32' Oldsmobile Deluxe Convertible Roadster

[STEVE POLLARD]

Martin - My wife wants me to get one of these.... but with a BIG PUSH BAR on it........lol

 

 

 

Edited June 4, 2020 by STEVE POLLARD (see edit history)

[Ken_P]

Ted, I’ve followed your work on the ‘34 Chevy truck, but just found this blog. Man! Amazing work, and I especially love all of your research to make it right, instead of just making it work! Beautiful car through and through, and congratulations on the many awards- I’m sure there are more to come!

Edited June 4, 2020 by Ken_P (see edit history)

[chistech]

1 hour ago, Ken_P said:

Ted, I’ve followed your work on the ‘34 Chevy truck, but just found this blog. Man! Amazing work, and I especially love all of your research to make it right, instead of just making it work! Beautiful car through and through, and congratulations on the many awards- I’m sure there are more to come!

Thanks ken, I enjoy the restoration work as much or even slightly more than having the car if you can believe that. Don’t get me wrong, I love the car, but the challenge of getting it to its finish i love too. I think for many of us here it’s a big part of it. Just look at many of the restorations going on and the incredible attention to the details. For-me with the Olds, once I figured out the opportunity I had with it being not only a rare car but a good looking one, it just inspired me to investigate as much as I could about it. Fortunately I hooked up with a guy who has that same sort of passion to do things as they were, whether they could be seen or not, and together we were able to get our two cars probably the most accurate restored examples of our models. My problem is whenever someone meets me and asks me about the Olds they soon learn I talk to much as I ended up storing to many facts in my brain and they just start coming out. It doesn’t take too long before they start hoping someone else will ask me something so they can slip away. Hey, at least I’m willing to admit it! LOL I suppose it’s because I find it pretty cool how many changes the model year had and Olds history I general of being the R&D of GM, which many don’t realize.

[chistech]

2 hours ago, STEVE POLLARD said:

Martin - My wife wants me to get one of these.... but with a BIG PUSH BAR on it........lol

 

 

 

Steve, it won’t help. I know from experience. I actually used to buy, restore/repair 6x6s and sell them. Back in the 80’s and fuel oil was expensive, everyone here in New England burned wood. Many owned their own land and wanted trucks to get it with. I had an “in” with a military junk yard and he purchased a ton of 51-56’ gmc M135 andM211 6x6 trucks. The 135s were 6 wheeled with one 11x20 ND tire on each hub and the 211 was a 10 wheeler with 10x20s mounted. These particular trucks sold cheap because they were automatic trans and most had no mileage with bad transmissions. These trucks actually used the Oldsmobile 4 speed automatic trans but with a 4 to1 reduction tail housing for low range. Because the trans used a main shaft governor, shifting was based on the input RPM of the shaft. This meant there was no way to prevent up shifts or down shifts and convoy speed was right at the speed the trans would shift from one band to one clutch drum. I learned to make a manual valve body, replace clutches and failed lip seals with new improved ones so I could sell bomb proof all wheel drive trucks with low miles and no rust or rot for cheap money. I sold a ton of them and drove them all over. I literally had people cut me off in intersections all the time like the couldn’t even see me i I couldn’t understand why. I realize is people do see them, they just feel your going slow and they can beat you. There were many times if it wasn’t for six big ass tires and really great brakes, they would have found out different! Sorry for all that useless trivia on army trucks but again, I think it’s pretty cool how they ran an Olds trans in them. Not sure if many also realize that Olds supplied Olds motors for many of their early truck years too, so they already had a long relationship before the army truck era.

[Laughing Coyote]

3 hours ago, STEVE POLLARD said:

Martin - My wife wants me to get one of these.... but with a BIG PUSH BAR on it........lol

Here you go. Might want to call your car hauler guy for pick up. 

https://prescott.craigslist.org/cto/d/paulden-1966-deuce-wd/7129763471.html

[STEVE POLLARD]

I did not know that information Ted... I think that they are cool looking trucks, we had a old Dodge that we used in the Fire Service... Civil Defense donated it to our Fire Company, great truck, it would go anywhere ... I mean anywhere !! lol

Oh, the '90 GMC was my "office" ..... loved that truck !

 

 

 

[STEVE POLLARD]

51 minutes ago, Laughing Coyote said:

Here you go. Might want to call your car hauler guy for pick up

Martin - if I had the room, I would look into it.... both garages are packed !   LOL

[chistech]

Hey Steve, we have a lot love for the same truck. My 83’ that I rotisserie restored. It has a hard and soft top but Michelle prefers the soft top down.

[STEVE POLLARD]

Very nice Ted.... great trucks !  Ours had the 350 engine in it with the automatic, truck never failed me.

 

Steve

 

 

[chistech]

7 hours ago, STEVE POLLARD said:

Very nice Ted.... great trucks !  Ours had the 350 engine in it with the automatic, truck never failed me.

 

Steve

 

 

Mine started out as a M1009 military blazer so it a 6.2 diesel but with a built 700r 4 speed auto rather than the 3speed so it has overdrive and gets about 24-25mpg. I installed 97’ Tahoe leather front seats plus all options available including tilt wheel, A/C, and cruise as I acquired a Jimmy High Sierra that was all rotted out as a donor truck for all those items. I drive it almost every day and now only has 33k original miles. One of my favorite trucks to drive.

