32' Oldsmobile Deluxe Convertible Roadster

[13CADDY]

wow, I like that--let us all know how it works out---how is the body work coming--I've been fitting running boards--uh-----------Tom

[chistech]

Body work is coming very good. Body is about 60% done. Running boards/splash aprons are done. Rear fenders are done. He painted my new gas tank, steering wheel spider, roof mid bow iron, and the engine air cleaner. It’s actually going pretty fast now. Small stuff he takes back to the shop where he works full time to paint. It’s funny how good it feels when you go and pick up some painted parts! 

[Laughing Coyote]

I bet the neighbors are wondering what you are up to now. 

[Bloo]

The wheels look amazing.

 

Were you able to shoot the single stage black right over the shiny varnish? It seems like the stencil would be in the way if you tried to scuff it.

[chistech]

3 hours ago, Bloo said:

The wheels look amazing.

 

Were you able to shoot the single stage black right over the shiny varnish? It seems like the stencil would be in the way if you tried to scuff it.

The stencil material is extremely thin but also very tough and stays put when rubbed down with purpose. I simply scuffed the whole area with a red pad paying attention to scuff with the direction of the stencil edges, not against them. It wasn’t really hard to do a good job and you could easily see the scuffed surface in the reflection telling you any spots that needed more attention. It was probably one of the easiest procedures on these wheels.

[chistech]

10 hours ago, Laughing Coyote said:

I bet the neighbors are wondering what you are up to now. 

My neighbor is a professional polisher and has his own small spray booth in his back garage for lacquering parts. I had already told him I was getting it and he came over to help me erect and pack it away. It took about two minutes to inflate and about 10 for it to deflate on its own. Simple enough.

[chistech]

On 11/11/2018 at 12:38 PM, John S. said:

That's the whole package!  Great work on the wheels. They are gorgeous, Ted. You are a lucky fellow. A neat car, and an understanding wife. Thanks for the post. John

I should have posted this response earlier. Yes John, I am definitely very lucky. I really ended up with this car because of my wife. This car is the third vehicle I’ve restored for myself. The first my blazer and the second my 31’ Chevy. When I told my wife I wanted a rumble seat car and had a line on a nice one that was all done but just needed to be repainted, she put the kabosh on it saying if we got another car, she wanted it to be a full restoration done by me (She’s my biggest fan), not just a repainted car someone else had done. I told her we could still go look at the car but it turned out when I called the owner, she had sold it. Found the Olds by circumstances too long to mention. My wife took on look at it and knowing how much it cost thought I was a little crazy but then said she trusted me. Now, after seeing just the wheels painted, she’s telling me she’s going to be paranoid about driving it because she appreciates all the work that goes into it and also knows the lack of regard people out there can have for nice cars. 

   Is she a full fledged car person, no, is she a understanding and great wife, absolutely. And like all my cars, she’s not available!?

[Laughing Coyote]

1 hour ago, chistech said:

I really ended up with this car because of my wife.

Sooooooo, will this be HER car since she found it? 

[chistech]

48 minutes ago, Laughing Coyote said:

Sooooooo, will this be HER car since she found it? 

I’m married. EVERY car is her car! Actually, the thing that sold her on this car is it’s a convertible. She loves convertibles. Now, they have to be in proportion. Long hoods like a jag XK8 are out, short back ends like BMW and some others are out to. Too small like MGs, Miatas, TRs, and too big are also out. She did really like the Pontiac Solstice I took her to drive one day, but then said we didn’t need another car. Then the big kicker on anything old, she wants an automatic roof. So, you see, she’s made a concession on the Olds. She thinks the hood is long also but she’s coming around. So while I posted earlier how great she is, she’s equally picky about things! LOL 

[36 D2 Coupe]

7 hours ago, chistech said:

she’s equally picky about things! LOL 

And that's how she came to have YOU!

[chistech]

2 hours ago, 36 D2 Coupe said:

And that's how she came to have YOU!

When ever I complain about her pickiness to her that’s exactly what she says!

[Spinneyhill]

23 minutes ago, chistech said:

When ever I complain about her pickiness to her that’s exactly what she says!

Mine too! Humph.

[chistech]

Been working on the body. My body guy got the rumble lid finished and in primer and has the majority of the body pretty much squared away other than the lower front passenger side cowl. I put all the patches in the car except that one. I had cut the patch panel and spotted it in but my old paint shop got in a new brass wire welder and they wanted to try it out. Needless to say, the patch wasn’t so good and my new body guy didn’t like it at all. It would have required way more filler than it should have seeing since it was solid metal so tonight I cut the old repair out and using my tig, welded in a new patch. I struggled for about an hour trying to weld because it’s hard using the pedal when you’re crouched down. All of a sudden the light came on and I realized all I had to do was put it up on my lift to eye level. Needless to say it went easy after that and it will get a little further tin knocking but the whole area is a lot better now.

