I know this is not everybody's thing, but when I was a kid, this is the way the guys were building them where I came from. I always loved that look, so now it's my turn. This is Phase I. I have the original rear bumper guards - haven't decided yet what I'm going to do there. I plan to French the headlights, considering shaving door handles, and, of course, repaint - not sure what color(s) yet. Right now it is a dark green (back is temporarily black epoxy primer - hope it holds up till Fall). I welcome your comments, good or bad.

 

I have two cars that have been retrofitted with power windows. One is a 39 Plym conv coupe, the other is a '49 Olds 88 2dr club sedan (fast back)..
I did a lot of research on power windows before I put my money on the line.
Most of the aftermarket power windows that friends of mine have leave a lot to be desired, generally they are very slow.. A type of cable seems to be the norm.
I selected a company named Nu-Relics (nu-relics.com) their power window operators are gear driven using mid/late '80's GM motors on their own regulator, which resembles the stock window regulator. The motor is a type that reverse's, running in both directions utilizing a reverse polarity principle. This type of a system does not need heavy wiring, and solenoids... Bill

 

In 1951 I had a '46 Chevy coupe that would have passed as a clone to your car. The '46 Chevy grilles were very similar to the '46-48 Olds grilles..
My car had a Chevy 261 cyln with some improvements, one of which was a split manifold that could make almost every window in town rattle.. Bill

 

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I did not notice the steering wheel the first time I looked. It is great and fits the Interior style of your coupe perfectly. What is it from and rebuilt or new or...?

I saved a semi-decent 47 Olds Steering wheel but find it is too large in diameter with power steering and later model seat that sits a little lower so I've been searching for something that looks right and isn't billet aftermarket.
Jerry
ps. to Bill, I didn't know about NuRelics but will sure look at them

 

I can not speak highly enough of my experience with Nu-Relics Power windows. The windows in my '39 Plym conv cpe are quite large, 36" long and with heavy stainless frames around the glass.
The first set of operators that Nu-Relics made for my Plym were quite slow and did not fit well. I called them, they were very nice about the problem, it was suggested that I send them one of my original operators. It turned out that they thought that a 39 & 40 Plym used the same operators, wrong.. The replacement operators fit perfectly and are very quick, smooth and quiet.
Bill

 

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I got on their site and noticed they did not seem to have anything specific for Oldsmobile so sent them an email with specifics on my '47 Convertible, 66. I'm hoping they will get back to me with some good news. I do have my original regulators if that would help them and I'm at the point in my build where I'm ready to start on getting regulators and channel back together.
Jerry

 

Jerry, Nu-Relics has always been very good about returning phone calls to me, the lady that takes the phone calls is very knowledgeable.. You might mention that you know me.. Tell the lady "the guy with the two '39 Plymouth convertibles"..
If you are looking for operators for your convertible, Nu-Relics is the place to get them. Your windows will be metal framed and heavy just like the Plyms..
I would suggest that you send them your operators, tell them you want the return assist springs just like the originals, I had to send mine back to them to have the assist springs put on. Order their wiring harness with eluminated switches.
The nice thing about Nu-Relics system is that they use standard GM motors from the mid/late '80's, the same units that the C/K series and SUV's used..
Bill

 

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Bill and others with 40s Oldsmobiles, I queried Nu-Relics and sent them pics of my regulators. Dusty replied very quickly and said they did not have them in stock but could make them very quickly. So, another option if you want to convert to PW in your Olds. $450 for both doors with chrome switches and wiring.
Bill, I'm not familiar with your term "operator" where you suggest I send them my "operators" to have return assist springs put on them. Is operator the same as regulator? What am I missing? There is a coil spring on the manual regulator. I never thought about it being a return assist, but that makes sense. Good idea! I will mention it. Dusty also said they could make a power regulator for the quarter window on convertibles but it would require carving away some sheet metal from the inside portion of the quarter panel. I like the idea of the convenience but am not sure I want to double my cost by having four power windows...still, when you put down the windows on a convertible all four are usually lowered.
It is one of those dreaded "MAW" opportunities.
Jerry

