blucar

The springs I purchased came from a company called Jamco in Corona, CA
They have a web site... www.jamcosuspension.com
The springs are made out of a heavier gauge of steel wire to control the spring rate while at the same time dropping the car 2".. The ride height on my car is now right at 1" higher in the rear. The car is not down in the weeds, however it looks very good to me..
As I have mentioned in my earlier posts to my 49 Olds thread and I believe this one also... I did a lot of research into the variables of rebuilding a '49 Olds before I jumped into the pool and started taking it apart.. I came upon Jamco and 4 way shocks in Santa Anna when I stumbled onto an article about improving the suspension on '49-50 Olds 88's.
In reviewing you pix of your rear end installation, I noted that you mounted your shocks in front of the axle, to the swing arms..
All of the swing arm suspensions I have seen, Buick, Olds and the Chevy C-10/20 trucks '63-+ have the shocks mounted behind and/or to the side of the springs.
The problem of how and where to correctly mount tube shocks on my car is one of the reasons why I decided to stay with the original lever shocks....Bill

47 Convertible

Bill, thanks for the link to Jamco Suspension.
Jerry

mvperini

new member from Lafayette oregon, proud owner of a restored 48 4dr sedan



P.S. looking for a original stock 16in wheel

Mike

sawzall

I just stumbled upon this forum tonight.. what a great site..
I know I have likely emailed or communicated with a number of you. I am certain that montana mike and I spoke via phone recently.
my name is jeff, and I am from pennsylvania.. which after seeing Montana, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, and California makes me wonder if I should MOVE west
below this is my 48 model 66 olds woodie wagon..

bought it in 2001? or 2002 as a basket case, I got really lucky last year and found someone else's old wood for the car.. the photo below was taken at a show in march, so this summer I am finally enjoying it..





my wagon was clipped with a 79 trans am sub frame before I bought it, so I dealt with HOW it was installed. Sadly the car is air bagged, but doesn't ever sit nearly as low as the sedan eddie JR has.. the rear suspension is stock with the bags bolted into the upper spring pockets, and brackets welded to the rear.. the axle itself is out of a 1979 Trans am and has a 3.08 posi gear
transmission is a chevy TH350 and the engine is a Small Block Chevy with TPI.


still working the bugs out..

after the grille, my favorite part of the car is the steering wheel ;-)


I made the wheel from 3/4 round steel tubing, and a horn ring I found (and paid too much for) on ebay.. clocks for these are pretty easy to find..

the car has power steering, brakes and is Quiet at idle... a nice change from the hot rods i've had in the past.

the only body mod was a slight modification of the front fenders..
around the headlights...


I've sold most of my spare parts in recent years, but am always willing to help try to find stuff for others, these cars should be much more popular.

47 Convertible

Welcome Mike. We're not quite neighbors since I live about 20 mi. north of the Columbia R. in Woodland. Nice looking Sedan. Please keep on monitoring and contributing to this thread. There are quite a few who contribute to it and keep it active in the Vintage Olds Forum.
Jerry

47 Convertible

Hi Jeff, Welcome to you and your Woodie. The steering wheel blew me away. A great job and hand fabricated. The car sounds like a real reliable ride and no doubt gets you a lot of attention. What luck finding the wood.

I had to smile about the toboggan on the roof after seeing so many woodies with surf boards.

Tell me about the single piece front bumper. Is it from something like a Chevy or is it a modified Olds....or?

Help us keep this thread active please by contributing to it. Thanks.
Jerry

Bulldowg

anyone know where one can get a back window for 46 series 76 for a decent price?

sawzall

jerry.

heres a pic of the wheel "in white" I seriously considered having it chromed.. but felt that would have been over the top JUST a bit


this sequence should explain the bumper..

I had a complete decent front bumper.
and removed the center.


in the pic above you can see a 18 Gauge "outside corner" that I made by bending a " wide strip of steel in half..

I made a quick pattern.


then shaped it with my ewheel.



my pal brian had named the wheel "big mama"



then welded it to the left and right side.

i repeated the process for the bottom.. and thought that I would eventually have the bumper spray chromed..

now I am thinking I'll build something similar out of stainless steel and polish it..

my rear bumper is a nice rechromed original.. but in my opinion.. the stock front bumpers on these cars are hideous..

47 Convertible

It is just great to see people doing creative and tasteful modifications to their cars. One of the reasons I'm a hot rodder. I agree the stock front bumper wouldn't be my choice for good design. I don't know what Oldsmobile had in mind when they did that. Someone mentioned Denise, the lady in the Detroit area who owns a 47 convertible, had a one piece front bumper made from a 47 or 48 Chevy. Probably took one plus a section of a second one to span the width of the Olds.

