Hello to all. I am finally going to restore my 204,000 mile 1970 Delta 88 I have owned since Aug of 1985. I have hauled this car around with me ffor years and now that I have finally got a place with the room I want to start. I would like some advice on where to start. The frame has holes in the rear, rear quarters are rusted through, tank has rust in it, rearend pumpkins bearings whine, and the last autobody place I asked about work just laughed. I know she is bad shape, but I am not giving up. By the way, I wii eventually post pics. I would just like to know where to begin from someone who has tackled a similar challenge. Thanks in advance.

 

I hate to say this, but it it's as bad as you say - frame rot, body rot, mechanical wear to the point of needing to replace major assemblies - maybe the best thing is to look for a good condition low mileage original of the same car, clean that up, and install the parts from your original car that you would have kept anyway.
I mean, if you've got to replace the frame, major body components, likely all or most of the interior, and probably rebuild or replace major mechanical components, it won't be the same car when you're done with it anyway, and a good replacement would be a LOT cheaper and less effort than rebuilding your original, even if it needs work.

Hope this answer isn't too annoying (I'm sure people like your father and his friends have already said the same thing...)

- Eric

 

You would spend less buying mine with no rust at all, ever, and needs nothing. Don't get me wrong this car has not been restored, but is in great original condition with a rebuilt 455. check out the video's.

 

Now THAT's a nice-looking car. Makes me think of the '68 88 and 98 I had.

Shame I'm not in a position to buy...

- Eric

 

Nothing is impossible,any car can be Brought back from the dead. To do this though it needs to make good sense. I am not telling you to give up on it,hell I haven't even seen your car yet. I am trying to tell you though this will cost allot of time and money, and I just think you should think about it long and hard before you get too far in to it.

 

I watched your youtube videos, and you have a nice car. How much? But, even if I bought another I still want to restore mine. I didn`t keep her for 25 years to canabalize her. I realize sentientality may cost me money, but I will still have have a clear conscience when I tell someone "This was my first car". That being said, I still want to do my restoration following some sort of goal oriented plan. Anyone have examples from prior experience?

 

I have never done a frame-off restoration, but, as you have mentioned that your frame is rotted, it would seem to me that you need to start by removing the frame, determining whether the non-rotted portions are still sound, then decide whether to repair the frame or replace it. Once you have a solid, restored frame, you can set about attaching repaired or replaced parts to it over a period of years, restoring each subassembly as you go.

In other words, I wouldn't consider any restoration details beyond a long term place to do the work, and the details of separating the body and frame, at this stage. The remaining details will unfold over a number of years with many surprises that you can not expect to be able to plan for, except for making provisions for allocating more time, space, and money than you think you will probably need.

- Eric

 

Don't love something that CAN'T LOVE YOU BACK. It's only a car, or what is left of a car. Find something similar and build it like your old car was at one time, you will be many bucks a head and have a better car when your done. Gust my 2 cents....Tedd

 

Thanks for telling me think about guys, but I have already done that for 25 years. I realize the money and time investment will be a lot. However, I plan on using this project as an opportunity to get my two sons, and possibly my daughter, involved. My two boys are 4 and 7 and love my old cars and like to hang out while I work on just about anything. It will be better than video games. As for my daughter, at 14 she is not into old cars. I plan to at least expose her to the project by trading work on the car for her allowance.

So, you guys say to begin with dismantling the body from the frame? Which reference resource should get to guide me? Chilton`s? or is there something better? And who are the best suppliers of hard to find Oldsmobile parts? Any suggestions on specialty tools I might need? I have a good selection of tools and 24x32 garage to work in. I also have a selection of extra parts I got over the years from swap meets and junk yards. I am sure I am going to need a lot more. Year One seems to have a lot I will need, but they are pricey.

 

As much work as you are looking at. There are 3 manuels that you want 1970 chassis service manuel, 1970 fisher body manuel and the assembly manuel. these are olds specific and what they gave dealers to service your car. Don't bother with anything else. Good luck with your project ang getting your kids involved. My son is helping me with mine
Larry

 

Thanks Larry. I will try to find these on ebay unless somebody here has them. I am sure there are copies in a library somewhere. I will check out the library angle, try to find multiple copies and do a round robbin between libraries, that is if I can not find a reasonably priced one to own. I will try to get some pics and post them this weekend. That will give everyone a better idea of my challenge. One good thing about it, I have always kept her garaged. Of course the first 15 years of her life were outside. The damage was already done.

 

Disassemble your car and have the body soda blasted to see how bad it is. You may find the the entire body is shot or that it is just rear quarter issues. You'll be amazed at how a body shop will work on a body off the frame already blasted if it's solid enough. If that works out I would highly recommend getting a rust free frame as a roller for under a grand, detail and rebuild the suspension and have it ready for the repaired body shell to go onto. My .02

 

I have heard of sand blasting but not soda blasting. And you referred to a frame as a "roller". Would you please define these for me. And is it really that easy to get a frame?

 

With the questions you are asking this is way to much of a project for a first timer. I understand you say money it not an issue but have you really thought this through how much money you are talking about? What tools and equipment do you have access to? Can you weld? Do you even have a welder? Are you willing to drop it off at a shop and let them have access to a checking account with $30,000.00 sitting in it for draws toward the project?

You are not talking about a rare car so this one can be replaced. Really nice convertibles could be had turn key for 10-12K. Two doors can be found 7-8K and less.

I know this is not what you want to hear but you need to think this through long and hard. I buy and sell projects from time to time but I am always looking at ones for sale. I can't count how many times I have gone to look at a car that someone got over thier head look the body off the frame, 100% disasembled the car, and had to sell it 3 years later because they didn't know which way was up.

 

+1.

When you say money isn't an issue, do you really mean that, or do you mean you could spend a fair amount?

$30,000 does not sound out of line for the project you are describing, but it could easily be more, and all that for a car you wouldn't be able to sell for $5-10,000 when it was done.

- Eric

 

I'm the last person to take issue with wanting to save a first/favorite car (especially after 30 years and 1 million miles +), but my baby's been a pampered California car since birth.

My personal axiom on these things, however, is that a mechanically-compromised car without rust is ALWAYS better than a rusty car no matter how well it runs. In addition to the torture of trying to resurrect/repair the metal, there can also can be safety hazards posed by cars that are that far off the solid-metal scale.

So here's what I propose: take stock and come up with a list of the reasons why you WOULDN'T want to fix up this vehicle if it was just another used car. Then come up with a list of what you feel you'll lose if you just let this one pass on. What about THIS car is important to you?

Keep in mind that you probably have a George Washington's axe-style dilemma facing you: after five new handles and three new heads, is it really the same axe? Once you get into replacing metal wholesale like you might have to, how far should you go?

Look, I've seen people "re-shell" cars, graft on entire assemblies and rebuild vehicles from little more than a VIN tag and a pile of rust. But we're talking CUBIC dollars, plus two-lifetimes-worth of labor and another lifetime's-worth of searching for, test-fitting and returning parts.

I can see you succeeding if you find a near-identical car in decent--NO rust--shape and can swap-over original and restored parts from your current ride. But other than that, well, I don't know. Good luck.

Drew

 

Just google soda blasting. Maybe have the exterior soda blasted to see whats left of the shell before doing anything else.
A car like this is a much better base to start with, or it can supply everything to restore yours: http://stockton.craigslist.org/cto/2139295070.html

Even better than a roller as it is complete for next to no money.