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After a lot of consideration and shopping prices at restoration shops, I have decided to restore my 68 sports coupe.
I have new rear quarters, new outer wheel wells, new trunk drop offs, doors from the Berejik drag car, new front fenders, new trunk lid and new bumpers. I have a buddy with an enclosed trailer that will take the body to the glass bead shop, then the frame will go as well. That will be the start, then the body man I have chosen will remove the old quarters and weld the new ones on. This is the start of a long process, I estimate it will be two years.
Just a side note I did a 72 cutlass convertible back in the early 80s, much the same and it was a one year project, since I am older I am giving myself an extra year.
I will post photos as I go.
Vince.
Yes Vince, Please do not paint them. I have been looking for these not to buy, but to find out what happened to them. I gew up in Massachusetts and have several connections to the Dealer, the cars and the family. Please drop me a line email, tangotim2@gmail.com.
I have been following those doors for years.
Please do not paint them!!
There are other doors in the world, with no history.
Ryan W31
Wasn't this the second Berejik car that year ? I believe the first one was a Burgundy color and was wrecked in a towing accident ? If I recall, when I talked to them at the NHRA World Finals in Tulsa, OK, they "grabbed this one of the lot" to keep racing. Everything was transplanted into this car.
Wasn't this the second Berejik car that year ? I believe the first one was a Burgundy color and was wrecked in a towing accident ? If I recall, when I talked to them at the NHRA World Finals in Tulsa, OK, they "grabbed this one of the lot" to keep racing. Everything was transplanted into this car.
I'm pretty sure there was also a non-post Ocean Turquoise car
Interesting that the fender numbers locations for all three cars are in the W36 position, probably meaning that they all started out as W30's. These photo's came from Gene Horn's Flicker Account (found through a Google Search). They are just amazing!
As promised, here are a few photos. Not really of the progress of the car but the prep of my garage and building of the body dolly. The dolly is made from pressure treated 4x4's with 8 inch locking casters. The 4x4's are drilled and 7\16 threaded rod holding them together. I have placed two 8x10 white tarps on my garage floor to limit lost nuts and other parts and to aid in cleanup. The body, when separated from the frame will and sent to a shop for glass beading to remove the paint. The rusty areas on the quarters are being cut out completely and new quarters will be welded in with the new fenders and Berejik doors in place for proper alignment. At this point the car will be on a jig to ensure the body is straight. In all, I have new front fenders, rear quarters, outer wheel wells, drop off sections, trunk lid, front and rear bumpers and the basically new Berejik doors. Along with that a rebuilt 12:1 power steering gear box and rebuilt power steering pump. The new Firestone Wide Oval 60's and Holley Sniper fuel injection was added last summer.
The frame will be sent to another shop to be shot peened, and then epoxy primed and painted in a satin black to look just like the day it left the New Jersey plant.
The engine is already in good condition, with about 1000 miles on the complete balancing and rebuild. The transmission was installed at the same time, it is a Richmond 5 speed overdrive. The wiring was all replaced with new harnesses from American Autowire from headlight to taillight and everything in between. The interior is a recent replacement also, from Legendary, the rear end was rebuilt and the 3.90 gears retained as they were in good shape with new clutch plates from SuperCars Unlimited.
The factory 4 piston discs were rebuilt and all brake lines were replaced with stainless ones, as well as the master cylinder from Inline Tube.
Here are a few more photos.
I took out the steering column and found the swivel joint seal was ripped, so I chose to take it all apart and rebuild it. Also a photo of my empty dash!!!
Here is a pic of the power steering pump and gear after rebuild. The gear was updated to a 12:1 ratio. Progress is slow right now, until these small items are all done. Next up is removal of the rear bumper, then gas tank. Then the front end, and I will photo all that as well.
Not many photos lately, just working to get the body off the frame. Well I got to that point on Monday, (today is Thursday). The condition is not nearly as bad as I thought or expected and the rust in minimal at worst. The only area showing rust is the area behind the front wheel next to the body mount. The body mount bolt on that side required a hack saw blade to remove it, but no damage found or done to the area. Both the windshield sealing area and rear window sealing area were in great shape with no rust and that was god to see.
These were the areas I had trouble with when I did my 72 rag top, and it was only 6 years old at that time. The difference being the 72 was built in Lansing but sent to Oshawa Ontario and my brother was the original owner. My 68 was built in Jersey and went to Texas and that is where it spent its time until 2010 when I purchased it. The next time I post some photos it will be with the body off the frame, the body shop is not ready to plastic bead blast it until early January, and the frame will go in to a different shop at the same time. Until then everyone have a Safe and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. DONT DRINK AND DRIVE!!! mount area is clean This is the worst bit of rust I found several layers of paint Passenger mount area Passenger side Windshield area
Well I got the phone call today, the restoration shop wants the shell Thursday for plastic bead blasting on Friday, and then the quarter panels will be put on. So I put my engine hoist together and lifted the body off the frame and lowered it onto the dolly I build out off 4x4 pressure treated wood. The frame will have the odds and ends removed ,(upper and lower control arms, rear suspension, etc), and it will be sent off to be glass bead blasted and epoxy painted and then reassembled. After I put all the new and cleaned parts on the frame it will be brought to the restoration shop to be test fit for fenders and doors and then disassembled again for prime and original willow gold paint, (with the properly located W-36 stripe).
Photos are attached.
I know, the doors are cool as is but they are going to live on for another 50 plus years on my car. I still have photos of them as is, the glass is not going back in, I am putting green glass in my car. So the history of the 12.20 will be hanging in my basement. My doors are always open to Oldsmobile owners, so you can visit if you are ever in the Toronto area, that is an open invite!!!
