Tom Bilse

I've just embarked on having my '69 H/O restored.
Thus, I'll likely be seeking assistance from CO members for a while.
My first item:
Attached (hopefully) are 2 pics of the water pump currently on the engine.
One pic shows a "3159" # on the passenger side of the pump.
The other shows "30847" on the driver's side.
Would this pump be original?
Thanks.

redoldsman

Tom:

Good to see you on here. I am looking forward to following you 69 H/O. That is one of my favorite cars.

Glenn

Tom Bilse

Thanks.
Great pic of your beautiful convertible and a B-24 Lib.
Though not a pilot, my wife's father was stationed at Shipham Airdrome base near Norwich, England (44th Bomb Group). The Liberator was their aircraft.

Tom Bilse

Here's a photo of the car on its way to the body/paint guy.

oldcutlass

Love your car Tom, looking forward to following along. Do you still have the 68?

Funkwagon455

costpenn

Tom, I'm pretty sure that pump has been replaced - is there a six digit number anywhere on It?

More pics of everything and good luck. Is Frank painting it?

Don R.

I'm subscribed, love the 69 H/O

Tom Bilse

- Still have the '68. Is it done? No. Will it ever be done? Hopefully.
- Steve Crowley is painting the H/O. He recently painted J. Bock's car. I've been impressed with him so far.
- Water pump numbers. I didn't see any numbers other than those I posted.
- Question: Is it better to rebuild the existing pump or purchase a new? If new, which is the best source for it?

Tom Bilse

I'm posting photos of the air cleaner: apart and assembled.
I've read/heard varying opinions on whether the top portion (w/ flapper) can (or should) be chrome instead of a dark "charcoal" color.
I've also read where the pan which directly covers the filter itself should be black with a Rocket decal on it.
Both of the above noted parts are chrome on my unit.
Thanks.

Jamesbo

Mine was grey

1969Hurst

Top cans were plated in what you could call 'gray phosphate', lids had a std Oldsmobile 455 sticker on them....

Tom Bilse

Thanks jamesbo and 1969Hurst for your replies and help.
Does a reputable source exist for the foam "donut"?

Jamesbo

Fusick's has it

1969Hurst

The original 'unobtainium' foam will have a 'coating' on the outside, inside and top of the foam... haven't seen a good repro in a while. Most will just have the coating on the outside of the foam and the foam will be thicker than the original.

Tom Bilse

Just sending a shout out to Judy Badgley, who's been helpful already for me with this project.
I was in need of the stripe template set, which she provided very promptly and at a very fair price.
She also helped me verify the authenticity of the car.

Tom Bilse

Also a BIG thank you to Jeff Meister. A ton of help for me so far. Was on the phone with him last night for a long time. He was very patient, friendly and helpful.

Jamesbo

Jeff is a champ, when [if] you get ready to put the calk marks under the hood. I'll send you a disc, that Jeff sent me

Don R.

It's cool that so much information is available now to do these cars. Here was my "stripe template" back in 1980, measured from an original car...

FStanley

See http://www.oldsmobility.com/oldsmo/v....php?f=6&t=391 for casting numbers . etc lots of good info here

Tom Bilse

THANKS Jamesbo, Don and FStanley.
Very helpful posts.

Tom Bilse

I'd like to get my carburetor rebuilt by "Sparky".
I've searched my files, etc. and can't find his contact info.
I'd be appreciative if someone could provide (or PM) me that info.
Thanks.

ROCKET VAPOR

http://www.sparkyscarbs.com/

Tom Bilse

Perfect. Thanks.

Tom Bilse

Well, I have good news and bad news.
Good: I've been in touch with Sparky. Very helpful and responsive.
Bad: The # on the carb I have is 7028251. The correct carb # is 7029251.
The correct carb was available on '69 455 4bbl engines and was not exclusive to the '69 H/O.
Thus I'm on a quest to find a correct carb. The build date of my car is the 4th week of May.
If anyone has a such an item, please advise. Once I've obtained it, if anyone is interested in my carb (in fact I have 2 of them), let me know.
I'm going to post the same in "parts wanted".

Chuck Cole

I would be interested in one of the carbs if it will work on my build, mildly hot 350

Tom Bilse

Chuck,
Here are photos of one carb (most recently on my engine).

Tom Bilse

Chuck,
If you need other photos let me know.

Chuck Cole

They look fine enough for me. Please let me know the price.

