Hello All,


I own a 1956 S88 Holiday Sedan. I purchased the car about 16 years ago with 56,000 mi on it. It now has 64,000 and it is time to do the restoration. My son is 14 and I am hoping he has enough interest to hang in there with me! Life happened and the car was put on hold for all that time. I will post some photos as I go. I need to find a program to reduce the high res photos to make them small enough to post.
The last car I did was a 1967 Chevy 11, 30 years ago ( took a 1,000 hours). I still have the 283 on the engine stand with only 2,000 miles on the rebuild. Don't ask...and don't loan your car when it's complete.
I have already removed the front suspension and am working on pulling the front sheet metal so I can remove the engine and tranny.
Like most others here my budget is tight: money, time and space. I have a 30' x 40' shop that has one space for the car. The remainder of the space is composed of a cabinet and machine shop. Like others I have lots of questions which I will attempt to post in the appropriate places. Most of my questions are Olds specific as I am no stranger to the restoration process. My other questions will be related to current materials and applications. Thirty years is a long time and acrylic lacquer is extinct in NJ! I hope to be able to post in the major project forum for the areas that I have not seen covered already.
I hate to ask of others without providing something in return. I will be doing the upholstery in the coming months and if there is some interest I will chronicle the project and answer questions as I go.
Well I guess that's enough intro for now. Hope I didn't bore you to sleep and am looking forward to future discussion and project completion!


Thanks in advance,
Jeff

 

Welcome to CO I think your stay here will be a good one, many have traveled this road before you and I sure help is only a post away.

It's really good to see your trying to get your son involved, the teen years are notorious for being hard to keep there attention and interest up at the same time, many distractions at that age.

Just curious you mentioned that you pulled the front suspension I assume it was for something to do on the suspension because you don't have to do anything there to pull the engine.

I would love to see any chronicle on any upholstery project as it is one of the things that I'm very short on knowledge and ability....Tedd

 

Welcome to the site, hopefully you will capture your sons interest. Looking forward to following your project and pictures.

 

Thanks Guys,


Tedd,


You are right I started with the suspension because I had 2 front leaking cylinders. Once I was in there I had to clean and paint every thing! My son started to scrape the major crud of the spindles so we could see how the King pins were (good by the way). One thing led to another and we were ordering new leafs for the rear and cleaning and painting parts. Most every thing was in good shape except for a few items. I will start a post with those issues in the appropriate section.


As for the upholstery, my dad went to tailoring school after the service on the GI bill. He decided there was no career there so he went back to being a machinist/mold maker. We had done a few cars in my youth but my first upholstery job was the best story. My dad bought a new to him '72 Caprice (land yacht). We removed the landau top and re did the car two tone green. He bought some material and off to the sewing room we went. He completed the front seat and I installed the cover and hog ringed it in place. Dad decided to put the front seat back in before we continued on. It was a light green velour with dark green vinyl on the sides. As we exited the house and entered the sun light ..... it turned to puke green. My dad was NOT HAPPY!! The upholstery store was lit with florescent light and so was the sewing room. My dad was so disgusted he told me to do the back seat because he just didn't care. I rose to the occasion and impressed the man not easily impressed. I was 16 and found I had a new respect from my father. He passed when I was 19 and he is still sorely missed by all who knew him. A regular guy of unsurpassed wisdom and grace.
My dad told me professionals are proficient but not always good at what they do. I am not a professional but I try to put my best effort in to all that I do.


Eric,


My son is pretty bright but has not learned how to suffer well. He is bored with the process but wants to drive the car to the prom when he's old enough. I told him he can as long as he puts in the sweat equity. Tonight I think we will do some more disassembly to keep his interest. Cleaning parts has worn him out.(LOL) I am trying to finish the parts as they come off so the job dose not become overwhelming. This way the finished parts can be stored to await assembly and make room to take off more.




Jeff

 

My Cutlass started as a father and son project for his first car. It did not go well, hopefully yours will stay with it.

 

Welcome. Hopefully you and your son's project will bring you closer together
and he will see them like we see them and do the carry on thing. Congrats
and much success. Now let's see some pics. Catch him with a smile or a frown, We'll dig it either way.

 

Hello Again,


Well I tried to upload some pics but I am receiving a security chip missing message! I will need to wait for a reply from the administrator to show any picks.


I will head over to the vintage form for some other photos, questions and discoveries.


Thanks,


Jeff K.

 

The pictures are too large, try reducing them in size and then post.

 

I resized them before I even tried. I had read the sticky on how to post a photo and made them the size it said??? It said the reason was a missing security chip. Somehow I don't think that has anything to do with size. The message said to click on a link provided to notify the administrator. I clicked the link and sent a message and I have yet to receive a reply?


Thanks,
Jeff K.