Here are some pictures of my 72 442 convertible I have owned this car since 1992
it had 38000 original miles when I got it,41000 now
I replaced the front fenders when I got it because the bottom behind the wheels were rusted.
the Trunk deck lid was replaced because of rust all along the lip.
Had I knew then what I know now I probably would have just repaired the originals, instead I bought NOS fenders along with a NOS Trunk Deck lid
I also got two rust free donor Doors. The Drivers side was changed, the Passenger side still needs to be done.
I have a right side NOS quarter and am sourcing other parts for the Quarter replacements.
You can see from the pictures what I have done just to get it back on the road so I can enjoy it.













All of the interior is original aside for the front buckets which I redid about 25 years ago
The car ran and was drivable until I started working on rust repair 15 years ago, core support under battery, Drivers front floor, Drivers Torque box, Right and left Trunk floor sections.
I had to repair most of the Frame Body Bushing holes also.
I have a video of the car running but can't upload it.
I have been a member of CO for many years and just thought it was time to post some pictures and tell my story
except for the Top which I hade replaced when I got the car and the Engine Heads I had redone just last fall I have done everything myself ( sometimes 3 and 4 times) LOL
Thank god for service and Assembly Manuals and the ever helpful Classic Oldsmobile Members.

 

Nice work. Good to see the car is retaining it's proper W29 442 hood and stripes. Not very many of them around any more. This appears to be a post January build as evidenced by the seat belt pod on the dash. And properly badged as Cutlass Supreme on the glove box lid.

 

Allan Thanks for the response
The plan is to repaint it some day back to the original sunfire yellow
right now I just wanted to get it back together so I could drive it
in the mean time here are some pictures of the Trunk repairs

I had to replace the trunk floor braces because the Bushing mounts were rusted out along with some bad areas in the pan

the worst of the rust in the right trunk section


I had to piece in above the patch panel

Had to cut out all the way up to the trunk divider bracing

test fitting the panel

starting the tack welds

the million spot welds that needed to be drilled out


Stay tuned for some of the after shots

 

Here are some pictures of the after.
Ground down the welds and did a skim coat of All Metal .
I sanded it all down and used some rattle can Primer in the Trunk
the under side I painted and then sprayed a coat of Rubber Undercoating




still need to grind down these welds

Driver side, New Trunk Braces installed

Passenger side, Need some touch ups on the Frame

I Seamed the panels on the Gas Tank Braces

 

Frame Repair
I repaired 7 of the 12 bushing mount holes and then used a Frame diagram to measure and re-drill all of the holes

Crusty Bushings and frame

Drivers rear position #6 bushing, I ended having to replace the Body Cage Nut in this location also

Passenger side Position #1

Passenger side Position #1 after repair



Cut out rusted sections

Welded in new metal

ground down welds and primed


Drivers side position #5


Sanded down entire frame and painted with Chassis saver, first coat silver then a second coat of Black and a final coat of Eastwood Chassis Black while the Chassis saver was still tacky.


finished product

 

Drivers Floor repair.

cut out old floor section just past seat bolt brackets



I sealed the pan top and bottom with a rubberized sealer and eventually did the entire floor and underside



welded in new Drivers side Torque Box

seam sealed in and primed and painted. reinstalled original Body Bushing. the floor was patched while the Body was on the frame. I repaired the frame in this location while I was doing the floor repair. I ordered new bushings and this is where the MAW'S for the frame repair started.

 

Wow you dida lotof rustrepairs, looks like they came out great! Its easy to get a wrong sense of time lookingthru the pics in a couple minutes when i know they could span months or years.

the car looks nice despite the exterior paint, whens its repainted it will look spectacular

 

You have some serious skills going on there. And really nice attention to detail; that car owes you its life. Gone from a Flintstone car to a solid piece of rolling Oldsmobile perfection. Everything looks so well fitted; from the stone shield to hood gap to fenders and doors. Even the hose clamps are period correct tower clamps. I'm guessing the bumpers will come off for paint, the rear bumper is missing the rubber bumper fillers. Truly a labor of love. Can't wait to see it finished. Are you putting speakers back in the door or are you replacing those lower carpet areas with new carpet?

