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Well we finally have summer Temps in Ontario. This has allowed me to drive the car out of the garage to do work on the car outside and move freely. Some of the stainless trim is on, which alerted me to the required fine tuning of door height. No biggie. The front and rear glass went in and it looks great. Today the rear wheel well stainless goes on and later this week an appointment for a front end alignment.
Here are a few picks.
Looking very good. I like the HO equipped badge as well. I may add one to mine too. Keep up the great work. Looking forward to a cruise night when I can come by and admire your hardtop.
Ben
Looking very good. I like the HO equipped badge as well. I may add one to mine too. Keep up the great work. Looking forward to a cruise night when I can come by and admire your hardtop.
Ben
Yes the Hurst equipped badge was an original on this. I read a story in Hemmings 20 or so years ago that GM was using a "muncie" shifter on their 4 speeds up to 66-67, but were having complaints from dealers that buyers of Camaros', Firebirds, any performance cars. The Muncie shifter was sloppy and would jump out of gear, that's when the Hurst people chimed in and GM used the Hurst Competition Plus. And to advertise that your beast had a Hurst shifter the badge was on the back, where most Mopar and ford's could readily see them!!
Yes the Hurst equipped badge was an original on this. I read a story in Hemmings 20 or so years ago that GM was using a "muncie" shifter on their 4 speeds up to 66-67, but were having complaints from dealers that buyers of Camaros', Firebirds, any performance cars. The Muncie shifter was sloppy and would jump out of gear, that's when the Hurst people chimed in and GM used the Hurst Competition Plus. And to advertise that your beast had a Hurst shifter the badge was on the back, where most Mopar and ford's could readily see them!!
The Hurst Equipped batch may have been a dealer add-on. None left the factory with it. Olds started using Hurst shifters in 65 or 66.
Interesting, I don't think I've ever seen a bench seat w/ a notch like that for the floor shifter. Just curious if all (MT) floor-shifted bench seat cars had that? Did floor-shift AT cars w/ bench seats have that too, or was that combination even available?
Interesting, I don't think I've ever seen a bench seat w/ a notch like that for the floor shifter. Just curious if all (MT) floor-shifted bench seat cars had that? Did floor-shift AT cars w/ bench seats have that too, or was that combination even available?
In any case, your car is looking spectacular.
No its custom, short Sicilian legs and a centerforce race clutch
Thanks for the comments.much appreciated.
I have slowly been working on the 68, not many hours after work but I accomplish some. Here are some of the pics of the work done and it sure feels nice to ride in it again. I have taken it to a couple of local shows and it stands up pretty well to most of the other cars, but there are no 68's to compare it to. ID badge on. Trim around door frame is on Trim on quarter window Trunk paint and mat is in.
I still have the doors to adjust and the hood hinges to replace. The second body shop thought they were messed up because the hood would not open very far.....they F...ED them up and now the hood does not go down at the cowl area, I have 69 hinges on order, they will be here on the 4th, Monday.
Happy Canada Day to my fellow CANUCKS and for Monday, have a great 4th of July.
Enjoy safely and drive safe.
Having seen the photos you have posted so far, I don't think many 68 442 owners would want to be judged next to yours. Looks pretty good.
Thank you for that. It has been fun and very rewarding to see the end result. To be very honest I just like driving it, after my 72 rag was sold I had a 90 Trofeo, and 96 Aurora, but there is nothing like a REAL muscle car. The sound, the smell, the look, the neck snap. I forgot what it was like, and getting back into it I love the 60 and 70's cars. It's the old saying, there is no replacement for displacement, and Oldsmobile torque is KING.
I still have the doors to adjust and the hood hinges to replace. The second body shop thought they were messed up because the hood would not open very far.....they F...ED them up and now the hood does not go down at the cowl area, I have 69 hinges on order, they will be here on the 4th, Monday.
Even if you have the three hole pattern on the fender be prepared to modify the 69 hinges on the hood side to fit the 68 hood. The 69 and 68 bolt hole locations are slightly off requiring the hinge holes to be elongated.
Usually if the hood is high at the cowl you have to raise the hinges in the back. It’s totally counterintuitive to what you would logically think would work
Last edited by allyolds68; Jul 3, 2022 at 08:58 AM.
Just quick update. Still waiting for the trunk lip trim, don't want to rush the guy. I called him last week and he told me it was cast and a few things needed to be touched up before chroming. I can wait, it isn't a critical piece for operation of the car.
I also have arranged to have the doors adjusted and the new hood hinges put on. I figure i can do these things but I really don't want to hurt the paint and it is better to let the body shop do the final touch. The shop I called is an award winning shop and I know the shop owner and I am confident in the shops work.
I have taken it to a couple of meets in the area and the comments are very encouraging, lots of people either remember having one or loosing a race to one.
I am hoping to hit Carlisle or Hershey this fall, I am looking at ordering an exhaust system, ( factory correct), Dakota gauges and maybe the 68 air induction for a W car.
