And I'm not talking about the license plate.









1. The center Oldsmobile rocket badge has been replaced.

2. The headlight bezels have been replaced.



I had been looking for these on ebay for a while now (years), and all three popped up within the last three or four months. I just replaced the driver's side bezel today. The old ones were quite pitted.

Everything makes a nice-looking car look even nicer, if I do say so myself, and I do!

 

Looks good. You should name her "Bright Eyes."

 

Much nicer! Congrats.

 

Nice! It's all in the little details.

 

I could, but then my wife would probably divorce me if I started naming my cars.

 

Should have made it into a guessing game instead of just telling us. Yes, I did notice the differences and they add to the car nicely. Looks like the DS hood bumper is set a little on the high side.

 

I thought of that, but then I thought people would start seeing things, and I didn't want to go down that road.

Man, leave it to Allan to ruin my Kodak moment!

Yes, I've been playing with the adjustment on the hood ever since I got the car almost 4 years ago now. The problem is, the bumper on that side is already as low as it will go. I've always attributed this to the fact that, when the car was repainted back about 2005, it was significantly disassembled (I'm sure the hood and front fenders, for example, were removed, given how thorough the paint job is and what it cost - $5,000), and when they put it all back together, they didn't get the alignment of the fenders, hood, and front end quite correct. It was worse when I got the car.

Here's what it looked like on the night I brought it home in January 2010 and pulled it into the garage after getting it off the truck that transported it. Note no bumper or luggage rack (those, among other pieces, had yet to be reinstalled after the repaint five years earlier--the original owner took ill and died during the restoration, and the car sat for several years before the family could bring themselves to sell it), and quite dirty. The hood was as closed as it could be.

 

I am surprised no one noticed the license plate

 

I mentioned at the top that noting that didn't count.

 

I remember when you bought this car. You have done it justice. Very nice. My 54 convertible is the only car I ever named. My wife helped me name her. She is Lessie after my Mother's Mom who was a sweetheart. It brings a smile to my face when I mention it.

 

Thanks!

 

Gee, no I wasn't trying to ruin anything Dan. I was just noting the height discrepancy. After reviewing the front profile I'm of the opinion that the hood hinges are not set right. Looking at the RS, the hood appears to be low both front and back, but on the LS it appears to be high, even at the cowl. Do you know the procedure for adjusting cowl height? Loosen the 3 bolts at the back of the hood hinge and have someone push up on the LS to force it up as high as it can go. While they're doing that, snug up those 3 bolts and the rear of the hood should line up flush with the fenders. You might need to play with the adjustment a bit, but that's how it was done at the factory. Only they did both sides at the same time and only had less than a minute to do it.

I also remember when you got that beast and how it barely fit in your old garage. It looks a lot nicer now. I especially like the 84 Regency wire wheel discs you put on; they suit the car very well and add to the elegance of the long body lines.

Wasn't this the car you had to troubleshoot the clamshell power and found the culprit at the back end? Relay or something?? It's been a while.

 

Thanks, Allan. I've had the hood hinge bolts loosened many times. Every once in a while the mood strikes me, and I play around some more with the hood.

Yes, I did have electrical problems with the tailgate when I got the car. In that case it turned out to be an improperly reassembled tailgate key switch. Again, like the front end issues, this was an example of the paint shop returning the car to not quite pre-painting condition after they were done.

The switch was actually missing a part that holds it together (item 3 in the diagram below), and it was only the wires coming out the back (they attach where the arrow above the 2 points) pressing against the opposite side of the little space behind the body panel where the switch attaches that held it together at all. It's kind of hard to describe, but there's a little pawl on the switch that the key catches when fully inserted and turned far enough to engage the tailgate motor to move it either up or down. There's a separate pawl for the window motor, and that worked fine. Without the retaining clip, the switch was not held together tightly enough to allow the key to engage the pawl. I didn't have the missing retaining clip, so I made one out of a coat hanger. Yes, the car is no longer 100% original!




You're right about a relay, too. There is also a dashboard switch that controls the tailgate, and that didn't work, either. It turned out a new relay was needed.


While we're on the subject of not-properly-reassembled-after-the-paint-job, there was one other issue related to this. When I got the car, none of the lights that come on when you pull out the headlight switch would work except the headlights themselves. The taillight fuse would blow immediately. It took some effort, but the problem was finally traced to a pinched wire in the left rear taillight housing. You don't know how nice it was to finally be able to pull out the headlight switch and actually have the taillights go on and stay on. Until this was fixed, I couldn't drive the car at night.

