What have you done to your Oldsmobile today
#1885
I ordered the last of the internal parts for my 68 Olds 350 Engine rebuild. With original pistons still, I was waiting for the machine shop to make the final order. My pistons needed .020 over and all the bearings were .010 under. That is amazing to me, All of the parts were exactly as the factory had installed them. I could imagine someone 50 years ago building this engine and being proud of his work, when Oldsmobile built the best engines on the planet. I ordered the pistons and bearings, and the rest I already had on shelves. The machine work will be done within a month and then I will put it all back together. It is exciting to see it turn the corner in the project. Some may think this part is the complicated part, but I still think the most complicated will be getting it installed in a G Body with all the correct parts swapped, and new hookups and retrofits. I'm not even near to being done, but having the engine be in one piece again is a huge pivot point.
#1886
#1887
#1891
Beautiful 60 degree day here in SE VA...
I was off work today for the first Saturday in about the last 7 weeks, so I took the Cutlass out early this morning and did some cruising. Just got back about 10 min ago....needed to get some things done around the house, but it was a great morning😀
#1892
I changed the oil today. Unfortunately the oil had a metallic shimmer to it. It wasn’t horrible but I’ve never seen anything like this in person before. Kind of bummed but I’ll check it again soon and see how it looks and make a game plan
#1893
How did the drain plug magnet look - any significant buildup of metal on the magnet?
#1895
Sometimes there's the off-chance metals internal to the filter itself break down. In particular if you recently changed oil filter manufacturer or even sometimes the manufacturing process itself introduces some minor particulates - it is possible. There too, there's the off-chance the filter itself is exhibiting some premature degradation. JS
#1897
It was last Friday and I changed the oil filter adapter on my 54 to one from a 63 that accepts a spin on filter. It had one of those spin on conversion and it leaked like crazy. I also added a pressure switch which I will hookup to the electric fuel pump where it cuts the pump off if it loses oil pressure. It was one of these dirty jobs due to the oil it had been leaking. I put cardboard under it and the leak is gone.
#1900
Found a mouse/rat chewed hole in my fuel line as I was getting ready to replace my fuel pump.Can't believe they would eat a fuel line I mean they gnawed a 3/8 hole in a almost new rubber line. Car is back on the road..... Tedd
#1901
Didn't see the "What have you done all dang winter" section so I'll post here instead. Finally finished today. Just need to drop it and tighten the upper and lower arms. By the way that's the 442 under the Cutlass and the 73' 225 goes out Monday for exhaust and the adjustment of the cable for the 2004r trans we put in. But that's a Buick so don't look at that.
New bearings and rotors.
Blasted and painted the whole front end.
New Center link.
No comments on the blue I know. Plus I should have blasted and painted the sway bar.
All new front end components.
Installed new urethane bushings upper and lower.
Lower bushings. I know, a Fram filter.
Finally done now I need to get the 15" SSII's painted and new sneakers.
And finally, left my partner in crime a half case of Modelo but somehow 4 were missing.
New bearings and rotors.
Blasted and painted the whole front end.
New Center link.
No comments on the blue I know. Plus I should have blasted and painted the sway bar.
All new front end components.
Installed new urethane bushings upper and lower.
Lower bushings. I know, a Fram filter.
Finally done now I need to get the 15" SSII's painted and new sneakers.
And finally, left my partner in crime a half case of Modelo but somehow 4 were missing.
#1902
I've hard of them even chewing through metal to get at water, but I can't believe they would do that to get at gasoline. Are running ethanol by any chance? Maybe you have some party rats.
#1903
Not today but over the weekend started getting my car out of its winter hibernation. Towards the end of last season the temp was creeping up in traffic so I swapped in a new fan clutch. While I was disconnecting things I pulled the radiator and dropped it off for it to be boiled & pressure checked. Hopefully it gets a good write up.
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/158535685@N07/, on Flickr
Did have a question. When I took of the air deflector (to make it a little easier to get to the lower bolts on the fan shroud) this dropped out. There may have been two. Anybody know if it is supposed to be there? Thx
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/158535685@N07/, on Flickr
Did have a question. When I took of the air deflector (to make it a little easier to get to the lower bolts on the fan shroud) this dropped out. There may have been two. Anybody know if it is supposed to be there? Thx
#1904
I got my '68 disconnected from the trickle charger this past Saturday and took it for a spin around the block, and then a few short trips to the store. I was surprised to see so little motor oil and trans fluid under it on the floor, so no big issues there. Saw a minor coolant trickle off the radiator overflow tube, attempted a fix w/ some Permatex. Drove it to work today and will check on that leak when I get it home tonight in a few mins.
