Chris289

Hey guys and girls. My name is Chris and im from the UK. Me and my girlfriend have just purchased our first joint car, a 1956 Oldsmobile 88 2 door pillarless car. its a bit of project but a good base to work from and hopefully will be driveable after a few small jobs.


A bit about me, im 28 years old, been working on cars since I was 14 and have been into American cars my whole life and have allways been involved in classic American or classic cars in one way or another. At 22 years old I purchased my first American car, a 1966 Mustang - my pride and joy and my baby. In 2011 I pulled the car apart to start restoring it (well resto-modded) and kinda of ran out of space to continue with the project, followed by running out of enthusiasm.


In 2013 my girlfriend encouraged me to get my own small workshop so that I could continue with the cars build, but funding the workshop wasn't going to be easy. I've allways wanted to have my own business restoring classic American cars so decided to start my own business part time specialising in classic American cars, aswell as carrying out serving and repair work on everyday cars to help pay for the workshop.


Im still in full time employment in the day time as a car mechanic, but by night and weekends I work for myself and when I get a spare 5 minutes I can work on the Mustang. One day when im busy enough i'll be able to work in my shop full time.


Im currently doing a lot of restoration work on a customers 68 Cutlass Convertible which has a 75 455 motor and TH400 tranny in it. Details of this can be found on my web-site in the link in my signature.


Me and my girlfriend are due to get married in April 2016 and both of us are fans of all things 50's American. Whilst watching an episode of extreme car hoarders the other day, they showed a clip of all the cars that they had done in season 1, my girlfriend was looking at the screen when they showed a clip of the blue 55 Pontiac they did. Not paying much attention I had a quick look at the screen and said "yeah its a 55 Oldsmobile, there cool" Next thing I know my my girlfriend is online looking up classic oldsmobiles. 3 days later after a very short, and not very well thought out talk, we found a 56 car and done a deal with the owner.


Ive allways loved the 55-57 Oldsmobiles. The first workshop I worked at, one of the guys had a black 55 2 door pillerless car in black, with shaved doors, hood and trunk, lowered and with a different engine (cant remember what one) making around 400bhp and a red interior. I allways loved the car and it left an impression on me. Our car is still in the USA and should be in the UK around mid January 2015 if all goes to plan. Not much to say about our car, its a 56 2 door pillerless. In 2 tone light and dark green, 324 V8 with hydromatic tranny. I believe its completely stock.


Anyway, that's my short story and im sure i'll have many questions once the car gets here.


Thanks for reading!
Chris.

oldcutlass

Welcome to the site Chris, and congrats on your recent purchase. Post some pics when you get a chance. Also congrats on the shop and future nuptules with that keeper of a girlfriend. It's good that she has an interest in the same things you do.

Nice work on the Stang and the Olds!

D. Yaros

Welcome! 1956 was one of Oldsmobile's better years design wise. Good looking rides! A good choice. Best wishes with the restoration shop business.

Chris289

Thanks for warm welcomes guys. I'll post some pics of the Olds next time I'm on the PC I host all my pics on my own web-site but need an actual PC to do it.

Spent the afternoon working on the Cutlass, the customer popped down to drop of some parts and check out the progress. I mentioned I had signed up to this forum, he asked if there were many UK members, I said I'm not sure. So I'll ask the same thing, are there any other UK members on here?

oldcutlass

There are a lot of UK and Euro area members, your in great company. Check this thread out and register on the map.

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...obile-map.html

Chris289

Thanks for that. Added to the map!


Here are a couple of photos of our 56. Will post some better pictures once its in our hands:

oldcutlass

Very nice, looks like its pretty complete.

Chris289

Yeah from looking at all the photos I think it's got to be 95% complete. Needs a lot of work to make it show quality but to get it going it needs a fuel pump rebuild as it's stopped pumping fuel, so I'll be importing a fuel pump rebuild kit along with the car - this one in particular. Looks to be the exact same one that Fusick sell but cheaper. http://m.ebay.com/itm/380832230115
Anyone know if these are any good or not?

citcapp

Nice ride, Look forward to following your restoration

Tedd Thompson

Welcome aboard. Your 56 looks like it will be a relative easy restoration because of its condition , nice looking ride also.Although your car is pillarless in Olds speak it is called a Holiday, not a big deal but noticeable among the Olds family. Please post some pictures when you get it home and you might want to start a build thread so we can follow your build.

