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Curvewrecker - Thanks for weighing in! I'm sure you've already read I'm going to give the SS1's a try. The consensus of those who have weighed in is the SS1's, and I'm pretty sure the "original look" is a big part of that, and I can't disagree.
My first car was a '67 4-4-2 I purchased in 1969. You were lucky to find ANY tire company who manufactured a raised letter tire. I know my 4-4-2 was shipped from GM with single-striped red bias-ply sidewall tires and each replacement set of tires I purchased were either single-striped red bias-ply sidewall or single-striped white bias-ply sidewall tires. Most of us would put the white stripe on the inside w/ black wall facing. IIRC, there were no radial tires manufactured by any tire company in 1967 for the consumer market in the United States. IIRC, it was during the 1969 year time frame when radial tires first became available to the consumer market and they were striped white wall tires w/ no raised lettering or simply black walls. The raised lettering soon followed. I recall us all looking admirably at the new radial tires and then the new white raised letter tires as they came onto the market during the early years of the 1970 decade. So, if one wanted to remain as true as possible to the car's appearance, I don't believe either raised white letter tires or radial tires were even available as an option during the 1967 model year. If it wasn't for the fact my '71 had white raised letter tires already installed on the car when I purchased it in 2018 I'd be sporting single-striped red sidewall tires. Wow do I recall how many of us ran what we thought were the cat's meow back in the day - Mickey Thompson's mounted on a set of Cragar Mags. I guess my real point here is this - white raised letter tires were not an option (I don't believe) during the 1967 model year; therefore, to remain true to the styling of the 1967 model year you really wouldn't be running a set of white raised letter tires and they wouldn't be radials - they'd be bias-ply.
Last edited by Vintage Chief; August 15th, 2020 at 04:23 AM.
James - Sporting a chain saw on my motorcycle isn't something I have (thus far) attempted to accommodate, but I wouldn't put it out of the realm of possibilities. I'll say this though. Last year when hurricane Dorian uprooted a towering 60' Ash tree on my property I took that tree down myself - renting a power 50' lift from the local rental company. I'm certain it's the last tree I'm going to fall on my own. I might still elect to perform some trimming navigating from a 50' boom lift, but I'd have to seriously give that some thought.
What's interesting is me riding to our club with my driver, three wood and eight iron on my motorcycle to hit ***** on the driving range. I strap them to the side of the bike so the handles are facing forward and don't interfere with my right leg. Talk about raising eyebrows at a CC.
Well my " sign of the times" thread got cut or whatever you call it. That's ok. But it wasn't meant to be political. I think we all should get a bunch of pics of people with masks on just to remember the times for the future. Similar to all the WWII pictures of the war effort, and other unusual times in the history of our great country. Ok, enough...
Trip to Cadillac the other day in the Olds was great. Perfect top down day. A little too warm when driving slow thru the town but perfect at 50 MPH. Went to Culvers for lunch had to wear masks in( ooops) but could remove them while seated. I like to go to little Ma and Pa local restaurants usually but we had seen ads for Culvers and wanted a "Butter Burger" ...meh... Well have a good one all.
Greg - I do enjoy Culvers custard and most of the burgers they make are pretty good. The french fries aren't bad. I've had the butter burger and it was as stated - meh. But, the custard is good. I noticed Eric cut 442crazy off at the knees before it got too carried away. Sounds like a very nice ride to Cadillac. We just received ~4" rain in one hour. It was like the bottom fell out of a bucket.
Good morning Olds friends!
1969w3155 and Jamesbo - Thanks for weighing in on my wheel/tire decision guys, much appreciated!
VC - Thanks for the recap on 60's/70's tire history. You're obviously a little older than me, but being 8 in 1967 I do distinctly remember the tires on my Dad's 1967 CS (not 442), and his next car a 1969 Pontiac LeMans. I do not know (or remember) why he traded in his CS for that damn LeMans, but I do remember it bummed me out. Next time you head for the CC on your bike, you should only take your 7-iron, everyone might think you're "Tin Cup" . . . LoL
I thought the Pontiac LeMans was a pretty decent car for its time. I can absolutely relate to Tin Cup in nearly every mannerism. Yes, I was 16 years old in 1969; so, eight years older than you.
Last edited by Vintage Chief; August 15th, 2020 at 06:36 AM.
VC - Dad's Lemans was nice, gold with black vinyl top. That big chrome hawk nose front bumper. Had the 350/4bbl, TH350 (I think) with buckets and center console. However, his 67 CS Holiday was red on red, no vinyl top, buckets with center console shift. Always thought it was the prettiest car he ever bought new.
Sounds like you enjoy golf, me too, although I don't play as much as I used to. Spend most of my time these days enjoying my bikes and car, and grandkids. Here's a true golf story for you. One of my 1st cousins on my Mom's side, his name is Jon Jaress, was the Head Pro at Tubac Golf Resort south of Tuscon where they shot most of the desert golf scenes for Tin Cup. My cousin who is a pretty well known golfer in the southern Arizona area, has a similar build and hair color to Costner, and was actually a stand in to hit many of the golf shots during the filming there. The lake, and the large water fountain in it, in front of the 18th green was put in before the filming at a cost of $100K. I was fortunate enough to get to play the course several times through the years when I visited out there. My cousin Jon's brother Joel, is also a Head Pro at a course in the same area.
