original A/C pump that was on it so the new owner can have it rebuilt.

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Here is the bottom hole in the z-bar. See the oval shape of the hole

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A few dollars worth of bushings and we are good as new.

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One of many orders from Rock Auto. Once again will save the original wheel clys for whoever gets the car.

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What was left of the brake line that was frozen.

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Got out my trusty flare tool and whipped up a new line. If you ever use on of these you will never want to make a manual flare agian.

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Last thing I did today was clean off the hardened goo that used to be grease on the front wheel bearings. They were repacked with my favorite Redline synthetic grease.

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gearheads78

I got the brakes working but still not happy with the pedal. Going to go ahead and order a master cly. Still getting gunk come out of this one.

I did get coolant in it tonight and let it run for about 20 min to get good and hot. Sounds great and runs strong.

Here is a quick video. Click on the image to play it.

tru-blue 442

Sound real good Richard.
Did you say it had it's original 400?

gearheads78

Don't know if its ever been rebuilt but it is the original 400 it was born with.

oldstata

Some one is going to get a nice ride when your done. I don't think I could sell it after all the hrs you put into it!!

tru-blue 442

Some guys have all the luck.
SAHWEEET!

gearheads78

Nah the hours invested will pay me a few bucks to help feed the monster that is my car / tool addiction.

Eddie Hansen

Richard first happy belated birthday, and as usual another great thread, and a great car

archeryshooter

Nice find! I would kill for one that solid up here in salt country

archeryshooter

Those flare tools are the best I used my buddys before

Dave Siltman

You are a very handy guy, and I am glad another 442 will live again. 1968s are one of my favorites. When I was a kid, my next door neighbor ordered a new '68 442 from my father--Black w/Black vinyl top, and white buckets w/console and auto. That car, while not a rocket-ship, was one beautiful car--it had the daisy-style American wheels, and NO stripe down the fender (which is a BIG pet-peeve of mine when done incorrectly--the only one that is worse is when the '70-'72 W-30 side stripes are installed wrong). I have often thought of doing a '68 to look like my neighbor's old car.
Happy B-day, and many more, my Oldsmobile friend. I'm trying to remember what 40 felt like----Oh yea, now I remember--- 20 pounds and some hair ago, not to mention a WHOLE LOT of aches and pains!!!
Great job on the resurrection and keep us informed of your progress.

gearheads78

Speaking of aches and pains....we just got back from taking my older daughter roller skating. I did better than I thought since its been 25 years but the couple of falls I did have sure hurt worse than they used to.

I have a pass to stay in the shop all day Sunday. I hope to get a bunch done.

Velacyn

I use the matco version of that hydraulic flare kit. It works wonders for trans cooler lines and gm quick connect fuel lines as well as the standard and metric flares

jerseyjoe

2nd that, 40 came and went, the hair is still going and the aches and pains are still coming!

Richard, great work! What you are doing is awesome, it is what I love to do. I spent many hours working on my 68, Fortunately the body was is good shape as that is not my forte. I more so enjoy doing exactly what you are doing. Hopefully whoever buys it will join the board or already be part of it

Butkusfan

Jeez.. You do some awesome work! As I've told you, I'm pretty new to this site but the work I've seen from members here is just fantastic!
Also belated birthday! I remember the big 4-0 like it was yesterday (Instead of almost 20 years ago!).
Can't wait to see this car running up and down the streets!
Mike