Tony72Cutlass'S'

Actually, I'm sure there's a small oldsmobile crowd up there, do you recognize this car?



When i bought the car it looked like this...


And now it looks like this!

Allan R

So you probably needed an OOP inspection for Quebec to license it? I hope to God it wasn't a stolen car that was ditched in the trees....

I know exactly what you mean. That's what happened in my build for the 'disc brake backing plate'. I'll probably start some new ones when I do my steering column/cruise control, rad support and 442 grills.

BTW Tony, what kind of shape is your front bumper? If it needs help there's a guy in Manitoba who's got a really nice bumper for relatively cheap. I was even thinking of going for it myself. I'll PM you the link.

Tony72Cutlass'S'

Got the link! That bumper looks really awesome, but i think i need to keep focus on the parts of my car that currently need attention badly.. So that's... Everything, Heh.

Are you shopping around for yours too? A front bumper is definitely on my list of things to buy, just not sure when i'm going to get around to it..

Lady72nRob71

HArd to believe the two cars above are the same...
EXCELLENT transformation! Keep it up!!

car_designer

The car looks a little better now You are doing great work to restore this car back to how it should be and the car looks great.

I do not recognise the car, but I had heard of a guy in Gatineau that was really into Oldsmobiles and had parts and stuff, but I've never met him.

There are quite a few Oldsmobiles in the National Capital Region. I even tried starting an Olds club but it only lasted a couple of years.

Tony72Cutlass'S'

Dear All,

Here is the new Development on my dash situation.

I began by cutting out the upper portion of the dash. Then i was going to take off the lower Portion (where the windshield arms are). Take out the windshield arms. Paint the section underneath (way easier with the dash out) and have that over and done with.

The windshield arms were squeaking a bit before. So i packed some wheel bearing grease in there to give them a new chance at life.



So then i decided to mock up my new dash to make sure it looks good.

Here is what it looks like so far. There is still alot of trimming to do on the new dash. Tack, Weld. So i think i have my week's worth of bodywork cut out for me.

Lady72nRob71

Yep - looks good! Also a good time to dust off those defog ducts and replace the firewall insulation (if you have not done already).

Yep - cool pun, too!

Tony72Cutlass'S'

Rob,

Thanks! And I was definitely thinking about this. The firewall insulation is crumbling at my fingertips.

Any suggestions on what to use as a replacement?? I really want to tear it all out..

Lady72nRob71

Look for some of that fatmat / dynamat / dynaliner type stuff to stick up in there. Your local hotrod or car stereo shop will have some products to choose from if you do not wish to order online. I know shipping to CA can be a bear...

Tony72Cutlass'S'

Okay great, i'll check it out. I was thinking i might also check my hardware store. They seem to have some great auto grade parts too.

On a complete side Note.

Rob, i installed my front sway bar bushings. I need to move my car so my suspension is reassembled. It took a 3/8's wrench and they tightened up without too much force at all. I wonder why yours took so many foot pounds?? (I ended up buying Moog Bushings at my local store) The blue ones from Mevotech just didnt seem right..

I put in a bit of that special grease like you said so as to keep the rubber from disintegrating.

Lady72nRob71

My bushings compressed with only 3 ft-lbs on the bolts. I did torque to 35 as per the manual. I did not use any grease on them either, so not sure about that. Only thing I remember saying is you can use a tad of silicone spray just to make assembly of the control arms to the frame easier.

Yes, I could not use those blue ones either. Not sure what to do with them now...

Tony72Cutlass'S'

I threw mine in my Roadside Emergency Kit. Along with extra nuts/bolts/wireloom/extinguisher/beer to say the least

Speaking of which. I actually wanted to weld together a little parts bin so that i could organize bolts by size that i could keep in my trunk. But alas, my car needs to drive first

Allan R

Tony, I used 'anti seize' on the self tappers that mount the bushing brackets. IIRC you're not supposed to use grease on the bushing itself. When I installed my Moogs, they appeared 'oversize' too. But started them by hand and just used my air ratchet to tighten them.

What kind of 'special grease' did you use? Was it the 'magic lube'? I posted that for you in case you ran into problems installing the CA's. Like I said in the post : I have not tried it, but it's supposed to be rubber friendly. Did you have any trouble putting your CA's back in? Mine went in fairly easy with just a bit of wiggling. I had to wire brush the inside of the mounting to remove the POR 15 a bit. Even a thin coat of paint on the surface will make the clearances somewhat tighter.

