rocketraider

66-69 Toronado. 66-7 the whole light pod flipped up, 68-9 the headlights were stationary and grilles flipped up. Vacuum operated. Also 1967-8 Eldorado and 66-68 Riviera.<P>1966-70 Dodge Charger. Headlight pods rotated in grille. Electrically operated.<P>1978-9 Dodge Magnum. Stationary lights with clear plastic covers that rotated up electrically.<P>1967-70, 1977-82 Thunderbird. Stationary lights, vacuum operated covers. Also 69-later Continentals and 73-later LTDs.<P>Lotta blind cars running around, eh? That's one thing I can count on when the 69 Toronado goes to a cruise night- "Make the headlights work".<p>[ 07-17-2002: Message edited by: rocketraider ]

My problem isn't meeces- it's <B>spiders!</B>and there's a bumper crop of the little buggers this year! I rarely actually see any on or in the cars, but going into the storage units... Time I get the car open I'm wrapped up in spiderwebs. Any ideas?<P>55Steve- you're feeding the cat too well. Hide the Meow Mix and he'll go after the meeces.<p>[ 07-16-2002: Message edited by: rocketraider ]

The idjit light should be lit <B>dimly</B> with ignition switch in ACC position. If it's lit up bright something's not right. <P>A voltage regulator that's set too high will cause electrolyte to spew out the battery vents. A bad battery will also cause this problem. Mechanical VR's by design are a compromise since they have to keep a battery charged under all weather and temperature conditions. The internal electronic regulators are much more adaptable and accurate.<P>It is possible to convert an external regulator Olds to internal regulated alternator. You'll have to change the two-wire plug on the alternator and bypass the external regulator. At one time, several of the GM vendors were selling a jumper harness that hid under the original VR case and kept the original appearance with modern works.

I talked with a guy at a cruise night this past weekend who had just bought a 1977 Century Gran Sport. Sloped nose Century front end, formal roofline and quarter windows and Gran Sport stripes. Sound familiar? Maybe that's what your folks had?<P>Sometimes the Zone dealer networks would put together what was called a "marketing group car" that took parts from different series and made a special factory custom version. I know Olds and Chevy did it, so it stands to reason the others would have too.

That is called a broadcast card or "build sheet" and is a desirable document to have.<BR>It contains the codes for all the equipment and options that were factory installed on the car. It should have the car's serial number on it somewhere, but be warned that some cars never had a build sheet and others had one from a different car stuffed in them when they went out the door.<P>I can probably decode a lot of the numbers for you.

Steve, I guess you as a past President and me as a past Director are the closest thing to OCA support and moderation this site has. No current OCA officers or board members are active on this site or the other Olds forums, and that is <I>not good!</I> I had several DFers on another site thank me for participating as a director since they felt the Club honestly didn't care about the membership. And the last four years, I've often felt that way myself- to the point that I almost did not renew my OCA membership after 20 years in the Club. I still haven't recovered enough that I want to make the trip to Lansing this year.<P>Maybe with new blood in place at the top, that will change. Pat's way more of a people person than what just left office, and I've offered him my services as forum moderator if he'll have me.<P>I guess when the primary agenda was to destroy a dead man's reputation along with those of people associated with him, such a trivial thing as establishing good rapport with the everyday Olds hobbyist wasn't important. <P>Glenn Williamson<BR>the Rocketraider<BR>OCA Southeast Zone Director 1990-2000

Paula, your best bet will be to contact the Oldsmobile History Center. They can usually find the original car order though some of the archives are lost. Cars often didn't have a build sheet or had one for a different car stuffed in several places.

Are you talking about a car that had the Hurst/Hatch roof? Don't think Hurst had any special production agreements with GM in '77 after the '77 Hurst/Olds fell through, though the H/H was available on all J57 style A-body cars. Most Buick versions I've seen were either Regals or Regal S/R's.

Not a bad return on a part that cost less than $10 new 35 years ago... AND NOBODY BOUGHT!! lessee, that's appreciating at $10 a year...<P>Wonder why they didn't sell many of these when our old cars were new? They were cheap enough.<p>[ 07-14-2002: Message edited by: rocketraider ]

Got mine thru a local store tied into the All-Pro parts warehouse network. Think it was about $35. A rebuild goes for $15-20 and time you've gone thru 3 or 4 of those, what have you saved? My 76 Ninety Eight is next in line for a new one, as it's doing the same thing yours is. Just hope I can find a helper a little quicker than last time

