Don R.

I am finally making progress on getting my 63 roadworthy. Done so far:

• Brake reline, new hoses, cylinders and master.
• A/C converted to R-134 with flush and new dryer.
• All new front end bushings, ball joints, outer tie rod ends, and swaybar links
• All new springs and shocks front and rear
• New rubber trans cooler lines and fluid change.
• New rubber fuel lines from tank to steel tubing.

Still needed, wheel alignment, front crank seal, rear axle pinion seal, and exhaust work. I got most of the parts from Fusick including their heavy duty springs, they are noticeably shorter than the stockers which got me concerned but they assured me that ride height will not change. Can't wait to drive it!!

viper771

Looking good!! I need my front end redone as well, but I don't have the experience or tools to do it. It will be something that I need to farm out unfortunately

Don R.

Same here! I did the brakes and trans hoses myself but all the suspension work is being done at a shop that I've used for many years. That is heavy and dangerous work, I've done it in the past on the floor of my garage but it would probably kill me now. Well worth the money to let someone with a lift handle it.

viper771

Did you buy all the parts and just have the shop install it?? Or did you just let the show take care of everything? I know with my 62, I will need to send in a few items as cores. I feel that I will have to do my front end before I drive my car very far since the lower control arm bushings are bad. When I back the car up, there is a nice "clunk" sound when I hit the brakes lol

Don R.

I bought the bushings as a kit on Ebay and got most everything else from Fusick's, their prices are fairly comparative. The shop is supplying a few items but primarily the labor. I had the same ominous clunking when I hit the brakes and hoped I would get it to the shop before something let go...

viper771

Yep, it sounds like the route that I must go as well. I don't want to drive my car very far until I get the bushings and what not redone. I figure that a short drive, maybe 15 miles or so wouldn't hurt anything. But I am going to baby the car the entire time. Hopefully I can get my front end redone soon..can you tell if there is any difference after you had all the stuff replaced?

Don R.

I don't have the car back yet but I'll let you know when I get it. The really interesting part is that the guy I bought the car from drove it 800 miles to my front door and it drove pretty good except for the clunk. When I actually got under and started looking, that was the scary part. Good old American over-engineering!

viper771

Yeah, that is why I don't want to drive it very much without all that necessary stuff checked out/fixed. I have yet to crawl under my car... I will either be scared of what I find, or surprised (in a good way). I am anxious to hear if you notice a difference. My 62s steering feels very light... I don't know if I could really tell a different or not if I got everything redone.

Don R.

Finally back to update this thread, it has taken 2 1/2 more months to get everything back together and out the door. As it always goes, my original scope of work got bigger as the shop discovered other things that needed attention such as the following:

• New front crankshaft seal and fuel pump gasket.
• New front motor mount
• New transmission tailshaft bearing and seal
• New universal joints
• New rear axle pinion seal

I picked the car up this last saturday, what a difference! It rides, handles, and stops like the muscle car it is and brought back many memories from the good old days. One of the big items that brought on the extra work was some major engine and transmission oil leaks - now there are no more puddles on the floor! I will take some up-to-date photos this weekend and post them here and will keep this thread up-to-date as I do additional work to make this my main cruiser.

viper771

That is really cool! I just put my car up on jack stands today to drain the oil and take a look under the car. The lower control arm bushings are pretty much gone, and some other rubber parts are shot as well. I will have to keep an eye out for the bushings on ebay and hopefully get all that stuff taken care of on my car too. I have a slight leak somewhere myself. It may be the front seal of the tranny. I am glad that you like the results of the work done to your car!! Hopefully I can reach that point sometime

Don R.

I took the car to Rich's Performance Muffler in Wylie on friday to get an estimate for the exhaust work. As usual it needs more than I expected, looks like I'll wind up with a mostly new system. I'm going with two stock type mufflers but eliminating the resonators and increasing the pipe size a little. He is also going to build the tailpipes to clear big tires for future work...

Need some help, I want to rebuild the rag joint between the steering gearbox and column and will need to pull the column to do it. My car has the hard rubber floor mats with the aluminum strips, how are they attached? Do they come out with the carpet or are they bolted to the floor? I don't want to mess them up.

viper771

Those floor mats are stitched to the carpet. However, over time someone may have taken them out and put them back in using some spray adhesive. So if they are still stitched, you can either take the whole carpet out, or cut the stitching that attaches them to the carpet and glue them back down when you are done.

