Mike:

Here is a link to show you what these cars can look like. This thing is gorgeous.

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...day-coupe.html

 

wow, that certainly gets the inner fire burning...beautiful car

 

Yours will look that good one day. Notice the wheel covers. I know they will be expensive.

 

Mapdrummer that is one of the coolest cars I've seen!
If the duco on the rest of the body cleans up as well as the fin you've done I would be leaving it alone after the polish, warts and all, it looks amazing.
So much chrome to clean too but look how well the bit you did came up.

A bit of dust and dirt on the duco and chrome actually preserves it from the elements, moisture is the killer.

I dont think you have much cash to spend on her at all, just lots of your time and lots of elbow grease... wax on, wax off - repeat..

 

That car will clean up georgous. Start with a good soapy car wash bath that will get the dust and grime off first.Then try a good hand polish.
If that is going to be too time consuming, and you don't have ezpxpierence with a rotary buffer, then hire someone who has. That car will look like new in a couple of hours in the good hands of a professional car detailer.
Someone who does this for a living will nor damage the paint with a buffer,and it would be a shame for someone to burn the paint off the edges,if they were not experienced with buffing.
I wish you lived close ,I would love to do a detail on that car for free, and I have 40 + years experience. Larry

 

thanks guys. I don't mind putting in the time and certainly no stranger to working hard, but I do have a question...that part of the fender was easy enough but what do I do about the places that have spots ofrust coming coming through...i think I have a pic I will post.

 

 

Pfft.. those spots are nothing.. it's supposed to have some patina, left alone like that for 40+ years.

a good car wax will coat those spots with a film and arrest the rust in its tracks.
Preserve the paintwork, not rework the duco.

 

Sorry guys but I see way to much rust (hopefully just surface) on this car. I think it will have to be painted for it to ever look right. I understand preserving the original paint but when patina just gives you an ugly car it is time for a paint job. Of course it will be Mike's choice since it is his car.

 

Sorry, but after seeing that last photo,the only way to do that car justice,is a top quality paint job and rechrome all pitted chrome.It won't come cheap ,but the car will be very valuable when that is done.
By inheriting it you can spend a few thousand on it and still have it reasonable enough to have a very good investment. Just don't stop with a second rate paint job or chroming job. Do it right and you will still have a treasure that will bring "top dollar" if you ever sell it. Larry

 

Mike, you need to print the pictures of the red and white one this is for sale and post them in your garage. It will keep you motivated. When the time comes I have a chrome shop I have used. They are not cheap but then no chrome shop is cheap. When you get ready for paint you may consider using single stage paint since it will give you about the right amount of sheen to look original. If you want a shine that is about 20 feet deep then base clear coat is the way to go. Then it is what I call over restored. The good thing is if you go back with black, you have lots of options since black is black.

 

I had thought there was too many rust spots also to just leave it alone, but I will clean it up just to see what is actually there. And when the time comes I will go ahead and get everything rechromed and probably painted. So I will definitely reach out for suggestions and recommendations for places to take it. There is a pretty bad spot on the left rear quarter where the rust is got into it and that will definitely have to be fixed but other than that it seems to be all surface rust.

 

Is there a reason why I am not finding a great deal of pictures of this car out there on the internet especially all black? Is there a way to find out how many of these are still out driving on the road?

 

There is no way to find out. According to my Standard Catalog of Oldsmobile book, there were 20,259 Super 88 2 door hardtops made in 1959. Some people use a survival rate of 1% which would be about 200 cars. I doubt there are that many. There were 38,488 Dynamic 88 2 door hardtops and 13,699 98 2 door hardtops. Total Oldsmobile production in 1959 was 382,865 cars for 6.9% market share. Only 15.2% of the total production had air conditioning. Your car weighs 4,260 pounds and had a base price of $3,328. With the factory air and other option your car probably had a sticker price over $4,000 which was a pretty expensive car in 1959. Great Grandpaw and Grandma were riding in style.

 

Chrome and stainless restoration,,, Brace yourself! When I had the chrome and stainless restored on our ‘70 wagon, my first comment was “Can you imagine what it would cost for a ‘58 Fiesta wagon??!!!! I would suggest getting to know and appreciate the car better before committing to a “might as well” full on financial obligation. I look forward to seeing it. It is my favorite color.

