VC455

Thank you.

And if I didn't have a Vista, I'd have a 1969 Hurst Olds.

A fellow who worked in our little Texas town of 4000 people had one in 1969. I was virtually stuck dumb the first time I saw it. I'll never forget that sight and that feeling.

And yours is over-the-top gorgeous. And like Funkwagon, I can't believe I've never seen your thread. World-class craftsmanship.

geowindow6768

You could plan on a new project when this one is done, a 69 Hurst Olds Vista. Not too many of those around.

VC455

That would be an interesting vehicle, George. I toyed with painting my Vista in 1972 Hurst (Indy 500) style but eventually felt the paint scheme was a bit over-the-top. After I saw a picture of what Oldsmobile produced for the 1970 Indy, I went closer to that route. Leaving off the wood grain, roof rack, and most body emblems make it sleeker and more tasteful. The stripes give visual interest to break up the slab sides and tailgate. I didn't care for the roof stripes.

The painter's wife asked me if this would be my last restoration; I told her it is my ONLY restoration. But I am enjoying it.

Aron Nance

Simply gorgeous! Hope both you and Heath show up at the same show early next year to show them off! Can't wait to see yours, and his. Gonna' be a fine day!!!!

VC455

Here is an update on progress of my project...

I got interior samples from as many sources as I could find. On a December visit, I went over the samples with Sean, the upholsterer.

Based on the unmolested third seat, I bought the two correct types and colors of vinyl. After I saw Garrett's finished upholstery pictures, I decided to use the factory pattern in all three rows of seating. Sean will adapt the original bench pattern to the front buckets. My other choice would have been to buy one of the two pre-made cover patterns, neither of which would match the original.

Sean will also sew seat vinyl over the rim of the Starfire (14") Custom Sport steering wheel. That way the wheel color will match the interior.

I got ACI foam to replace the rock-hard foam I used in my first upholstery attempt fifteen years ago. I had the foam with the cactus trademark on it--when I sat on that lump, I was looking through the dark band at the top of the windshield.

My 15-year-old carpet attempt had similar problems. The pre-made ACC carpet had the warp direction turned 90° and the fit was atrocious. Even stuffing extra padding under it could not make up for the gross mismatch over the humps in front and rear. Another problem with the pre-made for the front was that with my taller transmission, I had to slice the carpet under the console to allow it to reach the doors.

I picked ACC carpet with slightly tighter weave but you probably would not realize it by just looking. When you see both side-by side, this one looks a bit more refined than the original. I bought flat (roll) carpet; Sean will sew the carpet for all the seat positions to make it fit better than the pre-made. In any case, pre-made carpet is not available for the third seat.

The headliner fabric from Pro-Fit was a precise match for pattern and thickness. The color is a bit lighter but is completely harmonious with the rest of the interior. Sean will cover the four sun shades with the same material.

Sean is extending his work period on the car so that the snow will be gone when it is time for me to pick up the car. Target finish date is April.

I’ll post pictures when Sean is farther along.

tcolt

Gary. Are you saying that the preformed ACC carpet kits have a horrible fit? They claim that they fit perfectly and therefore there are no returns. Plus, I bought mine more than a year ago, so I'm sure they wouldn't take it back. Also, I haven't heard of other carpet kit manufacturers. They all seem to sell the ACC kits.

Thanks, Tom

VC455

Hi Tom.

My ACC kit was pressed from carpet turned 90° and the fit over the second row floor hump was GENEROUS. It could have fit a hump 2" taller than that in my car.

The front appeared to be made for a wider tunnel. Even though I do have a wider tunnel, the carpet still didn't fit it and needed padding around the tunnel sides to look partially acceptable.

...just my experience from quite a few years back.

I hope they had corrected these problems by the time you bought your kit.

Gary

VC455

Still waiting for headliner 3 months after it was ordered from ProFit; supposed to be shipping tomorrow but I'll verify as usual. ProFit customer service has been superb, but their supplier is letting them down.

Once the headliner is received and installed, the interior reassembly can begin.