When I get to the point of exhaust work, I am getting a whole new system too.. I would like a stainless one. Let me know what kind of mufflers you end up using and how they sound. I have no idea what the difference is between mufflers. Since my original exhaust system in long gone, I have no idea what my car is supposed to sound like.

Don R.

I finally got to adjust the rear bumper height last week, it was mounted almost an inch too low and actually covered part of the tailpipe openings. I took it to the muffler shop on friday and picked it up tonight. We increased the pipe size to 2 1/4 and used two large stock type mufflers but no resonators. He also added an H pipe connecting the headpipes and some chrome tips. He built the tailpipes to clear a set of wide wheels and tires which I will eventually use on the car. He was able to reuse most of the stock hangers except for the rear ones. What a difference! I had told him I was looking for a stock muscle car sound like the 67 Plymouth GTX 440 I used to have and he nailed it, just enough sound but no rap or drone. If you are in the north Texas area I recommend Rich's Performance Muffler in Wylie, TX.

viper771

Looks pretty sweet! I hope to keep my car long enough to put dual exhaust back on it.

Don R.

I retired on March 30 and will have more time for my cars so hope to update this thread more often. I did spend some time on the Olds doing a couple things on the list. First was replacing the rear motor mounts which attach to the the bellhousing on the 394. The old ones were original and oil soaked and the passenger side was cracked which made it loose in reverse. Getting the old ones off was easy but putting in the new ones was not. My wife helped with the hydraulic jack and I finally got all the bolts to line up. That was a dirty enough job for one day but I left the car on the jacks for a few days, a luxury I seldom had when I was working.

Yesterday I came back to the job and changed the transmission fluid and filter. When I got the car I was told the transmission had been rebuilt about 3000 miles previously but the seller did not know how long ago it had been done. I had done a quick fluid change when I first got the car but could not find a replacement filter. Recently Fatsco had the filters reproduced and I ordered one. I dropped the pan and the trans looked very clean inside. There was some sediment in the bottom of the pan but no brass or aluminum piles or chunks indicating heavy wear. When I first looked at the old filter still mounted I thought my new filter was the wrong one, the old filter had openings in both the front and back while the new one only had openings in the back. Once I got the old filter off and looked at it closely I realized that someone had actually cut the bottom front of the filter housing off with a hacksaw! I don't know if this was some type of performance modification or if it was a crude way of opening up a plugged filter rather than replacing it, but I've never seen anything like it before, check out the pics.

My next project on this car will be to rebuild the rag joint between the steering box and column. A pretty big job as I will have to remove the whole steering column!

viper771

Nice work!! I need to do the same things as well. When I replaced the fuel lines I noticed that one of the engine mount bolts fell out some time ago. After cleaning the grease off the frame, I did end finding the lost bolt (buried under years of grease) but I guess the nut fell of somewhere in the USA. I need to replace my tranny fuild and filter sometime. Was it hard to do? I had to put a bit of stop leak in the tranny since the front seal began to leak. I didn't put much in there but it seemed to bandaid the problem for now. I can see why I was told to try to find a 63 drivers exhaust manifold for my 62 when I decide to put the dual exhaust back in. Since I have a 63 PCV aircleaner I need to find the other parts to hook it up. I have WAYYY too much blowby coming out my vent tube. Keep posting pictures of your progress!!!

Don R.

Hey Viper, you seem to be the only person who is following my posts, so thanks! You can get the mounts from Fusick, you should also do the one in front if it has not been replaced. Changing trans fluid and filter is not hard but its all under car work and can get pretty messy. I think Fatsco is the only supplier for the filter, it cost $64.00 plus shipping. I got the pan gasket from Olson's but they area probably also on Ebay. Good luck finding that exhaust manifold, I was told the one for duals only was very hard to find.

viper771

Not a problem fellow Starfire owner! None of my rubber stuff has been replaced yet. All my control arm bushings and the works need done.I haven't done any of that yet since it is quite expensive and I haven't even put the car on the road. I hope to at least take it for a short distance drive to see how the tranny shifts. Olson's gaskets eh? I never heard of them but added them to my favorites list.