 

New chrome and Badge make a huge difference.Makes a great looking car even better.What shape are you side mirrors in? Roy

 

As mirrors, they function fine, but they're about as pitted as the bezels were. The door handles are just as bad. I'd love to replace them all. Have any good ones?

 

I remember those clamshell tailgate/window switches. I had a 73 like yours only mine was gold and had the packing crate on the sides (that's what I called the woodgrain). I was lucky I never had any issues with either the front or rear switches.

Those mirrors and door handles should be the same for 88/98 CC, and also Buick/Pontiac full size. I've seen the mirrors on epay before as NOS items and they weren't really all that pricy IMO. I'll watch the web and let you know if I see anything.

BTW, when you loosen the hood hinges, you really need a second person to help with that alignment. Propping it up with a stick may work too but it needs to have upward pressure beyond the normal stop height.

 

Let me offer this thought on your hood issue. When I look at the front of the car and compare the distance from the bumper to the bottom of the headlights, it appears the drivers side of the nose is sitting lower. It could be the bumper is up a little high on the drivers side but it appears to be mostly level. Does the hood come in contact with the hood bumper on the DS? If it doesn't, you could raise the left side of the nose by adding shims between the radiator support and left frame rail. Also looks like the drivers side fender may be a little tight to the hood and a shim or two between the fender and radiator support should fix that. There are other bolts that will likely need to be loosened to move the fender out a little and I'm not familiar with that model so I can't say where they are. Not trying to pick on your car but rather offer a suggestion or two to solve the hood issue. If the hood is sitting on the hood bumper then other measures would need to be taken. If the hood is not on the bumper, you can also "tweak" the hood a little ie, bend it. We would do this in the body shop to fix some issues like that. Place a piece of 4x4 wood under the center of the hood and let it sit on the radiator support. Have someone put some pressure on the pass side of the hood and then push down on the drivers side to put a little bit of a bend it in. Don't go crazy but rather try a little at a time until the DS comes down.


Brian

 

Thanks for the tips.

 

Just had a quick look on epay and I'm wondering if these mirrors will work too, even though labeled as 82 and up. Maybe get the pin measurements and compare to the mounting holes on your doors? I'm pretty sure that GM mirror mounts and pretty standard though for this type of mirror. Maybe what's more important is the angle the base forms with the sheet metal.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/NOS-Chrome-MI...vxp=mtr&_uhb=1

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/GM-Rear-View-...vxp=mtr&_uhb=1

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Manual-Chrome...vxp=mtr&_uhb=1

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/NOS-OEM-Chrom...vxp=mtr&_uhb=1


Don't know if you're interested in Cruise for your car, but if you are?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-Oldsmobi...-/121219082648

Some other little goodies I saw....Aren't you glad I don't have your credit card in hand???

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-71-73-Ol...-/330960111346

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OLDSMOBILE-7...-/390721617155

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OLDSMOBILE-7...-/251399178459

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1973-Oldsmob...51399178459%26

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-GM-DELCO...-/390720007150

 

Now I see the difference one pic was on asphalt the other on concrete

 

You got it!

This is for you!

 

Brian, I have seen this procedure done in the shops. In fact it was used to tweak the LR door on my Regency Elite when the quarter was replaced. The rear door edge ended up too far inset. The shop used this exact technique to bring the outer skin of the door out about 3/16" and it worked well without distorting the body lines of the door. I wouldn't want to try that myself though because of the potential to over bend the metal and the need for 'intuitive feel' during the process. On a long hood like Dan's CC, I would be inclined to have a shop align or tweak it as those hoods are not all that plentiful and may be easier to over bend due to their overall length even though they have inner reinforcement? As you also mentioned, there could also be shimming issues and measurements that are not quite right causing the uneven fitment.

Dan, you said your car had a 5k paint job? Rather than risk injury to it, maybe a trip to a qualified shop for a look see?

 

I am, but for $1100, I don't think so.

Let me know next time, and I'll send you the number!


As far as these various items, many of those mirrors look great. I just wonder about the spacing between the mounting studs, as you say. I'd need to measure mine.

The A/C dial face is wrong for my car as I don't have the Comfortron system. I wouldn't need the A/C temp sensor, either, as I just had a shop restore the air-conditioning system to working order in September. All should be good with that, I hope, for a long time.

The various front marker lights and fender skirt trim are nice, but mine are already in pretty good shape.


No, it's the door handles more than anything that stare back at me every time I get near the car. Keep your eye out for those.

 

JMO, but I think your CC is just 'screamin' for a hood ornament like this one on the 76 98's. I think the hood is the same, just different header panel.


Someone did a nice job fitting the hood of that baby..