You obviously have some good skill sets in working metal and document your work. That's all to the good.
Jerry

47 Convertible

I found a picture on Denise's 47 Convertible with the one piece front bumper reportedly made from 47 Chevy bumper(s).

Chevillac

As a new member, I don't have enough posts to be a seller on this site, so in a few weeks, I'll be listing an item on a major auction website that may be of interest to members here.

The item is the motor/trans combo from my 1947 Model 76 Olds, which I've owned since 2001. I'm currently driving the car every day locally, with an occasional longer trip (around 60 miles).

The motor runs well and is very quiet, kind of like a Farmall 140 tractor. Since this six has no oil filter, it's on a 1000-1200 mile oil-change interval, with no appreciable usage during this interval.

The transmission shifts solidly and does not slip. It has a few drips, but not enough to be of any concern. They could be easily addressed once the unit is out of the car

The combo will come complete with all motor accessories and all linkages for the transmission and motor. I'll also include the voltage regulator. The ignition coil was found to be failing during some recent diagnostics, so it won't be in the package.

This combo would be good for someone who is doing a restoration as opposed to a hot rod and will save you a bundle if you're in this category.

Anyone interested is encouraged to come drive the car soon (the drivetrain will be pulled the latter part of September), perform your own diagnostics, compression test, etc. I'm located in southeastern North Carolina about 8 miles off I-95, the best exits being 1 and 10. If you're interested, PM me for details and contact info.

47 Convertible

When you last posted to this thread on 16 July it sounded like the 6 cyl. was a keeper despite the poor mileage you reported. There must be a story here if you've changed your mind and are yarding out the original power train and replacing it with...? C'mon, let the rest of us in on the story.
Jerry

Chevillac

I found out that the ignition coil is breaking down when the temperature gets up a bit (it's been close to 100 here). When the motor/air is cool everything is o.k., but when it gets hot, the coil starts breaking down. I tried a 6-volt Chevy coil, bypassing the OLDS unit, and the problem seems to be gone. The only other issue now is fuel percolation in the carb when you turn it off and it's real hot, likely due to the float being set too high. When you restart it, the carb loads up a bit and has to clear it's throat, then it's o.k.

The car already has front (Corvette 12") and rear (LS1 Camaro 12") discs and a C4 Corvette pedal/booster/master cylinder, as well as a large vacuum reservoir. I never could get the stock brakes to suit me.

Anyway, I haven't changed my mind, but I've been accumulating engine swap parts since 2003, and my wife wants me to finish the swap and get the body/interior done.

I have a bone stock '92 1LE Camaro TPI motor for the car. It's been rebuilt but that's all. Since it's stock, the idle will be smooth and quiet, and the power should be adequate for a cruiser. I had a stainless steel gas tank made with both a bung for the 6-volt sending unit and an in-tank pump for the fuel injection (all the 6-volt instruments are functional and I'll be retaining them).

To back up the motor, I have a 700R4 with a shift kit installed and a deep aluminum pan, and a mild (2400) lock-up converter. It has a 9C1 Caprice speedo drive that will allow both the original mechanical speedo to function as well as a pulse generator for the ECM.

Awfully tempting and also available is a 2002 5.3L truck motor which could also pull duty in front of the 700R4, I would just loose all the nice electronic shifting controls available in the 411 ECM for a 4L60E and I really don't want to buy another transmission. The Gen 3/4 motors are so much more efficient, both with fuel and power delivery, it's just hard to pass up.

Anyway, I'll be pulling the stock motor and trans in the latter part of September. Hopefully, someone doing a restoration will need them.

Chevillac

I believe that a Fleetline Chevy rear glass may work and there are some Chevy vendors that sell that stuff.

gasser

I am working on final assembly on a 1947 Olds 66 coupe. Was wondering if any of you have examples of the molding clips for the belt line molding or the molding that goes around the side windows or part numbers for them. Having a hard time finding these since I dont have any examples to go from.

Thanks for any help on this...

MontanaMike

Gasser,
Give these guys a call
http://www.restorationspecialties.com/Products.html

47 Convertible

I see some 46-48s have these strips but most I've seen do not. Were they specific to any particular series ( 60, 70 or 90)? My 47 60 series convertible does not have them but I like the look and would like to get a set but haven't seen them offered by aftermarket Olds places.

