Great news on your health! Keep it up!

Your ragtop looks great. You and Joe do a great job at setting the bar on your projects. Let’s see some more photos of your craft.

Cheers.

 

442crzy - thanks for your kind words

twilightblue442 - It is a real code 75 car

WTHIRTY1 - putting me in the same category as Joe is high praise indeed. He is my Olds restoration hero!. I can't tell you how many times I have used his build threads and pics as guidance on my projects. I will post more pics next week as I wrap up the interior and get the car up on the lift to finish the bottom.

To all - thanks to all of you for your very kind words on my health. There are days when I feel like I just don't have the energy to go out and work on the car but in truth, it's the car that keeps me up off the couch. My docs all say ( I have 5 of them now, by the way!) that I need to stay as active as possible. Your encouragement and prayers mean more to me than you can possibly know

 

I keep inching closer to the completion of the red car. Here are some pics of the underside. Unless I've missed something, i believe that the bottom is done









Here's few more of the back and inside




It has been tough going on the inside. This was a bench seat car and the body shop missed the placement of the from console bracket by about a half inch too forward. I'm going to have to take it all out again so they can fix it. I also screwed up a bit on the carpet cuts. I can cover up the problems but the rest of the car is too nice so a new carpet set is on the way and I get to do it all over again. Probably my biggest failure was not testing the power top motor before I put it in the car and, of course it doesn't work. I tend to do stupid stuff when I'm in a hurry so now I will pay for by having to take everything in the back out again so I can get to the rams and the motor. New one on the way now but I'm not looking forward to this as it is a difficult job in a very difficult place to reach.

 

Looks outstanding! Well done! My fuel tank wire had two pieces of scotch tape on the tank itself and one on the neck of the tank. If you didn't stick a piece of tape up near the neck, go ahead and do so to prevent it from dangling. If you need a picture, shoot me your number and I'll text it to you.

 

Randy - Very nice. I've embarked on the interior removal several times on my own '71 CS - a labor of love. Short story - the 1st time, I owned the vehicle less than 2 weeks and locked the keys in the trunk (both sets were still on the same key ring). Luckily I had previously owned two 442 vehicles in the 60s & 70s & I recalled how to remove the rear seat and backrest. A long coat hangar & the keys were back in my hands. Then came troubleshooting the wiring, then came the R&R of the rear seat & backrest. Then came the R&R of the carpeting. Argh.

Great work, Randy!

 

WTHIRTY1

Thanks for the comment and the tip on the gas tank lead. I will do as you suggest.

Vintage Chief,

Thanks for your comments as well. Locking the keys in the trunk is one of my nightmares. The other is the pins for the ram air hood locks slipping.

Quick Update

No pics because I hate going backwards on a project. Basically pulled the entire interior out of the car except for the door panels. Tried to make some progress doing other things with the car in Sunday but it quickly became one of those days where everything I touched turned to crap. I decided to take the rest of the day off rom it before I started throwing things. Back on it tonight. It should go back to the body shop on Saturday so they fix their little issues.

Notes on arm rest bases, pads and the chrome backing plates. Over time I had purchased one set from Parts Place and recently purchased a different set from Fusick. They are very different in several ways. Most important, the Parts Place ones are lagerr. The bases themselves are slightly longer. The arm rest pads are probably close to 3/4 of an inch longer, which means that the chrome bases also are longer to accommodate the longer base. Needless to say, you really can't interchange parts without appearance issues. And, the big one, neither one fit the door worth a d---. They are just so time consuming to install.
I don't know which one is closer to original but my choice going forward would be the Fusick ones.

 

Thanks for the update. That's good feedback.

 

A few final pics and comments on the red convertible. It's about 98% done. Still sorting out a few details but just about there. The car has been registered for the Mecum Auction in Kissimmee and will cross the block some time early afternoon on Saturday. It's lot S65.1 in case you want to look it up. This maybe should be a separate thread but I've been watching these auctions for a long time now and I have never seen so many Hurst Olds and 68 to 72 442's in one auction ever in the past. There are multiple W30's and at least three other regular 442 convertible's beyond this one. Not sure what that might do for prices or if it's a trend or not but it should be pretty interesting.