Have you tried to see if you have fuel to the fuel pump? Quite often in these older cars the screen in the tank becomes plugged with shellac and stops the fuel pump from operation....Just a thought ....Tedd

oldcutlass

The other thing that will effect the fuel pump operations are the rubber lines befor it. They crack and cause air to enter the system.

Chris289

Cheers for the input and comments and knowledge guys. Alough I'm a fan of all American cars I'm more of a muscle car guy, that's where most of my knowledge is, so any info on these cars is great. So is our car pronounced as a "56 oldsmobile holiday 88"?
What's a super 88? Ours is a 2 barrel carb, the 230bhp variant I believe.

Regarding the fuel system, I'm just going by what the seller in the USA said. He got it fired up by tempary fitting an electric pump into a gas can and it fired straight up. My plans are to rebuild the pump (I know it's not going to let me down in the future then) blast the metal fuel line through with compressed air and brake cleaner. Remove the fuel tank and clean it out, whilst it's out pull the sender unit and check the condition inside there, replace the rubber lines with new ones and hose clips and then replace/fit in inline fuel filter. Should bd good to go after that and hopefully get it all done in a weekend. If the tank or metal line is bad I'll replace those as needed. Hope the tank is ok though, insert here expensive!

Also a question on the transmission, it doesn't have a P (park) position. I read there were 2 types in 56, a hydramatic and a jetaway. From reading 1 is better than the other, hopefully ours is the better of the 2!

Cheers guys!

Tedd Thompson

Starting from your last question first you have a Slant Pan transmission and in my opinion and others will agree or disagree the better of the two. Jetaways are smoother shifting but not near as strong as a Slant Pan hydromatic, but not to worry they are both better than the later two speed transmission with the same Jetaway name. By the way you do have a park in your car, it is achieved by putting it in reverse and turning the engine off . This will lock up the transmission just like park.

If you have the gas tank out make sure you have a good ground on the sender. Olds grounded the unit to the gas line and if you replace or alter the gas line with a rubber line you lose the ground to the sender(don't ask me how I know this.)

The difference between a super and a regular 88 is USUALLY the super has a padded dash, more and better trim( seldom does a 88 have rocker panel molding) and there was a difference in cloth patterns on the interiors and you could get cloth, leather or vinyl on the super.Plus the super usually came with a 4bbl carb and I believe it was rated at 230 where the 2 bbl was rated at 210. Nothing is set in stone with these cars as you could change add or omit anything if you ordered it that way. Others probably know of other differences but that what comes to mind now . If we can help you with any problems please let us know were here to help....Tedd

Gary M

First off congrats on finding that girlfriend! Also you both got a good car to restore. It looks great. They don't make em like that anymore. Members on here are very willing to help with information. Good luck and post pictures as you go.

Chris289

Thanks the advise and comments again guys.

Glad ours is the hydramatic. From my readings online it seems it's the better of the 2, mayby not as smooth but more robust, which is what matters to me. Want to use the car as often as possible once it's driveable.

I'll make sure I check the sender unit is properly earthed once it's back together.

I think ours is just a normal 88 then. It doesn't have any nice options from looking at all the photos.

I'm sure I'll have many more technical questions once the car is here.

Thanks again,
Chris.

Justin Pape

Hi chris.
Im a uk olds keeper/restorer. Your in good company here, a lot of good guys willing to help.
Regards
Justin

Chris289

Hi Justin. Where abouts in the UK are you? What car or cars do you have?
Chris.

Justin Pape

Im from cumbria, the other end of the country from you lol.
I have a 1970 oldsmobile cutlass s. She a complete rebuild.

Chris289

No ones ever close by in the UK, were a tenth the size of the USA and still all miles appart lol.

Sounds like a cool project, currently doing a 68 cutlass convertible for a customer. Very cool cars, prefer the 442 myself but there still way cool
Good luck with the resto!

Justin Pape

Yea the 4 4 2 is a nice car, but i love my 's'. When i got her she was rough. Ive seen better nic cars in a scrap yard lol. Someone had to save her, shes to special to crush. Well to me she is
American classics dont seem to be big over here. Its all evo this and scooby that ha ha.

Chris289

I know, it's a shame. The sad thing is, all these guys who own those sort of jap cars still watch all the shows like fast n loud etc and allways make comments like "I'd love to own one of those" or "that's so awesome" but they don't realise they can get a muscle car project for the same sort of money that they have put into there jap car making it 300bhp.

rustyroger

[QUOTE=Chris289;761187]No ones ever close by in the UK, were a tenth the size of the USA and still all miles appart lol. /QUOTE]



Margate isn't too far from Essex Chris. Well, not Thurrock anyway, Braintree is double the distance.
Doesn't amount to spit compared to how far I've travelled to get to shows in Texas though.


