On all of my parts cars and the original carpet to this car the carpet is on top of the firewall pad on the driver side and under the firewall pad on the passenger side. The original carpet to this car even went over the top of the throttle plastic plate a little.

 

To get both sides of the hump at the back of the front carpet to lay down better I had to slit the back of the carpet. I have to cut for the shifter anyway so this did not matter. It would not need cut as far as I cut and would not be noticed when the seats and console are installed. The original carpet was cut under the seats and had bare floor. I am not cutting this area out and leaving it covered.

 

More pictures of the back corners. The carpet under the door seal did not originaly come back as far as I made it but will not make a differance after the seal is in place.

 

I had the exact same issue when I replaced the carpet in my Chevelle a few years ago. There must be something wrong with their mold. I ended up adding some extra jute insulation to the areas on the side of the tunnel.

 

Can someone post a picture of the front bumper to grill gap from an original car that the bumper has never been removed from? I installed this bumper to the dimensions in the assembly manual and looks like it should go back about 1/4 inch. In the past I always just installed them by eye and got them closer. I figure I am just not use to seeing them correct and my past ones were wrong. My camera is not home so I will post a picture of this later.

The manual only gives you fender to bumper gaps and mine are dead on the money. I know the grill can't come forward so i assume it is all correct.

 

Just looked up a couple cars I took pictures of. The green one is from Wings Auto Art and the blue one is from Level One Restorations. Both are farther back than the manual shows with Level One being way to far back. This would make the grill gap look like I am used to seeing. Now I am not sure if I will leave it or move it back a little. I guess with the wider gap it would allow more flex before breaking the grill if it got bumped.

 

I got some great pictures by email and makes me feel good about my bumper. I did close the bottom gap to the tight side of what the book shows is acceptable. The front bumper, grills, outside mirrors, parking lights, and marker lights are all done. I also painted the lower A/C 8-track vents and installed them today. With everything I did today I worked on it for 13 hours and I am pooped.

I gave up on getting the original glass from another car and just ordered a new windshield. I wanted the glass in a long time ago but just never worked out. The glass should be installed Wednesday. If everything works out I want to install the interior next weekend and off to the alignment shop the week after.

 

Nice Bumper!

 

I am very pleased with it. Many of the NOS 70 fronts are not very nice but this one is GREAT! Do you remember where you got it from or how long you had it?

 

Eric,


Got the bumper from a fellow WI Club member probably two years prior to selling it to you. Had planned on using it on my Vista once I get into that project but I do have a real nice core and it really should be hanging on a rare prized jewel such as yours anyway instead of a Family Truckster.

 

Very depressing night. I had the front and back glass installed and shortly after they left I started installing the trim. I know the base of the windshield goes on first and under the side pieces but i got ahead of myself and installed it last. I had to pop the bottom clip on the side trim loose to get the bottom molding under the side. I cracked the windshield while popping the clip loose. I have removed 100s of these trim pieces and never broke a windshield. The first time just had to be on my W-30. GRRRR!!! I am just almost out of my Oldsmobile money and have no extra at this time to get another windshield. I will have to live with the crack till sometime after the car is done. It is about 1.5 inches long now but in the summer heat and with the A/C on I know it will grow in a short amount of time.

 

Have the crack filled.

 

I have most if the interior in. I had complete fits with the shifter and console. I had them pre fitted before I installed the carpet but something went wrong because nothing fit the same. I had almost 3 hours just in the console and shifter. The back door panels were a little difficult at first but ended up going well. Lots of little places I had to use a heat gun and massage things into the correct shape to avoid scuffing when closing the doors. The seats all fit great but the headrests are horrible looking. The original covers both had a small crack in them. I got the legendary headrest covers and they are terrible. I have another good set with no cracks and going to paint them with my leftover console paint. I just came in to take a break and eat after 11 hours but I think I will go back out later for a couple hours.

 

That's a great color. Nice work!

 

Got it loaded up and headed to the alignment shop in the morning. I am estimating another 30 hours of work to be finished. Mostly cleaning the bottom side of the red wells is what will be most of that time.

I want to install the door edge guards but not sure if it is a good idea. This car will likely get stripes some day and not sure how well I could get them off without goofing up the paint.

 

lol, The workshop (aka Manly Shop) is very full and dirty. I want to clean the shop good before putting the car back in but I have to return the enclosed trailer tomorrow night.
I still don't know where the car will be stored after it is done. If it sits outside here long enough to clean the shop someone will come down the road and completely fill the car with dust. I got lucky and nobody came down the road for almost an hour today. I was able to take the pictures and get it loaded before a load of dust came. I have 100 gallons of used oil I will be spreading on the road soon to help the dust. The neighbors love it when I do that. I am sure EPA would also.

 

Looks fabulous, I vote no on the door edge guards.

 

I like the W-30 stripes, but I like the subtlety with out them. In some way it makes it look meaner.
Looks great Eric!!!

 

Did you basecoat clearcoat?

 

Yes, All the painters I talked to said I had to because of the metallic in the twilight blue. I am not sure it is the correct shade of blue but I know it is much smoother and deeper than original.

 

A trick I learned from my body shop for moldings that press on is to use a product called Door Eaze.


It is a dry stick lubricant that you apply like a big crayon.


The moldings slip right on and don't skive the paint.


And, it protects against future corrosion.

 

Another vote for no door edge guards. My car had them, when I repainted it in 1984 I left them off. I think they detract from the looks of the car and I certainly wasn't going to open a door into something.

 

Looks great Eric!!

 

Looks awesome. i really like that twilight blue.

 

Eric, the reason that I asked on the bc/cc, is that I was told by a local painter that any striping had to be applied shortly after the main body color, otherwise there would be adhesion problems if putting the stripes on after the clearcoat, so I am trying to understand what is correct when it comes to applying stripes to a bc/cc paint job.