#1905
#1906
Not today but over the weekend started getting my car out of its winter hibernation. Towards the end of last season the temp was creeping up in traffic so I swapped in a new fan clutch. While I was disconnecting things I pulled the radiator and dropped it off for it to be boiled & pressure checked. Hopefully it gets a good write up.
Untitled by Ronald Higgins, on Flickr
Did have a question. When I took of the air deflector (to make it a little easier to get to the lower bolts on the fan shroud) this dropped out. There may have been two. Anybody know if it is supposed to be there? Thx
Untitled by Ronald Higgins, on Flickr
Untitled by Ronald Higgins, on Flickr
Did have a question. When I took of the air deflector (to make it a little easier to get to the lower bolts on the fan shroud) this dropped out. There may have been two. Anybody know if it is supposed to be there? Thx
Untitled by Ronald Higgins, on Flickr
#1907
Did have a question. When I took of the air deflector (to make it a little easier to get to the lower bolts on the fan shroud) this dropped out. There may have been two. Anybody know if it is supposed to be there? Thx
Untitled by Ronald Higgins, on Flickr
Untitled by Ronald Higgins, on Flickr
#1910
Image Posting
Will do, I have a problem with posting pictures though. I use my ipad because it is really handy to have out in the garage, I can take pictures look up manuals on wild about cars for help etc. For some reason though when I use it to post pictures it only does 1 at a time even if I upload 3 or 4 it only posts one. Its very frustrating. Maybe someone can chime in on that.
#1913
#1916
I had polished all the chrome on the tail lights and back trim panel over the winter and with some decent weather this week I was able to black out the body panel to make them pop. Drop springs and a front end rebuild come next week.
#1917
Replaced the RH mirror
So a little over a week ago, I carelessly broke the passenger side mirror off of my CS convertible. I tried gluing it back together with JB Weld but that attempt ended in failure, so I checked the inventory lists of my two favorite boneyards but neither had a Cutlass Supreme in stock, but a quick eBay search turned up an acceptable replacement, which arrived yesterday. I got up this morning and installed it first thing, because it was threatening rain. But as I worked, the sun came out, and with the temperature in the mid-70s, I was able to get in a nice ride in the country after I buttoned everything up.
#1918
Last week,took the car out for a drive. about an hour into the drive on a 2 lane black top with no shoulders on it I drop the right front tire off the road. Turned the steering wheel to the left a little, crossed into the other lane ,then car makes a 180 degree turn and slides to a stop in a small patch of gravel. Car dies,it is a stick,gather myself together and start car and drive to a safe spot to check on car. Other than grass and small rocks in between tires and rims nothing is hurt. As I drive home 5 minutes away I hear air seeping out of the 2 leftt side tires. I took the tires off and had them checked out and cleaned . Car is fine. Just be careful guys and gals, it can happen in a flsh of an eye. I was checking my gauges above the floor console when it happened. Bassinguy
#1919
When I drove my car from Mayberry to Poteau it took 2qts of oil. So I did my part in keeping Summit Racing stock up and powering the economy, with a box of parts that should show up next week. Yanked my engine to do an inspection, a quick reseal, and remove the crank scraper that actually caused most the oil pissing problem. While I'm in there I think I'm going to do an engine bay cleanup. Hoping to have it all back together next weekend.
#1920
This is not about an Olds, but is a similar occurance. Back in the 70s I used to participate in local SCCA road rallies with my 64 Valiant. On one of the last leg of the rally, I had gone astray, and was making up time at a high rate of speed for the 2 lane back road. I approached an S curve at about 40, and as it turned into the first part, I was blinded by the low Sun. Since I could not see, I "guessed" where the road went by memory. I turned about 2 feet too soon, and ended up with my right tires off of the shoulder. I turned to get back on the road, not realizing that the shoulder was about 6 inches below he road. My front tire caught the pavement, and the car did a 180 in the air. I landed in the other lane facing the opposite direction, going backwards at about 35 MPH. Fortunately I the presence to push the clutch pedal in while the car was in the air. I braked to a stop, and did a three point turn to get back to the correct direction. When I started to drive again, the steering wheel jerked as the car went down the road. I had my navigator roll the car forward as I looked for damage. It was obvious that the right front wheel was bent. I ended up driving to the end with the bent wheel, and changed it in the parking lot. Not seeing any further damage, I drove it for about a week. Then one day I was parked at the local mall, and when I came out, I noticed that it was sagging at the left rear corner. Upon inspection, I found half of a leaf in the spring was missing on that side, and the same piece was about to fall out of the other side. The moral of this episode is: check for ancillary damage, just because you think you fixed the immediate damage, or have no damage, does not mean that there is not hidden damage that will appear in the near future.