32' Oldsmobile Deluxe Convertible Roadster

weathered1 · October 20, 2019

Ted, congratulation's that is quite an honor just to be nominated, I hope you win!!

George

chistech · October 20, 2019

Thanks everyone. It’s really shocking to me. I know the day of the show, there was a lot of people around it and I can’t recall any other judges looking at it but I guess they did. I was told it’s rare to be nominated without having a Sr. Award and not very often on a car’s first showing so it seems my craziness for authenticity has paid off.

I do have a photographer coming to take pictures of the car for the National award samples and have sent off the picture Tony De Seta took of the car, which he photo-shopped everything out of the picture, me and even the windshield card included, to the Sherwin Williams person in charge of their calendar. I was also asked to contact another gentleman who is involved with video productions as he wants to do some sort of story on the car. Turns out he’s supposed to be very involved in antique cars and knows how rare the 32’ Olds roadster is. I got his phone number yesterday and will call him tomorrow. This is a bunch of stuff happening really fast. Don’t know what will come of it all but we’ll enjoy the ride while it does.

NOTE: just had someone send me info on an auction of a 31’ Olds roadster! It’s close by and tempting if it goes cheap enough. Just don’t tell Michelle!

October 20, 2019

Congratulations on having your Oldsmobile selected. What a beautiful automobile and a fantastic restoration.

Laughing Coyote · October 20, 2019

1 hour ago, chistech said:

This is a bunch of stuff happening really fast. Don’t know what will come of it all but we’ll enjoy the ride while it does.

Can you say celebrity!! If the 31 is in the same condition as the 32 when you got it I would jump on it. That way you have a 31 and a 32.

chistech · October 20, 2019

1 minute ago, Laughing Coyote said:

Can you say celebrity!! If the 31 is in the same condition as the 32 when you got it I would jump on it. That way you have a 31 and a 32.

It’s probably in better shape as it appears complete other than the tail light. I think it would be fun to make it mechanically sound then clean it up and drive it. Not sure if I could go through another extensive restoration like my 32’ was. I would end up having to learn how to sew as I would need to make my own upholstery and my own roof. I would have to do all my own cutting out and stitching of all panels plus roof and upholstery. Chrome is beat up too. It would be about $20k to chrome everything possibly a little less.

John S. · October 20, 2019

Congratulations, Ted. Wonderful news to cap off a great Hershey. Your work on Oldsmobile is spectacular, and any awards that follow are well deserved. Your Long Island fan club, John and Laura.

keiser31 · October 20, 2019

2 hours ago, chistech said:

Thanks everyone. It’s really shocking to me. I know the day of the show, there was a lot of people around it and I can’t recall any other judges looking at it but I guess they did. I was told it’s rare to be nominated without having a Sr. Award and not very often on a car’s first showing so it seems my craziness for authenticity has paid off.

I do have a photographer coming to take pictures of the car for the National award samples and have sent off the picture Tony De Seta took of the car, which he photo-shopped everything out of the picture, me and even the windshield card included, to the Sherwin Williams person in charge of their calendar. I was also asked to contact another gentleman who is involved with video productions as he wants to do some sort of story on the car. Turns out he’s supposed to be very involved in antique cars and knows how rare the 32’ Olds roadster is. I got his phone number yesterday and will call him tomorrow. This is a bunch of stuff happening really fast. Don’t know what will come of it all but we’ll enjoy the ride while it does.

NOTE: just had someone send me info on an auction of a 31’ Olds roadster! It’s close by and tempting if it goes cheap enough. Just don’t tell Michelle!

HEY! The foot's gone!!!

John S. · October 22, 2019

That is one good looking car. Looks much better without that fella, and the foot.

chistech · October 22, 2019

I hadn’t mentioned much about a problem I was having with the Olds but some know I had been getting blow by into the cooling system, causing the car to boil over and heat up if I drove it faster than 25mph. It was OK to get into the show grounds but once home from the show, it reared it’s head again. I did add a head gasket sealer called Steel Seal and it slowed it down enough to get the car in and out of the show grounds.