 

I have heard that but my body guy didn't think it would be an issue. I had talked to Level One about it also. Told them if I stripe it I wanted it over the clear and would like them to do the stripes. They said they have done it that way before. I also seen two cars at the Springfield Nationals that had them over the clear.

 

Great experience with the alignment shop. They did exactly what I wanted. I called them a month ago to talk to them about the car and that the work will have to be done with me there. Also told them no air tools and no pry bars. They went above and beyond and did a great job. Didn't even charge me extra. I did tip both mechanics that worked on it.

I don't know where Fusick drop ships there springs from but the ride height is perfect on the money compared to the service manual. I was told by a couple others that Fusick springs have a factory ride height and it was true. I have not driven it yet to know how they handle but happy so far.

 

I forgot that I had not painted the headlight bezels yet so I did that first thing this morning. Got them installed and also installed the shoulder belts, center dash vent, wheel opening moldings, beauty rings and lots of other little things. Still lots of work to do but another week or two or three and it should be finished.

I was told that I should go with the repop wheel opening moldings over NOS and they were correct. I have not used the repop moldings but they can't fit worse than NOS. I had to heat and bend and heat and bend and massage them till I got them acceptable. Still not great but acceptable.

 

headlamp housings look great eric did u spray them yourself and if so what paint did u use and were did u get it, almost there, keep up the good work.

 

I ended up using the Krylon dull aluminum on the grills, headlight housings, and the bezel outlines. Also used it on the tail light lenses. I did not want to use the krylon but could not find anything that matched better. Made me sick to paint an NOS 442 grill but it just didn't look right painting my used grill with an NOS grill.

 

I have been putting this off for a long time. I had around 10 hours in these winter before last. I had planned to work on them last summer and was not able to do it. Now I am ready for them so I have to finish cleaning them. I put 3 hours in them today and the top side is almost done but the bottom side has at least 5 more hours to go. These have great color but they are not perfect. These pictures have nothing on them just dry bare plastic.

I would like to finish the car before Saturday evening. Our town has a local cruise-in on Memorial day weekend and would like to make it the first trip for the car.

 

Eric I would put them in as they are. Makes the car look honest and in my opinion does not detract from the freshness of the car.

 

I want to get the remaining paint off the bottom side but other than that they will go in as they are. There is a thin spot from tire rub and a small crack by a mounting hole but nothing serious. I will have to attach the splash guards. I have never done this with the staples. Does anyone have advice for installing them on the wheel wells?

 

I could not get the vents clean enough so I took them apart to clean them. I never took them apart before and it would be very easy to brake them. After I got them all done I figured out that I did two lefts. Now to do another right side.

 

Eric, those wells look great as is. It would suck to mess them up by using too harsh a solvent or be scrubbing too hard because you have a deadline. Vents look great as well. That was something on mine that took a lot longer than I thought it would.

 

I will miss the cruise in before I get into a hurry but I think I can finish getting the paint off the bottom on time. My to do list

Window crank *****
Air dam
make a slight adjustment to the back bumper
install the exhaust tips
clean and install the red inners
install the NOS seal plates
glue on the foam to the OAI top and install
replace the hood springs

Later I will replace the windshield, headrests, and trunk latch.

I am having a real hard time with the seal plates. I have an NOS set that I got from the dealer back in 1990 area. I bought several parts at that time and I was only 15-17 years old. much of my extra money went to parts. These are the last of the parts I got back then and having a hard time bringing myself to open them.

 

I put 4 more hours into these tonight and looks like I have at least 3 more to go. I had a spot on the passenger side bottom that was scuffed up real bad. I had to sand that area with 800 for 15 minutes then 1000 for almost an hour before I was happy with it. After sanding, it leaves a white looking area that is actually real fine scratches. Almost fine hairs that are so fine you can't see them other than looking white. Then just use a heat gun to melt the white surface "hair" and then looks great. It is not perfect but looks much better than the bad scuffed area. I have another area that it already a little white like this and I will get before and after pictures tomorrow.

 

I recently attached a pair of R.E.M. reproduction dust shields to some NOS inner fenders (black for a W31 car). The repros' fit was excellent, I only had to trim a small amount from each one, in a corner, to fit the contour of the inner fender better. I decided not to wrestle with the steel stables. I made a bunch using tinned copper bus wire. I bent and cut them to length like the steel staples. Same diameter wire as the steel (I'll have to go back and see what gauge I used) and the tinned wire looks like steel.

I used a bunch of paper binder clips and some tape to secure the dust shields to the inner fenders. Then drilled through the fenders existing holes and through the new dust shields. Pushed my staples through and easily bent them over to secure the shields. I probably used something like the end of a screw driver handle and maybe some bill-nosed pliers.

They are real snug and look correct. If I was doing this again I'd follow the same process.

These inner fenders had some scrapes. I sanded them ending with 3000 and then buffed them with polishing compound. They aren't perfect. I think they're polypropylene which, like soda bottle, is soft. I didn't think to try a heat gun! That's a good idea.

 

You should send the individual parts to Chrome Tech and have them done correctly with vacuum metallizing. Looks much better than paint.

 

The car looks Great!! You sure have some serious work in those liners!! It amazes me how many people painted them black back then? I made a tool out of 5/16" rod with a 1/16" hole in the middle to bend the staples. It works pretty well, it doesn't bend them all the way but it gets them close. I supported the back side with a rag covered piece of wood & tapped them flat with a brass punch. Also the splash shield kit I got from Fusicks didn't have enough staples to do the whole job so I ended up using paperclips cut to length. The metal is softer & bends much easier than the staples in the kit & a regular pair of slip-joint pliers work really well to get the bends done