 

Jerry, Regulators, operators, one in the same, just a play on words.
The spring I was referring to is the flat round spring that is used on most old car ."regulators".. The purpose of the spring is to assist the upwards motion of a heavy window.. All of the old cars use safety plate glass, modern cars have thing tempered glass, much lighter.
Most glass men do not understand safety plate glass, they want to use tempered glass that they glue in place, in lieu of using the old tried and true window setting tape. Of course the tempered glass is thinner so it is to small for the window run channels,, Rattle rattle, then break..
I think that the majority of Nu-Relics work is with the '50 and later cars.. I found that it was best to send then a "regulator" from the car you are working on, then there is no mistakes.. Bill

 

I think that the majority of Nu-Relics work is with the '50 and later cars.. I found that it was best to send then a "regulator" from the car you are working on, then there is no mistakes.. Bill[/QUOTE]
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Hi Bill and others following this, I must be getting older and wiser as I took your advice Bill and decided to go with Nu-Relics for all four windows on my 47 convertible. I talked to Dusty again and he agreed it would be extra insurance that the job got done right the first time to send one ea. of the door and quarter window manual regulators from my car. So off they went to N. Carolina last Thursday. Nu-Relic should get them this Thursday and he said about a four day turn around to get them done and shipped. I'm very appreciative of your mention and endorsement of Nu-Relic LLC for the power window regulators. When the time comes I will be sure to specify the thicker glass so I don't run into the problem you mentioned of new glass being too thin for old channel.
Jerry

 

Jerry, et al; The majority of the glass men that I have had dealings with in the past ten plus years all seem to think that it is their god given right to "reinvent the wheel" ie., discarding well engineered original window systems with their idea of something better.
There are a multitude of vendors that have original style window run channels, yet the glass shops will insist that the run channels are not available, therefore they want to use one size fits all channels which they "glue in place".. They also want to glue the thinner glass, that they insist is the only thing available into the regulator channel in lieu of using the correct glass setting tape.
I know that the regulator channel that holds the glass can be a little distorted from water/rust accumulation over the years, however, a few minutes of work can close the channel up so that the glass and setting tape properly seats into the channel.
The usual response from a glass man will be " I've been doing this for 40 years and have never had a problem".. If this is the case, I wonder why the majority of my friends that build rods/custom cars, have had their windows/run channels come loose in a couple of years.. Hmmmmm. Bill

 

Hope photos work. Need spring to get here so I can get started. It's all original, 6 volt, flathead 6, hydra matic, and I have almost all chrome. Been in storage for 20 years.

 

Welcome "gonepaddling" to the world of Oldsmobile.. It looks like you have your work cut out for you.. Do you intend to keep your Olds stock?
Bill

 

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Welcome. Glad you found CO and the 46-48 Thread. Friendly people here. Nice project car. I feel for you and all those who are still struggling with lots of snow and winter. Keep us posted and take photos as you go. We all like photos.
Jerry

 

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Bill, that was the question on my mind as well. Then I looked more closely and noticed the rear fenders molded to the body. I could be wrong but didn't think Olds did that until the 48 Futuramic? Any chance Canadian cars were different???
Jerry

 

It's going to be left exactly as I found it. It's a survivor. I have my 1940 chevy sport coupe on a 81 cutlass chassis to work on also.

