Yes Bill I have to agree ! I do remember that when I bought mine the owner and builder said that the most difficult part of all was hanging the front end on the sub-frame and he did do a great job. I'm not at all a body man but I can't imagine anyone chopping up 60odd year old parts because they think the factory screwed it up, after surviving all those years!-how stupid is that? As for the shims, if I'm not mistaken, the last time I was in Harbor Freight, aka china tool, they even had the horseshoe shims. best of luck with the new body man, this has got me thinking again, boy would I love to have 48 or 49 98 fastback- like the 48 Caddy fastback I sold years ago! Dave

 

In many respects I can't fault the original builder I had, he did some fantastic work repairing the rust-out on the floor panels, doing the chassis mods and installing the mechanical's.
I have noted many times throughout my life that many times a craftsman will tend to make a big deal out of something that is quite simple, the problem being that they don't take the time to step away from the project. In other words, "they can't see the forest for the trees".... Bill

 

I am finally finding my way around this site, being a newbie it takes time. Here are some more pics of my car early during the process. Some of these pictures are after the car had been sitting for a couple years between work and had to be redone. I had the un-fortune of getting "help" from some not so good shops and had to just about start over. Finding reputable shops is sometimes a lot more difficult than it should be.

 

Went through a similar situation when working on the '48 that I had a few years back. They are a completely different animal, as you said. I just wish now that I would not have been in a predicament that made me feel that I had to sell it. That's life though.

 

It is a fact of life that the original fit and finish of the '49-54 GM cars leaves much to be desired.. If one takes a close look at an unmolested car, you will note the poor fitment of the hood to the cowl, and front doors to same. Of course the hood does "land" to the cowl and front fenders correctly, that is until it is removed and reinstalled.. A vast majority of GM cars require a walk around the front of the car to push the hood corners down between the fenders..
Proper positioning of the hood hinge/pivots to the cowl, so that the hoods "lands" correctly and is not in a bind, eliminates the misalignment... Bill

 

Hi Bill, I think you're exactly right, I woke up around 3 this morning and I was thinking about it and thought that perhaps he was so far into it that he lost perspective of what it originally was, and as you said the tree and forest thing- remember
A LITTLE PUTTY, A LITTLE PAINT, MAKES A LADY- WHAT SHE AIN'T.
Dave

 

The hood and doors alignment problem has been corrected... It turned out that I was correct in my thinking, the problem was that nobody wanted to listen to what I had to say... "Don't confuse me with facts, I have my mind made up"...
When I was in my late teens I thought I wanted to be a body/fender man, I went to work for a man that was a real craftsman.. In order to work for the man I had to purchase a wrecked project car... I bid on a '42 Chevy coupe that had been rolled.. The car was and early '42 club coupe with all of the bright trim metal in lieu of being a "blackout model" no chrome..
The car was only eight years old, being an eastern US car the majority of the floor pan and rocker panels were badly rusted away.. Fortunately the shop I was working for had a '41 coupe, a California car, which had been in a head-on collision.. The '41-48 GM bodies are the same from the 'A' pillars back, with the exception of the cowl.. I cut the two bodies apart, joining the rear portion of the '41 onto the cowl of the '42..
I clearly remember the difficulty of aligning the doors, etc., to match up with the body before I could do the finish welding.
At one point I told the boss, Bob, that my alignment was as good as what the factory had done, Bob disagreed, telling me to realign the doors/cowl. Bob's comment was, "We are Halford's Body Repair, and we are better than the factory"... I finally got the fit and alignment of the doors, etc., to satisfy Bob, welded things up and finished the body switch..
In the case of my '49, I suggested to the shop owner that I thought he should install the doors, aligning same to the cowl, B pillar before the body repairs were all welded up... He disagreed.. The doors were not installed until everything was welded up, and the front sheet metal was in place..
The solution to the poor alignment of the hood/doors, etc., was to take everything off of the body, cut the cowl/B pillar loose, shim the cowl, 1/4" on the left, 3/16's on the right, hang/fit the doors which required moving the B pillars back about 1/4", moving the rockers up almost 1/4" and then re-welding everything together... A total of 30 hours for one man was needed to do the work... The doors now close like a refrigerator.. Probably as good as new, maybe better... Bill

 