Fatsco does supply the filter but so does USApartssupply.. the difference is the USA parts supply filter is near 100 bucks, so Fatsco is actually more of a bargain when you compare them. Those manifolds are hard to find. It would be great to find one but I am not going to look TOOOO hard since it would be expensive. It would just make it easier to put the duals back in. If all else fails, just have the exhaust guy bend the pipe like they did back in 62.

I will have to see how my removal of the heat riser goes, the replacing of the vac hoses for the heat units, and how to align the doors, hood, and pass. fender. Should be a loads of fun.. but I have to wait until the weather gets warmer again. I think winter came back!!

aristellier

Hi, I'm following your post with interest as well, as I have a '63 Starfire over here in the UK. Imported it last year and am slowly going through it. Nearly done the interior but now the heater has sprung a leak and while fiddling with that the air flow to the floor has stopped. Ah well it will keep me busy!! Keep up the good work.

viper771

Does the 63 have the same kind of vac tube heater/AC setup stuff as the 62? I plan on taking out the control units, lubing them up, and putting in new hoses soon. I think all the old plastic Ts, especially the one that connects the main vac from the fuel pump to the units in the dash, is shot. I think they were made out of nylon or something so they are quite fragile now. If I end up putting a new water pump in I will prob put in a new heater core while I am at it. I will have to watch all of your posts too

Don R.

[QUOTE=viper771;393477] Olson's gaskets eh? I never heard of them but added them to my favorites list. QUOTE]

I've dealt with Olson's for years, started when I had prewar cars. They are not the cheapest but their products are high quality, US made, and their customer service is great.

Don R.

Aris,
Nice to hear from you, can you post some pics of your car?

To you and Viper, the 63 heat/ac system is all vacuum operated, I think they were similar/the same from 61 to 64. Well known for problems with all the connections plus the design of the pushbutton dash control. Mine worked only part of the time when I got the car but has gotten better with use, I do need to play with it as the recirculate setting does not work on the AC and I could really use that here in Dallas.

aristellier

Yes loads of vacuum hoses, 6 I think plus a couple of t's. My heater was by-passed, when I got the car I replaced all the hoses and connected the heater hoses and all seemed to work although there was only luke warm air. Gave the car it's first long run last weekend, all was good going and on the way back the heater really heated up and then sprung a leak. I think now one of the actuators may be shot so more investigation is required!!

aristellier

As it is now
http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/o...m/DSCN2965.jpg

aristellier

with all the dash out
http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/o...m/DSCN2605.jpg

aristellier

Retrosound Radio
http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/o...m/DSCN2960.jpg

Don R.

Aris, looking good. I will need to pull my dash one of these days but not on the top of my list right now. I like that radio conversion, my car has a working Wonderbar radio with the foot switch but the speakers are shot, plus there is not much to listen to on AM...

Don R.

I just realized I never posted about my final choice on wheels and tires. When I got this car it came with the original 14" wheels and wheel covers but a lousy set of 215-75-14 Kumho narrow-whitewall radials. I felt they were too small for the car plus one of them was damaged from rubbing against a mis-installed tailpipe when the seller drove the car to my house. My original plan was to mount a set of 17" Impala SS alloys with wide tires which I had stored but the original wheel lugs were not long enough. For awhile I thought about replacing all the lugs but in the end I decided I wanted to leave them. I also had a set of 15" cop wheels from a 95 Caprice with 2 good 235-70-15 BFG T/A white letter radials so I decided I would go for the look I had on a few cars back in the 70s. I bought 2 more matching tires and mounted them up. I thought I would just buy a set of period Olds wheel covers but quickly found that they used all 14" in those days. I wound up using 1960 Buick covers, one of my favorite designs and no Buick emblems to worry about. Yeah, I know, its not original, but I like it. Since I took these pics I found a much nicer set of the same wheel covers and cleaned up the paint on the wheel edges.

dutch injun

Hey another fan and fellow 1963 Starfire owner here. Those are some great looking hubcaps and a good way to go with 15" wheels. I still have the 14" with repro bias ply Silvertowns, they drive crappy but I love the look.
Nice to see you guys restoring and driving Starfires too. I am too improving mine, but keeping the original looks. I put in a TH400, and will be replacing my A/C with all new Vintage air stuff, which is on order.

