Rallye 350 Restoration
#42
Have been working on the front wheel liners for weeks. The insides had been undercoated and they were a mess. Took several steps of cleaning and wet sanding. Today weather warmed up a little and it was time to refinish using SEM products. The appearance turned out pretty decent, they still need to cure for a couple days. Hope getting them installed will not be to big of deal with the fenders etc in the way. If anyone has any installation tips would love to hear them!
Pushed in new staples partially.
Pushed in new staples partially.
#44
Incredibly nice work! Wells look natural - not painted at all.
The wells actually go in pretty easy - the hard part is getting the edge getting tucked in around the wheel well lip. Obviously, you have to have the battery tray out, but you won't have any trouble.
The wells actually go in pretty easy - the hard part is getting the edge getting tucked in around the wheel well lip. Obviously, you have to have the battery tray out, but you won't have any trouble.
#46
Load from the top down or bottom up?
#47
Bottom up. Slide in towards the front of the car, snaking around the control arm and getting the leading edge of the well over the core support. Then up she goes and remember that wheel well lip. It is a lot easier than it looks - you won't have any trouble. Keep those updates coming.
#48
Wheel liners back in, they took several weeks to restore, were a real basket case. Ordered a set of new at one point and sent them back they appeared vacuum formed and not injection molded like original. Trying to get finished up for the World of Wheels event in Indy Feb 9-11!
#54
Beautiful indeed. I used to see one of those on the street in a small town where I used to live. The owner kept a giant plush Tweety Bird belted into the back seat in a nod to the model's nickname, the "Yellowbird".
#57
What were the steps or chemicals you used to clean and prep the wells? Im working on some red ones right now and they have some UV damage maybe because they have turned white in some areas? maybe its paint? The under side has tar spattered and Ive been scraping it off but I'm gonna need another step of cleaning until I can start sanding and wet sanding
#59
What were the steps or chemicals you used to clean and prep the wells? Im working on some red ones right now and they have some UV damage maybe because they have turned white in some areas? maybe its paint? The under side has tar spattered and Ive been scraping it off but I'm gonna need another step of cleaning until I can start sanding and wet sanding
#60
This is what I used to freshen up my plastic wells, took many hours of cleaning and prepping but so far they look and are holding up excellent. The SEM stuff is not cheap but would recommend. Not sure about red, would have to research that but would think you could find something. Good luck and post as you can on progress.
#62
Thanks Pat, Production numbers for 4-speeds on the Rallye 350 are not well documented but from the research I have done over the years I have narrowed it down to ~20. This is why I made sure I used the approximate symbol "~" on my sign board. Maybe someday we will know for sure and I can remove ~, think we can agree the option combination is rare especially when you narrow it down to the "S" Holiday Coupe.
#63
Outstanding build!!!!!! I think that's the nicest Rallye350 I've ever seen!!! SEM makes some great products. Back in '12 there was a stunning red/white stripe '71 W30 that won Hemmings muscle car of the year. It was Ed Pienta's car, I think he goes by the name "blackrat" on this site. He did mention using an SEM red on his wheel houses when he refinished them, They looked like new after he was done with them. The color looked perfect.
#64
You have my car's twin - only yours is the Arnold Schwarzenegger and mine is Danny DeVito... Anyway, my bumpers are replacements, and painted poorly. I've been trying to figure out what to use from the primer to the topcoats, and yours look great. How did you prep yours and what paints did you use?
#65
You have my car's twin - only yours is the Arnold Schwarzenegger and mine is Danny DeVito... Anyway, my bumpers are replacements, and painted poorly. I've been trying to figure out what to use from the primer to the topcoats, and yours look great. How did you prep yours and what paints did you use?
#67
Thanks Pat, Production numbers for 4-speeds on the Rallye 350 are not well documented but from the research I have done over the years I have narrowed it down to ~20. This is why I made sure I used the approximate symbol "~" on my sign board. Maybe someday we will know for sure and I can remove ~, think we can agree the option combination is rare especially when you narrow it down to the "S" Holiday Coupe.
As much as I would like to believe that as I have a matching # 4 speed myself I find that really hard to believe. Here is a thread with 4 of them https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-see-them.html
I have one, you have one, Jharsh has one and I have seen at least another half dozen around the web since I picked my car up last fall.
I would bet more than half have been junked out a long time ago. I used to see these yellow hoods at swap meets all the time 15-25 years ago. I doubt we could account for half of the total production on this forum alone.
I would agree that 4 speed buckets is likely the most rare combo. I mostly see bench seat column shift rallye's
Anyways, very nice restoration.
Do you have a wide ratio and 3:42's? I thought that you got the close ratio with 3:42's. That is what my car is. Is that the way yours came?
Do you have your original window sticker? Post a photo of that board from your display, I would like to see that.
Pat
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Bnuckols
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September 11th, 2017 11:51 AM