I took a little vacation away from the Olds, and several other time consuming projects.. I loaded up my Motor Home and went on a road trip through Nevada, Utah, Idaho and up to my daughters farm in Montana.. Great trip.. Left on August 16, returned on Sept 5...
While I am traveling I always keep my eyes open for any old rusty treasures.. I did not find any rusty treasures on the trip, however, I did find a nice shiny treasure... A*%*& Mopar... A '73 Plymouth Duster.. I am generally not real big on Mopars, their general low resale value has always been a drawback... I know.. many of the Mopars, Cuda's, Chargers, etc., have very high resale values, some of which will hit the 100k range at the big auctions.. The general Mopar is a different story, there-in lays the reason why I bought a Mopar while on my trip..
Before the forum cops get their knickers all in a bunch and jump all over me for mentioning Mopars on an Olds forum. Plymouth and Olds have both slipped into the "orphan catigory", so they need people to acknowledge their value and good points..
The Duster I brought has under a 100k on it, new paint, new interior, most of the mechanicals rebuilt, a 318 engine, AT, AC.. The car is an original California car that was taken to Idaho in 2007, parked in a garage and pretty well left there, having only been driven sixty miles since '07.. The car still had it's 1973 CA blue/yellow plates..
Finding a '73 F-85 Cutlass, in like condition, might have made a better story, but that was not to be, anyway not on my most resent trip.... Bill

 

Hi Bill, sent you a note of congrats on your new moparitis but doing it from my email notification it didn 't go through I just found out, so anyway have a great time with your new purchase , brings back memories from quite awhile ago with 413 powerd Chryslers! Dae

 

Sometimes I wonder where the time goes, it seemed like I no sooner got home from my September trip and I was loading up again to go to Idaho to fetch the Duster I bought in September..
In less than a month I was loading up again to head up to Montana to spend Thanksgiving with my daughter and her family..
I overstayed my visit in Montana, got caught in the recent Artic deep-freeze. The 1,500 mile trip home was one of the worst rides I've ever had.. My motor home is a 38 ft diesel pusher, single rear axle, so it has a lot of traction weight on the rear-wheels.. During one stretch of over 100 miles in southern Utah, I never got out of 4th gear, 30/40 mph.. Ten hours Salt Lake to St. George..
Yes I could have gotten off the road and spent the night, however, it was almost impossible to do so. I spent the night in Mesquite NV out of the snow level.. I found out the next morning that the road conditions through southern Utah got worse later in the evening...
Probably won't be much happening with my car projects until after the holidays... Bill

 

Sounds like a not fun ride. Glad you made it home safe. Been there myself. I have a 38' Beaver Contessa diesel pusher and have been stuck in the snow too

 

Glad you made it safely, I hate traveling in winter.

 

Small world.. My MH is a Beaver Patriot, great unit, has a 350 Cummings and a six spd Allison..
I was thinking about getting rid of it early last year in favor of upgrading to a newer unit, maybe something like 2008/09.. My mind got changed when I found out about the quality issues and all of the on board electronics the new MH's have.. Mine is the last year for mechanical fuel injection, etc..
The deciding factor was the input I got from the people at the Cummings dealership that has serviced mine since it was new.. The odometer turned 112k just before I got home... Bill

 

Yes, I am a big believer is simple Mine has the 350 HP Cat and is on the Gillig bus chassis. Rides like a luxury car. I can actually work on this unit myself

 

I have the same 49 with a fatman clip and a 350 with 2/4,s. what have you used for mastercylinder, and how mounted stopped 8 years ago at m/c. car has griffin aluminan radiator, locar shifter, stainless steering colum with stainless shaft, and so on, cragar drag light mags, tires never been on ground

 

Hi,
In response to your question about my power brake application.
We used the peddle assembly out of a early '80's Cad Seville... This unit is very similar to the Nova of the same year..
I also used a GM tilt column from the late '70's, early '80's.. I wanted all of the controls for the wipers, cruise, dimmers, etc. on the column, that way all of the switches are handy and not cluttering up the dash..
If you look closely at the pix I have attached you will note that the heater/defrost and air intakes were removed from the firewall of my car. This was done so we would have a flat surface to mount the peddle and brake booster assembly to.
I am retaining the fresh air intakes through the grille, utilizing the stock metal ducts routed from the core support, over the front tires then using flex connectors to reroute the duct through the kick panels in lieu of through the firewall.. I'll utilize the stock pull cables attached to vent valves from a '60's pickup.. See the posting on page 2. item #56... Good pix and writeup about the brake booster, etc..
If you have any additional questions ask away, I'll be glad to answer them... Bill