 

Allan I am going to replace the rear Bumper at some point, I bought the current one on Ebay from a guy who said it was OEM with intention of re-chroming it , turns out it is a reproduction, not worth the cost.
I have the Rubber pieces already but the Drivers side wont fit because of a bent corner on the Bumper. At some point I will have to strip the backend so I can start on the body work.
in the meantime I just plan on driving it during the summer.
Still need to adjust the Left fender, it is off by a 1/4" to far back, It lines up at the rocker panel but it is too far back at the top by the A pillar.
In order to get the Hood, Fender and grill section to align properly. Even though the Fenders were NOS I will have to cut a vertical sliver at the back of the left fender to get the front door gap right after I align the front end better.
The Lower door panel carpet will get redone unless I decide to replace them completely, same with the back arm rest I might see about having new covers made.

 

Thanks , I'm not sure if I want to tackle the Quarters myself as I'm not that good a welder, as long as it is covered by carper or in the Trunk you wont see my handy work.
As they say "a little Bondo a little paint makes a welder what he ain't" Yes it is a lot of fun working on my car, and all in my tiny two car Garage. It's like when you watch the shows on Motortrend TV where they do a complete renovation in a 30-60 minute show.

 

Here are some pictures of my current Door Panel project
I used the 8" replacement door panel carpet from ACC.

Original door panel carpet and old speaker hole

I removed the carpet and used some card stock to re-enforce the original substrate



I used spray adhesive to glue the card stock to the original panel

I filled the speaker hole with card stock cut to fit and stacked to the correct thickness. Glued the carpet to the card stock.

I used mesh packing tape to re-enforce all of the Door Panel Trim clip slots and screw holes

Panel rehung

Turned out nice
Just need to screw the bottom of the panel to the door and do the Passenger side
The only issue I have is the arm rest is slightly crooked.
Fun easy project and I get to keep the original panels,

 

Clever!

 

quarter panel lead removal

 

I am starting the process of replacing the quarter panels, I cut out a section to access the inner and outer wheel wells along with the trunk drop-off.
I have all the new panels and will cut and weld in what is needed to repair the rusted sections.

 

I think I need to remove the remainder of the quarter so I can fit the new one onto the outer wheel well before I cut the wheel well for final fit.
Has anyone done this repair and can give me some hints on what I should look out for, once something is cut it is cut forever

 

 

 

I finally have the drivers quarter off of the car,
all told it took me about 12 hours including cutting and fitting the inner and outer wheel well patch and drop off section.
here are some pictures of the removal of the door jamb area.

 

here is a picture of the driver's quarter first test fit


I started to do the final fit cut and welding of the outer wheel well patch.
pictures to come.

 

I installed the quarter end cap using the pre punched holes in the repro quarter, I'm thinking if I adjust the holes, I may be able to raise it up enough to fit the top body line.
I was hoping to use the end cap as a data point as the sub structure is still in place.
Has anyone installed repro quarters and fit the end cap without having to do major body work to make it look correct?

I'm thinking I will need to add some material to close up the gap

 

I wonder why re-pop body parts fit poorly like that. Don't they use the original stamping dies or replicas?

 

This is why I asked if anyone has installed one of these re-pop quarters, I still have the rear section I cut off; I'm hoping I don't end up having to graft the old section back into the new quarter. The passenger side is a NOS one, I am hoping it fits better

 

The original dies were scrapped decades ago.

 

After a bit of fine tuning, I was able to get the end cap to fit as close to the original fit as I could.
Original fit on removed quarter.


After redrilling mounting holes, and massaging the quarter top contour with a piece of pipe and a BFH