Upholstery is nearly done. Here is a picture of the finished buckets with a seat-back pattern that ties in with the second and third-row seats. It's an interpretation of what the factory might have used if there had been a bucket seat option for the Vista Cruiser.

tcolt

Hi Gary

I don't want to interfere, but are you going for an original style headliner? I haven't installed mine yet, so I don't know how the fit is, but I do know that the material and pattern is absolutely correct like the original. I got mine from SMS and I wasn't aware that others carried original materials too. Of course the price was little higher...

I like your interpretation of the bucket seats. t's kind of like what I'm doing with the front bench seat with an arm rest in the center.

Greg Rogers

That looks very nice, Gary. Are you going to have headrests also? The pattern doesn't look much different than the 71-72 Cutlass 2 door buckets, except the buttons..? Sure is going to be nice, Great work!

VC455

Thank you both for the compliments.

I received a headliner color and material sample from ProFit that matched the pattern exactly. The color was a bit lighter, which was OK as the existing interior was too dark. But the style will be original.

In retrospect, SMS would have been a better choice but I went with ProFit because of past experience with their great customer service.

Sean is sewing covers for the original headrests. I thought that would add a subtle custom touch, a bit out of the ordinary. Dye wouldn't have dealt with the tired areas and would have been difficult to color match.

Sean's doing a cover for the Custom Sport Steering Wheel as well. I'll have a colored wheel a la the Starfire compacts! My wheel rim was worn, the detail was lacking, and it was getting sticky periodically. I'll see how the cover deals with those problem areas.

VC455

The headliner came in a few weeks ago, so all supplies are at the upholsterer.

Here's a picture of the Custom Sport Steering Wheel with leather cover.

Weezer

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice. I was watching an episode of My Classic Car (or whatever it's called... the guy with the handlebar mustache), and they had a Lingenfelter VC with 442 badges on it. I figured that had to have just been added emblems, but I loved the look of the car. Now I've gone thru your build post, and seeing your pics makes me wish I could hit the lottery and have a car like yours. Fantastic car, well done, sir.

VC455

Thank you for the compliments. The finished car has existed in my head for about 20 years now. I appreciate the positive feedback on that vision.

Headliner is in and visors are done. Seats mostly done; you can see a bit of the second seat in one of the pictures below. Sean is working on the wheelhouse covers at the side of the rear compartment.

He'll sew the carpet next.

VC455

Here's a shot of the third seat and carpet in that area.

The black sheet metal cover for one of the tailgate latches was painted but has a scar under the paint.

The spare tire cover latch was never painted.

Both those items are back at the painter and will be completed this week.

The carpet rectangles that cover the tailgate and the floor panels are cut to size and at a carpet company to be serged. Should be done today.

The good news is that the remaining problem areas are becoming simpler to fix.

Restored seat belts should arrive next week.

I'm getting really excited about completion. I'm taking a week off mid-May to go to Minneapolis and arrange transport to Texas.

tcolt

Gary. The headliner and third row bench look great. This is the funnest part of the restoration :-)

Do you happen to have more pictures from inside the opening around the front Vista glass? I took mine apart so long ago that I can't figure out if the headliner material along the sides of the glass had there own short retaining rail or if the headliner actually got glued onto the sealing surface for the glass which seems wrong?...

VC455

Thanks, Tom.

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of that area. I know the only place the shop had a question was how the headliner fit at the tailgate window. I sent a buddy over there and between them they figured it out.

VC455

Tom, I sent you a pm on the procedure for headliner install around the center vista window.

mfgusa

Here's that Lingenfelter Vista Cruiser Weezer was referring to. Taken at 2015 Carcraft Nats in Milwaukee.
Yours is so perfect. That would have been my color choice as well. WoW!

VC455

Sean sent some nice pictures from his shop. The only remaining tasks are carpeting the storage compartment, sewing covers for the headrests, and installing seat belts when they come back from the restoration shop.

He said of all the interior types he does, he is always proudest of the stock restorations.

The tailgate picture shows what happens when a Mopar guy paints your car. You get a lot of body color where it's not expected. It does set off the carpet and rub bars, I think I like it.

Seeing the front seat picture reminded me I need to find another console compartment top. Painter 1 laid on the gloss, he must have been impaired that day. Painter 2 said there was already too much paint on it for him to correct it.