Here we go...<P>The Fiesta is a Super 88 as indicated by style #3535. Series 3500= Super 88, style 35= Fiesta Sedan two seat station wagon. It will have a 394 cubic inch 4 barrel engine. The VIN translates to: <P> 59= 1959 model year<BR> 8= Super 88 series 3500<BR> C= South gate CA assembly plant<BR> 06744= sequential VIN, fairly low.<P>Trim code 350 translates to: Ivory perforated hardboard headliner with Red carpet floor covering. Seats are Red Morocceen vinyl and Red pattern cloth with Ivory accents. Red upper instrument panel, Ivory lower. The car should have aluminum trim on the sides of the seat cushion and Red vinyl seat backs.<P>Paint code CCC is Provincial White upper body, lower body and rear roof color.<P>I can't break down the individaul option codes right now but B are generally seat and interior codes, K are ignition,charging, and electrical systems (K3 may be power rear window, K6 factory A/C?), and U are radios.<P>The Dynamic 88 will have a 371 cid 2 barrel engine unless it was ordered with an optional engine. Its VIN translates to:<P> 59= model year<BR> 7= Dynamic 88 series 3200<BR> H= assembly plant not showing up in my <BR> Olds books. Sure it's not "K"? That <BR> would be Kansas City KS.<BR> 03220= sequential VIN, VERY low.<P>Hope this lengthy info post has helped you and others. It came from the 1960 Olds service manual and 1962 Olds Body Parts & Service Catalog.

Most of the larger Olds vendors carry vinyl seat upholstery kits and most of those are made by PUI. Nicely made of quality materials. They'll have carpet sets too. <A HREF="http://www.fusick.com" TARGET=_blank>www.fusick.com</A> is the first one that comes to mind. I can also tell you a couple of vendors to stay away from, but will be nice here and not call any names.<P>If you can't get a reproduction seat kit, try SMS Auto Fabrics <A HREF="http://www.smsautofabrics.com" TARGET=_blank>www.smsautofabrics.com</A> in Oregon. They have a large stock of original cloth and vinyl yardage and have come thru for me many times. They'll send samples of what they have on request. They're sometimes expensive, but they know their product. Then all you have to do is find someone to stitch it and hope they don't take 3 months to do the job like the last seats I had done!<P>Also recommend joining OCA and then one of the four Ohio Chapters if you haven't already. And hey- don't worry if the car has a few rough edges. It's 32 years old. Bring it, enjoy the show and swap meet (and Ohio OCA shows usually have some of the best!), make new friends and find a world of Oldsmobile you never knew existed. <P>Glenn Williamson<BR>the Rocketraider<BR>past OCA Southeast Zone director

KK kicked off an anniversary celebration in Winston-Salem this week. Seems like it's the 70th? 1932-2002?<P>Try one of their Peaches'n'Cream filled doughnuts- they'll make you smack your mama! not that a Southern boy would ever do that...<p>[ 07-14-2002: Message edited by: rocketraider ]

There's a complete set on e-bay right now. Monitors, wiring and all. Search under 1969 Camaro.

Common malady on a GM speedometer. It needs lubricating, both speedometer head and cable. You can do the cable yourself with some powdered graphite or spray lube (WD40 or the like). The speedo head will have to be done at a speedometer repair shop. I can recommend one in NC if you want.<P>Possible the magnets in the speedometer drive have gotten weak too and takes a little more for them to get the speedometer coil turning. Speedo shop can fix that too.

Your brake master cylinder is worn out and leaking by internally. Usually a simple fix, though between work, seats being redone and trouble finding help, it took me 5 months to get the brakes bled after installing a new master cylinder on my 74 Hurst.<P>I recommend getting a BRAND NEW master cylinder. They're available and not that expensive considering they are new and not overbored. My experience is that most rebuilds tend to do what yours is doing after a year or so, especially if the car isn't driven daily.<P>I also like Valvoline's SynPower brake fluid. It's DOT 3/4 rated and has an outrageously high wet and dry boiling point- about 60 degrees higher than plain old DOT 3 fluid. An dnot nearly as hateful to bleed air out of as DOT 5 silicone fluid.

I thought 65-66 B-car too, but they could possibly be 77-79. I'm basing that on the width of the center trim between the plastic and the turbine fins. I guess we need to look for the deerheads and crosses in the shields. Don't think those were used in 70s. If they're 14" they're definitely mid 60s.<P>Am I right that 1960 was first year for the tri-shield?