I've been told the 60 series Olds was basically the same body as Chevy from the cowl back and I see Chev's of the 40s offers them for those same year Chevrolets.

Anyone have information on this? I'd appreciate any leads. Thanks.
Jerry

blucar

I have to assume that you are talking about the chrome rocker moldings shown in the pix included with posting #125 and the pix of the woody wagon.
I can't speak from first hand knowledge about the '46-48 Olds, I do know that the '49-50 had three different styles of rocker moldings on the 76 & 88. I do know that all of the '42-48 Chevy's had chrome rocker moldings... From what I can see in the pix, the Chevy/Old's moldings are very similar.
From the knowledge I have of old cars, it appears that the chrome rocker moldings had a very short life.. Being located so low on the fender they suffered extensive damage encountering curbs, etc.. I would imagine that a lot of people just omitted them..
Aftermarket moldings are readily available for the Chevy's..
A comment on the one piece bumper, and the fabrication thereof.
Nice work, however, I noted one very big mistake.. WELDING OVER/ADJACENT TO CHROME PLATING!!!
A friend of mine found out the hard way that if you weld on steel that has been chrome plated, the chrome plating has to be removed prior to welding. If the chrome is not removed it will contaminate the welds which will interfere with re-chroming.
Grinding will not remove the chrome plating sufficiently to avoid contamination.. The bumper should be chemically stripped by a chrome plating shop.
My friend did a lot of extensive modifications to the bumpers for an early Camaro. Some of which were welding bolts into the bolt holes so the bumper could be attached with bolts that were concealed..
We took the bumpers to a chrome shop that I deal with all the time in SO Cal.. My friend had sent the bumpers to a well know shop in Utah, they had refused to chrome the bumpers because of welds that were contaminated with chrome and copper.
The owner of "my shop" took one look at the bumpers, and said "junk-em". he then pored an acid on the welds, which lite up the copper/chrome with-in the welds..
Needless to say my friend was not happy, he was out a very expensive set of bumpers because no one had told him about removing the chrome prior to welding..
My friend ended up painting the bumpers to match the body color....Bill

1948-78

Gasser, another option is Fusick Olds in Conneticut. They specialize in all things Olds. i purchase some of thes clips from them last winter. They are reproductions and are are not perfect but with a little tweek they can be made to work. You can download their cataloge at http://www.fusick.com/ page 62 shows the belt molding clips i ordered for my 48 -70 series. part #BMC491 $2.50 ea. Window clips are also available.

Jim_442

I just picked up 1948 Olds 2dr fastback. It's been sitting in a garage since 78 so far it has very little body rot and the frame looks perfect and still has an undercoating on it.

It was in a fender bender before it was garaged and the grill and bumper are a loss and the 2 frame rails infront of the front tires are a little twisted.

So far im in the middle of pulling the body off the frame and scoping out new rearends and a front clip.

I'm thinking 84-87 corvette front and rearend. The end to end measurements look pretty close. I'm sure there is going to be a bunch of fab work but I knew what I was in for when I bought it.

Any suggestions? Advice?

I'll post a few pics of the disassembly when I get home.

47 Convertible

Jim,
You're an ambitious guy to take on fitting a C4 suspension. I went through the same thing on a 36 Chevy and it is major work but not rocket science. I would suggest you plan carefully and use as much stock Corvette stuff as possible as they work best the way they were designed.

Front suspension:
With the frame width you should be able to put in the front suspension using the Corvette crossmember which would simplify things a whole lot on the front vs. using aftermarket cross members and steering. It will also save you quite a bit of money. It Should be straightforward getting the suspension placed so the wheel looks correct in the wheel opening of the fender. Re. ride height: I tried to place my front suspension so the center of the wheel was about the middle of the frame rail on the 36 and ride height came out just what I wanted with 18 " wheels which was low but not ridiculously so. I couldn't use the original corvette front Xmember and so used Progressive Automotive's crossmember along with Thunderbird rack and pinion. By using the Corvette front suspension crossmember you eliminate a lot of fitting issues except ride height. You might even be able to use the Corvette front anti-sway bar but if not there are others out there that can be fitted. Keep the stock springing and shocks. Based on my experience I'd use 16 inch wheels and tires the same size at the Corvette came with. I'm told the wheel and tire specs were a major part of the original C4 suspension design.

Rear suspension:
The rear suspension was a bigger problem for the 36 as there was not enough room for the transverse leaf spring and I had to go to coil overs which was its own set of problems. I'd highly recommend you do whatever is necessary to be able to use all stock components. Not to make the point too many times but they were purpose designed including tire width Corvette chose. I'd recommend the 16 inch wheels and tires of Corvette size.