[chistech]

Been working on the front cowl and decided to check out my rechromed cowl band. They are impossible to find (they are longer than a Chevy so repops are out) and my own was split in half when I got the car at the top passenger side of the cowl and a sheet metal screw was put in it to hold it in place. My chrome shop repaired it but I hadn’t really looked at it since it came back. The shop soldered in a flat piece of brass but didn’t put it deep enough not to interfere with the cowl bead it sits on. Seeing that both sides of the band were soldered to the brass piece, I knew I could remove the center of the piece that wasn’t touching anything. With my dremel cutoff wheel, I easily cut the section out and got the band to fit down on the bead easily. A little twisting here and there to get the band to lay right and it’s all set. Better to do this type of parts fitting before the car gets final paint. Body guy has been coming a lot and is here again this morning. He wants the car all in urethane primer and blocked out before Christmas and that’s great with me. 

   Hampton Coach is just about done with my roof and top boot and I will be picking them up soon. They also made new rumble seat covers because the original patterns they had didn’t fit right at all. They made up new covers and reupholstered the cushion and seat back. They are done and I’ll pick them up when the roof is ready. Every day now is progress and it’s really good to see.

[chistech]

Because the body guy is moving right along I realized I still hadn’t nailed in the lower rumble lid deck (metal skin on the body below the rumble lid above the fuel tank apron. My original was rotted along the bottom edge like so many are so I have a repopped one. I made a a pattern of the arc of the upper edge of the lower deck where it hooks over the knife edge metal and used it when nailing the bottom edge of the lower deck into the bottom of the rear cross sill. I also replaced all nails in body sheet metal with 1” full ring shanked panel nails so nothing should work themselves outs later on as the car is driven around.

    Had to go off this morning and when I got back I went into the garage to see how much was done. The gas tank apron was all finished and etch primed. He had been working on the cowl, top, sides, and engine side. I had patched some old holes in the firewall so that needed some body work. The drivers side had two little waves, the top virtually nothing except for some light pitting along the cowl band bead, and the passenger side had the patch. He’s got the cowl all done and etch primed except for the passenger side lower area where he’s still working on the patched area but it too is almost done.  Looks like he’s planning on making that Christmas deadline of his!

[chistech]

Some more of today’s work.

[John S.]

Beautiful, Really coming along nicely Ted. It"s going to look great in black. John

[chistech]

Getting more done. The body is just about ready to go into primer so it can be blocked out. Just the lower passenger cowl and some light pitting to take care of around the cowl vent opening. I did a little touch up body soldering at the tops of the latch pillar covers where the cover meets the body side panel at top. This area was spot mig welded to keep the pillar cover in place and then it was filled with a light coating of solder. It got filed then sanded (yes, no lead solder). Worked on a hump in the passenger side cowl with my shrinking disc. It quickly removed the high area and now a skim coat along with some sanding will have it done.

[chistech]

Got to love this time of year and UPS/USPS/FedEx Saturday deliveries. Went out the door about 8:00 am yesterday to find a big box on my porch from my plater. It was my radiator shell finally back. There was an issue with some yellow tinting around the radiator cap opening where the chrome just didn’t get into the metal so I sent it back. They had a bunch of trouble getting it right and ended up completely stripping it down to bare steel, coppering, nickeling, then chroming it again. Turns out they had to replace their adnodes as they weren’t getting enough electrical flow to the piece. 

     Went to my moms garage where the Olds chassis is stored and removed the radiator to bring it home. While I was there I also installed my freshly painted fuel tank. When I got home I assembled the shutters and opening/closing mechanism into the shell along with installing my redone glass Olds ornament, then put the radiator in which is kind of a tight fit. Still need to install the hood lacing on the edges the shell.

     I’m going to make up a new inside cowl insulating pad. Luckily, my original pad is intact enough to copy. The original is two layers of jute sandwiching a piece of burlap with a piece of waterproof fiber board on the interior side. I would use the original jute but a piece was cut out when a heater was added years back. I will use the modern jute replacement material and fabricate my new one with a layer of burlap in between the jute just like the original. The pad gets fastened to the firewall with steel spread leg paper fasteners along the top/sides and a full width flat sheet metal bar with 1/4-20 screws across the pad bottom. The best thing is the old pad has all the mounting holes, all the specific cutouts, and necessary relief cuts so my copy should be a perfect drop in for the original. 

