Tedd Thompson

Well I entered the Mistress in the Chico Concours d'Elegance on Sept. 10. She used to do good in these events but the Old Lady is showing her age and so is the gentleman who owns her. There will be no polishing of her underneaths she is beyond that at her age. Nor will I put on her bias ply's and sport the 3 inch wide whites, 2 and 9/16 radials will have to do this time.The electric wiper motor will look naked with out the vacuum hoses( doubt anyone will even notice) but she looks pretty good naked if I say so my self. Her engine compartment is clean and shiny but a few chips and ting of rust here and there let her down some from years past.
Her cheeks aren't quite as rosy as they once were nor does her chrome bling shine as it once did but I'll be proud to drive her down the esplanade and let her strut her stuff and know that probably 90% of this Concours attendance has never see a 55 Oldsmobile convertible in the raw before ( unless it was this one)... It;s good to be a little different I think. I'll let you know how it turns out. I'll have no shame one way or the other, she has been there and done that already... Lost in the fifties.... Tedd

oldcutlass

Sounds like fun.

Funkwagon455

Yes Tedd, It sounds as though your mistress has passed her prime, and is ready to be "put to pasture"....... Have a great time, what an awesome machine!

rustyroger

I have to say my love has soggy suspension, the shock absorbers aren't as firm as they were, and sometimes she needs coaxing into action, and the years have left their mark,but still a comfortable ride...

Roger.

Kennybill

She sounds like a few of my "Lady" friends. Have fun without all the worries of being nitpicking.

CRUZN 66

Best of luck Tedd... BTW, your post write up is a fitting tribute to an aging piece of Oldsmobile history... Just remember, you and the Lady (who ever that Lady may be ) are the ones that need to be satisfied with the resulting outcome...

Tedd Thompson

Well gents and ladies today was the tea and crumpet day, a lets all get together get to know you and your ride before the show thing and it was fun and there were some very nice rides, mostly European and a few hot rods and muscle cars nothing 50'ish

The Old's drew quite a bit of attention and the photographer spent quite a lot of time taking pictures at all angles. Then It happened Someone asked to see the engine and me wanting to show off the old lady and my newly detailed engine compartment jumped at the chance and opened the hood for all to see. I felt a funny drag ripping sound as I lifted the hood and once open enough to inspect the strange drag I could see a pie plate shaped piece of the hood insulation stuck to the batwing air cleaner. Big gasp from the onlookers and me. Evidently the paint had softened with the engine heat and stuck itself to the insulation ruining not only the insulation but also the pristine painted air cleaner Only 12 hours till the show!

So in a panic I said my good byes and hurried home to try and salvage this mess. I pulled the insulation off, major job, some came off easy some came off in postage sized pieces. I ended up wire brushing and sanding the underside of the hood then spraying it flat black to match the area around where the insulation was. Next was the air cleaner. I had to sand it down to nearly bare metal and respray the whole thing again. It did come out looking as good as the first spray but what a rush job it was. So the Mistress is off to the Concourse tomorrow,I need to be there at seven. Another long day but I'm done. Haven't I said that before?.... Tedd

rustyroger

Perhaps it was good that someone wanted to look under the hood .
If you didn't lift it until showday it would have surely rained on your parade....

Good luck btw!.

Roger

oldcutlass

Sorry about the unfortunate incident. Its always something.

ignachuck

Tedd Thompson

Bagged a third in class, happy camper. The work was worth it, I've never worked so hard to get a third in class before. Lots of very finely restored cars by people who knew what they were doing.

Pictures maybe tomorrow, I have a bunch of them. Done again.... Tedd

CRUZN 66

That's all that counts... You and the Mistress being happy... Besides, sometimes first and second can be over rated...

Cincinnati Rick

Well done Tedd