The other thing is to measure and measure again to make sure you get the ride height right for you and that none of the components like rear control arm knuckles or rear toe tie rod ends or half shafts have any interference with the frame rails.

Plan on about 3 inches up and down travel from ride height. When locating the front mount for the rear control arms (trailing arms) they should be fitted so that a line drawn along each of the bars at ride height converges somewhere above the center of gravity of your car. This prevents dive and squat on braking and accelerating. I would go to great lengths to make sure you can use the transverse leaf spring which most agree works better with the suspension than aftermarket coil overs.

You will likely have to make a crossmember to mount the front of the differential case. That assembly mounts in three locations, front and at each end of the 'batwing' that is cast in as part of the differential case. The batwing mounts shouldn't be too difficult.

Also pay close attention to how you are going to mount a rear anti-sway bar. If you look on Progressive's site you can see some ideas for that or if you can figure a way to use the stock item it would be fine too.

Set the rear differential case keeping in mind the engine mount and transmission angle. Two degrees down on transmission and two degrees up on differential is enough to assure you get U joint action and keep those needle bearings lubed.

Make a written 'build book' of everything you do in mounting the suspension and document everything with pictures, lots of pictures. You will wind up going back to the build book time and again as problems arise. Start the book before you start the project by documenting your plan and including stock frame measurements.

Done right it will be a lot of fun and a great source of satisfaction not to mention improving ride and handling about 200%.

Good luck with the project.
Jerry

Jim_442

Jerry,

Thanks for all that info! I started checking out some of the stuff on progressive's site last night.

I've been snapping pictures of all the screws and bolts next to the part they came out of throughout the disassembly. I didn't think of a build book though. I'll grab a couple notebooks on my way home tonight.

As for the frame I'm no engineer but the stock C channel fame looks like it will be susceptible to bending/buckling even with the cross bracing. I'm still doing my homework on that but whatever parts of the frame don't get cutout I'll most likely end up capping.

Can't wait until I get the body off this weekend and really getting down and dirty!

47 Convertible

Probably a good idea to box the frame where you will mount the front suspension and likewise at the rear where the batwing mounts will attach and the front mount area for the rear control bars. I forgot to mention a couple of other things. If you don't already have your Corvette suspension look for a newer C4 that has the better brakes. Corvette improved them from 84 on and I think by 87 they were considerably better than 84. Nothing wrong with 84 though. I strongly recommend getting the Corvette brakes incl. MC and booster as they are designed to go together. I went through a real headache until I did that on my 36.

When you are setting up the front suspension for ride height you will be spot on if the lower control arms (A arms) are parallel to the shop floor with weight of car and engine on them. When you are mounting the front suspension on a bare frame it can be difficult to estimate just where that will be. Progressive might be able to give you some measurements.

Also rebuild all components before beginning the install. This includes front and rear bushings. GM no longer supplies the original rubber bushings and you will likely have to go with poly bushings. Get the best ones and use the grease that comes with the set when installing. Double check the rear toe adjustment tie rod ends to be sure they are good as this is also another item GM no longer supplies and I don't think there are aftermarket rod ends available.
Jerry

tcam

Hi Guys: citcapp told me about this thread. I also have a 47 fastback model 76. Have had it for many years as a someday projet. Beeen collecting pieces for it along the way. Have a 70 Olds 455 with a turbo 400 , Haven't decided on a front or rear yet. Also have/had a 57 98 2dr Ht that I just turned over to my Daughter and Son-inlaw. So now I have to get busy and build it.

47 Convertible

Hi tcam and welcome to the thread. I hope you will be a regular visitor and contributor. We need to keep this thread active. Please post a couple of pics of your 47 and let us know where you call home.

Jerry Brown
Woodland WA

larumo

Hi,
I'm on the boards for several weeks already, but since I now have got my 1947 Oldmoblie 66, I thought it's time to say "Hello".

I live in Germany and own since a few days the above mentioned Olds. She has a 350/350 Chevy combo with an original rear and front axle. A real nice drive ecxept the front shocks, which are not working. Which is a problem on our curvy country roads.
Since there are more or less no Olds cars and of course no spares at all in Germany, I hope you guys can help me to keep my car on the road.


Regards

citcapp

Always nice to have another fat fender owner on the site. Have you looked at the Fusick Catalog for your front shocks? http://www.fusick.com/1935-60_olds.htm.