Your dash sure looks a lot better than when you started!

BTW I couldn't help but notice someone replaced your 4X10 front speaker with 2 smaller ones? Do you have a factory radio or aftermarket? If it's factory, those need to be 10 Ω or your radio won't work right.

X2 with Robs comment about get those defrost vents out and clean them. You might want to consider replacing the venting tubes also. Probably starting to decay and may cause air being forced through them to 'smell bad'. You can get replacement hose; it just won't be exactly the same as OEM. No one's going to be looking under the dash to see if it is anyway. That is one of the agenda items I have on my list when I remove my dash pad.

Lady72nRob71

I look under everyone's dash...

Allan R

I bet you do!!

WATCHOUT Sandy!

Tony72Cutlass'S'

Hey All,

So here are my updates on the dash situation. Suspension put on hold for now, soon to continue when i finally get my car to my house.

I started out by basically tack-welding the whole way across. Then, stitched it up from the middle of the dash going outwards.

I find with sheet metal (especially 19 gauge and lighter) It's much easier to do more than one pass rather than risking heating up the metal too much and ruining it...

Here's what the first pass looked like. Kind of dirty (i'm using flux-core wire), but solid.



Please note, the paint looks horrible because i had to beat the hell out of the dash to make it fit perfectly. Good thing i bought that bodywork hammer from bondo with the small point on the end. Especially helps with mating up the metals so the welds are easier.

Another note, for those of you starting to weld sheet metal. I would definitely overlap the two by 1/4'' rather than trying to do a butt weld right away. WIth thin metal like this. It risks pooling and then running right through.



Here's a look at the semi-finished product. Still needs a good sanding and another coat of Paint.

car_designer

Your welding looks good.

Tony72Cutlass'S'

Thanks! You should see what i can do with thicker metal!

It's just so hard to weld thin stuff with a mig. And i was especially scared this time since i got this part shipped all the way from AZ, painted it. And if i ruined it i wouldn't have to have to do it all over again..

Lady72nRob71

I probably would have tried to perfect the welds with grinding and more welds and gone right through it. Thats if i could even weld.....
This is where one should leave well enough alone. Looks good as it is and does the job for sure!

Tony72Cutlass'S'

My main concern was to make sure that the weld was solid the whole way across with no perforations. I grinded it down for looks, but not too much to damage the integrity of the structure.

In other news, While i had my dash completely apart, i replaced ALL my bulbs in my gauges to brand new GE 194LL ones. Man, there are alot of bulbs back there. I was very surprised to see that they were the same as my marker lights and many other ones in the dash compartment. There were 4 bulbs that were burnt out.

I was really happy to be able to see my speedometer again, Rob, eventually in my list of 10 000 things to do, I'm probably going to be redoing my gauges and painting the inside. Eventually... It's gonna be a long, cold winter up here..

Also, here is a picture of my freshly painted A-pillars (i think they're called?)

Allan R

Looking good Tony. One of these days I think I'll have to learn to weld. Not afraid to learn, just haven't got anything to practice on right now....

Everything takes time. As you know the dash cluster is so easy to get out. Sure makes a difference to have lights that work. When my dash comes out, I only have to install wiring for the options. I was thinking of modifying my venting system. Something like install the AC center vent so when the side pull vents are open, the air would also circulate to the center of the car too instead of just the sides.

Keep up the good work. Yeah, long and cold winter.... you know how to make a guys day..

1968ragtop

Tony, any chance you could tell me how you took off the trim around the windshield? Mine is a 68 but probably the same trim clips. Thanks for any info.

Tony72Cutlass'S'

Sure thing,

Remove the bottom chrome that'd screwed Down to the cowl.

ONce that's out, work your way from the bottom with a putty knife or really flat screwdriver, maybe even squirt some wd40 in there, my clips were so rusted I needed to get replacements. The trim is only clipped in using a small clip. If they break don't worry about it. The clips are a only buck a piece!

1968ragtop

Thanks for the info, I'll try that.