I always wondered who started the raised white letter tire market, the car manufacturers or the aftermarket. I know from my books that Olds and Pontiac did not offer a r.w.l until 1969, which was the last year that the relines would be offered as an option. In '68 the redline was standard on the 4-4-2, and I know that it was available in '66 & '67, my '69 brochure notes that both the redline & whitewall are available, but does not note the RWL. My assembly manual does have the info on tires though. My W-31 came with Goodyear Wide Tread (RWL) as standard equipment, per the assy. manual. I'm quite sure the tire availability was based on the model that you chose. I had a '69 LeMans back in 1980, as a winter beater when I had my '66 GTO. The engine was crap, but it had a 350 4bbl, bucket seats and a auto on the floor with the console. At one time it was probably a pretty nice car.
1969w3155 - Pretty cool the 69 W31's came standard with the wide tread RWL Goodyears. What I remember most about my Dad's 69 Lemans is that the rear window seal was constantly leaking, almost from day one. I don't think he ever got it sealed properly!
The earliest tires manufactured were 100% natural rubber tires; and, were entirely black. Vogue Tyre and Rubber Co., Chicago, IL made the first whitewall tire (1914) predominantly employed on up-scale horse-drawn carriages. They began using zinc oxide for better traction on the 100% natural tires and this turned the entire tire white. Then, they began to add carbon black to increase tread life, but retain the white wall. At some point tires were actually white, and the carbon black was added to retain a blackwall tire. In fact, if you heavily scuffed a black wall tire, the underlying tire material would actually demonstrate the tire was white. This then led to the RWL tires. Eventually, tire manufacturers produced the bias-ply nylon cord tires with even greater tread life and retained the white wall & RWL attributes based upon manufacturing techniques.
Last edited by Vintage Chief; August 15th, 2020 at 12:15 PM.
Reason: URL link
VC - My Dad always said try to learn something new everyday. You did that for me with your post on tire history. Very interesting!
Went out to mess with my car this morning. Since I got the car last November, I had checked all the fluids with the exception of the power steering unit. Much to my surprise when I unscrewed the filler cap, there was no dipstick attached to the cap. I could see fluid in the reservoir, but had no idea if it was low because I had nothing to gauge it by. Got on the 442 forum on this site and posted a couple of pics, and a gentleman quickly responded there should be a fill level mark on the air cleaner side of the outside of the filler tube, and I should be able to see a corresponding indentation on the inside of the tube. The outside of the tube had been painted over during the restoration and I couldn't see that mark, but I could see the indentation on the inside of the tube. It was only 2 or 3 ounces low, glad I went slow on the filling.
Didn't take the car to that cruise in Ste. Genevieve this evening because there's a 60% chance of thunderstorms between now and 9:00 this evening. There's a zero percent chance of rain tomorrow so I'm definitely riding up to Hannibal, MO with the Indian Rider's Club I belong to. Supposed to be a really beautiful day. I'll post a couple pics tomorrow evening.
D67442 - I read your other thread this morning. The PS fill level line should be listed in your CSM. I’ve been to Hannibal numerous times for various reasons, mostly ichthyological studies between Pools #19 & 21 of the Mississippi River. I have a friend who teaches @ U of MO and we conducted some clam studies @ Hannibal while he was writing his dissertation @ U if IL (Champaign-Urbana). We ate a large number of clams and drank enormous quantities of Blatz beer (starving college student budget). We also spent significant amounts of time studying @ Mingo National Wildlife Refuge (Swamp), I think it’s still called that today. Hannibal is a nice old quaint town. I’ve both ridden & driven most of the Mississippi River Scenic HWY between Mingo NWR and LaCrosse, WI on both sides of the Mississippi River. You ever noodle for catfish? Have a pleasant trip.
Last edited by Vintage Chief; August 15th, 2020 at 05:23 PM.
here's an example of white tires on an Olds Limited. One original, and the rest are repos. This is the car that sold @ auction for a cool million a decade ago. From the 2010 N.A.O.C. in Lansing, Mi.
Fun71 - Still praying you folks get some relief soon, those temps are absolutely brutal!
VC - Big time eagle watching too along the Illinois River Road near Graffton and Pierre Marquette State Park. I have actually bass fished down at Mingo several times. Those lakes hold some very large largemouths. Mingo is also a big eagle nesting site. Never tried noodling catfish for the same reason Fun71 hasn't. I love to fish and have done a considerable amount of catfishing though. I used to be a partial owner with my ex-in-laws of a cabin right on the Current River only about 3-miles by river from the Arkansas line, but I lost that in my divorce. Sold my boat then and haven't fished as much since. Better get off of here and get my crap ready for tomorrow, it will be a full day, with it being a 350-mile round trip ride, with lots of stops for bathroom breaks for the large number of riders. Last group ride I think we had 32 bikes and I'm thinking there'll be more tomorrow.
