Since I purchased this 64 Starfire I've been looking at a lot of other pictures to see what is original and how things should be laid out underhood, etc. For example I've read that the earlier cars had the tri-bar headlight cover where later cars did not. Cool.

1. What I haven't figured out yet is why about half the Starfires I see online have red in the grill. Anyone know if this was always the case, or just those built at a certain plant, or early, late, or whatever?

 

All of them had the red paint in the grille star. It's actually called "Oldsmobile Purple" and is a magenta/ deep purplish red color. Not difficult to mask off and paint if the car doesn't have it, and you can probably find a metallic red spray bomb that will be a close match.


I've also seen 64s with that same metallic red paint in the recess grooves in the hood and tailpanel letters. Now that, I'm not 100% sure about but it does add to what is already a stunning car. My parts books don't list separate hood letters for Starfire vs other 64 big olds, and I have yet to find an NOS tailpanel to check.


The one that chaps me is when someone paints a 64 and doesn't paint the coves in the fender vents. Those are supposed to be body color with just the trident outline chrome showing.


Then there are the guys who put 62 roof stars on backwards...

 

Rocketraider, thanks for the info. I'm new to Olds and by no means an authenticity stormtrooper. But my Starfire is a very well kept original, and I bought it to keep it nice and stock. I'm spending the cold weather fixing up a few things where I can.
I will fix up my grill.
I'll have to check the letters closely to see if any paint exists in the corners. That would be a time consuming project.


It's too late for my coves... not painted. (picture). Ah well, I love them anyway.


2. Next question for anyone. Is the dash plate above the glovebox supposed to have a blue background? I've seen this more on interior pics of 62/63 cars, but in 2 cases I've seen it on a 64. (picture) Was it on all cars and then fades away, or maybe some interior colors, or what?

 

yup my 64 conv was blue.also i had red stars behind the starfire fender scripts.

 

On hardtops the stars are on the C pillar. Rather than leave them off the convertibles I guess they figured the front fender was a good spot.

 

On my '64, the red in the grille was actually a cheap cloisonne process. The color would start to chip off in the corners and then it was easy to peel out all of the remainder, leaving just the chrome background.
To get the original translucent look, instead of paint, find nail polish in the correct shade and put in a thick layer (easiest with the grille out and facing upward). Lasts longer too.

 

I keep coming up with questions about my new Starfire. So I edited the thread title, and I'll just keep asking them here.


3. According to this chart, Starfire interiors used a vinyl / leather mix. My cowl tag only says 332, not 332L. And maybe I don't know leather bolsters when I see them, but these seats sure seem all Vinyl to me. Was all Vinyl an option? I'm sure the seats haven't been redone.

 

Was the red emblem color used on the 63 Starfires?

 

So Don I'm the new guy here, I would prefer an expert answer. I haven't saved as many pictures from 63 as I have from 64.
But ... I think the red was in the 63 grill emblems. 62 also for that matter.

 

All years Starfire had the grille stars painted. 63 and 66 tailpanel stars too.

Leather usage on seat facings and bolsters: 61 all leather, 62 all leather, 63 leather facings/ vinyl bolsters, 64 reverse of 63, 65 same as 63, 66 all vinyl. Side skirts and backrest cover were vinyl all years.

332L was a sales and ordering code and doesn't show up on cowl tag. It would have had leather originally, but after 53 years?? My Fern Mist still has its parchment leather, but the Bermuda Blue had it replaced with vinyl years ago because I didn't want to spend the money for a custom dyed metallic blue leather hide.

 

I know this is an old thread but my 65 Starfire convertible has the leather on the bolsters and vinyl in the inserts so would be the same as the 64. My guess is the short, deep pleats in the 65 would have been too hard to do with leather. I've noticed the older models with full leather had really wide pleats. Personally I think it's a bit silly to do the bolsters in leather, but perhaps that is why so many 65's still have their original upholstery. Mine is original, and just has some surface cracking on the upper, driver side bolster strip. If it were vinyl it would have been toast. This is the only bad spot in the entire car.

Cheers,
John

 

And Oldsmobile in its wisdom made SURE the hardtop and convertible stars were not only different, but had different attachment and part numbers. Roof stars have threaded studs, convertible fender stars use tinnerman nuts on potmetal studs.

I looked for a pair of hardtop stars for 20 years before finding two NOS sets at the Centennial in 1997. I sold one pair to a young Starfire owner shortly after buying them as neither he nor his dad were at the REOTM fundraiser auction. I think Dan was about 22 then.