I inherited a '73 98 that is in very good condition that I am looking to refurbish the interior. There are no rips in the seats anywhere but the tufting on the seats has loosened and the color has faded slightly. Do I just clean the seats, or should I try to have someone re-dye them? Can the tufting be repaired?

Also, the three-spoke steering wheel is in good condition but the wood grain finish is flaking off in places. Any ideas to repair (or replace) that?

 

Sounds like a nice car. You should post some photos.

I have a '73 Custom Cruiser, so I have a bit of an idea of what your interior is like.

About the steering wheel, what you have is very common. The plastic dries out and shrinks over the decades, leading to cracks. The wood grain laminate peels off. As far as I know, there is no quick fix for these problems. You would have to remove the steering wheel and have it restored, a process which can cost hundreds of dollars. Most people I know either wrap the wheel in some aftermarket covering or just live with it the way it is.

As far as the seat, I would take the car to an auto upholstery shop and let them have a look and give you an opinion. You might take it to several shops as advice on how to address various kinds of problems can vary widely. The front seat on my CC was very worn, and I just took it out and took it to a shop to have it completely recovered. It cost about $700.

In my experience, and others may have different opinions, auto upholstery work is very much an art as much as it is a science, and I always felt it best to leave it to the experts who repair car seats every day of their lives.

 

Congratulations on your new inheritance! 2 door or 4? Most of the 73's had rust issues, so to hear that you have one in very good condition is really nice.

By tufting, you mean the buttons have let go and aren't recessed anymore, or the material has a lot of wrinkles in it now? If the latter, probably it's time for new seat foam to restore the lift that has deteriorated over the years. Remember you have a 38 year old car, and no matter how nice the condition is, time is merciless to many things. If the color has faded, that's normal. Unless you want it to look brand new again ($$$) I'd suggest just leaving it alone. But if you're going to replace the foam, the seat covers will have to come off anyway. You can have an auto upholstery shop use the old seat covers as a template for whatever you want to upgrade to.

There are no aftermarket companies I know of who provide much in the way of support for these B cars.

re: Woodgrain on steering wheel. That's completely normal. It costs a LOT to restore those wheels. So unless it's going to be a show car, maybe get a color matched leather steering wheel cover.

1973 and 1976 are my favorite years of the big land yachts. Watch the fender skirts for rust, they are very prone on those cars.


1976

 

Thanks for responses - my 98 Regency is a 4-door. I don't think they started making the Regency in a 2-door until 1974. The Custom Cruiser for 1973 was awesome, would love to see pictures. Appreciate the insight on the seats - makes sense it is the foam flattening out instead of the buttons becoming disconnected.

If you have a website of a company that could redo the steering wheel to original would be awesome.

I'll post the pics when I get it out of the body shop from repainting - any advice on the paint job and redoing the vinyl top refurbish/replace would be awesome...

 

There are 2 guys that I've heard of. The first one is Gary and he has a company down in the US. Probably not too far for shipping a wheel back and forth. He apparently does good work. http://www.garyssteeringwheel.com/ Sample from his website of a 2 spoke Olds wheel


The other guy is local here in Edmonton and I've seen his work. It is amazing. He goes by the name 'The Steering Wheel Guy'. His web site is: http://www.stwheelz.com/ He says he works on only pre-80's cars.

NEITHER OF THESE GUYS WORKS FOR CHEAP. Be prepared to pay 400.00+ for restoration of your wheel.

 

All you have to do is ask!

 

Wow I love the 1973 CC. If anyone thinks the '73 98 is the biggest, all they have to do is look at the CC and see it is a 98 in a wagon version. I was a teenager when my Dad owned an Olds dealership and they rarely ordered them, but my girlfriend at the time's dad had one and I loved it. Great paint color! Can you send interior pics and dash pics too. Love the CC and very, very rare!
Thanks -
Richard

 

Actually, the Ninety Eight was the biggest. It was 230.3" long. The Custom Cruiser looks bigger probably because of the added glass area at the back, but it was only 228.3" long. The Toronado was just slightly less with 226.8" overall length.

Yes, the CC is the wagon version of the 98, and it's a magnificent example of bygone days. I owned one also and the only thing that car wouldn't do was pass up a gas station. It was a pig on gas. But look at the weight: 5070 lbs compared to the Ninety Eight being only 4601 lbs.

Almost everything from the rear seats forward (if you don't count that the rear seats fold and the doors are 'post') is the same, including the dash.

 

Hey and congrats on becoming the owner of an Oldsmobile 98 Regency! These are cars that most people fall in love with and rightfully so. You can look forward to many years of super comfortable, reliable cruising! Let us know what questions you have. I myself have 2 '76 Regency Coupes and LOVE them.

I would definitely have some recommended upholstery shops check out your seats. It's amazing what a qualified shop can do. I had my front (black leather) seats redone and they came out just gorgeous!

As for the steering wheel, yes this is a common issue. I've seen the restored wheels at Carlisle and while they do look great, they are not done in the same manner as OEM. They essentially remove the damaged woodgrain, fill it and apply a decal which is then cleared over. They do look very nice but it is an expensive job. If you have the 3 spoke, then you likely have tilt/telescope, right? It's a nice option and I've seen more '71 - '73 with tilt/tele so you may just get lucky and find a nice original. I have tilt/tele in one of my cars and have a nice leather wrap on one. The other car has tilt only and I have a pretty good original wheel...still looking for a perfect used or NOS...someday!

Definitely send over some pics when you get a chance and welcome again!

Jaunty, I've never seen your Cruiser before, very nice!

For the record, the '74, 5 and 6 98's were the longest at 232.2"

 

But of course. You don't think that Olds would ever stop making a BIG car until they were forced to did you? I was only comparing information about the 73 models.

I wonder why the CC's were always just an inch or so shorter than the 98? BTW I love your car. As you probably saw in the earlier post 73 and 76 were my 2 most favorite years of 98.

If you put a kid in a 73 or 76 98 or CC today they would freak. They wouldn't be used to having a hood that stretches to the Grand Canyon in front of them, and they would need to go to military school to learn to drive a tank first...

Actually, these big cars are pretty easy to drive, all you need to do is plan your move and when parking you have to drive for miles to find a stall big enough.

 

More photos, including several of the front seat area after I had put in new carpet and reinstalled the reupholstered front seat, are at this link.

https://picasaweb.google.com/gulinod...eat=directlink

 

OK guys, love the comments...

First, love the CC photos, nicely done with the interior carpet and seats, the paint looks top notch. I hope you still have it.

Any ideas on where to get a three-spoke steering wheel (yes, tilt and telescopic which I'm pretty sure was standard that model year for the Regency)? Emerald green interior/dash/wheel.

John (CT) can you share photos of your 76s?

Will anyone get pi@@ed if I ask an a/c question here?

Thanks -
Richard - Orlandp

 

Thanks Allan! I love it too...my goal is to show her at an Olds Club show on Sept 11 so I have a few crazy busy weeks ahead of me!



Richard, ask any questions you'd like on here!

I can't help you with your steering wheel search unfortunately. A wheel wrap may be your best bet in the meantime. I thought all Regencies came standard with the 2 spoke wheel (fixed or tilt only) but I could be wrong. I know '76 came that way. I attached a few pics of my cars. I need to get some more recent ones of the black 98 as she's come along since these were taken.

 

Black '76. Wow, doesn't get much better than that!

 

Thanks Richard! She's a real beauty and I cannot wait to finish everything up and start cruising her to every show I can!

Let's see some pics of your '73!