As soon as this one sells, I will get back to my work on the actual subject of this thread, my black convertible.

 

That looks real nice, good luck at Mecum, that is a HUGE auction!

 

Beautiful!!!

 

Man that is a beautiful, you did a great job. The next owner should be happy. Good luck

 

Very nice car - I look forward to seeing it in person at Mecum

 

Quick update on the red car and then back to the original subject of this thread. I had to withdraw it from the Mecum sale at the absolute last second. Really upsetting because the cars like mine that were there seemed to bring pretty nice money.

I'm kind of embarrassed to admit what happened to force the withdrawal but the truth of the matter is I couldn't stop it from overheating. It ran great and would idle for as long as you wanted it to but as soon as it was out on the road, it would start to overheat. I and two other mechanics threw everything we could think of at it - thermostats, radiator caps, hoses, fan clutch, you name it, nothing worked. We finally pulled the radiator (it was new) to replace it with a different one I had. When we flushed the first one out, mouse crap flowed out of it!. I don't literally mean crap but stuff they would use in a nest - little tiny pieces of cloth and tiny little seeds for food.

I couldn't stand the thought of trying to sell a car that I knew might have deeper issues, although many people probably would, so I pulled it from the sale. I was very concerned about where else that junk might have gone so we pulled the intake and heads. Some of the smaller water passages in the block were actually 100% plugged up. We also found some metal shavings that look like a couple of the valve seals may have been destroying themselves. No ideas if the two issues are related in some way but it really doesn't matter. The engine came completely out of the car last night and on Monday it's off to Mark Remmel (cutlassefi) to be completely redone. In order to avoid a very expensive withdrawal fee at Mecum, I had to commit the car to one of their future sales. Look for it at Indy in May. The whole thing has been very costly but I just couldn't not do it.

 

Wow, sorry for the bad luck you experienced. That had to be a sick feeling. Kudos for being a stand-up guy and making sure the car was 100%.

 

You Sir are one standup guy!

 

Cincinnati Rick and Vintage Chef,

Thanks for your comments. I really appreciate it.

I have a very good Oldsmobile friend here in my area who is currently doing all he can to help a very nice lady who got totally hosed on the purchase of a 71 Cutlass convertible at an auction. Basically everything she was told was a lie. I don't want to be the guy that would do something like that. I work really hard on my cars and put tons of money in them. Even though I'm already way upside down on this one, my reputation means too much to me to deliberately and knowingly screw someone else.

 

Rand - I'm much like yourself. I'm a firm believer in maintaining all equipment & I believe in performing the job properly; otherwise, why bother. I think I get more satisfaction just knowing the job was done correctly when I performed the maintenance. Down to picky $HIT like a quick soaking/scrub of nuts/bolts and greasing threads/bolts/nuts before they go back on.

 

Norm,

Totally agree. I've done multiple things i my cars that no one will ever see but I know that they are there and that they are correct

 

Going backward to go forward - again!
It's been a long time since I posted on this thread and much has happened in my personal life but this is about the car and not me so here goes.
After the bad experience with the engine in the red car I became increasingly concerned about the motor in the black car - the original subject of this thread. It was a "fresh" rebuild but I had heard several different stories about it. One was that it was rebuilt and started for break-in and ran with no issues. Then I heard that it had never been started after rebuild. I also received some paperwork when I bought that suggested it might have some really stupid high lift Mondello cam in it.
So, after worrying about it for works, I finally decided that I just couldn't face the possibility of having to pull a motor from a freshly restored and complete car again.

Here is where I was at the time:



I was actually a little farther as I had added the condenser and some other parts that I didn't get pics of.

