citcapp

I'll check it out and let you know

47 Convertible

Thank you. I'm hoping a little more visibility would encourage those who've already posted to post more and those who own fat-fendered Oldsmobiles to join in.

Jims48

Thank all for the welcome. I do have a very nice extra hood for the 48 that I want to sell. Let me know if anyone is interested.

47 Convertible

Jim, you might want to post it over in the parts for sale forum as well along with a pic.
Jerry

MontanaMike

This is the best of two that I own. Finally got it in the garage after a long year of getting ready for it. This is a Model 68 deluxe. So is it's twin but the twin is Maroon and in much worse shape. It will stay in storage until this one is brought up to speed. For now it is a parts car and will be turned into a hotrod someday. This one I plan to restore as much as possible. The previous owner started the woodwork - he contracted cancer and passed on. I do have all the parts - this car is complete. I also received all the new wood for both cars but in the form of rough ash planks and 4'x8'x1/4" sheets of mahogany ply. Much work needed to complete the wood bodies.
When I re-build all the wood for this one I will make a duplicate of every part for the second car.

When I got to the car where it has sat for about 15 years all the tires were flat. Two inflated fine, but the front two needed help. When I took off the left front tire i noticed a crack through the frame just in front of the front end mount (I assume washboard roads in rural Montana in the late 40's and 50's was the culprit) Anyway, when I get to this area of repair I will take photos and ask for your expertise on how best to repair the frame. Actually, I am hoping that this is the reason that the car was parked in the first place - if so the engine, may be in better shape than I originally thought. Time will tell.

This story will continue for a long time, so stay tuned.

Montana Mike

47 Convertible

Mike, It looks like brrrr-below-zero in Bozemon in those pictures! Glad to hear you are continuing to make progress on the green 48 Woodie. Keep on taking pictures and sharing them as planned. When it comes time to repair that frame I'm sure you will get a lot of advice. Since this one is a restore instead of a rod, keeping it looking 'factory' might pose more repair problems than simply welding a flat plate over the cracked area. Stay warm.
Jerry

blucar

Rebuilding a wooden station wagon that has sat for many years exposed to the weather can be a daunting task.. Add the rigors of being beat across Montana's gravel roads can increase the degree of difficulty..
I have a '39 Plym conv. cpe which I found sitting in an open field near Denton, MT in 1996.. The car had sat in the field behind the barn for over thirty-eight years..
Amazingly the car was very complete, there was some rust out on the body, however, the big problem was the cracked/broken frame front cross member.. The spring towers and areas where the A-arms attached to the cross member had been repaired many times, only to crack and/or break adjacent to the repairs... Metal fatigue caused by electric welding, etc..
You might be well advised to find another cross member if that is the area where the cracks appear.. A second option would be to replace the frame with an undamaged frame.
I elected to "clip" the frame on my Plym., using a FatMan unit made for the Plym.. You will also note that I elected to clip the front end o my '49 Olds with a FatMan unit.. The FatMan front clip was made to fit my Olds. I gained modern technology, disk brakes and rack/pinion steering.. After the frame was sand blasted and powder coated, only an expert would know that the front suspension was altered..
I'll be in Denton, MT in late June with my Plym for the 100th anniversary of Denton, I just might make a detour through Bozeman on my way south... Bill

Ornberg

Hi!
I just find this Olds forum and to make things even better I found this thread about 46 to 48 cars and that’s where my interest lays… I have a 47 series 66 coupe and wonder if anyone can confirm that the side window trim fasteners is the same as on Chevys? I need new one’s real bad.
Oh I forget to introduce myself… My name is Per Ornberg from Sweden and I’m a real fan or maybe I should say freak of GM cars from the forties. I had this 47 Olds and a 48 Buick Special.
I recognize some fellows here from the H.A.M.B and I’m glad to find this place.
Thanks


My 47

larumo

Hi,
nice to see some more people from Europe. These cars are pretty rare over here. I'm from Germany and visited the Big Power Meet in Vesteras last summer, I was surprised to see quite a few cars from the 40's there, But hey that's Sweden.
I guess there are more old americans cars driving around in summer than anywhere else on this planet.

47 Convertible

[QUOTE=Ornberg;494094]Hi!
I just find this Olds forum and to make things even better I found this thread about 46 to 48 cars and that’s where my interest lays… I have a 47 series 66 coupe and wonder if anyone can confirm that the side window trim fasteners is the same as on Chevys? I need new one’s real bad.
________________________________________
Per, See the attached thumbnail. Is that the trim location for which you need a fastener? I live just a short drive from a very large supplier of 40s Chevy parts and can visit with them and inquire about the fasteners you need. A pic from you of the actual trim piece and one of the old fasteners would be very helpful along with the dimensions of the fastener. I look forward to more information.

