Hello everyone,

My wife's family has allowed me to restore one of her great grandfathers cars and this was the most complete project car of the bunch. I have no idea what I am getting into with this huge project. So far I have degreased as much as I could. Bagged and tagged all of the pieces that I have taken off such as chrome and inner parts of the engine compartment. I am looking forward to being able to share my small accomplishments along the way and ask for help and advice from experienced Oldsmobile enthusiasts. I look forward to posting more pics.

Nick

 

Good luck with your new project. I have been working on my Super 88 four door sedan since 2012. If you are trying your hand at restoration then this is the place for input. I have also been lucky enough to meet an older gentleman (older than myself anyway) that used to work in the Olds factory in 1955. Helped me with my engine and trans rebuild as well as a few upgrades to make my car more reliable. Have fun and take your time.

 

Welcome aboard Paddles. You will find this group very knowledgeable and willing to help. You picked a classy year of Oldsmobile to restore, love the mid fifties Oldsmobile's. When you get a chance we love pictures give us a few so we know what problems you might be having..... Tedd

 

Welcome. There is a bunch of us on here with mid 50's cars. We are all glad to help out. These are great cars.

 

Welcome to the site Nick! What part of the country/world are you in? As the others said, we all enjoy seeing pictures of peoples cars

John

 

Welcome Nick, The Olds of the mid '50's were marvelous cars.If you have questions ,the members of Classic Olds will come to your rescue. Make pictures as you go and share them with us. Larry

 

Welcome to the site, sounds like a fun project. Lets have a look at what your starting with.

 

I saw pictures on Post My Pictures and it looks very solid.The Holiday sedan (4 door hardtops) were introduced mid year of '55 ,and were a great boost for sales. Best of luck with your project. Larry

 

Just a note, the Vintage section is a great read and most of the guys stuck in the 50's post there.

 

Eric , sounds you are talking to Tedd and I (stuck in the 50's), but we are actually not,we just wish we were.After all, you could buy most new cars for under $4000. Larry

 

Most were under $3000 but I was only making $1.00 a hour when I was getting paid anything at all (working on the family farm) so it might as well cost $10,000 because I couldn't afford dittly squat..... Tedd

 

Nick, It sounds like a very neat project to take on, always cool to preserve a piece of family history... That said, after you have poured the uncountable amount of man hours of labor and research as well as the very large expense incurred during a restoration, will the car be titled in either your (or your wife's) name? Then again maybe it is not a concern for you....key sentence: "My wife's family has allowed me to restore one of her great grandfathers cars"

 

X2 on Funkwagon455's thought.It would be a shame to get it finished and someone in the family, decide that they wanted "Their Share " of a finely restored masterpiece. "Stranger things " have happened ,hopefully not in your family. Best of luck , Larry

 

what other upgrades did you do Olds Scott? The title is in my name and thank you very much for all the encouragement everyone. I'm from Green Bay, Wi and if anyone is in the area I would appreciate all the help and my garage is always stocked with beer if you want to stop over and give some pointers or help.

 

Had my rocker arm shafts hard chromed for longer service life. Went with Pontiac lifters (389-400) and Smiths push rods for oiling upper rocker arms as well as shaft oiling. Use good rear main seals (not the rope). If in the budget have all revolving engine parts fine balanced (harmonic balancer to Torus assembly if still running dual range Hydramatic). Buy good quality front end parts if rebuilding suspension. I like Rare Parts (41 Packard build as well as my 55 Olds). If you decide to run an original points distributor then look for a 1956 Olds unit because the cap has the window for adjusting dwell, otherwise the 55 unit would work well with the Petronix upgrade.

 

thanks Scott, now I have some more research to do and some cost versus reward to think about with those changes.

 

Good luck mate, I started my 2 door 88 in 2007 and im about 8 weeks away from finishing it.. looking forward to your story

 

Paddles:

I looked back through this thread and I don't see where any of us recommended buy a factory service manual. This is the first thing anybody should do when they get an old car. It doesn't matter your experience level. This becomes the bible for your car. You can get them on ebay. DO NOT get a reproduction or one on a CD. Get one that has some greasy fingerprints on it. This is a really good buy on one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Orig...tXM3Bi&vxp=mtr

 

Probably the best information given on this post yet. It's going to be the most used tool used on your car. Good catch redoldsman..... Tedd

 

In addition to the service manual, I found a full color laminated wiring diagram on ebay that I use all the time. The colors match the wires. Saves a lot of time. AND they make great place mats! www.ClassicCarWiring.com