Please post a couple of Pictures of your ride

Tcam,

Welcome to the forum.

47 Convertible

Hello and welcome. Glad you found this thread. We would all like to see a picture or several of your 47 Oldsmobile. It would be interesting to know how it came to Germany and who modified it.

Citcapp's suggestion to look at Fusicks is probably your best chance to get front shocks that work. Here is another shop that rebuilds 47 Olds shocks: http://www.applehydraulics.com/delco.htm I don't know anything about them as I just found them on the Internet so I cannot vouch for their work. One thing I did like about Apple is that they can rebuild to upgraded shocks they say are an improvement over stock specifications.

Shocks alone won't stop roll on curves. The front and rear stabilizer bars probably need new bushings and links if they haven't been changed in the last several years. You can also get some improvement by putting new bushings on your rear anti-sway bar and links. Try page 55 of the Fusick catalog: http://www.who-sells-it.com/cy/fusic...3/page-55.html

Jerry

sawzall

funny.. I have a NOS piece of stainless rocker molding that I was certain was for my olds.. the length appeared perfect the shape everything.. so I gladly gave 3.00 for it at a swapmeet! you guessed it! the rocker trim I have is slightly taller! than the trim in my car.. i didnt totally realize it until I tried to use the clips from the resto folks!

olds (and gm) certainly had a thing for having many parts that look the same but are different!


bill
thanks I have since heard the same, and as a result the "spray chrome" was a consideration for awhile..

but to be honest now that the car is together.. I'll likely just leave them painted !

young2004

hello i have some small parts for a 48 Oldsmobile coupe if anyone is interested. Thanks Matt

young2004

I have a good back glass out of a 48 2dr coupe if that's the same as yours.

Jim_442

Jerry,

Thanks for all the advice! I've printed out your posts and a few other relevent ones just so I have them when I'm working on the car and have an "Ahh huh!!" moment.

I'm finally taking the body off the frame Saturday and working on getting the C4 front and rear suspensions, master cylinder and booster now.

Did you happen to do an air ride on your C4 in the 36? I'm finding there is a lack of info for the C4 air ride suspensions.

Thanks
Jim

young2004

i have a grill and some other parts for a 48 if your still needing one

47 Convertible

Jim, sorry I didn't get back to you on the question about the air suspension. I was getting ready for an extended trip to Wyo.

The answer is I did not even think about air suspension but went with coil--over on all four corners. I sort of wished I had thought about it as it has been a major headache getting the spring rates sorted out on coil-over. Have you tried all of the Corvette forums for information?

47 Convertible

Quite a number of us with 46-48 Oldsmobiles live in the Pacific Northwest and either show our cars or go to car shows.

National Street Rod Assn. has announced they are restarting a PNW finals after nearly 12 years absence. The show will be held in Vancouver, WA at the Clark Co. Event Center June 28-30 2013.

I can think of a half dozen who've chimed in on this thread that live within a couple of hours drive or less who could make the show. NSRA 'finals' are typically big shows with thousands of cars there. My 47 won't be anywhere near ready but I intend to take another car I built. I called NSRA and they will have the sign up information on their site www.nsra-usa.com about the end of October. Should be a heck of a show and I hope there are some Oldsmobiles represented and hope to meet a number of you in person if you can make it.

Many of the pics on this thread are cars that would make a good showing.

Jerry

47 Convertible

Anyone interested look in the cars for sale or go directly to Craigslist for Seattle and CL for Portland. Three cars for sale in Seattle CL area. One in Portland CL area. All look like decent potential projects. One or two might be drivers.

Disclaimer: These are not mine and I'm not connected with them in any way and will not benefit in any way from the sale of them. I'm just passing along the information to this group of members.

Jerry

Jims48

Hi there. I just joined the forum. I have 48 Olds 66 Club Coupe. It's a street rod with a sbc and a TH350 transmission. Has vintage air, power front disc brakes. It sits on a Nova subframe. Don't know much more about the car. I bought it from a guy who didn't ask to many questions of the previous owner. I am working my way back into the previous owners to see if I can trace the car to the builder. I believe the car was built in Tennessee, possibly in the late 1990's.

citcapp

sweet, welcome to the fat fender group.

47 Convertible

Citcapp, I like your description of the 46-48 group. Is there any way to get a "sub forum" for fat-fendered Oldsmobiles on classicoldsmobile.com?

47 Convertible

Jim, that's one really nice 48 Coupe. Welcome to the site and the fat-fendered group.
Jerry