Overall the console turned out great. You would have to be a purist to notice the stick is in a non-stock location. And cutting 2 inches off the bottom brought it back to a stock height.

In the shop picture, the gorgeous 1955 FirePower Hemi Town & Country wagon next to the Vista Cruiser has only 35,000 miles. Exner designed one of the finest wagons ever, but only about 1000 were sold.

VC455

Thank you for the compliment.

The Lingenfelter wagon is a great advertisement for the Vista Cruiser, it's almost as well known as Eric's car in That 70s Show.

Too bad they felt they had to bastardize the engine compartment. But that's just my opinion.

DG65

Your car looks great!

Greg Rogers

Geez I LIKE THAT!!! I knew you were going with with a stick but it didn't click until I saw the pic of the buckets/console/shifter. Very cool! That pic makes me want to take your car for a drive, it just looks inviting to grab that shifter. Very well done!

Bunser

A sweet build!

OLD SKL 69

Absolutely beautiful, I can appreciate your attention to detail!

VC455

Thank you all for those great compliments.

When I started on the mechanical portion of this refresh almost 20 years ago, wagons were just unpopular old cars. Most of their brothers had gone to the crusher after the minivan and SUV took over the carscape.

I'm amazed by the attitude change in those years. Now the Vista Cruiser gets constant attention, at the painter's and now at the upholsterer's.

And I value most the feedback from you at ClassicOldsmobie. You are the ones with the developed eye for a well-done project.

VC455

The short list is getting shorter.

Here are pictures of the sewn headrest covers and the storage compartment.

I love the way those two details turned out. The headrests seams are smoother and the color is a perfect match versus factory-issue looks. The storage compartment is done the way it should have been done if the factory hadn't saved a few dollars by just hanging a few pieces of thin non-woven black material over some of the surfaces.

I've got a new console cover on the way to the painter and the restored seat belts should come in at end of the week.

Those are the last details to be completed that I know about. When I get the car home there will undoubtedly be some more little tweaks needed.

tcolt

Wow. It looks really nice Gary! I have people giving me the thumbs up all the time too. And that's in L.A!... I was starting to lean towards making mine all one color, but yours makes me think the two-tone is the way to go after all. I like the lined tool tub too... And one of the pictures even tells me some of what I was looking for on the headliner. I forgot about those metal covers at the top of the insides of the b-pillar... Looks like your vinyl edging material is a good match?....

VC455

Thanks Tom.

My original edging was trashed from the LA heat. I got replacement northern exposure pieces from oldspackrat (most were blue) and had them painted the interior color.

The rear compartment carpet is only the filmsy semi-carpet they use to cover speaker boxes etc. But it has a great appearance for an area that will get little use.

VC455

Last week my wife and I flew to Minneapolis, rented a generously-sized vehicle and transported the spare parts back home.

Restored seat belts are in and car is finished for now and in a friend's storage locker awaiting Reliable Carrier pickup to get it to Texas. Reliable gives themselves a six-week window for pickup.

I hope the transport timing fits in with my work schedule so I can see it when it arrives. I'll be in Australia for two weeks, leaving soon.

tcolt

Have fun in Australia! Hopefully it arrives the day after you get back :-)

VC455

Thanks, Tom. I have it now. I never dreamed I would own a show car--but this is truly one of that breed. I don't even want to touch it.

The pictures are from the delivery day.

When one of my Minneapolis friends saw the pictures, he said, "Now I know why you wanted to buy that house, it matches your hot rod!"

Funkwagon455

VC455

It drives great, Heath. It still leaves like a 12-second car; and those new 275s make it more of a rocket than the 30-year-old 255s.

It picked up a few problems at the shops it was in. The alternator light is on and the clutch won't release completely even though the adjustment is at the max.

I've been spending my time underneath washing and scrubbing to make it look more like your frame-off wagon. If I'd known it would have turned out so beautifully, I would have gone that route in the beginning. Fortunately the underbody still has its factory paint--and overspray--and the frame shows shiny metal with a few passes of wet sandpaper.

The front is still too high because of the weight I removed. It's 1/2 inch from the top of the suspension travel; I'll need new springs to fix that but haven't started to do the research.

Funkwagon455