That is a very nice coupe you have. Please send more details and more pictures from other angles of your 47. I always like reading about and seeing pictures of other members Oldsmobiles.
Jerry Brown

blucar

I am pretty sure that the trim clips for a '47-48 Olds are completely different from the '47-48 Chevy's.. The belt line trim for a '47 Chevy is very narrow, approximately 3/8" whereas the '48 Chevy has very wide belt line trim, 3/4"..
Fusic Automotive Prod. Inc.. (www.fusic.com) lists several belt line molding clips on page 63 of their catalog. None of them say they are for a '47-48.
Restoration Specialties has an extensive line of molding clips, their catalog can be done loaded via a pdf.

Reviewing your pix I noted that your car is missing the fender extensions on the door and the windshield wiper towers.. Are you in need of these parts? I am currently parting out a '47 Chevy 4dr.. The fender extension is the same for all of the '42-48 Chevy's, Pontiac, Olds. The same is true for the wiper towers .. Bill

Ornberg

Thanks Jerry, yes that’s the one and the beltline trim on the door too. I will try to upload a couple of pics with dimensions but I don’t know how to made them thumbnails but I give it a shoot! My 47 is modified with Jag Xj6 front suspension, Olds 1956 Rocket 324 and Jetaway trans and a Caprice sedan rear axle who is exactly the same width as the stock rear. Check out my built site for the whole story with lots of pics. http://www.eaglemountain.se/index47us.htm

Bill thanks for your offer but I got all the stuff that’s missing in the photo but I might need some parts in the future.

Larumo, yes there’s plenty of American cars over here in Sweden and the scene just grows bigger and bigger

Per Ornberg

Ornberg

Jerry, I just realize that I send all these pics with measurement in metrics… sorry but I’m sure you can handle it.

blucar

Per,
I just finished reviewing the pix of your build of the chassis, etc.. What can I say other than.. WOOW!! First class work.
I also noted the pix of the trim clips for your car.. Noting that your belt molding is the narrow style similar to the '47 Chevy... I must have misunderstood your earlier posting to this thread, I thought you were looking for the belt molding clips.. I now understand that you are also looking for the clips to go around the window, which it appears is the same as the '42-48 Chevy and possibly the '49 Olds..
I will check the trim/clips on my '47 Chevy parts car and I will also check the clips for the window trim on my '49 88. I will also check my Restoration Specialties catalog ... Bill

Ornberg

Thanks Bill I really appreciate it.

47 Convertible

Per,
No problem with metrics. I have a conversion chart on the desktop screen of the PC. I will try to get to Chevs of the 40s to check on fasteners Wed. when I go to town.

Ornberg

Jerry I appreciate your help very much. Thanks!

47 Convertible

Per, I stopped by Chevs of the 40s in Vancouver, Washington and they were some help. I got two small packets of clips for you to try. The plastic clips appear they will fit the moulding around the window and the larger wire clips--which can be trimmed to size-- appear they might fit the door trim. If they work you can get more directly from them and if they do not, well, it was a good try and maybe someone in your group can use them on a Chevy project. Send me a PM (personal message) via this site with your mailing address and I will send the clips plus a coupel of pages of handy clip install information they gave me. No cost to you on this.
Jerry

ps. being Chevrolet people they had no idea whether their clips would interchange and didn't even realize many 60 Series Oldsmobiles and same year Chevy parts would interchange.

blucar

Per,
I checked my '47 Chevy parts car, removed one of the window trim pcs and one of the belt moldings..
You will note from the attached pix that there are two sizes of clips used, a smaller one to fir the 3/8" x 3/16" oval hole and a larger one to fit the 1/2" x 3/8" hole..
You should be able to judge from the pix if the Chevy clips will work on your Olds..
The clips snap into the hole in the body, the S/S trim is held by spring tension, shoulder of clip to turned lip of trim..
The '47 Chevy I have came from very dry eastern Idaho, the clips are in very good shape, as is the S/S trim..
Now that I have clips in hand, I will check my Restoration Specialty's Catalog tomorrow..
For your info, you might want to take a look at my '49 Olds 2dr sport sdn tread here on the Classic Oldsmobile Forum. The tread contains info/pix about the rebuild and upgrading of my '49 Olds...Bill

Ornberg

Bill, The Chevy trim fastener looks to be the same as 46-48 Olds. Thanks for taking time to measure.


Per Ornberg

Slammed46

I'm so glad I found this forum. This is my 46 club sedan 78, fixing the front clip the right way since its winter..

47 Convertible

______________

Welcome Slammed46. That is a great looking color combination. Stay with the thread. It is the only link --so far as I know--for the forties Oldsmobiles. It gets a little slow every now and then but when someone initiates a post or replies you should get an email informing you. Once in a while someone will post on the forties Olds' outside the thread so it pays to look at all the forums.

