My first post! I live on Bainbridge Island, WA. I am beginning the restoration and mild updating of my 1958 Oldsmobile 88 four door hardtop. It has 77,000 original miles. It was purchased new in Ellensburg, WA in 1958 by my grandmother. I got the car when she passed away in 1977. It was my daily driver for three years and has been in storage for the past 34 years. It is a time capsule original car with a Transportable radio. My plan is to put disc brakes on the front, improve the handling and repaint the car its original Champagne Mist with White top. The car came with optional air suspension but those were replaced by the dealer in the late 1950s. I will be looking for advice and suggestions as I work on the car.

 

Welcome to the site, I moved your post to the newbie section. Post some pictures of your car when you get a chance.

 

Welcome aboard, I hope you enjoy your visits at this site! Great to hear a story about a car that's been only in 1 family all its life.

Ok, I gotta ask. What are option air bags?? Can't be the crash protection we know as SRS today.

 

Air suspension! Corrected the typo!

 

Welcome to CO, eronbo! Your '58 is a beautiful color combination, remember them when I was in HS! Chromemobile Look forward to the pics, which are necessary, of course. My kids and Grandson live in the Magnolia area up there. Beautiful country, been up several times.

 

Welcome! A time capsule indeed. Does the transportable radio work either in or out of the car?

 

Welcome. We don't see many 58's on here. I look forward to the pictures. It is great to see a car like this still in the family.

 

Big cars those 58's my friends dad had one when I was in high school. Should be a fun project. Post Pictures so we can all enjoy your work in progress

 

So it looks like (or will look something like) this?


Very elegant looking cruiser. Is yours the Dynamic 88 or the Super S 88?

 

'58... The year gm cleaned out the chrome supply
Great looking cars, very cool it's been in family so long.

 

Ya, it's they are the king of chrome, gotta love the style....Tedd

 

Thanks for the welcome! The photo of the 58 above has the same colors as my car! My car is an Eighty Eight. I have two Transportable radios. I will get one of the working...both in and out of the car. I will post photos of the car...as it sits today and as I go through the process of getting it back on the road!

 

I looked up your colors on the 58 Auto Color Library chart and then surfed the web looking for a hopefully similar image. You will have a great looking car!

 

I just discovered SMS Upholstery. I appears that they have the fabrics and vinyl I need to do the interior of my 58 a near original as possible. Does anyone have experience with them?

 

Welcome to CO. It's good to see another member from the PNW. I'm just across the way from you in West Seattle. You'll find the right people on this forum to help you with any questions you may have.


Aron, I grew up in Magnolia just a block south of the village on 34th Ave. W.

 

I received samples from SMS. Very impressive! They have a complete match for my car so I will buy their complete interior with carpets etc. I cannot find a bolt on disc brake kit for the front. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

I am not mid way through the restoration on my 58 Olds. The SMS material is great although they are slow in delivery. Especially with the embossed pieces. We have had a difficult time finding parts to rebuild the original engine. I am committed to that course...I want an original car with the exception of disc brakes and some handling enhancement.

 

Glad to hear your still at it.

 

Glad to see you are making progress. A disk brake conversion can be had from disc brake Mike's http://www.discbrakemike.com/. What engine parts are you having problems finding most parts for a 371 though not common in your local parts house can almost always be found in the specialty houses. Let us know what your problem items are and I'm sure we can help.... Tedd

 

Very cool car..! What is a portable radio? You can actually remove it and it works outside the car?

 

Old Parts.com has a complete rebuild for a 1958 371 on EBay for $1100. Check them out,I know nothing about them. Larry

 

Sammy concerning the "Trans-Portable Radio" there's a picture of it on www.vintageradios.com .It was a neat item, just a regular AM radio with a built on handle where you could just pull it from the dash,and take it with you .When it was out of the dash,it worked on batteries that were mounted in the back of the radio. They were very popular to take to the beach! Larry

 

Thanks for the imfo Larry. That was a neat item. Apparently a favorite target for thieves! The precursor to the removable faceplate on today's car radios. I agree,great item for beach life , picnics etc!

 

The Transportable is secured with a lock inside the glove box. Hence, very difficult to steal!!

 

Anything that can be locked can be opened. Thieves really don't care how neatly they do it either. Difficult? Nope - hammer to the glass or slim jim beats keys every time.

 

Of course, but it was 1958!

 

try "Scarebird" They make brackets to mount the disc and then give a parts list to finish the job.
Check out there web site.

Gene

 

Welcome to CO Eronbo!

 

I have been in touch with Scarebird. They do not have anything for a 58 Olds. They want to see my spindles...maybe they can fabricate something.