Turns out I had two head bolts that were stripped out, probably because of 87 yr old metal fatigue that couldn’t hold up to fresh pistons and 80-85# compression plus the thermal expansion. So I pulled the head and took it down to the machine shop for magna flux testing and to true it’s surface again. My own testing before I removed the head showed #6 was the culprit and the head bolt closest to the combustion chamber was one of the stripped ones. We believe when the engine heated up, the compression was pushed out and right down the threads of that stripped bolt into the water jacket. What makes sealing the head difficult on the Olds flat head engine is that every single head bolt, 26 of them on the 6cyl,, goes directly into the water jacket. Possibly one or two are blind but most are bored right through and the bottom of the head bolts are exposed and in the coolant.

Knowing that I needed to repair at least two holes in the block, under the advice of my engine shop, I purchased the Time Sert threaded inserts and installation kit for 7/16-14. My engine shop let me borrow his magnet based drill which is a great tool for this job as it holds itself in place and drills 90degrees which is essential to putting in the inserts. With the top of the block all cleaned off, I used a long piece of the self adhesive Oracal stencil film that I used to mask the sprocket pattern on the wheels. This film worked perfectly for the job as it seal both the pistons and valves from any metal particles from the drilling, counter boring, and tapping processes. I would simply vacuum off the surrounding film after each step of the process.

The first hole needing repair was between 2-3 pistons and offered the most room for mistakes so I started there. A 29/64” hole is drilled first then the counter bore is run in either by hand or with a battery drill on slow to the stop shoulder. Then an oversized tap for the outside size of the insert is tapped into the hole. Using a V block and longer handles help keep a straight eye on the tap. The insert is then screwed onto the installation tool and screwed into the tapped hole. How the insert is set is the tool doesn’t screw all the way to the bottom of the insert initially as the last few threads in the insert are not fully tapped. The tool first binds enough to screw the insert into the thread till the flange hits the bottom of the counter bore, then the tool continues through the insert and stages the lower part of the insert into the hole, holding it fast. What I quickly found out is the inserts don’t like to seat all the way into the counter bore before the insert tool starts turning in the insert, swaging the insert prematurely. A quick fix to the problem was to simply thread a 7/16-14 nut onto the installation tool first and tighten down to the top of the insert once the insert is installed on the tool before the swaging point of the threads. I then screwed the insert into the tapped hole and when it got tight, using a wrench, I turned the nut along with the installation tool until it stopped fast. This process seats the flange perfect flush with theblocks surface and all that is required to remove the tool is to back off the nut, then unscrew the installation tool. I am very impressed with the Time Serts and they work perfectly with my little “fix”. The main problem hole by #6 was done second and took no time to install. When drilling the cast onehas to be careful as the drill likes to pull itself in and it seems to catch some. I set the drill up using a longer 29/64” drill from my kit as I couldn’t get enough depth due to the magnet base height. I installed a stop on the drill so I would only drill far enough for what was needed. Here are a few pictures of doing the first hole. Got way better on the second and might do one to three more once I look at them again.

chistech · October 22, 2019

Few more pictures of the Time Sert tools and process. Once I’m satisfied with the inserts I need installed, I’ll just be waiting on the Machine shop and the head.

weathered1 · October 22, 2019

Ted nice description on the whole install process, great idea on the drill with the magnetic base. On Chevrolet engines I use ARP thread sealant on any water jacket studs or bolts. George

chistech · October 24, 2019

Got notified this morning that the Sherwin Williams calendar for 2020 is already set for printing so my 32' Olds will be going into the 2021 calendar instead. Pretty cool.

John S. · October 24, 2019

Cool beans!

Mike Macartney · October 26, 2019

I like the idea of the plastic sheet protecting the bores. I shall have to remember that one.