Allan R

Yes, but also avoid any levering on the glass. When you're that close to the edge you can crack it pretty easy. There is a trim tool for taking this stuff off and it's really cheap. Can get it at most auto parts shops in the "Help" tools section. Looks like this:

The little arrow like tangs lever the molding off the clip. Just pops it loose. These are cheap and easy to get. Around 5.00

oldspackrat

Tony,
Did the control arms arrive yet & are they ok?
Scott

Tony72Cutlass'S'

Hey Scott,

I sent down my cousin last night to check out my shipping box in Champlain and all he managed to pick up were a couple small boxes. Nothing big enough to be control arms.. He obviously didnt think to look in the oversize pile.

As they always say, if you want something done you gotta do it yourself. I'm gonna make some time tomorrow to head down after work.

Oh and i forgot, did you manage to find any of those windshield clips? I should be having my windshield installed in the next week or two.

Cheers,

Tony

oldspackrat

Tony,
Hopefully they are in the oversize section. I shipped the control arms, forgetting about the clips until I got home. So I shipped a few of them in a separate box a day or two later?
Thanks.
Scott

Tony72Cutlass'S'

Hey Scott,

The small package he picked up for me was actually the clips! This is great, i already gave them to my windshield guy so that he can use them to install the trim.

Thanks! And i'll let you know when i pick up the arms today or tomorrow.

-Tony

Tony72Cutlass'S'

Also,

In other news. Last night i found a pair of driver quality Louvers on evil-bay. They were 25 bucks for the pair. They're obviously not perfect (some pitting) but way better than having two holes where they should be right now.

Every single stud is broken off my original louvers.. Anyone have any tips on installing louvers and not breaking those stupid studs?? WD-40/oil for installation??

Tony72Cutlass'S'

Great news All!

Windshield installed! 260 bucks! I just got the picture from the installer now.

Allan R

Looks great Tony! Is it 'prescription' glass?

Tony72Cutlass'S'

Definitely! Looks almost OEM to me!

I just got back from the shop. Polished up the glass a little bit and going to install the Chrome bottom trim soon.

Here is a better picture of the finished product. It's finally starting to look like a car!

Allan R

Tony, if it helps to clean up the look on the hood, those faux louvers were supposed to be the same color as the paint. Only the top raised surfaces are supposed to be 'bright'. Sure, now I tell you, after they are installed..should have told you that this morning, right? No worries, when you get your OAI hood this will just be a memory.

Tony72Cutlass'S'

What really??! The ones i have now show zero reminance of paint.. Do you have a nice picture of your louvers??

Those louvers are actually just sitting there (No good mounting pegs) The good ones are supposed to come in the mail any day now.

Well, i guess "good" is a stretch of my imagination. But they're in driver condition with all the mounting pegs still on there.

Lady72nRob71

Looks great, Tony - excellent job! With my luck, the base of the WS would not have fit right on the new dash section.......

My louvers are all chrome, too with no evidence of paint. If you like the look, leave them.

Tony72Cutlass'S'

Not gonna lie Rob, i had to use a BFH to get that dash to line up properly... Was a heck of a job, but i'm really happy it ended up working out in the end. I actually took a ride around the block last night, it's really nice not to have to look at an ugly spider web crack in my windshield..

I'll have to try to find a before and after picture of when i first got the car windshield.. I should probably put an album together actually.. hmmmm

Tony72Cutlass'S'

So, Here is the before and after picture (deep breath)



This picture was taken in October of 2009 first time i went to see the car.

And.. Today!

Lady72nRob71

With all those wet leaves in there, I can see why it was rusted out.
Wow - what a tranformation!

Allan R

My louvers are stripped so it won't help, but I can show you the pic from the 72 sales guide if you want. Better yet, richieb did his car last year and did his louvers as per factory specs. https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...tml#post129954 Tony, richieb's thread is a good read from start to finish - it might give you some ideas about some of the other things you'll be challenged with.

X2. Rob I'm not suggesting that he HAS to change the color, just that the original was body color. Based on the condition of the car when he found it it's amazing that he's able to bring it back this far. Lots of guys will leave their louvers 'unfinished' or polish them up to look chrome color. There were actually only 2 'real' color options in 72 for these faux grills. Body color or black for 442s. The black matched the taillights. Just an FYI item, nothing more.
Also based on the 72 ordering guide (page 83 - exterior - bumpers grilles moldings only the Cutlass S came standard with the louvered hood. Have no idea whether you could order that from the factory on any other models. Another hotly debated topic amongst Olds fans! I personally don't care - if you like the look by all means add it to the car. It sure draws attention - I can tell you that. I had thought about buying a spare set of these and making them into true louvers.