69442C

While the convertible top frame assembly was out of the car, I dismantled it, replaced almost every bushing, bead blasted all of the parts and sprayed them with semi gloss black. I had a local machine shop fabricate several bushings for me, including some of the Delrin plastic ones as they were not available from any sources. The shop was very reasonable and charged me $7 per bushing they made. The refurbished top was installed in the car and the dash was also painted. Semi gloss was used on the bottom and the top sectionwas done in flat black.

69442C

Here was my first unpleasant experience with The Parts Place. The original rain gutter was broken into 2 pieces so I ordered a "new reproduction" from The Parts Place. When it arrived I was shocked to see what they sold me. This thing was made from fiberglass and metal clips and was an absolute piece of crap. Note in the photos how far off the driver's side is when I aligned the "new" one on top of the old one. The amount of force required to move that end over would have caused the piece to break. So back it went to TPP and guess who got stuck with the shipping costs both ways? TPP could have cared less if this part fit or not. I was simply told if I didn't like it to return it at my cost and they would refund only the price for the part. Never again will I buy something I cannot see in a photo. I was able to find a used original.

Allan R

Brian, please excuse my ignorance on this question. Why did you paint the inside of the car where no one will ever see it? Was that to protect against any potential future corrosion? I've never seen an interior painted to that extent. On the + side it looks incredible. On the - side, isn't that a waste of high quality paint? Ok, schools in and I'm wearing my dunce cap.......

69442C

Yes, I'm sure I went overboard with the paint on the interior. Actually, on a convertible, the upper portion of the inner rear wheelhouse and inner structure is visible from the rear seat. (Allan, please step up to the board and write 50 times "some of the inner structure and rear wheelhouse is visible from the rear seat on 69 442 convertibles") Since I had repaired the inner wheelhouse on the lower side the entire thing was in primer so I wanted to seal it with paint. The inner rear panels were pretty nasty looking and the previous shop just spray bombed everything with gloss black, over dirt and anything else that was there. I just decided to sand everything down to clean it up. But I did find evidence of gold paint in all of these areas. The factory had overspray that went on these parts and I ended up going well beyond overspray. Makes me wonder if there was more paint in these areas originally if they would have been less prone to rust? Anything that I can see during the restoration will be refinished and I know it was done even if it can't be seen when the car is completed. I just don't like to leave something untouched when the work has gone this far. I may have spent another $25 on paint materials in that inner area and in the scheme of things it's not a lot. Plus, it sure looks perdy for the time being . I do have to admit that I did not sand down the rear upper seat structure and I'm not going to. Not enough reward for the work in my mind.

chadman

Wow! this thread is inspiring!

Eddie Hansen

Just read this thread from the beginning!! it is phenominal!! I am also redoing a 69 vert, and at the moment since I do not have a rotisseree (sp?) I am under the car sanding away, I have had a serious illness followed by a death in the family and have been side tracked a little so slow progress, I liked the quarter panel repairs, I will tackle the same once I put the body back on the frame, are you spraying the epoxy etc in the attached garage? any issues for health etc? and if I could ask another question what welder are you using. My Wife bought me a miller 140 for my birthday and it arrives tomorrow LOL..... again great job wow awesome work....

69442C

Thanks Eddie, I appreciate your compliments. Sorry to hear of your health issue and family loss. I tell people from time to time that working out in the garage is good mental therapy. Hopefully you can find it the same when you are able to get back at it.
The welder I have is a Lincoln Weld-Pak 155 with gas. I bought it a few years back in used condition as someone wanted to step up to a larger welder. It works great and I have no complaints.
I do spray in the attached garage but many times when I am spraying the epoxy on a few panels or sections, I do it with the garage doors open. And I always wear a respirator suitable for these paints. It's not the ideal set up and I don't paint all that often. I'll be posting photos of the car being painted and I do a lot more to the garage when I do a full paint to make it as safe as I can. Over the past 12 years, I've sprayed 4 vehicles. It is definitely something to think about as you want to be safe around these paints.
Good luck with your car.

Allan R

Thank you....

69442C

LOL! Too funny!