[chistech]

Made up my firewall insulating pad as I described in my previous post. Uses sharpened brass tubing of different sizes in my drill to make all the holes in the board and through the padding. Tried using a punch on one big hole and it fractured the finished side of the fiber board,🤬 I was able to fix up the area and luckily the hole is way up high on the board. All the big holes I made in the fiber board with Forster bits, slightly drilling from each side to cut the board. Each hole got cleaned up with a dremel sanding drum. The sharpened tubing really made easy work of getting through the padding material. Anyone who’s ever tried to make holes in that material knows how much of a chore it is to make clean, pass through holes. All the bolts and pins you see in the pictures are just there for alignment purposes for now.

        Need to get a little more info on how exactly the fiber board gets a couple of relief cuts in it. My pad has two holes with slices in the padding to the holes but the original board is missing in that area so I’m not sure how to put the relief cuts in the board. I’ll check with another Olds owner to see if he can help me. Won’t glue the board to the padding until I have the board cut correctly in all areas.

Edited December 3, 2018 by chistech (see edit history)

[Taylormade]

Getting ready to do the firewall pad on my 32 Dodge Brothers.  May I ask where you got the jute and the fiber board?  My pad is not as thick as yours and appears to have a single layer of jute.  What did you find to be the best method to cut the jute to shape?  How about the fiberboard.  Both of your materials look to have very clean cuts.

[chistech]

The fiber board is the standard stuff used by upholstery shops and you should be able to get it there. The padding is the padding used in seats and they should have that. Mine all came from LeBaron Bonney from left over jobs and extra that I had purchased. Some of the board is waterproof and some isn’t, your choice what to use. To cut the board a good sharp utility knife and an exacto knife does the job perfectly. The padding I cut wit my upholstery shears. They work really good on it because the bottom blade is finely serrated and the top blade is smooth. The serrations keep the material from running as you cut and help make straighter cuts. A good garment/sewing supply should have them. They not cheap but once you have them, you’ll really use them and be glad you bought them.

[John S.]

Ted, are there any interchangeable body, interior parts with Buick and Pontiac from that era for the Oldsmobile?  Just curious. Great work as always. Really enjoy your post. John

[chistech]

Hi John,

theres some but not a lot. Across the same model (convertible roadster/Cabriolet/Convertible coupe, whatever name someone wants to use) they all used the same windshield frame, the whole folding roof, landau bars, rear rumble floor pan, floor mid pan, tool tray, rumble seat springs, front seat springs, and the whole front seat frame with all its parts. The interior design and materials are basically the same with leather/vinyl seat covers fitting all the models. The interior panels do differ though in the cowl area, on the passenger side if there’s a golf bag or not. I also believe door window frames along with the regulators and latches are all the same. Now that I listed everything I guess there’s a little more than I thought. LOL

[John_Mereness]

Just a thought  - I have replaced a few cowl boards over time (each with different types of original construction) and with each one I thought I would be fine, though my observation is that whatever the design there is still too much heat in the front compartment of any early 30's car.  I am currently working on a 1936 Auburn and I went ahead and DynaMat-ted the firewall for this project (jury is still out as to end result) 

[chistech]

I fully matted my 31' Chevy 4dr special sedan, from cowl to rear of body and all doors. I did it more to quiet the body rather than insulate it. It also has a full front cowl insulator pad which 31 was the first year for that in a chevy. I am planning on adding it to my olds in the cowl sides, doors, and body sides and possibly the inside of the firewall. The Olds firewall is actually quite complicated with a deep curved channel running in a circular shape that will make it difficult to line with the matting but it can be done. I've actually already ordered enough material to do the job. 

[chistech]

My body man came today to work and brought some Matrix brand primer with him. He’s finishing off the body and most parts tomorrow and will prime it all tomorrow too. I didn’t realize how recognized his work is but it turns out Matrix has been considering him for an upcoming years “Mavericks of color”, an award for the best painters using Matrix paint. The award started back with the TV show Counting Cars at Counts Kustoms with their painter, Ryan Evans receiving the first award. Now every year Ryan passes the torch to other painters who have earned the recognition. When Gilly (my painter) spoke to the area Matrix rep about my car they told him about his good chance of getting the award and they also want to use a picture of my car when it’s completed for their next years calendar! Pretty cool.

[chistech]

Well, as promised the car (most of it minus the hood and front fenders) has been primed. Now I’m going to have a big “block” party. If you’ve got the time I’ll supply the beer and 🍕!😀 Now it’s time to get out the guide coat paint and start wet sanding. Some shots of it masked off and primed.

Edited December 10, 2018 by chistech (see edit history)

[chistech]

More pictures.

Edited December 10, 2018 by chistech (see edit history)

[Laughing Coyote]

Sweeeeettt!  Looks like you may be getting an early Christmas gift.