It was a bonus not having to take your car to a location for a photo shoot. I can remember, in the past, having to spend nearly all day with the camera man and his crew for just one magazine front page photo. It got very boring after a while.

chistech · October 26, 2019

7 hours ago, Mike Macartney said:

I like the idea of the plastic sheet protecting the bores. I shall have to remember that one.

It was a bonus not having to take your car to a location for a photo shoot. I can remember, in the past, having to spend nearly all day with the camera man and his crew for just one magazine front page photo. It got very boring after a while.

Mike, that sheeting is self adhesive and stuck to the top of the block. It couldn't have worked any better. Sometimes the brain works good and things come to mind! LOL Just got pictures taken this morning in my yard. I'll post a couple but don't want to keep posting pictures of my car as I've already posted enough and you guys must be getting tired of looking at the same damn thing.

chistech · October 26, 2019

Got the head back on a couple days ago. Ended up installing 13 Time Serts into the block. I only left 11 bores untouched. The ten holes along the manifold side were in very good shape. I assume the motor being hotter in that area possibly prevented the block from rusting as much as other parts even though all are in the water jacket. The opposite side has only 6 so the torque load is also spread a greater range on the off side of the manifold. The motor is 87-88 years old and who knows how many valve jobs were done on it and how many times the head had been on and off. Simple metal fatigue, wear, and age all played a part in slowly eroding the holes. I used a dial indicator and if I had more than .030 movement to the bolt, I installed the insert.

Sprayed the new gasket with copper spray gasket maker on both sides and put it on the block, installed the head on top, and started installing each head bolt after coating each bolt with Permatex gray ultra. Working in the correct pattern I started with 40lbs, went to 50lbs, then finished them at 65lbs. I went back later after an hour and torqued them all again to 65lbs. Let the motor sit for over 24hrs to let all the sealer cure then filled it with a 50/50 mix of distilled water and green antifreeze. Fired it up yesterday and took it for a ride. It stayed at 160 for a fairly long time then when I increased my speed, it increased to 180 for a fair amount of time then again, started to climb. Nothing like before where it immediately got hot and bubbled. No bubbles this time but still climbed to 200 as I pulled in the yard. This time I was armed with my laser thermometer and took some temps off the rear of the radiator and the head. The head was 200 in most all locations. The top of the radiator center was 185 and the middle center was 160, bottom center was 155. Drivers side top was 140, mid was 120, bottom 120. Passenger side (about a good 6" of width from outside edge was 104 top, 104 mid, 104 bottom. So, my issue is the flow of the radiator for sure now. It seems I had two issues originally, blow by and radiator. I believe whats happening is when driving at speed, the water pumps up into the top of the radiator and it can't flow through fast enough nore cool enough. The water at the top reservoir is being forced out the over flow tube so eventually the motor can't get enough water, nevermind cool enough water, to keep it from getting hot. I was fortunate to locate a 32' Olds radiator and we in negotiations right now about it. Want to get it checked out and cleaned, then when I pull my current radiator out, I can replace it immediately to get the car back on the road without wait.

And here I was hoping my restoration was going to be all done so I could just enjoy this car. Not to be as of right now!

STEVE POLLARD · October 26, 2019

Sorry to hear that Ted..... I hope it all works out for you.

Steve

John S. · October 26, 2019

Good luck, with the repairs, Ted.

John_Mereness · October 26, 2019

1 hour ago, chistech said:

I was fortunate to locate a 32' Olds radiator and we in negotiations right now about it. Want to get it checked out and cleaned, then when I pull my current radiator out, I can replace it immediately to get the car back on the road without wait.

And here I was hoping my restoration was going to be all done so I could just enjoy this car. Not to be as of right now!

A honeycomb clogs pretty easily and is not that easy to clean out via its design. I guess you could try the evapo-rust stuff first and see if you can improve upon it even prior to taking it to a radiator shop. That being said, you did such a nice job on the car, I would be tempted to have a new core made by Brassworks. And, not sure about what you have for a thermostat, but make sure that is working properly. Also, make sure you do not have a hose collapsing from water pump suction (it will only collapse at speed/under load - aka generally not in the garage while looking at it). Does it have a water distribution tube in the block ?

