Hey everyone,

My name is Michael (23) from Germany. I was sent here from the HAMB in search of helpful tips and hints regarding classic Oldsmobiles

At the moment im building a 1950 Rocket 88 4dr sedan. Here is a photo as it was before i started working on it.

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See y'all soon,

and sorry in advance for some bad english

 

Welcome to the site, looks solid.

 

Welcome, your car really looks nice!

Viel Spaß damit und viele Grüße aus Franken!

---
Andi

 

Welcome to another Germany based Olds fan, we seem to have quite a few joining lately.
How big is the American car hobby in Germany, any big shows over there?, the biggest American car show in Europe is the Power Big Meet at Vasteras in Sweden.


Roger.

 

American car hobby is a big thing here in Germany...there are a lot smaller meetings around here in the middle and the south - I don't know about the north. The biggest shows in Germany imo seems to be the street mag shows:
http://street-magazine.com/street-mag-show-termine/
Link is just available in German...they are doing a couple of shows around Germany!

Greetings
---
Andi

 

Welcome aboard Michael.

Soooo, how long have you had the car? And why are you teasing us by not posting pictures of it now that it's being re-built? We love to see how these projects progress. Considering the parts supply issues you may run into is your goal to stay stock or resto mod the beast?

 

Thanks for the warm welcome

Yes, US-Cars are very popular here in Germany (despite the very high gas prices), The classic pickups and muscle cars being the main part. You got quite a lot of events, mainly near big cities like Berlin or near the Dutch/French border.
The original Rocket 88 is a bit of a rarer sight, though and im indeed quite proud of owning the great grandfather of all muscle cars.

Sorry for teasing you, here are some more photos

The day we hauled the car 600km down from the Netherlands (March 2014,It had been sitting in a barn quite a while, the previous owner didn't find the time to work on it)

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Starting condition and 1st day of stripping

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Condition then:
All rockers rotten, filled with styrofoam. Front floor panels full of holes, back floor panels ok (some little patches), trunk full of holes

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Original 303 Rocket V8, would start and idle pretty good but stalled at the slightes throttle input, took of the carb and gave it a good clean. Fuel filter and carb were full of slimey gas.

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The result: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otb1tjLHgt8
(getting goosebumps thinking about that rumble )

Brakes were shot too. I cleaned the parking brake so i had at least a little brake for driving it 200m to its garage, where my first picture was taken.

Further disassembly:
OUHbWjJ.jpg

and here is the current condition:
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Front passenger side metal work is done at the moment.

Up until now I completely overhauled the brakes. New master cylindre/wheel cylindres, new brake lines, rubber lines, turned drums.
Also cleaned the front frame of rust and got some primer on it.

At the moment im working on the engine. While the valve covers were off i noticed some loose head bolts...
VOO7bPx.jpg

and a broken rocker arm support...
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The engine will get a complete sealing kit and new bolts/new support, plus some basic things like new oil..filter..plugs...wires etc.

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After that i'll work on the front suspension (all new rubber) and install new pivot pins at the front left, front right seems way better (maybe repaired).

Getting spare parts hasn't been a problem at all until now. I'm still suprised how much parts you can get new in the USA. Before I got the olds i owned a classic 1976 Opel Rekord, and getting parts for a german classic in germany was a pain in the a**...

Sorry for the giant wall of text (and pictures ). I'll maybe start a project thread in the future as some more work gets done.

It is a nice car, great father and son project at the moment. I am a car mechanic trainee at Bosch at the moment, and getting to work at such old cars is way more fun and rewarding than most of the stuff i see at work.

- Michael

 

Welcome, and we'll be glad to watch your progress.

 

Wow! From looking at the original pictures all those hidden issues just didn't show. I had to laugh at the foam in the rockers. First thought that went through my mind was that since it came from Netherlands the previous owner was trying to keep it above water. Then I realized that even new cars have foam injected into some of the body core components as a sound deadener. Probably that's what happened there?

Loose rocker studs? That looks like the thread is busted right off and may have to be drilled out of the block? Not surprised to see that cracked rocker pivot. Where are you finding most of your parts in USA from? Is it USA Parts Supply by chance?

The engine sounded really quite good in that video. Especially for a 64 year old car. Do you know if the miles on it are original or if it has turned the odometer over?

Here's a website for you to look at if you're interested. It might provide you with some more info about your car. Classic Car DataBase

The pics look great, and yes - you should start a thread about this car. Please keep us up to date as you progress. I also noticed that the car still retains its original left hand drive. Is Germany a RHD or LHD country?

 

welcome, thats going to be a nice car when you get it done.

 

Thanks.
Yes, germany is a LHD country. We brought you the original automobile after all

The foam in the rockers was just a poor try to stop the rust from spreading further imo.
Yes, the screws broke right off. We'll soon try to drill them out. As my dad really knows his way around metal (he is master tool craftsman...don't know how you would call that in the states) I'll think we'll manage that.

I have several shops for parts, yes USA Parts supply, NAPA and most of all Fusick and Ross Racing Engines for engine parts.

The engine sure sounds really good, and the cylindres don't show any visible signs of wear. I don't think it has a very high mileage..
At the moment i dont know the mileage of the car...as it is so old that the painted numbers on the odometer are falling off. I can tell you it has ??7?9 miles on it

 

Michael: A joy to see another '50 Rocket 88 being brought back to life! My 2nd car (in 1955) was a 2 door sedan version, and what fun that Oldsmobile was, in so many ways! Congratulations, and please keep the progress (pictures included) coming! Oh, and welcome to CO, by the way.
Aron

 

The speedo can be rebuilt. Here's a link to Bobs Speedometer if you're interested. They do outstanding work.

Not sure but I think a master tool craftsman is the same as a Journeyman Mechanic or Master Mechanic here.

 

Welcome to CO Michael! Looks like a great project. Keep us updated.

 

Guten Morgen! Call these guys, worth a try:

http://www.ka-ja-tacho.de/

 

Looks like lots of work there. When done are you going to bring it to the UK for the Hayride.

Cheers.