The body shell, hood and doors were blasted yesterday and I will be going to check it out today, Tuesday Jan. 28. I will take some pics and post them, the shop told me the car is in better shape than they expected and I may not require the repop quarters. I will have to consider that as it is a savings of approx. 40 hours of labour but on the other hand I have already purchased the quarters and I want a car that is as rust free as possible. The frame is supposed to go in to be done today here in Bolton Ontario and it should only be a couple of days, most of the time will be proper curing time for the epoxy finish.
When I get the frame back the reassembly will begin. More pics to come!!
Hello again, the frame went off yesterday for blasting and epoxy prime and epoxy paint. The shop specializes in iron and steel finishing for bridges and high-rise buildings. They said it should be ready at the end of this week. In the interim I have purchased a portable media blaster and I plan on cleaning up some of my parts like the upper and lower control arms, rear upper and lower arms, drive shaft, etc. Its only old paint so I am using walnut shells as a media. the walnut shells leave a clean finish and are not abrasive to the metal but clean off the paint nice for a new coat.
When I get the parts clean and painted I will post and also when the frame comes back I will post those as well.
Vince.
The shell is still at the body shop in que for Sheetmetal work. While I wait I am cleaning up parts, here are the front calipers, rear drums and drive shaft. The drive shaft still requires the black and purple stripes, just need the proper colour of purple.
Here are some pics of the finished items.
Not sure, the assembly manual was not too specific, it just shows the m20, m21 as one group.I will have to look into that, I have 3.90 gears.
hmmmm maybe its me who is mistaken I have the m-20 and I have purple and black stripes, ?? LOL too many paint fumes perhaps LOL. I have 3.08 posi, that is original to car as is the m-20
I cleaned up a few more parts and added the I d paint stripes. I have to thank Eddie for his honest reply to my question about the colour purple! Thank you Eddie!!
The trunk molding which is pot metal, was and is in tough shape so I used some fine steel wool to minimize the visible pitting and then painted the centre a argent silver.
My car also has the black/purple stripes. The driveshaft chart makes no mention of rear axle ratios, just M20/21 in a 4400 series car(1 pc hd driveshaft in our cars case)
. Mine's an M20 with 3.23s(factory a/c car). My stripes were still legible & they were more towards the front of the shaft, like the way you did yours.
I cleaned up a few more parts and added the I d paint stripes. I have to thank Eddie for his honest reply to my question about the colour purple! Thank you Eddie!!
The trunk molding which is pot metal, was and is in tough shape so I used some fine steel wool to minimize the visible pitting and then painted the centre a argent silver.
Vince came out great! or is it grape? LOL... seriously, amazing work my friend, keep at it!
Friday, not much to do other than work on the frame. The engine , trans and drive shaft went in today. Hope everyone is staying safe and keeping their 6 feet from one another. This is serious stuff, especially if you are of my age or older or have any underlying health issues. I am retired but work part time, (pays for my toys so I don't dip in to my pension or savings), and my employer thinks it is better to stay open, I don't!!!
Anyhow, here are the pics of the engine, better ones tomorrow, i'm tired tonight.
and trans in the frame now.
Last edited by maddoctor; March 27th, 2020 at 06:51 PM.
Reason: add some info
You are moving along ! True **** about this covid 19 just crazy
stay safe
You bet it's very strange right now. A couple of weeks ago my oldest brother passed away due to complications from covid19.
On much lighter note, I noticed that you drive shaft has the trans yoke at the other end of the shaft compared to mine. That os, my yoke is on the end with the long taper not the short taper. I did some research on this and found that if the yoke is on the end with the long taper it can cause a vibration in the drive train. Well I have had that vibration since I got the car in 2010. After seeing your setup it clicked. In the past I have replaced tires, rims, had the driveshaft balanced to no avail. I am going to go out and buy two new u joints and swap ends to see if that cures my vibratory issues. So thank you for posting the pics, that may have triggered a fix for me!!
My deepest condolences on the passing of your brother geez Louise,
any help you get from anything i
post is great! Lol glad to be a small help , anyway ordered my cold case radiator and all the seals and **** , considering all the money I’m saving not going to pubs drinking Ice cold beer and playing the juke box , not to mention my wife and daughter can’t go shopping lol
The beer is an essential right now, the wife going shopping is not so essential. Glad the big department stores are closed but we miss our trips to the U.S. of A. Perhaps in the fall.
I hear you my sister lives in Ottawa more than 30 years now and my daughters boyfriend is out in Vancouver so we miss going the other way lol beer is not essential it is an absolute necessity however I drink coors light which most of my friends consider water lol so I rest my case lol
however I drink coors light which most of my friends consider water lol so I rest my case lol
No shame in Coors Light. It's my "drink at the bar" and "drink all day at the cottage in the summer" go-to beer, because you get the taste of beer and don't get all sloppy.
Maddoctor, nice build. The 68's are my favorite A body.
Wow, still waiting for the restoration shop to start on my quarter panels. They have twelve cars in the que, mine is number 5. I called another shop today and they have two cars leaving this week, and an open spot. They do good work, Porsche, Mercedes, older stuff, no new stuff, and no insurance work, all hand done with English wheels and such. When I toured the shop I could eat off the floor or any other surface there. I may move my shell, it hasn't been touched since January 27th.
Time will tell but I do want to drive my car soon. At the start of this I gave it two years but that was not counting one year sitting in a shop with nothing being done to it. Don't get me wrong I don't want to rush this but I want to have it worked on. Sorry folks just venting out loud.
October 8th, 2019, 07:52 AM
1968 442 Sport Coupe Restoration