Henry, you mean there's still some of them 6-cylinder Cutlasses around? <P>I found a 76 S sedan in a yard about 20 miles from here and it was a six/automatic. The same yard had a 73 Cutlass (not even an S) coupe that was a six/3-speed with a RUBBER FLOOR MAT! Never saw such. Of course, I wasn't interested in what they could give up- I had discovered a 1973 Ninety Eight that had all kinds of goodies including the mini-console! and that went home with me for the princely sum of 8 bux... That was a weird one too- Tanbark outside, cranberry cloth inside. Back when they'd build what you wanted.

This sounds like either a grounding or headlight switch problem. Look around the back side of your headlights and you should see a short ground wire from the headlight wire to the radiator support at each lamp. If these are broken or loose it will cause a problem like you're describing.<P>Dirty or worn contacts in the headlight switch itself can also cause this, as can a bad ground at the parklamp assembly. Even a bulb with dirty contacts can make weird stuff like this happen. Also a bad instrument panel ground.<P>Right now I'm suspecting the headlight switch since the dash lights are fed thru it and moving the switch around clears up the problem.

Mr. M, didn't mean to imply you were "old" (though "Olds" is an apt description ) but knew you've sold them and been in the Dealers' Association a long time. Figured you'd have heard about any such malarkey as this if anyone had.<P>Rocketgirl, a 70 Supreme is a nice car to have and fairly rare to find these days. Lot of 'em got driven into the ground, but they were among the nicest cars overall GM ever built. Enjoy it, and hope to see you and the car in Cincinnati next year for the OCA National Meet.

Tops 'n' Trends in Kernersville NC did the original GT appearance packages and still have a lot of the stuff in stock. Talked to a GT owner a month or so ago who had had the car repainted (dark metallic blue, only one I've ever seen that color) and T&T put the striping back on it for her.<P>You could also try an Aero/Hurst body kit if you can find one anywhere. $$$ !<P>I don't know of any books like you want specifically for 80s Olds. You might find an obsolete factory parts manual in a dealership (most all have gone to computerised inventory now per GM edict), but aftermarket? Look on the G-Body Webring. Someone there may have a line on something.

If the "beehive" style lamps have a GM part number, I don't think there's a problem using them. They were probably a dealer installed item specifically made for cars that didn't have them factory installed and whose owners wanted the lamps, but not the expense of changing taillight assemblies, bumpers etc.<P>You may find a set NOS, or on a junked car. They seem to hold up well as they have glass lenses and even include a rubber gasket between the bezel and the car body.

This is one of those stories I have trouble believing, and coming from someone at Hot Rod makes it even less believable- if it's not a Camaro with a small block Chev in it, they generally don't know much, and they sure don't know much about an Oldsmobile.<P>The GM A-body cars (Cutlass, Chevelle, Tempest, Skylark) were generally all built on the same assembly lines in California, Texas, Michigan and Massachusetts. The MC and Grand Prix those years were a subset of the A line and were called AH or A-Special body cars. The Olds Supreme coupe was considered part of this body series due to its roofline.<P>I'm not following the story well here- Cutlasses with a Monte Carlo body, and Monte Carlos with a Cutlass S body- how was the distinction made? Driveline? Body trim? Interior appointments? Was it an S car with Monte Carlo nameplates? Chevy already had a Chevelle they could have done that with. Given that the MC/GP/Supreme were supposed to be a premium "distinction" offering, it wouldn't make sense to put the high-line badging on a bottom line car like the S or Chevelle.<P>Oldscarnut, you've been in the Olds organisation longer than just about anyone here. What is your take on this?

Don't sweat it. Sometimes ya have to do things ya don't really want to do. As long as this SBC conversion ain't permanent...<P>You'll have to move the motor mount perches around to match the Chevy mounting plates. I'm reasonably certain all the A-body cars used the same perches, just in different locations on the crossmember.<P>You'll probably get into something with auxiliary mounting brackets too. Doubtful the Buick alternator and PS bracketry is same as Chevy. <P>Fuel lines, starter and engine wiring should be compatible with what's already on the car. Also radiator hoses.<P>Nothing insurmountable, hotrodders do this stuff all the time. Just do it well and work safely. You don't want this stuff coming loose on ya going down the road. Trouble is, I think you're gonna end up liking that Turbo 350 and want to keep it instead of going back to the ST300.

Bugs Bunny once said "Anyt'ing can happen in a cartoon, mac". That's the way I view this ad campaign. Real life ain't that way.<P>Do you think Lexus has built or will build anything that could be remotely construed as collectible 50 years down the road? Skylarks were collectible when they were built. Lexii are nothing more than high dollar transportation for the guy who really wants a Cadillac but can't bear the thought of his friends and neighbors' foreign-car snobbery if he showed up in it.