Roger.

Chris289

Hi Roger, I'm southend way, so the furthest part of Essex away from Margate lol but yeah, still only a short trip in comparison to an American road trip. May have to arrange some sort of oldsmobile meet up once our car is on the road.
Chris.

Justin Pape

Liking a car and wanting to pay money for a car are two different things.
I know people who like american muscle but will always say they would prefer to buy a skyline. Its us few genuine american car lovers that fly the flag in the uk.
Justin

Rocketowner

There's a site on CO called '54-'56 Owners unite. You might want to check it out and welcome to CO . Larry

Chris289

Cool. I posted in there too

Georgek117

Hi Chris, great to see a fellow classic car enthusiast! I'm new to the site too and also from the UK - I'm 21 and studying here in Colorado for a year. I bought a '75 Cutlass Supreme out here about a month ago and it's wonderful. Has only 77,000 miles on the clock!





Nice meetin' ya!

Chris289

Hi George. Were abouts in the UK are you from. I can't seem to view your pictures for some reason. I'd love to be able to take a year away from work and move to the states, buy a 60s muscle car and just travel the whole of the USA in it. Oh well, I can dream can't i lol.

rustyroger

Am I correct in thinking I suggested this forum to you on Facebook?.
I hope you take full advantage of everything it has to offer an Oldsmobile enthusiast.


Roger.

Georgek117

Hey Roger! You did indeed suggest it to me on FB, and here I am! haha

Georgek117

Chris,

I'm originally from Banbury, Oxfordshire but go to university in Chester. And I currently live in Abergavenny, Wales. So I've lived all over the place! Where are you from?

I would definitely recommend coming to the States, even just to hunt for a nice classic car somewhere - there are plenty lying around.

I've tried uploading those photos as attachments, lets see if that works...

George

My future car.jpg

10661732_10204862217338618_6711113039288432561_o.jpg

Chris289

Hey George, that 75 cutlass is way cool. Looks mean as it is. Do you plan to bring it back to the UK when you come back?

I doubt I'll be buying any more cars for a while lol the mustang is years away from being finished as I don't have the time to work on it and now buying this 56 olds I really won't have time or space for anything else. But you never know what's around the corner!

I'm currently up the road from Southend on sea in Essex, been here in this area pretty much my entire life.

Chris.

Georgek117

She only cost me $1800 which is about £1200 so a pretty good deal! I'm here in Colorado until May/June so I'll see how things go. If I really want to keep the car then I'll look at shipping it home! For a while it's been one of my dreams to get hold of a classic muscle car and do it up really nice. That dream was a pretty difficult one for a poor student living in the UK last year, now I'm in the states they are a lot easier to come by! The good thing is that she doesn't need serious work either - it's literally just cosmetic stuff on the exterior and dashboard, and then there are a few things in the engine that need replacing.

And your '56 Olds is gorgeous, how did you come about buying it? Can't have been cheap! I'd love to have a car from that era someday

George

Chris289

If you need a shipper if you do decide to bring the car back to the UK who is reliable and trust worthy then give me a shout, I'll pass on my shippers details, have been dealing with them for years without an issue. If you do bring it back load it with parts, will save you a fortune in shipping costs!

Also if you need a mechanic in the UK for the car give me a shout

Our 56 is ok, yes they are gorgeous cars, but those 2 photos were the best ones of the car lol, it has rust in the usual places and bubbling paint in places, nothing I can't fix, but the pictures do make it look better. I won't say how much we paid for it but I think we got a good deal (will see when the car gets here) not as expensive as you may think, that's all I'll say.

We saw it on ebay and contacted the seller and done a deal, the rest as they say is history!

Chris.

Georgek117

Thanks, I appreciate that. What shipping company is it? I'd be interested in getting some quotes from them (think I may go for the roll-on, roll-off method rather than a container). And yeah, I will load it up with parts! I heard that you gotta be careful though cos people like to steal things that aren't tied down while the car is in transit!

So the '56 needs a lot of work huh? You've done the first, most important step though: getting the car! You can truly make it your own now, it's not just one of those cars you've bought from another guy who did it up. This is what I want to do too, and I have the right car for it! It just needs some tender loving care

What jobs are you looking at doing on it first? It could look magnificent one day, who knows - maybe we'll see each other at some shows some day (if everything goes to plan)

Chris289

For my shipping I use STS Imports: http://www.stsimports.co.uk/
Speak to Ron, tell him Chris from Back to Life Cars gave you there details.