Good job, now clean off that board and clap the erasers outside when you are done.

dancutlass

Thank you Brian in comparison with the work you're doing it's just a lousy amateur job
It always surprises me when someone from a different part of the world has learned German in school and it seems as if you've forgot nothing
You said it completely right! Good job my friend

69442C

I took care of a few smaller parts. The wiper motor was sent out to a guy called The Wiperman and he did a very nice job restoring the motor. He also makes the correct stickers that reflect the part number and date code. I had sent out the bumpers and SS trim for restoring and I included the shifter handle. Everything else on the shifter was cleaned up, painted and assembled. I bead blasted the air cleaner, primered it in epoxy and sprayed it with the correct orange/red that I bought from Supercars Unlimited I believe. I wasn't thrilled with the paint finish so I took the air cleaner to my paint supplier and had them scan the color for a single stage urethane paint mix which looks much better. I know it looks orange in the photo but it actually is mostly red looking in person. New decals were also installed.

69442C

I began to work on the dash components as I wanted to get that task completed. When I bought the fenders from the guy in TX, he also had the dash components from the 4 door Cutlass and they were in really nice condition. But they were blue. I have used SEM products in the past and I was pleased but I wanted to see if I could find something better for painting the plastic and dying the pad. I found a company called Parasol located in Canada and decided to use their products. (Allan, I'm even helping out the Canadian market ) and I was very pleased with their products. A little on the expensive side but IMO, worth the money. Anyone who has seen these parts can't believe they were painted and dyed. They look like they always were black. I masked off the edging and sprayed it with chrome rattle can paint. Tip: don't clear chrome paint or it turns dull. Don't ask how I found out. The gauges were restored by Instrument Services Inc.

69442C

The dash was installed and I used an H&H wood grain kit. I had a small problem with their kit in that the glove box section did not match in appearance and to me it appeared that it was not cleared. A call to H&H confirmed their parts are cleared using satin finish clear and they said they would do it if I wanted to send it back. They said I could do it too and said to use a satin lacquer clear. I did as they instructed and it was fine.

69442C

I wrote a thread about a year and a half ago that dealt with modifying the AC compressor function for the 68-70 A Body cars and I made these changes to this car. Below is the link to that thread. In short, anyone who has owned one of these cars with AC knows that once you engage the AC compressor, it cannot be disengaged, even if the dash switch is moved to OFF, unless the key is switched off. The factory design was done this way to allow the compressor to function in the defrost mode. If you want to know more about this and what I did, you can read it in this thread.

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-function.html

RandyS

Can you give a ballpark of what they charge to restore a speedo? (no prices listed on their site)

69442C

I was fortunate to know someone who does convertible tops and he came to my house to install the top on this car. But he told me he would only do it before the car was painted knowing the work that was put into the car. He didn't want to risk damaging any fresh paint. I was more than happy to accommodate his request.

69442C

A few more when it was getting close to being completed.

69442C

And completed. He did a great job and I was more than pleased.

69442C

The labor on the speedo if I recall was less than $100 but this one needed about $60 in parts to fix the function. They also restored the face plate which ran another $120 I think. All said and done, all of the gauges, with all faces restored/rescreened, repair parts and I had them install a quartz clock movement was right around $700.

69442C

It was time to finallt get some paint on it. I cover the garage floor with plastic just so I don't destroy the garage by spraying in there. Some items get covered and some don't. A little overspray won't hurt some of the things in there. I put a fan in the side window that moves a fair amount of air. I built a panel with filters that goes into the rear entrance door opening. I also place a set of filters in the other side window. The gray on the car is PPG epoxy primer thinned and sprayed as a sealer. A lot of time went into masking the car and the new conv top.

69442C

Here it is just after I finished spraying the last coat of clear and it had dried.

69442C

A few more...

69442C

After it dried overnight and was unmasked.

GAOldsman

Looking awesome You my friend are EXTREMELY talented!

