Looking awfully impressive Joe. Be sure to install the exhaust before you fire it up. Looking for those awesome trumpets but not seeing them. Looks like someone has stolen the hood you worked so hard on ...

 

Very impressive indeed! And the input from everyone is awesome! The knowledge and expertise! Wow!

 

Allan, the hood was last seen going up highway 35 in the pick up bed of a couple of Moosehead swilling, French spouting good old boys with some sort of expedited Canadian custom clearance attached - you wouldn't happen to know anything about it?

Speaking of the hood, would you have any pics of the underside of a OE W-25 hood where the washer squirters mount along with how the hoses leading to them are routed (on the hood only). And could use another underside one of where the primary and secondary latches mate to the hood.

Again, in hindsight, should have bought the Thorton!!!

 

Joe ya got me.
Yeah, that was Frankie and Verne. I hired them to go get it. Probably they were too drunk to follow the return routing back to my place. They never were good at following instructions. So now I have to go looking for those cretins. You said I35?? Well at least they're headed North instead of East like they usually do...

re: the bottom of an OE hood? Can you make out the details you need in this shot? It's from a 1970 but the routing and washers will be in the same place. The pic has fairly high resolution so you should be able to blow it up and keep the detail reasonably clear. Is the info in the AM not good?


Not exactly sure what you need in the second pic.

 

When you did the fender wells where did you find the replacement flaps I have a 69 cutlass s vert, mine are stapled in how did you reinstall or can you get the staples some where. Your car is super nice nice work on all of it.

 

I wonder why F & V always wind up heading East with your booty? Is the MDechanic guy in Maine automatically paying more? If you see a 73 88 Conv all of a sudden sporting a Flame Orange W-25 hood that doesnt fit too well, you'll know Verne (he has to be the ringleader) is a double agent.

Could you possibly repost your pic of the hood underside in a different format? For some reason, I'm just getting a red x box where it should be - wonder if the resolution is too good for my browser to handle (?)

 

Joe, send me your home email via PM and I'll send you the jpg.

 

Joe,
Don't know if you found that sender or not?


This is on Parts Place. Their part number is: EL5399Z

 

Allan, thanks for the pic and link. This repro looks significantly different to an original 6402383 sender. Since it's so visible, I think I'm either going to do that mod I was thinking of or continuing to look for a good used one.

I bought an NOS one a few years ago for the Hurst from Ron Memmer - thought it was crazy at the time that I paid 85.00 for it.

 

just ran across this thread, wow what a beautiful car!!!! great job on your restoration. i just love that color. a 4spd vert it as good as it gets for me. charlie,,,

 

whered u get part 4267? AC cover... thanks

 

Charlie thanks! I'm following your excellent work on that Pace Car. I'm going to remount that blower motor resistor - appreciate your help on that question.

 

That 4267 is a guess. When I was taking the 8 layers of paint off that heater core cover, ther was a faint 267 on it, so I extrapolated out that it has something to do with the body style designator.

I'm sure it wasn't originally on there, but someone thought at one point in the history of this unbelievably hammered, tired car to write that on it. Wonder if maybe at one point was it replaced?

 

Very nice build. All the hard work is paying off and looks awesome. Enjoy it!!

 

That is a REALLY cool picture of your cars with that Olds landscaping creation !

 

Its looking great Joe.

 

Received the booster back from Steve Gregoire at brakeboosters.com - looks awesome. The plating he does is so much better than the dull repro crap that's out there.

Also, had fun with the horns!

Set 1 (the ones that came on the car) Were correct, but LONG ago stopped working - probably something to do with the spade connector on one being completely broken off and the other being cracked. I tell you guys - this car was hammered all the way through.

Set 2 (purchased off Ebay) Looked OK, but when I went to mount up, were nowhere close to correct on the mounting. I guess pretty much all the GM OE horns are the same - the only differences are in the strap that mounts it to the car. I tried cuting throught the spot welds that attach the strap to the horn in an attempt to "reclock" them to make it work. No go - I was going to ruin the horns

Set 3 (acquired from Chris D) These still werent oriented exactly like the ones depicted in the assembly manual, but were pretty close. I still had to grind some metal on the strap to get them to fit. Powered up the electrical system and blew the horn - sounded like a pig squealing. Both of the horns were blown or on their way out. I used the Set 2 horns to confirm that it wasnt the horn button, relay or grounding issue.