I took all of the front end back apart and here is where I am now;




I probably pulled off more than I really needed to but i was pretty unhappy and taking it apart helped calm me down. The motor is now in the hands of Mark Remmel (cutlassefi here). He is just starting to tear it down but has already confirmed that it was never started. The plan is to have him go through the whole thing just to check it over. Hopefully there won't be any issues and it will be a pretty straightforward job. I have made a few changes in the direction of the build he is doing. Rather than bone-stock as I have done before, I'm going to do a full hydraulic roller cam and roller rockers. I will also be adding a Performer intake and a Holley EFI system. Planning on using the stock heads even though they will limit the power as I just can't justify the cost of going to aluminum heads. I hope to have the engine back sometime in September and my overall goal is to have the car done by next spring.

 

Great job. Hoping all comes together in September for you.

 

No pictures today but a quick update. I and 137 of my co-workers all lost our jobs due to Covid back on March 27th. We made the decision to move back to my family home in Wisconsin and put our GA place up for sale. We actually sold it just a few days after the pictures above were taken. We are now living in an apartment in Northern WI while we search for a house to buy.
New hometown means new Doctors and that's where the shock came in. My new Oncologist wanted all new test and scans. One of the scans came back with a previously unknown tumor. It's still considered prostate cancer but is a completely different kind. It is actually a small cell cancer just like lung cancer and just as deadly. There is no standard treatment for it so I am already enrolled in a clinical trial to test different drug combinations on it. I had a pretty good chance of holding the other cancer at bay but virtually no chance with this one. I have been told that I have somewhere between 6 and 54 months to live. It will just depend on how I react to the treatments
The engine is still with CutlassEFI. It's a good thing I pulled it from the car since he has discovered that it wasn't "rebuilt" only worked on a little bit. He has discovered that the block is cracked in two different places so I need to source a new block. I have a friend in GA who has volunteered to go down and get the engine in Tampa when it's done and take it to my body shop. He and several other GA friends have also volunteered to help work on the car since I can't.
The car has been delivered to my body shop. I have probably already done everything I will be able to do on this car. It is actually very close to being ready for paint. My good friend at the body shop has told me that over the next couple of weeks he will finish a couple of other cars. As soon as that happens, he will put two guys on it full time. Between his crew and my GA friends, they think they can have the car done by about February or sooner. After much discussion, it will be black with white stripes, top and interior. I don't have as much time as I thought I would have to get my personal finances cleaned up so this car will be going up for sale just as soon as it is finished.
My body shop guy is pretty good about taking pictures so I will post updates as I get them.

 

All I can say is wow. You've been dealt a terrible hand and still have kept it together. You are an inspiration to all of us. Prayers and God Bless You

 

Hi Randy - Back up to the North woods for you eh? I have family tossed about all over the state from Dickeyville>Oshkosh>Marniette/Menominee>LaCrosse. I hadn't realized you were laid off and moved back up North. This new oncology situation is a bummer - hang in there, you're a guy who'll enjoy the most out of what life tosses your way. Hunt & eat plenty of morels - I love them. Thanks for the update.

 

So sorry to hear your news prayers to you and your family. I have enjoyed your posts on your convertible builds!

 

Thanks guys. I appreciate your comments and prayers. I will keep this build thread going to share the work that others will be doing on the car. Pics as I get them.

 

So Sorry to hear the news. Prayers for you and you family. Looking forward to more posts and now that your closer, stop by the shop for a visit.

 

Finally some progress on my car. It went back into the body shop about a week ago. They have reinstalled all of the sheet metal and are working on panel alignment. The body was vey close to being ready for paint so in about three weeks or so they expect to have it painted. The engine is still in the capable hands of cutlassefi but I hope to have it back next month. He is setting up the dyno he bought so with any luck my engine may be one of the first ones he runs.
With the engine back and paint done, the shop can begin final assembly. Really looking forward to that

 

Progress has been way too slow but at there has been some. The car was painted on Wednesday, stripes were taped off over the weekend and painted on yesterday. Next step is to clear the entire car and then cut and buff. After that the from end will be pulled back off and assembly can begin.










