Affinity

Alright, here's an update. Got a new battery for it, works great. Got both valve cover gaskets fixed so now it's not leaking oil, so the engine's in good shape. Now the problem is back to the convertible top. We took the car to a friend of my dad's who works at a body shop, he tested the electric wires to see if the motor for the top was getting power. It's getting power all the way to the motor, yet it still doesn't want to work. Suggestions, now that we've ruled out an electric problem? Is there a way we could try fixing this ourselves?

wolfman98

How is the hydraulic fluid in the motor and lines , if good it could be a bad motor which can be bought at a few places. I had to put a new motor in mine.

425starfire

good luck with youre ride!

Affinity

Anyone mind telling me how to get the motor out? Hydraulic motor for the top, that is.

wolfman98

I took out the back seat to easily get to the motor , some cars u can unhook the tackstrip for the boot , should run along the top of the back seat. The motor justs sits there and is not bolted in but you need to remove the hydraulic lines to get it out of the car.There is a rubber plug on the left side near the top of the motor and this is what you take out to check or add fluid. I ended up getting a new motor and fill kit which made it a lot easier to fill.

Affinity

Okay, I'll try it tomorrow. By the way...the top is stuck in the down position. Hopefully we can still get the motor out, and take it to be "rewound." We were told by a mechanic friend that that's what it may need.

wolfman98

Rewound

Affinity

Something to do with the stuff inside the hydraulic motor?

Affinity

Can't believe over a year has already passed since I started this. Sorry for reviving the thread, just wanted to update the people that were following it in the past.

My birthday and Christmas present was a brand-new black top. The shop that did it is keeping all the parts original, too, so that's a plus. New list of things to do:

- Get a new exhaust, since the current one has holes in it and the fumes come up through the rusted trunk pan.
- Get a new gas tank, after the new exhaust is installed so the second gas tank strap hooks in correctly (right now we improvised and had to tie it up).
- Fix the trunk pan.

Future things to do:
- Get new front and rear bumpers, or have the current ones bent back into shape since the previous owner paid around 5,000 to have them re-chromed.
- Possibly re-do the interior black and white, or original red (the interior is entirely original, may just keep it that way).
- Repaint the car, red or black. (Paint is still the original red, too).
- Update the suspension.
- New whitewall tires.
- Fix the bass in the trunk, since it was blown when I got it, and fix the 6-disc CD player in the trunk.
- Have it rewired.

Whoo!

rocketraider

Glad you're still with us and still have the car. Good lord, who paid $5g to replate 1966 Olds big car bumpers? Should have been about half that even counting the three piece front, and for $5g they should have been factory straight when they were returned.

Or is it possible they just need to be lined up properly?

Sometime this summer I'd like to try and get all the CO NC folks together somewhere, and I'd like to meet you and the car. Just not sure when or where.

HolidayCoupe

Wow I only paid $545 Canadian Funds To get my 66 Delta 88 rear bumper straightened and rechromed. Anyhoo I'd leave the car's interior as it is, looks great and repaint it same red.

Affinity

Sorry for posting in such an old thread!

@rocketraider - They were straight when returned, but apparently all of the bolts weren't put back in to hold the bumper to the back of the car, and when the tow-truck hooked up to the back, it yanked on it and bent it out of shape. I got the top replaced, got a black one. It works just fine, and has new back glass as well. We replaced the starter also and now it starts right up with a turn of the key and no pumping the gas pedal anymore. A meet sounds pretty cool!

@HolidayCoupe - Did you get a body shop to bend it back into shape? I don't know where to take the thing to have it straightened. My dad said all body shops used to do that sort of thing, but nowadays it's less popular. And I guess the previous owner got ripped off with the rechroming! I'm keeping the interior for the time being, and if it's painted it'll either by black to match the top, or red (likely). If it's painted black, I'd redo the interior white. But that's way, way, way into the future.

rocketraider

Then it's really the towing company's problem, but sounds like it happened when the car was still in MD. Yah, body shops used to straighten metal, back when there was metal to straighten. I expect you'll have to get a bumper shop to do it. I don't know of any down that way.

Always good to hear from you and see that you're still in love with the car. No doubt it's one of the coolest rides in the high school parking lot.

How far are you willing to drive to an NC Olds get together? Seems like most people here are between Winston-Salem and the coast, so it would need to be somewhere about midway. Unfortunately that looks like around Smithfield or Benson, and gawd knows there's nothing there but barbecue joints.

Affinity

I'd be happy to drive to a get-together, soon as I get some new exhaust! The muffler actually separated into the two pieces while I was driving (the clip came off), so I need to get a new exhaust first, then get a new trunk pan from someone, then a new gas tank to finish off that portion of the car. I want to get new weatherstripping too, since right now it's dryrotted everywhere.