 

In my younger years I worked on and had several '41-48 GM cars. Since the basic body on the '42-48 GM cars were basically a variation of the '41 body with some "lipstick" applied to fool the public.
I doubt very much that the rear fenders on a '47 Olds sedan would have had filled rear fender seams.. Of course the old car rule could apply... "Never and Always" can trip a person up every time.
Bill

 

I'm looking for 2-door window assembly drawings. All my door stuff came in boxes and now I'm starting to sort it out and think I am missing a few things and may have some duplicate stuff. What I really need is a drawing of the window support and regulator assemblies in place. Any leads to a manual that has that or a copy of a drawing you could attach to an email would be great. Thanks very much.
Jerry

 

My input to your quest for info on the door window assemblies for your car might be of little help to you.. I'll do my best to share with you what I know..
I have taken apart and re-assembled many doors on 1937 and later GM, Ford and a few Mopars. For the most part they are al the same principle.. A track to hold the glass, a regulator that attaches to the glass track.. Two vertical glass run channels that mount to the front and rear of the inner door.
The GM doors pose a problem because they are generally all closed up on the back side, Ford an Mopar are generally more open and therefore the regulators, etc., are more visible..
Someplace I have a '40-41 Buick factory body repair book, I'm looking for it.. As I recall there is very little difference, '40-48.. I have a '40 Buick sedan that I have been working on, not to steady for several years.. Bill

 

Thanks Bill, it would be great to have that drawing. Thanks for being willing to help.
Jerry

 

OK, my turn! I'm Dennis from Nh and this is what my 47 66 Coupe looked like the day I got it. I've had it since about 95 or so. It is now in about a million pieces! I'm street rodding it somewhat and have boxed the frame, swapped the rear for a chev 10 bolt, Have a 93 vette front suspension in it, and am using a 350 Olds motor(had to at least keep the engine Olds!) Almost have frame finished and will paint it this summer. Hopefully have the body on it soon after. Will post pics of frame soon.

 

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Welcome to CO and to the 46-48 thread under Vintage Olds forum. You will find lots of interest in your project. Twenty years of ownership is a long time to keep your hands off the car and leave it stock. It looks really pristine in that photo you attached. Now that we know you can post photos we will look forward to lots more as you progress. That C5 front suspension sounds interesting and I hope you have pics of that going in as well as the rear end and some description of the modification process for both.

The trim along the bottom of the side is something I've been looking for about 5 years now and cannot find. Did it come with your Olds and do you know if it was an option? Very few of the 60 Series seem to have it. I feel like mine won't be finished until I can source those for my convertible.
Thanks again for posting here.
Jerry

 

Welcome to Classic Olds forum Dennis, sounds like you have a big project on your hands..
I'm not to sure if your plan to use Vet C-5 front suspension is a good one. I know three guys that have tried the C5 under '40-50 model cars, the application looks trick but does not work to well.. In all three applications the three guys had to change the C5 to a custom built FatMan, etc., front clip.
Two friends of mine are currently trying to put C5 chassis' under their cars, one is a '36 Olds, the other is a '48 Chevy... Lots of problems. Another friend of mine put a C5 under his '52 Ford Ranch Wagon.. He had to widen the entire body five inches to allow for wheel/tire clearance...
If you read through the earlier comments on this thread, and look through the thread covering the build of my '49 Olds 88 2dr club sdn, you will gain some very valuable info on possible modification options for your car.
A person can throw a lot of money and time into a car, without having to do it twice..
Bill

 

Hi Jerry, thanks for the welcome! I actually started dis-assembly on this about a year after I got it, but life kind of got in the way and I didn't get very far with it. It's only been in the past couple years that I have gotten back into it again, and now that I'm retired I can spend more time on it . That picture is a little deceiving, there was actually a fair amount of rust on it that was well hidden and not seen til I started to take it apart, but I will address that in time. The front end is a C4 not C5, not sure if there is much difference between them, but the C4 was fairly easy to install. I took a lot of measurements first and then cut the old front clip off and made new frame sections and welded them in. The C4 front then fit up into it pretty good. Lots of gussets for strength were used to make it a good tight fit. I then cut the front frame horns off and grafted them on to my new sections so the radiator support and bumper will bolt right back on. Hopefully you can see some of this in the picture here.