 

my email is kyzercd71@yahoo.com 850 607 7063 Charlie would you e mail me your ph # so I can get some more detailed info pictures didnt come thru

 

Rereading the text quoted in the above, I assume that your name is "Charley" and that you are requesting that I get hold of you via phone and/or email.. Is this correct? Bill

 

hello bill, jim-bo here. I have been keeping up with your build on the 49 olds. I just bought a 1948 olds 2 door fast back. it has been upgraded with a 350 chevy motor 350 transmission and chevy rear end, also p/s and p/b and tilt wheel. I can not get any information about what car did the front clip came off of, or the steering column. any ideas ? also the car has no arm rest on the door panels, I have found 1948 chevy arm rest on the internet, would the chevy arm rest fit on the olds. thanks

 

hello bill, jim-bo here -- I sent you a message , but forgot to give you my e-mail for your response -- jsalling57@att.net-- thanks again jim-bo

 

Welcome to the wonderful world of "The Real Oldsmobile's"..
To respond to your question about what year/model the suspension, ect., on your car might be?.. I am not an authority on the various GM chassis that could have been the source for your front clip.. I can say that as a general rule, the early Camaro's, and sometimes the Nova's were the most common doners. The early Nova/Camaro's are generally 54-1/4" backing plate to backing plate, add about 7" for the OD dimension hub to hub..
The full size GM cars, are generally over 56", which is to wide for any of the '37-51 cars.. I am not sure just what the official tread width is because I generally am more concerned with the ID measurement, to make sure it closely match's the original..
I was going to put an early 10 bolt Camaro rear end under my '49 because of the width.
Hopefully the builder of your car did not use a Buick, Pontiac, Olds (BPO) front clip and rear end.. I know that the average contributor to this forum might not agree with me, but facts are facts.. As the fortunes of BPO started to wain in the late 60's and GM started to mix and match power trains, the units used in the BPO's were very inferior to the power trains used in the Chevy's..
Case in point.. I purchased a rear end out of 60's Firebird for use in one of my projects, I needed a rear end that was 54-1/4" backing plate to back plate, 61" OD, hub to hub..
I took the rear end to a shop to have it rebuilt and re-geared.. Wrong!! it was a 10 bolt BPO 8.25 and could not be re-geared because of the case...
Had to discard the rear end in favor of a Camaro unit.. Actually I traded the Firebird rear end for the Camaro, with very little to boot.. The wrecking yard thought the Firebird was a better rear end... Little did he know..
On the arm rests: I believe that the GM arm rest are pretty much the same, maybe a smaller/larger chrome band.. I do know that the '49-50 Olds/Chevy shared the same arm rests..
I might have a pair of '47-48 Chevy arm rests..
I'll respond to your private message.. I thought I would respond to your question here on the forum, for the benefit of others that might be interested...
Did the builder of your car keep the original rear suspension? Hopefully he did.. The rear Olds suspensions was one of their very strong points... Bill

 

thanks for the info, I do not know about the rear suspension yet. the car will be delivered this evening. when I get the car I will send pictures mabey you can tell more from them. thanks again --- jim

 

email me #, ill call you. Ive got fat man clip, flaming river tilt colum, stainless steering shaft vintage shifter, 2/4,s crager drag light wheels, aluminan water pump, fluid dampener, crower cam. my body was a tin can when I started, have replaced all floor and trunk metal, right door, both front and rear bumpers.these are good looking cars. 2 heart attacks slowed me down.removed body, sand blasted frame and painted with rust bullet.