Set 4 (aquired here from Brian Trick - 507OLDS) These look and mount up exactly like the originals and work - just needed a good cleaning and painting

 

Convertible top hydraulics in and working fine. Of course somehow I lost one of those clips that secure the lines to the sheet metal. I did the zip tie thing of the lower hose to the cylinder as seen in th Fisher Body manual. I don't know what the purpose is, but it looks more organized.

I HATE bleeding brakes.

Exhaust system next week - stock with the exception of the 40 series Flowmasters then a trip to Ray's Trim in Garland or the top replacement. Thought for a litte bit about about doing it with the non OE brilliant white, but decided to go original instead. Ray's is quoting 1600 to 1800 for the entire job including stripping and repainting the frame. Sounds a litte high, but they do excellent work according to other NTOC'ers I know and are especially good about not causing collateral paint damage.

 

Hood on today. I'm not happy at all with the fit. With as much $&@! money as I paid for this paint & body work, you'd think it would almost assemble itself.. Have I mentioned recently that I should have bought the Thornton hood? Going to exhaust shop next Monday.

 

Joe, sorry to hear there are fitment issues with the hood. I thought the body shop had tweaked the heck out of it and pre-fitted it prior to paint. Makes absolutely no sense that it won't fit right now.

ummm, yes we talked about the $$$$ spent on the hood and compared it to the T.H. That's all behind you now though? Can you post pics showing why you're not happy with the fit? The pic of it painted earlier in this thread - it looks amazing.

 

Will post pics tonight. Rides very high on the driver's side pretty much all the way to the front, but it's already touching the cowl at the back. It also has a huge hood to fender gap tapering downwards towards the front driver's side. Passenger side has a nice consistant gap, but it also rides high (but not as high as the driver's side). Ive adjusted the latch, hood springs where they meet the fender and at where they attach to the hood. Next step will probably be fooling with the fender itself.

Wondering if this car might have frame damage. It was hit on the passenger side wheel well area. I asked my painter guy to check it - he said it was square.

 

Ok, here's a dumb question maybe. When the hood was painted it was off the car right?. Is there any chance that painting OFF the car and then baking at 160 in the paint booth allowed the fibreglass to flex causing your problem? With no full steel substructure to hold it in form, that's as good a guess as I can come up with. I feel partly at fault for suggesting you look at that hood in the first place now that it's been so extensively modified.

 

You feel at fault Allan? You have been nothing but a help with your communication and encouragement together with your amazing knowledge of 72's !!!

I'll stop whining ang get to work. I don't think the hood is warped. The front clip was assembled by the painter after painting and it was supposedly all lined up before the hood was pulled off when I got the car. I'll post those pics in the morning - maybe I'm just doing something really wrong.

 

This is a long shot, but are you using the exact number of shims the body shop used at back fender 9/16 bolt by the door jamb?

 

Joe, that suggests that it's the clip that's not lined up right instead of the hood. The painter would have had all the clip/hood together on the car to ensure fitment and gaps prior to painting? Might be worth having him come over and figure out what the problem is. I'd be scared to death of chipping any door paint lining up those fenders. The shimming comment makes a lot of sense, but that would be the painter's reassembly knowledge on that.

Q: Is the painter also a bodyman? Just asking because nowadays some of them specialize just in the painting aspect. One other thing to look at..the fender can be shimmed off the rad support at the front too. Have you looked into that to see if it's uneven? Measure corner to corner on the hood opening to see if it's square or not.

 

Allan here's some pics of the fender to hood gaps at about where the hood pins are. I measured as you said - one X measures 86 inches, the other 86 & 1/2, so there are some issues at play.

The hood sticking up over the fender was horrendous, but after I removed the cowl to hood seal it got way better. (The long pic is before removing the seal) The RH side is almost flush, and the LH sticks up about 3/8's. The LH fender is going to have to come in and go up a bit and I think to fix most of the issues, but the hood is still too thick at the back to use the normal cowl seal. Gonna have to figure out something to use instead that looks halfway correct.

 

Pics of the car going up on flatbed yesterday to take to the muffler shop. Went with Flowmaster 40's instead of the OE mufflers - just want to hear that ping and lope at idle since I used the 402169 cam (early W-30 and all W-31) The mufflers are the only non correct looking items on the car - that's just going to have to suffer.

Then trailered it yesterday afternoon to the Upholstery shop. Should be done by early next week, then back to the house for final interior reassembly, final body panel fit/adjustment, and final paint buffing.

Oh almost forgot - we'll see if it starts

 

Is it possible that the 3 rubber bumpers on the inside fender lip are too thick? also, is the front of the hood flush with the front fenders or does it need to slide forward a bit? That helped once on a steel hood, but not much.

