Cowl tag decode

 

Style 57-3611 = 1957 Oldsmobile "88" two door sedan (post)
Body L 1588 = 1588th body of that style assembled at Lansing, MI.
Trim 361 = Ivory vinyl and black pattern cloth.
Paint 52-60-10? = Charcoal metallic lower body, Alcan white upper body, Black wheels.

 

Thank you again Charlie. The "10" is the stripe that seperates the upper and lower body color on 1957 models. I think.

 

Yes, you are right Ralph.
In the sixties the third code was for wheel color.

For crumbs sake Ralph, get that thing out of the woods and in to a garage.

 

Charlie, I have one car ahead of it right now. I am hoping the '64 Starfire gets sent to paint this summer. Its actually 25 feet from the garage now.

I have found NEW front and rear floor pans in MI. I am hoping to buy front and rear floor pans and rocker panels for the '49 and '57 and trunk pan for the '49 this summer.

Can you believe this was a "base model" car ? It has the original, deteriorated rubber floor mats instead of carpet. I have a piece of the original cloth fabric saved to match up to new fabric.

 

I used SMS fabrics for my upholstery. They have the original cloth and vinyl materials.
I had a local upholstery shop cover the seats.
Now would be a good time to order, because their lead times are long.

1957 Oldsmobile – Tagged "model-Golden Rocket 88 2-Door Sedan, trim-361" – SMS Auto Fabrics

 

I should do that after I can determine how many yards of each material I need. I would like to order all the material for three cars at once, but I think it will be pricey.

 

Do you have any auto upholstery shops near you?
Talk to them, they should be able to tell you how much material will be needed.

Upholstery comes on rolls that are 54 inches wide.
So a "yard" will be 36 X 54 inches.

 

I have a very good auto upholstery shop picked out. They seem fairly reasonable for high quality work. I did my usual "walk around" and they passed easily. They work on some very nice stuff and I saw partially completed cars and the workmanship was great. I also quizzed them about restoring motorcycle seats and they will do mine.
This shop also was able to tell me what seat parts had leather and what parts had vinyl from pics I had on a memory stick. They know their stuff.