Tell us more about your car and include some more photos if you have them. Nice looking work space too. Heckuva heater hanging from the ceiling.

blucar

You were a little vague with your statement "fixing the front clip the right way".. I hope you are not making the common mistake of trying to clabber a unit from a Camaro, etc., under your car.. You would be money and time ahead in the long run to order a unit from FatMan... FM makes a unit that is engineered for your car, it will match up to your original frame perfectly..
As I recall FM's Stage II with power rack pinion and a 1" stabilizer bar was $2,800..
What are your plans for the rear end... If you have read my postings to this thread and the 49 Olds club sedan you will note that I retained the original rear suspension with a few upgrades.. The original Olds rear end is bullet proof, heavy duty, huge axles and a 9.3" ring gear.. All of the parts are available, bearings, seals, etc... All though the normal parts store will tell you they are not.. I have a source for the parts from a vendor on the east coast of the US.. The rear shocks are re-buildable by several companies, one of which is Five Points Classic Shocks in Santa Anna, CA.. About $130. each..
A company named Temco in CA makes rear springs that are re-engineered to lower the car 2", or more for less than $200. Fusic has all of the rubber bushings, etc. for the rear...
The rear brakes are available from Kanter... I am not sure about the rear brakes on your car, they might be 1-3/4", maybe 2".. The '49's all use the same rear brake drums regardless of what size shoes.. I added 2-1/4" 98 brakes to my car by just using the 98 shoes and install kit from Kanter....Bill

47 Convertible

Same request to you Bill, send some more pics of your 49 build. Is the color (cream?, light yellow?) a stock 49 factory color? Thanks.
Jerry

55miketn

1948-78

That's a really nice ride. i really enjoyed seeing the complete build of the car on your site. For what it's worth, think about a sun visor for the Olds. With the skirts and the low rider look i think a visor would look sweet. Olds had their own visor that in my opinion was a bit square looking and yet there were other manufacturers that made a universal fit visor that fit a variety of cars and look better. I run a Fulton Sun shield on my 48. My son has a motortopia page where the car is featured.


http://www.indfloorcoating-repair.co...nsunshield.htm link to Fulto info

http://www.motortopia.com/cars/6249 link to gallery of build on my 48

http://media.motortopia.com/files/34...l_100_4347.jpg
this is a link to good image of my car with Fulton Visor

MontanaMike

blucar Bill,

Wow! great build - and I know you must have a world of knowledge that I for one would like to tap.
As I posted previously my 48 Woody has a broken frame and I am in a quandry on what to do. I am thinking about all the options from having the frame welded professionally to replacing the frame from a doner car to bagging the whole restore idea and going FM.

For some odd reason though I would like to keep the old flathead 8 - I think they are cool and the car will never be a speed demon anyway for fear of torqing a new wood body. I may be all wet. The car has no rust and would be a great restoration whether a hot rod or original. The decision on the engine can be made later - for now it's the frame.

I would sure like it if you would post more info on your build. Especially the FM install.
Others have already, but I need all the info I can get right now. Photos are great and so were the price points.

I too plan on keeping the original rear end. The point you made about the 2 1/4" rear brakes was very helpfull. Little Stuff like that is recorded in my build log and will be implemented.

Hope to see more from you. You have a special build.
Mike

blucar

[QUOTE=47 Convertible;497316]Same request to you Bill, send some more pics of your 49 build. Is the color (cream?, light yellow?) a stock 49 factory color? Thanks.
JerryQUOTE]

The color of my car, as applied to the cowl, jambs, etc., is.. Dune Beige, a stock color for '49-50 Olds 88's.. The wheels are going to be a dark green like the engine color for a '49.. The dash, interior moldings will be redone to the original color..
I am trying to recreate the Olds 88 2dr club sdn I had in 1954-55, the only difference will be the upgrades to the power train.. It is also my intent to keep the car all GM..
Engine, '77-78 Olds 403, built by Mondello.. trans, BOP 200R4, built by DMC, steering column, '77-78 Chevy van.. peddle assemb.. '78-79 Cad Seville, parking brake assemb.. '66 Buick Riv.
The wheels will be custom built, using '49 Olds centers with 15x7 rims. This will allow me to use the '49 Olds dog dish hub caps and S/S trim rings..
The current wheels on the car are '66 Riv rally's... they look pretty good on the car, I'll probably keep them, changing the wheels from time to time..
The seats are 86-87 BMW 325 2dr..... Bill

Slammed46

Mine was restored about 15 years ago, it has a chevelle front clip but some things wasn't done right in my eyes so I fixed it.. my next step is air ride and new rims, has anyone used that white wall tire paint off eBay? Also where can I get trunk seal kit at? I'll post up picks of the interior tomorrow, leather power seats up front but want the back seat to look factory where can I get those at?

