Hello,

I would like to share my 'progress' on my restoration of my '73 Omega. Since the beginning I've replaced the lower frontfenderpanels, the lower corners on the doors, the complete windshieldframe and the rear innerfenders. I've made it all, except the upperdashpanel, from sheetmetal, since I can't get it here in Europe.

Next up is to replace the quarterpanels (which I had to ship from the US) and the complete tailpanel which I'm gonna make myself. I'm also thinking of giving it a mild custom look with a 70 camaro rear bumper and different taillights. I know some of you maybe despise that idea, but I think it will look cool!

The frontbumper will be tucked and I will make myself a new grille. If that doesn't turn out nice, I can always put the original grille back in... DSCN1253.jpg

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Very nice

Larry

 

I don't blame you on the tail lights those trim pieces rust very easy and there's none around but still the tail lights and the front grills are what make it an Omega and not a Nova. Take that away and well......
railguy

 

Hi,

I'm definitely not turning my Omega into a Nova! I just want to give the car a more slick look on the rear. Indeed my taillights are dried out/cracked and useless and the tailpanel is rusted. It's impossible to find another pair of taillights here in Europe.

And I still keep my Omega 'twin'grille. I just want to experiment with a different, homemade pair of grilles. Having and carrying out own ideas keeps the brain goin'!

 

Nice. My brother had the same car, many years ago, in the same horrible yellow color.
Back then, of course, his had no rust.
Straight six with TH350 shift on the column.

Great car - small, but roomy enough, and the hatchback meant you could stuff all kinds of things in it.

- Eric

 

Hi Eric,

indeed, I even saw an Omega on the internet which could be converted into a tent!

 

Those tents aren't real hard to find and are pretty cheap.
railguy

 

Here's some pictures of the totally rusted out windshieldframe of my '73 Omega. I took all the rusted parts out and replaced them with new homemade pieces of sheetmetal. Quite a puzzle!

 

After hard labour the windshieldframe was finished. Up next was to weld in the upperdashpanel

 

Since I removed the plastic filler panel, there was a gap between the bumper and the fender. Took 1 cm from both sides and now it fits perfect...

 

Made a lower frontspoiler from sheetmetal. Got the idea from a Speedtech Nova. It's now ready for paint.

 

nice work thanks for sharing

 

The rear of the car also had a suprise for me. Old (poorly) repairs turned out to start rusting again. Took 'm all out and replaced them with new pieces.

 

Found a '73 rear Camarobumper which will fit the car perfect. Had to take the vertical ends of the bumper of to give it a tighter look. After welding & sanding the bumpers will painted in high-gloss black.

Also think the new Camaro taillights combined with the smaller bumper wil give the car a smooth look.

 

Thanks!

 

Nice work.

 

Made an effort to make a new grille. Hard to imagine if it will look nice once the whole car is finished. If not, I can always put back the original grille. The new grille will be painted glossblack, along with the frontbumper en frontspoiler.

 

Loving it! did some "paint" work on a Omega picture I found back when I had one.

 

Ah, i see the guardrail-bumper lyin' on the floor!

 

Because I took out the fiberglass filler there was a great gap between the headlights and the bumper. So I made & weld in these 3 mm plates to fill the gaps.

 

Looking good. This looks like a cool project. I like it!

 

Thanks!

 

Wasn't really satisfied with my first custom grille so I made 2 new ones. These are stronger en smoother. Black powdercoat is the next step!

 

Impressive.

- Eric

 

That is some nice metal work, you should be proud. The car will look so nice when it is all done.

 

Thanks Eric

 

Thanks. Hard to imagine that the car will be finished one day...and the result is now only in my head. I keep it posted.

 

Put two round lights in the frontbumper, but wasn't really satisfied with how it looked in the square opening. So I weld in sheetmetal and made a housing from a round piece of tubemetal (is that how it's called?) Looks a lot better. Only needs some finishing touch of sanding.

 

Wow!

- Eric

 

Made a start with the custom gascap i'm gonna make. Took a piece of tube and made a hole in the sheetmetal. Weld the tube to the piece of sheetmetal. The piece will be placed between the rearlights. Next step is to connect the gascap with the existing fueltube.

Ordered a gascap from slingshotracing which will be placed in the hole.

 

That is some real nice metal work you have going on over there. She will look like a new car but not take away from the originality of her either. Wish I had those metal work skills.

 

Thanks.

Well, the 'easy' part is the rough fabrication. Found out that the really hard part is the finishing. Hope the final result is indeed an Oldsmobile with a original, personal touch. Glad you think the same way. Love your car by the way. Thats a car which doesn't need any customizing!

 

And you live in California! Thats a bit different than living in the North of The Netherlands....

 

Yeah but maybe not different in a good way other than alot of mostly rust free cars waiting for their resurrection can be found. Problem is the CA mark up on those too! haha Thanks for the compliments. She is a good looking driver but has her issues and I'll see all of them when I eventually do a frame off.

 

As you can see on the fourth picture, the original 'centerconsole' isn't really spectacular. Did some searching on the Net and found some nice examples of DIY centerconsoles, made of wood, foam or sheetmetal. I chose sheetmetal 'cause thats close to home for me.

Made the first piece that will be the 'base' of the rest of the console. I will make a curved piece which will be attached to the bottom of the dashpanel and a curved piece which will go to the backseat. But this is the start!

 

Made some progress with the center console.

 

And again I wasn't happy with something I made at first. After spending hours on making a tailpanel including de gascap, I got another idea so I all these hours were wasted....

The second version is the panel as seen on the photo's. Unfortunatily I had to remove the fueltank 'cause the fillertube was to long. I'm really satisfied with the result though.

 

Nice.

This Dutchman knows what he's doing!

- Eric

 

Lets hope so!

 

Since I had to remove the gastank it gave me the opportunity to take of all the rust and filth. After two hours all the coating was in my hair and beard but it came out nice. Already ordered new exhaust-parts which is gonna be the next step.