Wow, where did summer go? Summer took so long to get here in Ontario and flew past too quick! I hope everyone had a great summer and I hope all were safe.
I guess I will play it by ear and put the car away at the end of October, but that may change if the white stuff flies early.
I have taken it to a few local show and shines and put about 300 kms on it. No major issues have come up, only one minor issue and that was the distributor cap had a crack in it, luckily i had a new spare and had no down time.
I just ordered the Dakota Digiital VHX gagues for the 68/69 . They look close to the originals not perfect but they are modern and they are plug and play. Speedo is GPS, so it is dead on accurate, I had it done in kilometers per hour as our roads are all KPH.
next the exhaust is on the list.
Your car is outstanding !! I can come back to this thread for inspiration, not that I'm on the same path - but I love the stock look.
So glad to see the Argent SSII wheels and not body color, and thank god no wing !
Did you paint the wheels ? If so who's paint ?
I just ordered the Dakota Digiital VHX gagues for the 68/69 . They look close to the originals not perfect but they are modern and they are plug and play. Speedo is GPS, so it is dead on accurate, I had it done in kilometers per hour as our roads are all KPH.
next the exhaust is on the list.
Your car is outstanding !! I can come back to this thread for inspiration, not that I'm on the same path - but I love the stock look.
So glad to see the Argent SSII wheels and not body color, and thank god no wing !
Did you paint the wheels ? If so who's paint ?
I had them powder coated. It was a bit lighter than I wanted but it is a good colour for the accent to the body colour.
Well, it is a short time until Christmas. Summit and Dakota Digital have given a date of January 30 as shipping date for the gauges. That's fine as the car is on stands until April.
The exhaust I am looking at is the Gardner system with the chambered tail pipes. Not sure if anyone else has them, if so I would love to hear from you on the sound.
Well I know I will be busy until early January, and i am sure i am not the only one. Everyone enjoy the time with your loved ones and stay safe.
Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year, 2023 wow time flies.
Vince
I found time today to remove the dash to install the new gauges
I removed the trio of original gauges. The wiring for the Dakota gauges looks intimidating but when you read the manual it is very straight forward. I will be doing the new gauge installation and wiring starting this week, after work, time permitting. I will post pics of all wiring and gauges in place.
I finally got around to taking some pics of the gauges in the dash, dash out of the car. You will have to excuse the pics, the glare and the glare from the new faces on the gauges do not allow good shots. I will post more when the wiring is all done and the dash is installed, too cold right now and I HATE the cold!!!
No, but They are pooched ,so I purchased some 69 hinges. They will be installed in the spring.
There's another option for the 68 hinges @ www.hoodhingrepair.com. This was the email from them:
We can rebuild both of your hood hinges, replacing all 14 rivets in the set for 250.00, plus shipping charges. that gets them back to you in a bare metal or a primer finish, lubed with white lithium grease in between all metal-to-metal movement areas and under the rivets, when pressed into place. The only exception is if they have a specialty coating such as POR-15 or powder coating, which is too tough to blast off and will be left on.
We can replace those front arms on the 68 hinges, from a 68 Chevelle hood hinge, which allows the hood to open up more. We have done this over 10 times and customers seem happy with the results. Those arms run an additional 40.00 each(80.00) total. The arms on your hinges have a stop built into them which stops the hood from opening up much and can crack and break, with all the pressure they are in.
We can coat your hinges and springs in any color we stock. Spray paint is available for 25.00 additional dollars and powder coat is 75.00 additional. Shades of black include flat, satin, semi-gloss, gloss and Mirror black in powder coat and Aluminum Blast, Cast Blast and Zinc Phosphate is grey in spray paint.
We accept checks, money orders, credit cards, Venmo, Zelle, cash app and PayPal as forms of payment. If sending payment with the hinges, please add the additional amount you paid in shipping to the check. I tell everyone to get a quote from their shipping source, prior to sealing the carton, then drop payment inside, tape them up and ship them to us.
Also include a note with what you need done, a return shipping address, a contact phone number and an email address. After sending the hingesin for the rebuild process, please forward us the tracking number, so we can be alerted to their arrival to our shop. Most all work is done and returned within 7-14 working days from received payment, but we are behind about 4-5 weeks with peak season, so let us know your time frame and we will try to make it happen.
If you have further questions, please email me back or just call us. Thank you again and I hope we can rebuild those hinges for you.Willie Wilson
Your car is looking great. Always cool to see people build "their" car. Nice job.
I have to say this to you and anyone else. If you and whoever else believe's Hemmings is the word you need to do more homework. They put out so much mis-formation. So much. Their "word" is so wrong so many times. Little FYI for those not in the know.
Thanks Eddie. Yes the speedo cable is gone. One less thing to melt on the exhaust.
did you remove the adapter to trans? Or does the 5 speed not have that? Reason I’m asking I will also go with a gps speedo and was wondering how to plug the tranny