 

sounds like you have a hell of a project going. I just got my car yesterday, who ever modified this car did a great job. all functions work good. I have checked it out today, I do have to add 2 things to get it inspected here in texas. more news later-- ph 409 684-9914 after 1 pm --- cell 409 781-4387

 

49olds 88 has been asking me questions about how and what I used for a power brake and peddle assembly on my '49 88..
I've been unable to supply him with any pix due to a problem with my computer, it appears that the problem has been fixed so here goes and attempt to post some pix to this tread..
The peddle assy I used is from a '78-79 Cad Seville, basically the same as a Nova. The power booster is an after-market six inch..
The steering column is a GM, about '78-79, 32" overall.. I wanted everything to be GM, easier to find replacement parts.
When the pix are reviewed you will note that we had to eliminate the defroster unit and the cowl vents through the firewall, we also had to modify the inner fender panel to clear the power brake and master cylinder.
Since the engine is an Olds we kept the battery on the left side, slightly modified the box to fit a smaller battery..
We are now re-engineering the air vent system. I am retaining the majority of the system, eliminating the original heater box, keeping the original steel ducts over the tires, then re-routing the ducts through the wheel/fender splash panel, then down into the lower portion of the cowl kick panel..
It is my intent to retain the original flapper valves in the ducts, retaining the original pull cables in the dash.
I have made the observation that the majority of '49-50 Olds that I have seen that are modified, do not have the fresh air ducts running from the original bezels under the headlights and into the car.. Looking at the bezels you see an opening to the tire.. Approaching these cars from the side you can see light shinning through into the wheel well...
I guess, different strokes for different folks..

 

thanks

 

Looking through my photo files I came upon another pix showing the modifications to the firewall in preparation for brake the booster, etc.,
Reviewing the pix you can also note how far the GM column extends below the firewall. The column has the shift lever on the left side of the column, this was almost a mistake, however, it turned out to be a plus because it placed the cable away from the engine..

 

In spite of all of the family distractions, my wife of 58 years is loosing a battle with lung cancer, I have been able to play hooky and tinker with the Olds..
Fortunately I have a good "hobby shop", so as time permits I work on the Olds, then just close the door and walk away..
During the several years that I gathered parts and/or info for my Olds I noted that the majority of '49-50 Olds that I saw, that had been modified and/or modernized, the majority of the cars had the fresh air ducts removed from the front fenders.. It always looks quite dumb to me to stand at the front, or the side of a car, and see daylight through the air vents in the front fenders.
The air ducts in an Olds are so well designed, being hidden within the upper most part of the wheel well, I can see no need to remove them. I do know that the connection to the firewall presents a problem if the original heater and defroster units are eliminated, which is required in order to get flat areas for a power brake booster and peddle assembly.. The addition of AC is a challenge if the original heater is retained.
I cleaned everything off of my firewall, filling all of the holes with steel. I have come up with several plans as to how the air ducts could be rerouted into the passenger compartment.. One of my ideas was to use the air valves from a mid '60's Ford truck.. I happen to have a cab in my parts pile.. Good idea, gone bad.. Several other ideas were tried, none worked.
Late last summer I was in Idaho and Montana, I have a small ranch up there, from time to time I purchase old cars in the area, storing them at the ranch until I can bring them home to California.. Last fall I brought a '52 Chevy BelAire HT home and a '52 Chevy 2dr parts car.. Both of which are for sale..
Looking the Chevy's over I noted that the air vents through the firewall were the same size as the Olds. The vents had the valves built into them in lieu of into the ducts like the Olds. The Chevy also had nice interior grilles..
I'm currently re-routing the air vents in my Olds down to the kick panel area using cloths dryer metal flex ducting, which will attach to the '52 Chevy valves, Olds pull cables located in their original location and the Chevy vent grilles..
Damn I feel smart...

 

prayers out to your wife.

 

Damn, did not realize that I had been absent from the forum so long, I'll have to rectify that..

 

Bring it on. Some of use have to live through others right now.

 

I have quoted a portion of my last posting to this thread (Apr, 22, 2014) for continuity...