I am very grateful that my body/paint guy is so meticulous. One of my pet peeves is stripes that aren't straight, level and correct. They are very time consuming to so so why not take the little bit of extra time to get them right. Just in case anyone is interested, below is a pic of the stripes with dimensions as they were done on my blue car. I was fortunate enough to have access to several original paint/original stripe cars and these dimensions are what we pulled from them. Most painters are inclined to want to follow the body contours and on these cars they absolutely do not do that. In fact, they tend to cross over the contour, especially on the quarter panel. They run parallel to the the bottom door edge and the side marlight openings.



If anyone needs a top notch body shop in the southeast, I highly recommend Rusty's Rod Shop in Cleveland, GA. This is the third car he has done for me. He is working now on a 68 442 and a 70 W31. In addition, he will shortly be striping my best friends black 442 convertible with gold stripes. They are also master fabricators. They recently stuffed a Ford Coyote V8 with a ten speed automatic trans into a 65 Mustang coupe. Their work is incredible!

 

Beautiful work and from a high integrity individual. Question, i just bought the correct jack jaw for my 68 442 and i decided to re-paint the base, mechanism and jaw. In a spray can form what is the exact paint color i need? They are more than 50 shade's of gray...........

 

W-27

Thank you for the kind words. This will probably generate some controversy as everyone has a different idea of what the correct gray is. I used Inline Tube Item #12224. However, it's for the '70 model year and I can't be certain that '68 would be the same.

 

I saw that 70 paint. Does the base and log nut wrench get the same grey or is it black? On a different note i wonder how these jack would work on any of the newer plastic bumpers...

 

W-27,

All of the jack components, except the shaft itself, would be matching gray paint. I suspect that these all jacks would tear the h*ll out of newer bumpers. They were pretty hard on the old all-metal ones.

 

FWIW On my '68 Lansing 4-4-2, the lug wrench and base are black oxide, not painted, The shaft is a silver paint, but I think it is a replacement; it does not appear aged as the other parts, The hook is grey paint. Now, as the fourth owner I can't swear that these are OEM pieces or finishes, but other than the shaft the pieces look appropriately aged in these finishes. I think the individual jack parts were sourced from different providers depending on region of build. Other C.O. threads have addressed the differences.

 

Thank you for all your input. The jacks used on new bumpers was a joke as i think they would actually come off the car if one tried. Nice 68's BackInTheGame my favorite year.

 

Thanks, W-27 .

 

Rand,
I've been following this thread and wanted to check in and see how you're feeling.
Guy

 

Frisbee K9,

I've been trying to keep my health issues out of this thread as I'm sure it upsets some readers but since you asked. New location means new Oncologist. He insisted on new scans which showed that my prostate cancer had mutated to a different type of prostate cancer. Who knew there were different types? It is basically related to lung cancer and just as deadly. While most prostate cancers are slow growing and treatable, the new one one I have (called neuroendocrine prostate cancer) is very aggressive and not very treatable. I get me 6th, and last, chemotherapy treatment next week. From there I will get a break from the chemo until the cancer comes back - and it will come back. then they will try something else for awhile until we just run out of effective options. I am basically terminal although there is no way of knowing how long I have. Some guys only live three or four months, others make it to three or more years but ultimately the cancer will win. It is already It is already seven months since the new diagnosis so I guess I am doing better than some guys.

Thank you for asking.

 

Car looks great. Sorry to hear about your health news. I will say that I am in a similar situation and it can be tough knowing that you have aggressive cancer that is almost certain to return but you have no idea when. Stay positive.

 

This probably wont be popular but i do not believe in modern medicine. I come from a family of doctors dating back to the 1500. I would recommend no modern medicine. Just natural medicine such as a high grade of Black Cumin in liquid form to start. Read the "One minute cure" for immune idea's. The medicine and chimo is actually doing the very opposite that is supposed to do. A great balance diet, a body cleanse, positive affermations...nobody as all the answers but looking outside the box may be the answer.

 

Lpaded68W34
Thanks for your support - same right back at you. It is indeed difficult not knowing when you will be fighting the battle again. All the best to you.
W-27
You may be right but all of that is just not for me. Thanks for sharing it though