47 Convertible

Bill, thanks for posting further information on your 49 build. The FM front chassis clip looks well made. The top towers look like it is set up for Mustang II or a MII derivative suspension but with tubular arms instead of the stock MII strut lower arms. Easy to see your 49 is a major project.
Jerry

47 Convertible

Trunk seal kit should be available from Steele Rubber www.steelerubber.com
You can download their parts catalog or just call them. Others on this site often refer to Fusicks as a source for Olds stuff. Might be worthwhile to look them up on the Internet and see what they have.

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the whitewall paint you mention. I'm leery of substitutes for the real thing but know that real wide whitewalls are very expensive.

Are you looking for a whole back seat or just an upholstery kit or the fabric only? If you need the whole rear seat you're probably going to have to look in wrecking yards that specialize in vintage cars though there are a few companies that manufacture seats. Glide, Wiseguys and Teas are the ones I can think of. An Internet search will get the contact information. There is a forum on this Classic Olds site on Interior and Trim. Someone there would probably have better information than me when it comes to seats and upholstery.

Keep the rest of us 40s Olds fans informed as you do the work on your 46. It is always interesting to see progress.
Jerry

citcapp

The 49 is really starting to take shape. Looks great

Got my New vintage gauges yesterday and set them in my new dash panel. Still have not decided on the finish for the panel yet. I think the concept looks great.

47 Convertible

Looks nice plus it is readable at a glance when you see the guy with the blue lights cruising along behind you.

Seriously, it looks like it will fit well with the general shape of the dashboard. Send another pic when it's in.

All the recent activity on the thread is great and reminds me that my 47 Convertible project needs to finish up a few items so it can go to the metal shop for some serious straightening at the end of Jan.
Jerry

blucar

I think the majority of the after market front end clips are basically a variation of the Mustang II concept..
A little background on the evolution during the past 20 + years of street rodding as explained to me by "Brett" at FatMan Fabrication:
The early phases of modern suspension for street rods usually incorporated used junk yard parts from Mustang II's, Camaro's, Gremlins, and/or Valarie's..
The big advantage to the Mustang II concept is the orientation of the spring towers, on an angle to the axis of the frame... This little trick tends to eliminate "drive" on the front end under heavy braking, ergo, the rear end of the vehicle does not come up, loosing traction on the rear wheels. The original Mustang II front ends were OK under a '30 or early '40 model car, Lt pickup, however, they fall short when used under heavy cars, and/or vehicles with lots of power..
The Gremlins, Valarie's and early Camaro's also tend to be to light for vehicles with big engines and/or big HP.
From my prospective, the big advantage to and aftermarket front end assembly is the fact that everything is new.. I tent to feel the same way about used power trains, why go to all the trouble to build a car, only to have it be unreliable, speeding time and money to repair and/or replace parts, in lieu of enjoying the vehicle...
I am a firm believer of the old saying.. "If you can't find the time to do it right, when are you going to find the time to redo it?"
A lot of my friends, the so called "Old School Guys" are still in the junk yard mode, building cars with used parts.
Don't get me wrong, I am all for using a good used engine.. I thought I had a good low mileage '78 Olds 350 for my car.. The car ran great, drove good and I only paid $600. for it.. I ordered an Eldelbrock manifold for it, timing gears, cam.lifters, etc. Before pulling the engine from the car we decided to do a "leak down test" of the cylinders.. The engine failed the test.. meaning the bore and /or valves were bad.
Checking around revealed that the engine was one of those late '70 GM throw away engines. i.e. not practical to re-bore, etc..
I still remember the days when I did not have two nickels to rub together, and my junk yard repairs caused nothing but problems.. When I bought my first late model car, the '50 Olds 88 I have mentioned in several of my contributions to this forum, I had a car that would outrun every body, and it got me to work on time.... Bill

Ornberg

Slammed 46, your club sedan looks very nice!
About the white wall paint they sell on E-bay. All I have heard of this is very negative and that it didn’t hold up well and after a while became yellow but I never tried it myself.

Ornberg

Thanks to Jerry (47 Convertible) I get hold of a couple of trim fasteners for the side window trim for my 47 so now we can confirm that it’s ok to use aftermarket Chevy clips.

citcapp

The panel is made from 3/8 billet aluminum stock, CNC machined to fit in the existing gauge cluster cut out in the stock dash. Fits perfectly. I made a cad drawing for the template

1948-78

All, Would anyone in this group have a spare fan control **** for 46-48, 60 or 70 series car??

47 Convertible

I will look through my box of "stuff" to see what I have. No promises though as it's been months since I rummaged through it. If you don't hear back, I don't have it.
Jerry

1948-78

Jerry, Thanks you've been a real help.