Since your still in the states will be easier to e-mail them, that's how i communicate with then most of the time anyway, they allways respond within a few hours.

Roll on roll off is where you here the stories of parts going missing, as the car is just sat on a ship and can be accessed by anyone. If it goes in a container then the only people who touch it are the shipping company. It was around £300 more to go in a container, we had no choice since our car doesn't currently run, it doesn't qualify for roll on roll off (RORO) but I'm happier knowing it's locked up in a container.

Yeah I allways prefer to buy a car as close to original spec and as complete as possibile, no matter how bad a condition it may be in, at least you know it's all there and not been messed with. Then you have the option of keeping is stock or customising it to your tastes and then you know exactly what and how's been done to it.

Our 56 has a fuel issue and won't start from it's own fuel supply so I'm going to address that first, see how she runs then go from there, I want it on the road for the summer so will tackle all the mechanical stuff straught away, then deal with the body work over the winter. It will being staying stock, since it's mine and my girlfriends car, she has a say in what we do and don't do to it (I've even been told no to the fluffy dice ) and she doesn't really want to start changing customising it, we do have plans for a possible colour change inside and out when the body work is finished though, we both like the turquoise of the 50's and an off white, so would stay 2 tone and also do the interior to match. Might drop the suspension by an inch aswell just to make it a little lower but no other plans really, we just want to use it as often as possible when we can.

What's the plan for yours?

Chris.

Georgek117

That's great, thanks for the info! I just dropped Ron an email, hopefully he can give me some more information and prices. So have you shipped any of your cars over to the UK? If so how much did it cost?

I'll always be into the cars that are kept mostly original - as you said, this way you know what has been done to them, and you can really do with them what you will. As for my car, I think I'm going to keep it as original spec and stock as possible, except for maybe a modern radio temporarily installed under the dash and some speakers (mine is an ancient 8-track radio!)

As for what my car wants doing - it's a lot! I'm not sure I'll bother doing too much though while I'm in the States, as I don't know if it will be definitely coming home with me yet. I might just buy the parts for now. One of my priorities right now is a battery issue which I've experienced twice; it keeps running out of power and I need to keep jump-starting it. I'm not sure if it's just the cold weather, or if it's a technical issue like the alternator. Nonetheless it needs to be sorted out before the snow arrives in Colorado! And then I want to get a new vinyl top for the car (having trouble finding one), as the current one is starting to disintegrate! That's just the beginning too (body needs sanding down and repainted, dents need flattening out, dash needs replacing, interior and exterior trim needs replacing etc.). If I do repaint it, it will be one of the model's original colours - either Midnight Blue (what I believe it currently is), Cranberry red, or perhaps even the cameo white (I think it would look great in white!)

75 Cutlass paint.jpg

I really really hope I can take it home, would make a great project for next summer.

Sounds like you have your work cut out for the '56, are you gonna keep it, or sell it and buy something else when it's finished? Your wife has the right idea I think, I wouldn't want to customize it either! Those cars look just right when they're kept stock.

rustyroger

Perhaps if you introduce yourself in the New Members section, and maybe a separate post outlining the issues with your car will get more attention than this thread. Not everyone checks out all the posts, but a few keywords like "battery issue" or "Colorado" might catch the attention of someone local who would be happy to help.


Roger.

Georgek117

Thanks Roger, I'll do that right away!

You've been a bit of a guiding light for me so far - appreciate it bud!!!

Chris289

Hey George,

No this is the first car I've imported. I'm the first owner of my mustang in the UK but I got it from classic American car dealer over here who imports and sells cars, the experience is a first for me. I'll be glad once it's here and I've seen it in person.

As for your car, first thing to do is grab a multimeter, check the charge rate of the battery across the terminals with the engine running, give it a few revs to get the thing charging then let it idle. You want it to be charging between 13.5-14 volts. The very minimum of 12.9 at idle and a maximum of 14.5 when revving, but realistically around a steady 13.5 volts all the time it's running. Anywere above or below that and you have a charge problem. If it's a charge problem then you need to check your alternator. If it's got an internal regulator then it's most likely a dead alternator, if it's got an external regulator then you need to do some more diagnosing to disguise which one of the 2 is causing the problem.

If it's charging just fine, check all your cables and your earth connections, if there fine then chances are you have a dead battery or an excessive drain on the system. But first things first, check the charge rate and the wiring.