Allan R

Brian, that looks so good in the photos that it prolly didn't need wet sanding. But knowing that you like perfection, I'm guessing you did that too.
Couple things I'd like to know about:

* When you did the dash, did you take pics of the fastening locations on the back?
* You assembled the dash instruments to the dash before or after intallation of the dash?
* What kind of nut driver do you use to fit into the tight areas where the * AC vents are and the fastening studs are too?
* Do you hook up the AC vent lines before you install the dash? I found they got quite in the way when I was working on a 71 with AC at the wreckers.

On the hood, can you show the detail of the hood latch? The OP said the hood latch had been replaced with one from a 72, so I'm curious what a 69 latch looks like.

Someone was asking about the difference between 69 and 70 442 hoods. I think the 2 main ones are the piercing for the script that says OLDSMOBILE on the r.s. The CS appears to have a different completely flat hood. The other difference that I want to know about is I think on 69 there is a prop that comes down from the inside hood to the rad support?

Last thing for now: on the hood tooth, do all the 442 numbers fit properly or did you have to 'adjust' the piercings at all. I've heard that some are not well lined up.

BTW, in case I didn't say it already - I like shiny cars. You have a nice shiny gold car there...only thing wrong with it is it's not mine!!!

DENT

Very nice ,

chadman

When you vent the fan out the window like that do you find any overspray on the outside of the garage? I was thinking of doing something similar but was afraid of that possibility.

67cutlass67GS

And they call that rebuilt ? Best thing he ever did was to get it out of that wanna be restoration shop it was in...GEEEEEZZZZZ>>>

67cutlass67GS

Im pretty sure that I know where Im gonna send my 67 rag when its in need of resto...LOL, Great job & it looks like u have an eye for detail & a mind for perfection, something that is hard to find anymore...Keep on keepin on..Looks great..

69442C

Thank you sir and I appreciate the feedback.

69442C

Yep, I guess you are starting to know me pretty well. I did wet sand it down 1000, 1500, 2000 and 2500 and buffed it. I did leave a little bit of peel in it as I don't like the smooth as glass look on this type of car since it never was that way originally.

I don't have a photo of the stud locations on the dash. I used the assembly manual for guidance in taking it out of the car and I knew where they were when I was installing it. The stud that is the most difficult is the one on the driver's side top corner because the AC vent leave little room to work on it. All others were easy with the glove box out as I could reach in there and access them, even the pass side outer corner. There is one stud between the oil/temp/fuel and the speedometer and that doesn't get a nut. There is a barrel nut insert that fits into that hole and it locks onto the stud when the dash is installed. Also takes a little bit of a tug to get the dash off and makes you think there must be another nut somehwere. I use a 1/4" drive ratchet and socket for all of the nuts. On that corner one, I used a 3/8 drive socket with a universal and a couple of long extensions to get up there. I place a small piece of masking tape into the socket which is enough to hold the nut and yet allow the socket to pull off when the nut is tightened.

I did assemble the gauges into the dash and I also installed the main wire harness too before installing the assembly into the dash. Something tells me I had to unplug one or two things as the harness needs to fit over the back of one of the braces. It wasn't a big deal to do when I was installing the dash with an extra set of hands from my son.

I waited to install the AC vent hoses until after the dash was installed. The hoses connect to plastic bezels and those bezels snap to the rear of the dash vent. Not hard to do once everything was installed.

I think the differences between the 69 hood and 70 hoods, aside from the script, is the latch. 69 uses a stud that threads into the underside of the hood and I'm pretty sure that 70's had a square hole in the hood that locks into the latch that sticks up from the lock support bolted to the radiator support. And the Supreme hood, I believe, is the flat one. I attached a photo of the underside of the 69 hood and the latch stud.

The original hood tooth on this car was broken (shocking) so I used the Cutlass one from the parts car. When I drilled the holes for the 442 emblems, they do not fit in the center of the bosses for the 442 numerals, so they are off slightly.

I feel your concern in knowing the car is not yours. Don't forget, I have that same problem....it's not mine either. I think I covered all points but let me know if I missed something.

