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Hey guys! New member here but a long time Olds guy. I have had my ‘64 Holiday Coupe since about ‘01. It was my second car, started driving it senior year of high school. It served daily driver duty for a few years and then I did a lot of bad things to it. But eventually I starting bringing it back to more of a factory look and had the car sandblasted and primed a few years ago to start on bodywork, but haven’t gotten to it yet. It keeps getting pushed to the back of the project list and neglected unfortunately. Currently has a 350/th400. Was originally Aqua Mist and will be again.
Then last weekend I had a major score from an estate sale. Picked up this ‘69 Cutlass S. 350, and it has the Dearborn 3-speed! I had no idea about these transmissions until finding a lot of good info here. 12-bolt rear end. Bucket seats. Meadow Green. It needs a lot of work but I am very excited to have another Olds in the fleet finally.
I’m glad to have found this board, I’ve got a lot of research to do. Mostly I’ll just be sitting back and reading for a while as I can’t get much done on either car just yet. Thanks for having me!
Last edited by Anderson; February 23rd, 2022 at 06:28 PM.
Reason: Spelling
Excellent. Is that a 57 Chevy I see peeking out of the garage? I welcome you to visit us at the North Texas Oldsmobile Club (NTOC). We meet the second Sunday of every month and it is usually at Sonny Bryant's BBQ on Campbell Road.
Excellent. Is that a 57 Chevy I see peeking out of the garage? I welcome you to visit us at the North Texas Oldsmobile Club (NTOC). We meet the second Sunday of every month and it is usually at Sonny Bryant's BBQ on Campbell Road.
Yes it is, and powered by a 455 Pontiac! Thanks for the invite. I’ll try and stop by some time.
Oh my goodness. 69 Coupe... I love it already. Awesome. Pictures pictures more pictures. My first Oldsmobile was a 69.
PS: Welcome to Classic Oldsmobile 👍
Heres how it was found, had been parked since ‘88. Some effort had been made to keep it covered, but not much. The rear window was broken out of it long ago which lead to worsening the floors, and the rear seat is now complete junk. Under the hood was full of leaves from critters. I borrowed the wheels off my ‘64 as the tires on this one were destroyed. Still only one wheel was rolling. First stop on the way home was the car wash!
And here’s the other stuff I know you all want to see
I was stoked to find the protect-o-plate under the spare tire. Along with the original bumper jack and assorted pieces, even though they are all pretty crusty.
Last edited by Anderson; February 24th, 2022 at 05:20 AM.
Welcome aboard! I had a '69 4-4-2 back in the early 80's. I really miss that car! Good luck with your project. I'll be following along with efforts you may post.
Where else but Texas are you going to find a restorable Olds setting up in a field that you can resurrect from years of setting outside., Got to love it, The pics with leaves is priceless .
Question is ; is the the Dearborn 3-speed! on the floor? eitherway cool post car.
As you can see plenty of Texas guys willing to help you. Let us know if you need anything like sourcing the rear missing windshield or even parts for that wonderful scarce 64 hardtop.
Where else but Texas are you going to find a restorable Olds setting up in a field that you can resurrect from years of setting outside., Got to love it, The pics with leaves is priceless .
Question is ; is the the Dearborn 3-speed! on the floor? eitherway cool post car.
As you can see plenty of Texas guys willing to help you. Let us know if you need anything like sourcing the rear missing windshield or even parts for that wonderful scarce 64 hardtop.
I would like to find an original rear window even if it isn’t in excellent shape, just to at least get the car sealed back up for now. I’ll be looking for one pretty soon.
It is on the floor. When I first got in it, the shifter moved but wouldn’t go in “reverse”. I found something about three speeds in these and when I got the car up in the air enough to take a look, found the Dearborn.
Last edited by Anderson; February 24th, 2022 at 12:18 PM.
This 69 was a bare bones car when it was new. Standard transmission, single exhaust and no factory air and I am guessing not power steering or brakes. Very unusual.
This 69 was a bare bones car when it was new. Standard transmission, single exhaust and no factory air and I am guessing not power steering or brakes. Very unusual.
the glass on the car looks like non tint from the pics, I will chk my stash for you, here in south texas more common was the tint glass with ac cars abound..
thx for pics, keep them coming . bare bones car for sure with dealer or aftermarket ac. very interesting.
I do have the rear non tint glass from a 70 S i parted years ago. I am in san antonio tx . you may find one in your back yard 68-72 fastback style should fit.
Last edited by lunaboy; February 24th, 2022 at 03:07 PM.
Reason: add line
Here are some of the '64, as promised. Pretty typical Holiday Coupe...no console, power brakes, power steering, and A/C. It was a pretty solid car to start with.
I blew the front end apart, cleaned everything up and painted some under hood stuff, removed the A/C compressor, fixed some of the rust in the floors, put new carpet in it and we got it running. The Jetaway made it as far as the inspection station but didn't survive the return trip so a th400 was installed. It also got a dual master cylinder and front discs. I drove it like that through my last semester of high school. My dad had a 350 rebuilt for it and we installed it that summer. That engine is still in the car and is in pretty good shape. I got some Trans Am GTA wheels for it and bought my first set of brand new tires. Drove it like this for about a year.
From there it went down a different road...I did a lot of "kustomizing" to it...airbagged the car, shaved the emblems and door handles, a bunch of stuff that was fun while it lasted but got old quick. I also painted it some weird colors! After I got rid of the airbags I got some Torq Thrust Ds for it, and that was probably the best look for the car in that form. Had the front bumper fixed somewhere along the line.
And then I got a wild hare for the '70's look and went crazy with a set of Cragars...that didn't last long at all, even with air shocks out back it wasn't high enough to clear the 295/50's haha. But it got the door handles put back on, and the stock grill.
So, finally, I picked up a set of '80's 442 chrome wheels and a new set of tires...started on getting it running better, built some exhaust for it, replaced the gas tank, and a few other tweaks. Decided it was time for the green to go and had the whole car sandblasted. There was a LOT of bad bodywork on this car, most of it done by me haha. Since then I haven't done anything much with it. It needs some tuning, has old gas in it, the brakes don't work right, and it's started running a little too hot. It desperately needs a whole interior. What the car needs and deserves is a full frame-off resto which I do not have the time or the space for. The car still has most the original brake lines, fuel lines, original rear end (needs a 12-bolt!), needs a trunk floor, and really would just benefit a LOT from a full rebuild. I keep saying it will be the next project but I keep putting other stuff in front of it...then I found the '69 and am really in love with that one too! Never enough time. Oh well.
Sorry, one last picture. Here’s a ‘24 T roadster I built a while back with a ‘49 303 Oldsmobile engine. Did all of the block machine work and built the engine myself. Was a fun little car and I loved that engine!
WELCOME, looks like you have your hands full of a project, but that 3-spd has to be pretty rare. Nice find.
Originally Posted by Anderson
My dad installed that exact same aftermarket A/C system in my '68 back in the mid '70s, even the compressor is the same and mounted in the same location. I've pulled my under-dash unit out a couple of years ago in anticipation of a Vintage Air unit in the not-too-distant future. I still need to remove the compressor, that'll probably happen when I pull the 350 for a rebuild (also in the not-too-distant future).
Originally Posted by Anderson
I'm 99% sure that is a type-O rear, not a 12-bolt.
Last edited by JohnnyBs68S; February 25th, 2022 at 03:52 AM.
Nice cars! I am really surprised how good that 64 looks with the later TA wheels! Good luck on the 69. Why do people let cars sit and rot??? If that sat like that here in Michigan it would be sunk to the paper thin frame!
February 23rd, 2022, 05:58 PM