[chistech]

Doors, rumble lid, golf bag door, and the rear fenders.

[chistech]

 My good friend Joe who’s also restoring a 32’ Olds rumble seat sport coupe sent me a custom made stone guard that was probably made over 20 years and is no longer available. He bought it many years ago but decided not to use it. His car is a deluxe wood wheeled model but he’s gone with a very subtle version. 32’ Olds could be ordered with lots of bling or could also be ordered in a subdued look. My car has lots of chrome including the optional chrome hood doors, chrome windshield frame, landau bars, etc., with the optional varnished wheels, and wide white walls. Joes car has chrome but his hood doors are painted, his car is closed sothe windshield is part of the painted body, his wheels are painted, and his tires are black walls.

     So while both cars will be restored to equally high standards and as close to OEM as possible, they will be at both ends of the spectrum as to how they were available to the public to purchase in 32’. Our goal is to eventually show them together so people can see the contrast. 

     Here’s a picture of the radiator with the stone guard in place. It really gives it even more bling from the black shutters underneath. In 32’, with the depression in effect, anyone who purchased a roadster was probably fairly well off and if single, probably considered a “playboy” with a flashy car. So that’s what my roadster will look like! 

[John S.]

Ted, you and your body man are doing a spectacular job on the Olds That car is straight!.  Great work as always. John

[Mike "Hubbie" Stearns]

I just wish I lived closer. I would enjoy the block party

[chistech]

2 hours ago, John S. said:

Ted, you and your body man are doing a spectacular job on the Olds That car is straight!.  Great work as always. John

It was a gratifying move to bringing the body back to my shop to stop worrying about when or if any work would be done on it or if it would be ready for the 2019 show season. I had discussed with, and my wife saw, my frustration over my decision to leave my friends shop but I had to do it. I needed to move on so things could get done and I could rest easier. I examined other options including other shops but really wanted to find a body guy to work out of my own garage. I knew if I could At least get the body prepped, I could still get my friend to paint it as we parted on friendly terms. What was a plus was getting Gilly to come to my shop as I not only got an excellent body man, but an excellent painter too. I can tell you I’m sleeping much better but just recently not so well. Now with the excitement of it getting close paint, I can’t seem to sleep again!😅

[chistech]

I took my radiator assembly to my moms garage where my Olds chassis is so I could mount it on. Didn’t take but a few minutes and it was mounted up. Again, another assembly that hasn’t been back in place for well over a year. Piece by piece, it’s looking like a car again.

[chistech]

14 hours ago, Mike "Hubbie" Stearns said:

I just wish I lived closer. I would enjoy the block party

Is it because I only offered beer and pizza 🍕? 😆 

 

actually, it amazes me that I can’t find anyone who’s interested in coming over, talking old cars, and just hanging out. I really think it’s because I’m a pre-war kind of guy and most cars guys now who are retired are Muscle car guys, my brother being one himself even though he’s not retired yet. There’s really not a lot of pre-war, original type guys in New England anymore and those that are are either spread thin or too old to want to drive or do anything much on a car. I have a good friend who loves this era and original cars but he’s over an hour away. Just a little to far for us to pull daily or even weekly reciprocal visits. It’s actually a good thing though as both our wives get along great and both love to tea-total a bit. Man, they can get 😜 and when that happens, who the hell wants to work on cars!

[keiser31]

1 minute ago, chistech said:

Is it because I only offered beer and pizza 🍕? 😆 

 

actually, it amazes me that I can’t find anyone who’s interested in coming over, talking old cars, and just hanging out. I really think it’s because I’m a pre-war kind of guy and most cars guys now who are retired are Muscle car guys, my brother being one himself even though he’s not retired yet. There’s really not a lot of pre-war, original type guys in New England anymore and those that are are either spread thin or too old to want to drive or do anything much on a car. I have a good friend who loves this era and original cars but he’s over an hour away. Just a little to far for us to pull daily or even weekly reciprocal visits. It’s actually a good thing though as both our wives get along great and both love to tea-total a bit. Man, they can get 😜 and when that happens, who the hell wants to work on cars!

I have exactly the same problem here in southern Oregon. Most guys are into muscle cars or more modern cars than mine. No help at all. I feel like I'm at an oasis in the desert. I can NEVER get anyone to just come and hang out, let alone lift a finger with me.

[chistech]

It's a shame that the older cars don't seem to be able to Garner the admiration anymore. Now people look at me with crazy eyes when i tell them I'm into pre war original cars. 😒

[JV Puleo]

Well, I'd stop in if you were just a bit closer. I'm fortunate in having at least two friends who appreciate pre-war cars... one of them has an unrestored '31 Chrysler CM6 roadster.