As for the trim pieces, they were on the car when I got it and I have no idea if they were stock from the factory or the previous owner added them on. Unfortunately, he has passed on, so I can't ask him questions about the car . I have a few stock parts leftover that I need to catalog and put up an ad someday, but no trim pieces.

Dennis

 

Hi Bill, and thanks for the welcome . It is definitely a big project, that's for sure, but I'm having a good time with it! Hopefully my choice of front ends won't be a big problem. Not sure why others have so much trouble with it, the track of the 93 vette is only .3" narrower than the stock 47 front track of 58"? I can see there may be some problems mounting the front sheet metal, but other than that I don't see anything major being a problem, but I will certainly find out!

I will try to keep you guys updated with my progress.

Dennis

PS, thanks for the heads up on your build, I look forward to reading up on it.

 

[QUOTE=blucar;818592]...
I'm not to sure if your plan to use Vet C-5 front suspension is a good one. I know three guys that have tried the C5 under '40-50 model cars, the application looks trick but does not work to well.. In all three applications the three guys had to change the C5 to a custom built FatMan, etc., front clip.
Two friends of mine are currently trying to put C5 chassis' under their cars, one is a '36 Olds, the other is a '48 Chevy... Lots of problems. Another friend of mine put a C5 under his '52 Ford Ranch Wagon.. He had to widen the entire body five inches to allow for wheel/tire clearance...
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Without a doubt C5 is a great suspension but I think Bill is right to voice caution and a second look.

Several years ago I put a complete (front and rear) C4 suspension under a 1936 Chevy street rod. I used the 36 frame. It was easily the most complex fabrication I've done and I was still sorting out a few remaining issues when I sold the vehicle. It was an exercise in the creation of unintended consequences even given I used a front suspension kit from Superior Automotive that had the cross member and plates for locating and attaching the C4 suspension in the geometry specified by the factory. Photo is the 36 frame with C4 suspension.

Please, read this thread even though its not about our cars it is instructive in the complexity of adapting C5 to cars not specifically designed for them: http://www.pro-touring.com/threads/1...n-measurements
Its about a 10 minute read.

The only guy I know who repeatedly puts C4 and C5 front suspensions into street rods will only do it with the entire Corvette front suspension including crossmember intact so he does not have to change any of the geometry of either suspension or R&P steering.

All that said, neither Bill nor I know squat about your qualifications or skill sets or experience. We're looking at this from the basis of our experience. Might well be you are way ahead of me. And I find no fault in breaking new ground and setting difficult challenges for oneself. Its part of what makes life interesting.

Steering and suspension are complex subjects so please at least talk to the people at Fat Man or Art Morrison Enterprises before starting. Can't hurt to get all the input you can before starting out.
Jerry

 

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Ha ha, you are way ahead of me and my well intended advice on installing C4/C5 front suspension. I am very happy to see that you used the C4 Cross member and changed the frame rather than anything to do with suspension or steering. I think that will avoid most of the problems a lot of people have. C5 is quite a bit wider track at 62 inches so by using C4 I think you avoided some possible issues. If you are using first year C4 (1984) you might want to change out the calipers for later C4 which were dual instead of single. If you have the later C4 they should be great.
Jerry

 

Jerry, that is a very nice looking chassis set up in your 36! My coilovers will look pretty much like yours when installed. I had originally planned on using a C4 rear end like you, but it required too much fabricating for my taste. I decided to go with a chevy 10 bolt and leaf spring suspension, but wish I had done more research before making that choice. I should have stayed with the original trailing arm suspension and just swapped out the rear, but... water under the bridge now as I have sold off the stock suspension. Oh well, live and learn! I am by no means an expert at this stuff, but have been playing around with cars most of my life, and this is by far the most involved I have ever gotten with a project. I have learned a great deal about my car, but wish I had found this site years ago. Strangely, I only came across it when trying to decode my engine numbers and this is one of the sites that came up. Better late than never and I am very glad to have found you guys!!