69442C

I have not had much of problem like that and anything that gets out there is very minimal. Some overspray will get onto the bottom sash of the window frame but I tape a piece of plastic over it to protect it. And if anything does get on the area around the outside the fan, I found it would clean up without too much trouble. The color dries quickly and usually will not stick outside since it is dry when it gets there. The clear will cover over any color that is there and that will stick. If you want, take a piece of cardboard or cardboard box and tape it to the outside of that window to force any overspray coming out of the fan to be moved away from the house. It would need to blow through the box and when it exits, it's away from the house wall. Be mindful where your cars are parked too as you don't want them to be covered with overspray blowing in the air. I park mine far away from the house.

69442C

Thanks for the positive comments. The other shop was a joke and if they had finished this car, the owner would likely be dead now as he would have been killed driving it. I found many bolts holding steering and suspension components together that were standard hardware store bolts and they were not hardended. Just a smooth top with no markings. Some were so short that only 2 threads were engaged. Very concerning that someone would think that was acceptable.

I had to promise my wife that I would not work on any more cars that were not mine when this one was done. She's been patient while I've worked on this one but she has quite the honey-do list waiting for me. I do want to do something with my 54 Chevy some day and that may be the last project for me. It's just a hobby for me and time is limited with the real job, family and the house....and not necessarilly in that order.

RetroRanger

thanks for sharing your progress and talents w us

I think I speak for the group when I say Wow

The car is looking brilliant and the pics are great

pitfield1

Hey 69442C I was under the impression that the quarter panels are only pressed for coupes and that you could only use the bottom 4" for convertibles. I noticed that you hung the whole panel. Did it take much caressing? As I would much rather install a full panel. Great job by the way, learning a lot.
PIT 69 442 Convert

442craig

Hi Brian,

I am absolutely blown away with your work... you should do this full time!

What is your source for hardware? I'm rebuilding the front end on my 68.

Thanks and keep up the good work you are a great inspiration!

Craig

69442C

Thank you very much and I appreciate your positive feedback.

Brian

69442C

I can only speak in regards to the panels I used but I didn't have that much difficulty using most of the full panel. It's still a lot of work but the panel worked fairly well. I bought my panels from Brothers and they were shipped to me by The Parts Place. I was happy with the panels but not happy with my experience with Brothers. The main difference between the 2 body styles is the wheel flair. Conv models do not have the wheel flair extend up into the C pillar as is done with a HT or Post body. So a little metal working and shrinking is needed to work out the little bit of a bump that will be above the wheel flair. If I were to do these again, the only thing I would do different would be to bring the new skin right up to the edge by the door rather than where I did. It worked out fine but was just more work. Also, be careful when cutting in that area as there is a brace behind the panel that can be cut if you are not paying attention. I would also trim the panel under the quarter window to keep it in line with the body molding. The new HT panel does not allow you to fully follow that line but it only misses by a little in one area. I attached a photo to show what I mean and it also shows some of what I removed from the replacement skin. The replacement does wrap around and ends into the door opening but I didn't like the edge as it was rounded too much for my liking. So I stayed out of the jam and removed the section off the new skin. If the edge doesn't bother you too much, then seam the new skin on the inside of the jam. One last point; make sure the skins you buy come with the cut-outs for the side marker lights. I know a guy who bought a set for his 69 Cutlass Conv and they did not have those openings and he had to cut them out.

69442C

Hi Craig,
Thanks for your comments. I'm not sure I would want to do this full time. I enjoy doing it as a hobby and if I did it full time I would need to find a new hobby...like bird watching or something.

I have purchased a lot of bolts from Inline Tube and I also find bolts and fasteners through Auveco which are sold through my local Fastenal Store. I also clean up and refinish some of the originals.

I saw your thread and you work looks very nice. Keep at it, take your time and know when to walk away when you get frustrated. It helps to take a break from time to time when things don't go as planned and then you can mull things over and attack it again with a fresh perspective.

Brian

Eddie Hansen

Brian Thanks for posting those last pics, My quarters came from Year One and I think they are the same.. I am planning to cut just under the molding area, It seems on initial fit It will cover up to there, was it a lot of shrinking over the wheel well? and I am also planning on but welding.. but having a few flanged tabs (that will be cut off once I get the panel tacked in) to hold the panel with cleecos.

That colour is absolutely amazing By the way...