Just as I thought I had the whole fresh air duct problem solved I found that the '52 Chevy air valves would not work.. They had to be mounted to the engine side of the cowl with the finish grilles inside on the kick panel. The flex duct had to make a sharp right angle turn into the kick panel, which it would not do. Back to the drawing board, I just tabled the project for awhile.
I had only been working on one side at a time, figuring that if I got one side done, the other would be a piece of cake.
After thinking about the air duct project for several weeks, turning my attention to other issues. I finally came up with a plan to use the original '49 Olds air valves mounted in the fender splash apron, then running the flex duct down to the kick panel:
I tried several items, regular home adjustable elbow's, almost, but no cookie. I finally decided I would cut a piece of '49 Olds air duct into a right angle and re-weld it together. As I was getting a section of '49 Olds air duct off of my parts shelf, I spied the original left side elbow that connected the fender valve to the cowl with a rubber sleeve. THE LIGHTS IN MY HEAD WENT ON.. That was the piece I needed, a smooth, close 4" right turn, that would bolt to the cowl. Problem solved,, well almost.
Hooking up the right side was a piece of cake, almost. I utilized all of the stock '49 metal ducting to the fender splash panel, attached the air valve and the 4" metal flex duct. Problem! I needed another left side cowl adapter.. For clarification!! I have removed the original heater box from the right side because I put a Vintage Air unit in the car..
I have been looking for a left side cowl adapter until early this AM. Got a call from one of my Olds contacts, he found the cowl adapter for me. Rod is putting it in the mail today...
Old car guys are a great bunch of guys, always willing to help a guy in need.. Bill

 

I should have attached a pix to my last comments about my air duct modifications to my '49.
As you will note from the attached pix, the modification looks very simple, believe me it was not. The end result was very simple, however, getting there required many hours of trial and error..

 

I'm only looking at the photo, but won't that fill the car with dust and road debris? Or are you routing it to behind the grill?

 

If you had read my previous comments about the rerouting of the fresh air ducts, you would have noted that the object of this modification was to retain the air intakes below the headlight buckets.
I have removed the section of ducting over the tire in preparation of removing the entire duct system for painting..

 

10-4. Nice work. Very creative.
I love the fastbacks. I'd love to find a stock '48 with an eight, and a hydramatic.

 

If a close review of the pix is done, it can be noted that the left air duct control valve does not go through the fender splash shield, pointing towards the cowl area..
I had to drill out all of the spot welds that secured the mounting flange to the air valve. I was then able to reposition the valve from a 45 degree angle towards the cowl to a slight angle away from the fender splash shield, creating a more convenient angle to intersect with the flex duct to the kick panel in the cowl.
The right side will be a little easier. On the Olds, the blower motor for the heater was mounted in the fender behind the fender splash shield, to the rear of the tire/wheel inner splash shield.
I can utilize the original ducting from the intake area below the headlight, however, I will have to use a modified left side air valve, similar to what I did on the left side, this will direct the air away from the cowl and connect with the flex duct going down to the right side kick panel.
The attached pix is of the left side, I'll attach a pix of the completed right side when the parts I need arrives from Idaho..

 

I received the air duct fitting from Idaho that I have been waiting for. To refresh, the fitting is the cowl elbow for the left side which I am adapting to the right side to allow for the elimination of the original heater box.
Have not had the time to work on the '49 for over a month, got sidetracked working on a '64 Chevy C10 extended cab.. Some people call the extended cabs "railroad trucks" very rare pickup with a back seat and suburban rear windows..

 

Hello blucar,
I'm getting ready to do a frame swap on my '50 coupe. I wonder if you have any pic's of how you are going to mount the radiator support and front bumper?
If you would send them to my E-mail. thank you.
gene@oldsmobileonly.com


thank you very much
Gene McKay

 

In response to Gene's question regarding modification's and/or replacement of the chassis/frame in a '50 Olds.
First off I see no need to replace the frame/chassis under the '49/50 Olds, I do see a need to upgrade the front suspension and rebuild the rear suspension. The Olds differential is stronger than a Ford nine inch or GM 12 bolt. All of the parts are available to rebuild it.
I used a FatMan front clip on my 88.. The Fatman units are marque specific, therefore they match right up to the original frame, all of the brackets are in place to mount the core support and front sheet metal. The same is true of the bumper brackets.
All of the parts required to rebuild the rear suspension, thereby retaining the very good trailing arms and coil springs are available from Fuzic. The rear lever shocks can be rebuilt with the "clocking" changed and HD valving used by any good shock re-builder. I used aftermarket rear springs that were made with a two inch drop and an altered spring rate.
I'll be glad to send you some pix of my chassis...
I have attached a couple of pix to this thread for the edification of anyone so interested... Bill