 

Rust - the gift that keeps on giving.

Just got a call from the upholstery shop. The reason the old top fit so poorly was that the front header bow was swiss cheese when they pulled the material off. The place where the material should attach to it is simply not there. Another 420.00 (with 2nd day air freight) "invested".

I'm going to do a complete, to the penny summation allocated to the repair/refurbishment type detailling exactly what the cost was to restore the car. Hopefully it will illustrate to those considering doing one to this level the importance of avoiding cars severely infected with the tin worm.

 

I dont think so. The rear two bumpers are not even in contact with the hood when the cowl seal is in place.

The hood fit beautifully at the front. The overall length seem spot on. i now think it's the LH fender that's the issue, and I dont know if it has enough adjustment to make it line up as it should without having to come back off the car and be "modified".

 

Joe,
First, you do have an issue with clearances as evidenced by the squaring measurements you did. That needs to get fixed first.

With the DS rear hood, you're right that is horrendous. What type of adjustment did you do on the springs? Adjustment: loosen all 3 bolts on both sides and have someone push up in the center of the hood. Needs firm pressure to move the hood as high as it will go. Then snug those bolts in tight before you let off pressure on the hood. That will (sounds wrong but it isn't) snug the rear of the hood down tight to the proper height. It should fit fine or even tight with the cowl lacing since the cowl lacing is hollow and designed to be crushed.

What method did you use to set the rear hood height? The side bumpers are there to give the hood stability and the front bumpers are there to adjust the proper height at the front. Too big a gap side to side on the fenders sounds like the painter didn't shim them properly. IMO He should have measured that gap and corrected it before turning the car back to you.

Anyway, those are some of my thoughts....

 

Before you hit "final total" I'd suggest you have the ERD ready with cardio paddles. I'd bet my silver surfer it's way more than some pees make in a year. You're right on the money - this is not a hobby for the faint of heart. I look forward to your accounting summation. You'll prolly run out of puter memory posting it....

 

Allan, thanks for the tips. Just to be sure, you' re saying to lift the hood upwards - at a 90 degree angle to ground- after loosening the hinge to fender bolts? You are right - that does sound counterintuitive.

The LH fender is way out of whack. I'm having the painter guy come to the house and readjust everything, hen finish up the final polish.

 

I really want to help others understand just where the money goes. For example, if I had known all the auxiliary pieces needed to do the M/T changeover, I would have tried to find all of it from one guy used.

In total, including car purchase price, I'm at 59K

 

Joe, first tape off the side of the hood and fenders at the back so you don't create any chipping or scratching on that fresh paint. When you loosen off the 3 bolts on each side you just have to get them loose - don't over do it. Lifting the hood would be like lifting it at the front as if opening it. Then when it's fully up, push hard straight up on the middle. This will push the hinge plate up at the front and down at the back. Have someone maintain that pressure while you snug the bolts down. This is very close to the same procedure used at GM when they built the car. What it does is snug the rear of the hood down to the level of the fender at the back. You then adjust your front height using the 2 front hood bumpers. Sounds wacky but it works.

Get that fender adjusted first before tweaking the hood. When it's done he can final polish it. Maybe have him hold the hood when he comes over?

 

I'm going to get the paint guy over as soon as possible after it comes back from having the top put on. I am bored waiting on it - have prepared the garage to a computer chip "clean room" state in preparation for final interior assembly. The weather is so nice down here right now. Mid 70's F. If everything goes right, I might be able to take it to our next North Texas club meet

 

I just saw a post from Brian on another thread about lining up fenders. It was really interesting because apparently (I didn't realize this) the rad support has to be properly square to the rear cowl for the fenders and hood to line up square. That might be part of the alignment issue you're facing - especially with those huge gaps. I know Brian has been a little on the busy side with personal life and work, but you might want to touch base with him on this and refer him to what I said. He'll know what it is.

Gosh, only mid 70's? It's going to be a little on the cool side here the next couple of days too. By 'cool' I mean -19°F. One of these days it's going to get really cold though and hell will freeze over.

 

I am having the same problems with mine, I will be trying out some of these ideas.
Right now though, I have backed away from it for a while, im just to depressed over the outcome . I would never recommend this shop to anyone.

 

Allan, can you post the link on which thred? I have been trying to keep up as hopefully I'll be doing some re-assembly this spring.

 

Sure, here you go
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...tml#post501541