Edited October 26, 2019 by John_Mereness (see edit history)

Laughing Coyote · October 26, 2019

Sorry to hear about the issues with the Olds. You will get it all figured out and repaired properly. It will be a distant memory after your back on the road and enjoying it again.

MCHinson · October 26, 2019

I would try some evaporust thermocure in it and see if improves the radiator efficiency.

https://evapo-rust.com/thermocure/

Edited October 26, 2019 by MCHinson (see edit history)

hursst · October 26, 2019

Late to the game, but congrats on the award(s)! I was able to see your car at Hershey and was simply blown away. Just a fantastic restoration.

chistech · October 27, 2019

7 hours ago, John_Mereness said:

A honeycomb clogs pretty easily and is not that easy to clean out via its design. I guess you could try the evapo-rust stuff first and see if you can improve upon it even prior to taking it to a radiator shop. That being said, you did such a nice job on the car, I would be tempted to have a new core made by Brassworks. And, not sure about what you have for a thermostat, but make sure that is working properly. Also, make sure you do not have a hose collapsing from water pump suction (it will only collapse at speed/under load - aka generally not in the garage while looking at it). Does it have a water distribution tube in the block ?

Hi John, I will try the evapo-rust to see if it helps and I wish it would. Still going to try and buy the other radiator because the price is right. Have considered the brassworks option but it will be a last resort as it’s about a $4-5000 dollar one to make it in the honeycomb. I ask him a while back. No thermostat in a Olds, it has radiator shutters for heat control. The bottom water feed to the pump on the Olds is mostly pipe with just two short lengths of hose to join the ends. The side water jacket has a NOS Dorman brand cover with built in deflection plate so all those boxes have been checked so to speak. Pretty sure it’s now just the radiator.

John_Mereness · October 27, 2019

13 hours ago, chistech said:

Hi John, I will try the evapo-rust to see if it helps and I wish it would. Still going to try and buy the other radiator because the price is right. Have considered the brassworks option but it will be a last resort as it’s about a $4-5000 dollar one to make it in the honeycomb. I ask him a while back. No thermostat in a Olds, it has radiator shutters for heat control. The bottom water feed to the pump on the Olds is mostly pipe with just two short lengths of hose to join the ends. The side water jacket has a NOS Dorman brand cover with built in deflection plate so all those boxes have been checked so to speak. Pretty sure it’s now just the radiator.

No harm ever in having an extra radiator - go for it !

chistech · October 27, 2019

17 hours ago, hursst said:

Late to the game, but congrats on the award(s)! I was able to see your car at Hershey and was simply blown away. Just a fantastic restoration.

I met and had so many people introduce themselves to me from this thread that I can’t remember the faces to the names. My name recollection to a face has always been bad and it takes many visuals of a face so it registers with the name in my memory. With my job I go into businesses and meet with many people. I always write down their name and a quick description on my pad so I call them by name as we’re discussing their equipment needs. If I don’t, I just don’t remember their name 5 minutes later! It’s always been a problem for me.

So with that said, I apologize if I can’t remember faces of the people I met at the show. Luckily John S and his wife hung around long enough that they register in my facial memory. Hard to forget a Italian from NY! At least he admitted to being a Pisano when I called him one! If he’s not, he sure looks the part! LOL John’s wife and mine really seemed to hit it off too. Really nice people

chistech · October 27, 2019

Here are the pictures the photographer took. The reflections were killing us as everyone has something reflected in it. Weather is bad and it was are only window. If you guys are willing, vote for the ones you like best. First picture will be number 1 and so on. Going to put 6 up total. I need to submit these in a couple days the latest. These are full size as they were taken and cannot be altered in any way for the AACA. I can only post one at a time so voting should be easy as far as the number system goes! I need one good shot from the front and one good shot from the rear to submit.