Tom Bilse

I can't let either carb go until/unless I get the correct carb, but I'll contact you either way. Thanks.

rob1960

Tom, are you sure that your carb is 7028251? It's hard to tell even after blowing up your pic,they did a real poor job stamping the number!! It seems to show a "1068" build date which should make it a '69 carb??, but I'm not sure I'm reading that date correctly. Would that be the 68th day of 1969??? That would make it a March build for the carb probably inline for your cars' early May build. The choke linkage is correct for a '69, not a '68, the counter weight is a little bigger on a '68 carb. Also the air horn is '69. The choke plate on a '68 carb has a small flat spot at the top where the choke closes around the air horn casting ,'69s are round at the top. I put up a couple of pics of my '68 carb so you can see the differences,don't mind the chevy choke coil!! I'm using an old Edelbrock O4B intake that uses the '70 & later heat tube style choke so I made a mounting plate so I could still use the divorced style '68 choke & the big block chevy choke coil works perfectly!. I added a pic of a 40k original '69 "250" carb, it's hard to read but "9" in the part # could easily be mistaken for an "8" since the "9" has a curved tail on it. It's build date on mine is 0252, Sept '68????

rob1960

Here's the '69 carb

Tom Bilse

rob1960,
Here are close-up photos of my two carbs.
The one with "1068" near the "7028251" # was on the engine. My other carb shows "RJ" in the same spot. Why these would differ is a mystery to me.
I've been informed by another source the "RJ" would be the plant code, and the build date would be somewhere else (right rear side of baseplate on the corner).
The only number I've seen at this location on the "1068" carb is "47". There does appear to be a "clock-type" stamp on the other (left rear) corner. Could that be the build date?
Anyway, is it possible that some 7028251 carbs were left over after '68 model production ended and might have been installed on '69 models?
However this turns out, I appreciate your interest/input.

joe_padavano

No, it is not. People always want to believe this when their parts don't match, but keep in mind that automakers must warranty their vehicles and must be able to provide information to the dealerships to service the cars they sell. Olds did NOT randomly use parts up like this without hard documentation. For example, at the end of the 1967 model year, there were about 750 330 motors built using 1968 350 block and head castings, but with the smaller 330 bore. This is completely documented in a dealer technical bulletin, listing specifics of the engine unit numbers and appropriate service parts to use on these cars.

More to the point, the H/Os were built in April 1969, which was about nine months after the end of production of the 1968 models. Even if Olds HAD used prior year parts (which they didn't) any "leftover" parts would have been used up long before that.

rcorrigan5

I'm not 100% sure, but the carb with the date code of 1068 kind of looks like something is not right with it (re-stamp, perhaps?). An original carburetor will have the broadcast code "RJ" on it, like your picture shows. The date code for the "RJ" carburetor should be on the base, same side as the numbers on the carburetor body, on the thin vertical surface of the base, just aft of where the carb number & broadcast code are on the body. I don't believe the "47" you see is the date code. It's possible the base could have been changed out sometime during a rebuild.

The 1068 carb is set up to look like a service replacement carburetor. Service replacement carburetors did not have the broadcast code. But, in my mind, a service replacement carburetor would have a date code sometime after June or July 1968. The number on the 1068 carburetor means the 106th day of 1968, or close to April 15, 1968.

I'm pretty sure any carburetors left over from the '68 model year were designated to stock shelves and dealerships and used, along with service replacement carburetors, on '68 model year cars. The '68 and '69 model year carburetors were very similar, though. I know my brother's '68 4-4-2 had a '69 carburetor on it (7029253) when he bought it years ago. One could theorize that the dealership didn't have a '68 replacement carburetor on the shelf and used the '69 carburetor instead - all just theory, though - no proof of it.

Interesting pics!

Randy C.

FStanley

Year One is the best one I've seen

Tom Bilse

joe_padavano, Thanks for the informative post. You've been very helpful to me regarding various topics.
rcorrigan5, Thanks for your input as well, including the location of the date code.
Long story short (may be too late for that), I've decided to seek the correct 7029251 carb, and several resources have surfaced.

FStanley, Thanks for the recommendation.

Tom Bilse

Just curious to know if any CO-ers have ordered the '69 taillight assembly kits (housings, lenses, gaskets) from Fusick? If yes, did they work well (fit, etc.)? Any concerns?
Thanks.

acavagnaro

Hello,
I painted my '69 convertible last year and bought the repro taillight assemblies from Fusick. I was very impressed and 100% satisfied with the quality. Fit and finish is fantastic. I was worried since these are somewhat intricate die castings but everything lined up and fit great. You'll have to swap over the main body (bulb shells) of your existing pieces so, hopefully, they're not too far gone. I had to do a little surface rust repair on mine. The new parts even came with the flat rubber seals that get stapled to the body (staples included). I would highly recommend them. Definitely worth the money.

Tom Bilse