 

Gorgeous car. I've always loved the '59s. We had a '59 Fiesta 88 wagon when I was a kid. It was silver with a white roof and has the distinction of being the only car we ever had that got a name. It was known affectionately as the Grey Ghost. I'm glad you're keeping it as original as possible and look forward to seeing pictures of it as it gets brought back to life.

 

I think I am going to luck out in that the only real parts that would have to make the expensive re-chroming trip will be door handles, rockets on the front fenders and the bumpers, all the smaller body line, window and door trim is coming clean quit nicely...fingers crossed on that. But i am sure that the bumpers will cost a few nickels.

 

So mid-day yesterday, the "Lombardo" as she has become affectionately named, has found her way home.

 

It's going to be a very nice car, has a lot of class right now..... Tedd

 

Congrats Mike. Your choice of wheels looks good on the car. That is going to be such a nice car.

 

I was going to say, it looks real nice with those Torque Thrusts!

 

Thanks guys. Kind of thought I was going to get hammered on that one since its not the originals. But when I picked those out (after a lot of looking) I thought they would compliment the car well and now that the car is starting to shine up I love it more and more. My son and I cleaned up the drivers side and driver side of the hood...check these pics out.

 

Hey Mike,

would you mind to tell me, where you bought those rims? They would look perfect at my '59 dynamic... and another question, which size are they? 8x14?

Thanks
Markus

 

Tires and wheels are not to big of deal for not being original on these cars but it is a good idea to put the original hubcaps away for future use or owners.

The car is looking amazing! Keep up the good work.

 

Hey Markus, don’t mind at all.

Cragar was what I was originally after, but apparently the Cragars in this style are unicorns and no longer in production. Second best were these and were bought online from autoanything.com. They are by Vision model 141-legend and are all 15x8's (with bolt pattern 5on5 or 5 x 127mm) and offset was 0 mm. Also had to pick up Acorn lug nuts 10 @ LH and 10@ RH (size: 1/2x20) and got those on eBay. After lots of research on tire size and calculating what could fit without issue landed me the Cooper Cobra’s at 255 60 R15. Fits perfect. These actually ended up being ¾ inch shorter than the original tires.

Mike

 

Car is really starting to look good as you clean it up. The new wheels and tires look great. If you want a taller/wider tire you can go with 275-60-15's in the rear later on.

 

Boy that paint cleaned up better than what I thought it would. Were those spots that appeared to be rust in the pictures something else? .... Tedd

 

Outstanding!!

 

It was. After the bath most of the grim came off, with a little more deep cleaning the "mud" so to speak came right off. There is a few rust spots though, cant lie about that, but overall, given its age "patina" might just be the right description here. What i know at this point is that i will clean her up as best as she can get, start on the mechanical part of the process and when she's mostly completed and running, i may address the paint. It will be the last thing i do though.

 

Mapdrummer you can't post enough pictures of that car. Very cool.

 

Really good plan Mike.

 

x2

 

LOOKING GOOD... Very surprised the paint cleaned up as well as it did... Bet you are anxious to get the other side finished as well...

 

Slow and steady wins the race. Did a little Chrome work last night. Not perfect, but coming along nicely.

 

I use 0000 steel wool with soap and water to get chrome shined up. The pits will smooth out but will still be there. Your chrome is coming out nice, what did you use?

 

X2 on the 4/0 steel wool and then a protective wax top coat.

A good chrome shop will make those bumpers look like new, but for a small king's ransom.... Tedd

 

I used the same 0000 steel wool. Being a drummer all my life, buffing and shining chrome is not new to me. I used Purple Power in conjunction with it. Windex works well too but I think the Purple Power cuts a little quicker. That half took about 2 hours to do by hand and I had a lot of time to think while in process and then it hit me. I need to break out the Palm sander. So I got that out, slapped a new piece of steel wool on and got everything wet and bam! cleaned it 50x faster and better than I can do by hand with no scratching and it works like a charm (at least on the flatter surfaces, it wont reach in the small areas). Final step to keep the rust from starting back up ... wax it. Helps significantly to prolong the shine and keeps you from having to redo it sooner. I do that to my drum stands and will get at least 2 years before having to run a touch up and even then its not nearly as bad.

 

You and your son are doing fine work! You are going to have one mighty nice looking '59 of which you can be proud. I am sure Gramps is smiling too!

 

Add me to the list of folks who thinks this car is amazing!

Best of luck to you and have fun.

 

No problem hauling a gig kit in the 59