BTW, the front end is out of a 93 vette

 

From what I have been told by the guys that have done them, the C4 is a little more user friendly than the C5..
A friend of mine that is a professional fabricator is putting a Art Morrison chassis with Vet suspension type under a '57 Ford Ranch Wagon. He has had to cut away the majority of the floor pan, requiring the fabrication of a whole new floor pan.. After the pan in done he'll have to fabricate inner fenders and brackets for the front sheet metal..
Lots of work, money, money, money, The car is a project for a very large aftermarket specialty supplier...
Fortunately for me, I moved very slowly on the rebuild of my '49 Olds 88.. Many of the diehard Olds people think the 303 Rockett engine is the best engine ever built, I can arrest to the fact that in '49-50, and later, the Rockett engines were unbeatable. Fast forward to the late '70's, early '80's the 303's, 324's etc., were a thing of the past, modern engineering had made them obsolete.
The rear suspension is a whole different story. I knew I was going to use a FatMan front clip under the '49, I had used them before with great success.
While talking to Brett at FatMan, I made mention that I was going to use an early Camaro 12 bolt rear end in lieu of the Olds.. I really got an education from Brett. He informed me that the Olds rear end was more HD than the GM 12 bolt and/or Ford 9". I was also informed that the rear suspension was of the highest quality, being what the NASCAR rear suspension is patterned after. The Olds rear suspension is one of the leading reasons that made the '49/50 Olds the leading drag race cars of their era..
Of course in your case the rear suspension is water under the bridge, you have already converted your chassis to leaf springs w/out the trailing arms.
Maybe someone in the future reading this thread will not make the same mistake.
**As a foot note... I was told that the parts were not available to re-gear/rebuild the Olds rear end... WRONG! It took a few phone calls to find the parts, the entire rebuild was less than $1,400. material and labor. Bill

 

One question I have about this car, is there anyone that makes rubber body mount kits for it? I found a kit for a 48 Chevy on ebay, but am not sure if they would be the same.

 

The best source for vintage Olds parts is; (fusickautomotiveproducts.com) they will have just about everything your heart desires.. Bill

 

Unfortunately, they don't have rubber body mounts

 

Different frames. Chevy used what they called the Top Hat style while Olds used Channel type. I looked at Fusick and Steele Rubber and neither had body mount rubber.

Let me look around my shop. I used to have some extra pieces that could be used. Nothing wrong with making your own. My 47 has body mount rubber made of old belting. I will get back on this later today if you haven't found something by then.

 

Thanks! I have no problem making them either, if I knew what they looked like. It's been quite a while since I took this car apart, and I didn't save the old mounts as I always figured I would be able to buy new ones!

 

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I made the mistake of buying a kit for my 36 Chevy and felt really ripped off at the price for what were basically just stamped rubber rectangles about 1/8 to 3/16 thick and wide enough to cover the width of the frame top.

On the Olds I cut rectangles out of the old belting and used. You just need something to insulate between metal frame and metal body.

When I check through the box of rubber stuff there may be a left over rubber mount. If so we can do a personal message (pm) and I can send it/them to you.
Jerry

 

Appreciate the offer. I do seem to remember that they were just as you described, just a rectangular piece of hard rubber. All I would need then is a piece of rubber and I can make my own. I think I can probably just cut some old tires up and use that!

Dennis

 

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I was rummaging through my box of rubber left overs and found these. They'd get you part way there in terms of the number you need. I'd be happy to send at no charge if you pm me a mailing address or you could take the measurements. Basically they are
made of a reinforced rubber 1/4 inch thick.
Jerry

 

Yup, that's what I remember them looking like! I appreciate the offer for them, but I think I can make them now that I've seen them. If I run into trouble cutting up tires, where can I get that kind of rubber?

 

These were part left over from various projects but there is usually a Rubber Supply place in most cities. You might also try Grainger.
Jerry

 

Thanks Jerry