Don R.

Hi Dutch, can you post some pics of your car? Good call on Vintage Air, I used one of their systems on my 63 Riviera and it worked great.

B964

Don, your car looks great. I had a simular problem with the tailpipe rubbing on the right rear tire. Whoever did the exhaust choose to stay far away from the fuel tank and didn't worry about the tire. With the bigger wheels and tires you have now it must still be a tight fit for the pipe.
Ed

dutch injun

Here a pic of my Starfire. I have all the hupcaps of that year, including the custom spinners, I put the dogdishes on because I like the look....I also put in a later model master cylinder, boy they lock up fast now...
IMG_7053.jpg
IMG_0868.jpg

dutch injun

My th400 conversion is in the transmission section here: https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...lim-jim-2.html

Don R.

Ed,
I don't have the problem now, I got a new exhaust system and I had him build the pipes to clear tires much wider than what I wound up with. Look at my previous post for pics.

Don R.

Dutch, your car looks great and the trans conversion looks challenging. I'll bet that car feels completely different...

dmberendsen

Could you guys help me out a bit? I may be looking at a starfire this weekend. A good friend of mine (he's into chevys) knows an Olds guy that is willing to part with a very rare model of oldsmobile but keeps saying he can't remember what it is. From what he says I suspect either a jetfire or starfire. It's hard to get an idea of what one is worth. I understand it is at least partway disassembled.

Dan

Don R.

Latest update, I spent a little more time on this car replacing the vacuum advance diaphragm. I bought a new Accel adjustable unit which was easy to install and adjust. As part of the install I had to remove a number of vacuum hoses so I checked all of them and wound up replacing a number of cracked and hardened hoses, some of which may have been original. I think I may have had additional vacuum leaks as the idle quality has improved and the A/C system is working better. Before, I had noticed that airflow seemed to stop under hard acceleration but now it works fine in all conditions. I think the vacuum holding the mix doors in position was being compromised by a leak. I took this car out for a long drive on Tuesday to meet a friend for breakfast and it has become a really nice driver. The only significant things left to do are the steering rag joint and replacement of all the weatherstripping.

viper771

Good update! I took all the dash controls out of my non AC 62 and relubed them up.. all the grease was hard and nasty. I do need to find a new heater hi/low switch since mine must of had a short in it some time ago, and the wiring connector to the switch was all melted. It did work, but after I finally got the switch unplugged, the back of the switch fell apart But all my vac hoses are orig (still have the paint of them) and I need to redo them as well. I had to take the drivers side seat out bec it is almost impossible to work under the dash of a Starfire lol Hopefully I will get a chance to work on the car again soon. I have owned it for almost a year now and I haven't even driven it on the road yet!!!!

Don R.

This car has pretty nice driver quality black urethane paint which the previous owner rubbed out himself, but it has a few unfinished spots, fine scratches, and waterspots. I tried polishing it by hand but hardly made a dent. With the help of the local English Color store I got a DeWalt variable speed buffer, Automagic Risk Free compound, polish, and wax and a foam pad for each. My only experience with machine buffing was in the dark ages doing lacquer with a wool bonnet so I was a little nervous. I started slowly with the trunk lid a few days ago and today I did the hood. This equipment works great, I'm using the lowest 600 RPM setting, it polishes very well without edge burning and I'm very happy with the results. I'm also removing some of the trim as I go and doing a little touchup where needed. One step at a time!

Allan R

Somehow I missed this thread.

First - Don, congrats on your retirement! Looks like you've kept yourself pretty busy working on that beauty. I think I need to buy one of those polishers and clean up my fleet.

Interesting read on the thread. Loved those pics of the trans and exhaust. Couldn't believe how clean that trans was inside. Have you ever thought of putting a strong magnet on the bottom of the trans pan to attract any filings before they even reach the filter? GM has a kit for newer cars that does both the oil filter and trans filter that way. Saw it at a local dealership. Don't know if it's sold as GM or aftermarket though.

Love your car, at heart I'm a big car fan. Owned 4 Ninety Eights (73, 83, 83, 95) so far, and plenty of A, G, and X body Olds.