 

Maybe the down the line some time. I'm not done trying to adjust it myself. It just doesn't bother me that much as it hardly sticks up at all compared to how it used to. As you note, and I do appreciate Brian's suggestions, I would be reluctant to try bending the hood. My nightmare is that I overbend it or worse and ruin it. Trying to find another one, get it here, and have it painted to match would not be something on my fun-to-do list.

 

First it's bending the hood. Now you got me drilling holes in it!

 

Yup, I did that to my 73 CC and I think it looks especially cool from the Drivers seat. I also put those signal indicators on the fender, mostly because it gave me a better idea of where the dang thing sticks out. The way the fenders are sloped doesn't really give a great idea of where the front of the car is. Not like the 67 if you know what I mean. Those ridge lines showed you exactly where the edge of the car was at all times. I liked that a lot.

No worries on the hood alignment. You'll get around to it when it starts to bug you. Till then this is really a moot point? The improvements you've done do help the cars presentation. Now on with the search for those elusive mirrors and door handles.

 

Love that car.... very nice!

 

I'm with 69442C, check your core support alignment.. BTW, the replacement parts really look great.

 

I started to look more seriously for door handles, and I am surprised to discover that Pontiac and Chevy had gone to the more modern "lift" style door handles by this time while Buick and Olds still used the older-style push-button handles. Now that I think about it, I remember reading once that this was deliberate because marketers felt that the typical Olds or Buick buyer was older and more set in his ways and would find something like a more traditional door handle more to his liking.

 

...and that's a bad thing?? I guess if you really wanted to be stylish you could shave all the door handles and put in electronic poppers. That would certainly set your CC apart from the others, and there would never be any more issues of pitting or tarnished chrome.

 

????

Who said it was bad thing?

I found it interesting that Chevy and Pontiac were being more trendy while Buick and Olds were being more traditional. I looked into a bit further, and Chevy and Pontiac adopted the lift-handle style with the '71 big-car redesign while Buick and Olds kept the old style right through '76. Which means that, if I'm going to search for replacement door handles, I'm limited to Buick and Olds (and Cadillac, too).

 

I checked, and your last sentence is the issue. These mirrors will not fit because the angle between the base and the mirror on the newer mirrors is too sharp. Installed, the mirror would tilt too far inward and hit the window. If I'm going to replace the mirrors, I'll need to find something for earlier cars (if I can't find one directly for my car).


Also, on another note, I did find door handles from a used parts place in Nebraska, Mid-City Auto Supply. Should be arriving on Monday (12/30), and I'm looking forward to getting those installed. They're not NOS, but rather good quality take-offs, according to these folks, and I'm looking forward to seeing them.

 

Sounds good. I'm guessing then that the mirrors for your car will be good from donors 71-76 B/C Olds. Narrows down the search parameters a bit. Would the same model years from Pontiac, Chev, Buick also be compatible?? I don't know.

Looking forward to seeing pics of the new handles compared to the old ones. Just curious, do you know who makes the knock off products?

 

Jaunty,

That misalignment might just be a factory assembly issue. Here's a pic of my crusty original car with the same issue. Other Custom Cruisers that I look at all seem to have the same problem, although at varying degrees.

Chris

 

Interesting! Thanks.


Actually, I misspoke earlier about the reason the '80-'90 era mirrors don't fit. It's not the angle the mirror makes with the mounting, rather, it's the angle looking down from above. On the older mirrors, the mirror tilts inward, making an angle of about 30 degrees with a line perpendicular to the window. On the later mirrors, the mirror is perpendicular to window. That difference is enough for the later mirror to actually hit the window if it were to be installed. As it is, the closest part of the correct mirror is only 1/2-inch from the window glass.

I don't know who makes the replacement mirrors. You see a lot of them on ebay being sold by different vendors.

 

Just got them today. From Mid-City Auto Supply, Hastings, Nebraska. $12.50 each plus $10 shipping. Can't wait to put them on.

What's interesting is what they're off of. Each has a tag on it with info about the car it came off of.

Upper left: '74 Buick LeSabre sedan with a 350 engine
Lower left: '74 Delta 88 sedan with a 455
Upper right: '74 98 Regency 2-door with a 455
Lower right: '72 Delta 88 sedan with a 350


So two of the handles aren't exact matches because they came from cars with the wrong engine!

 

nice wagon. my 73 is getting some cragars and paint work as soon as I get a chance _

 

Thanks.

Post photos of your car early and often. I like to add to my collection photos of as many different '73 CC's that I can.

 

The handles appear have a fair bit of swirling and scratching; maybe it's the picture though. They're not hard to take apart, have you considered sending them to re-chrome so they look new? You might even be able to do that with your mirrors instead of trying to find new ones.