VC - Meant to say, I have the 67 CSM and beforenI posted I looked closely (or thought I did) at every page and diagram in the Power Steering section, and didn't see anything about how to determine the fill level. I'll go through it again when I have a spare moment. I was surprised I couldn't find it in there. I also checked the General Maintenance section and didn't see it there.
D67442 - Things change between years & by now the PS Pump has a dipstick attached to the PS Pump filler cap for my '71 CS. Filling of the PS Pump & location of dipstick are located in the Steering Section under a sub-section titled 'Bleeding Power Steering System'.
Home again, home again. Decided to leave last nigh after dark, so it wouldn't be so hot on the ride home. Not a bad idea. The AC worked when I turned it on for about three minutes, then went back to ambient. So I turned it off. The air coming through the vents when going 80 is surprisingly cool. We got home around 0230 and slept in. Uneventful ride home.
So I guess I'm home for awhile. I'll go back to Mom's in a few weeks but no other trips that I can think of. For whatever reason I'm in the mood to get rid of a bunch of stuff. I don't know how long that will last but I'll take advantage while it's here.
Jamesbo what did you decide on the cherry trees? If you want to do them yourself I'll come up and help you.
Okay gotta do Walmart then catch up around the house and get ready for work tomorrow. Wonder what assholeish things they've come up with over the weekend. Never did hear from my lead about Saturday, so I texted him. He said no working Saturday. Glad he had everyone come in Wednesday on our day off.
Thanks Mike, but unless you bought a cherry picker while I was asleep, It's gonna be impossible. On the way home from the lake, I saw a road side sign and may call them in hopes of them being hungrier
Unless of course Norm puts his tree climbers in his saddle bags and I provide him with a vigin new chain saw
Unless of course Norm puts his tree climbers in his saddle bags and I provide him with a vigin new chain saw
Come on Norm, between the three of us those cherry trees don't stand a chance!
My lead at work is more interested in being buddy buddy with the clowns than making sure everyone is on the same page. I'm sure he told them what was up and couldn't be bothered to come to inspection and tell me. Eh, I don't give a $hit.
Good evening guys,
Hell, I'll come from St. Louis to join in the tree fun! Always did like climbing trees!
Sounds like everyone had a pretty decent Sunday. I had one of those really good ones! We ended up having 22 riders for the ride up to Hannibal. Left out of here at 8:15 this morning and didn't get home until almost 6:30. Just sitting down for the first time after cleaning my bike up. It was a beautiful day, with a high of only 85, and nobody had any bike trouble or mishaps. We ate lunch at a great BBQ joint/microbrewery. They had a real large shaded deck overlooking the river so we were able to sit outside and watch the riverboats. The microbrew tasted especially good. If I didn't have to ride 175-miles home it would have been real easy to sit there for a long while and just get toasted. Attached a couple pics of the gang's bikes after we parked in Hannibal. Hope everyone has a great week.
Maybe, I should tell everyone, I'm going to dynamite down some wild cherry trees, Sell tickets to watch, raise some $$$ and pay one of the over priced tree services
Mike, Have you ever looked at[for] M-37 Power Wagons from WW II ?
Good day at work and guess what, the pressure is off Monday is over. Got some thunder this afternoon but no rain.
I'm wacked. Didn't sleep very well last night, was tired at work all day, and slept two hours when I got home. I need to hurry up and go to bed before I get woke up more or it will be the same thing tomorrow.
Jamesbo I like M37s but not enough to buy one. I see them around here and there, they are a popular truck to get into the hobby. I think you should get one.
\Mike, What I know about them wouldn't fill a thimble, I think they should be called No Power Wagons but they're kinda cool
Have a great day Olds friends
Good morning Olds friends,
Mike, Jamesbo - I think the WWII trucks and jeeps are pretty cool looking. I also also thought it would be fun to own an Army issue, bare bones, HumVee just to go off-roading in. Only trouble with that is I'd be an even worse diesel mechanic than I am a gasoline motor mechanic. Thank goodness I have the expertise of guys like you on this site to walk me through some things.
Weather is supposed to be beautiful all week so I'm going to take advantage of it and ride again today. Going to ride today with another retiree from the same place I retired from. We'll ride pretty much all hilly, winding, country backroads today which will be very different than the terrain we up to Hannibal on Sunday.
There's a charity car show in a little town only about 15 miles from me this coming Sunday. I'd really like to take the car up there, but to be honest I'm a little paranoid about the "Rona" factor. I have a few more days to think about it. I may call the organizer and ask if they're going to try to space the cars out in every other space, they have a very large lot.
Jamesbo - I didn't know that. I know the *****'s keeps were gas, but I would have thought the M37 trucks would have been diesels. When I was referring to diesels I was talking about the modern Army HumVees, they're diesels right???
August 14th, 2020, 09:42 PM