[chistech]

Our weather had been really nice this past week so I decided to take my 31’ Chevy out and go runs some errands, grab a coffee, and go sit down at our town harbor for a nice view. I wanted to make sure my repaired carb float was still holding up an sure enough, it started right up and ran great. I pulled into a gas station to get gas and my coffee when I guy pulled up behind me and frantically started asking me if I could help him. It’s seemed his daughter was getting married this Saturday and they had arraigned for an old woody but the owner had mechanical problems and couldn’t get it fixed in time. He wanted to know if I could take his daughter to the Seamen’s Bethel in New Bedford and then after over to Fairhaven to their yard reception. He explained how all her plans had gotten screwed up because of the virus and we’re seeing happening to everyone so I told him I had to check to make sure my “boss” didn’t have plans for me and that the weather would need to cooperate. 
      Well yesterday under hazy sunshine, I drove to their house here in town, picked up the bride, her flower girl, and her mom, drove them to the Bethel, then the bride and groom to their home/reception in fairhaven. All went off without a hitch as the weather was perfect, traffic light, and the car performed flawlessly. Keith the dad is a super nice guy and so is his whole family. His wife is a ball of fire and had planned the route for me by calling the city because some ares close by had planned protests for just later in the day. His son and daughter, the bride, are twins and reflect their parents in their personalities. Just a super good bunch of people and I was very glad I could help them out. The bride is an absolutely beautiful girl and every time I looked in the rear view mirror, she had a beaming smile. It was a good day! On a side note, the Bethel is in the oldest part of New Bedford which is the historic section and dates back to the whaling era. Lots of very old building, gas lamps, and cobblestones. The Chevy fit right in.

[STEVE POLLARD]

Great pictures Ted !  If the last picture happen to been in black and white, you would of thought it were actually from the 1930's.

 

Steve

[Laughing Coyote]

It was meant for you to be part of that special day. The story will be told about the great man that helped them out on their wedding day. That's what the hobby is about. Making people smile. Letting people enjoy something that is different and out of the norm.  Connecting with new people. Good times.

[4Hud]

Well done sir and like Frank Burns on MASH said   "It's nice to be nice to the nice".  

[Mike Macartney]

Ted, it is great to read something like your act of kindness in these days of what, sometimes seems like worldwide doom and despondency.

[chistech]

I felt the same way Mike. Today all we read or hear about is the negative stuff and how everyone is angry with the other person over stupid stuff in most cases. It takes so much effort to be angry, especially when it's not even something to be that angry about. On the day that Keith (the father of the bride) stopped me, I told my wife when she got home and she simply said, "why wouldn't you do it?" That was my exact thought but I knew my wife had some things she wanted to do on Sat. so I still had to check with her, not to throw a wrench into something she might have planned. The day couldn't have gone better though. The people could have been just alright or even not so good but they were absolutely great. When they told me that three people would go in the car my first thought is, what if they are all big people (we have plenty of them here in the North East). Instead, both mother and daughter were very trim and the third was a very well behaved young flower girl. I was somewhat worried as these old chevys don't have a lot of spring under them and the 31' is prone to axle breaks when too much weight is in the car! LOL I doubt I'll ever do another one though as I believe they would pale in comparison to this one. Like I said in my other post, it was a great day. I too had a big smile on my face!

[JimKB1MCV]

  Its good to see that neighborhood looking clean and well kept, know it well from the 1960s when it was neither.

  Its not far from there to the watering holes on the waterfront. You could almost expect to see Ishmael  with a harpoon on his shoulder walking down the street.

You did a good turn.

[JV Puleo]

Wasn't Queequeg the harpooner?

[chistech]

1 hour ago, JimKB1MCV said:

  Its good to see that neighborhood looking clean and well kept, know it well from the 1960s when it was neither.

  Its not far from there to the watering holes on the waterfront. You could almost expect to see Ishmael  with a harpoon on his shoulder walking down the street.

You did a good turn.

New Bedford has done a good job downtown with a lot of nice restaurants in the area and the streets/sidewalks all improved. They were having car shows on one of the streets that they’d close down to thru traffic. It’s definitely not what it was back in the 60’s-80’s. Back then it belonged to the businesses, some fishing industry, Kaler Beef, National Club (one of the oldest and toughest bars in NB,  fishermen and the addicts. 

[John S.]

That is one great story Ted. I met Ted at Hershey last year, and he is one great individual . Very generous with his time and knowledge on the Oldsmobile, and anything in general. He and  Michelle are two stand up folks. 

[chistech]

I finally had both my cars out and in the same place, my driveway so I took a picture. My son will be here next week with his girlfriend so we are going to take both out for our own little tour. My daughter will be riding with my son in the chevy while Michelle and I finally take a ride in the Olds. After we’re back, the Olds will be getting a good spit shine top and bottom as it will be making its debut with the National Antique Oldsmobile Club at the National show in Lansing on July 22-24. It hasn’t been cancelled yet so I’m looking forward to getting out.

[STEVE POLLARD]

On 6/25/2020 at 10:08 PM, chistech said:

After we’re back, the Olds will be getting a good spit shine top and bottom as it will be making its debut with the National Antique Oldsmobile Club at the National show in Lansing on July 22-24. It hasn’t been cancelled yet so I’m looking forward to getting out.

Good Luck Ted !

[John S.]

Hi Ted. The cars look great outside. The Chevy looks bigger than the Olds. We had a few nice weeks of Spring weather on Long Island. I took the Studebaker out for a long ride the other day with no hiccups. Feels great to get out and drive the Champion. Good luck with the Oldsmobile Club National in Lansing.  Hope everything goes as planned , and isn't cancelled. Both cars are stunners! John

[chistech]

Actually John, the Olds is longer and taller than the Chevy but doesn’t look it in the photo for some reason. If you look at the back edge of spare tires on each car you’ll notice the tire on the Chevy is back beyond the door hinge line and the Olds is more than 6” in front of the hinge line. That gives you a good idea on just how much longer the nose is alone. I think the hood panel is almost 47” long on the Olds.

[John S.]

Ted, I was looking through a list of automotive first, and the 1932 Oldsmobile had the first thermostatic automatic choke in the Industry. Great looking cars. 

[Oldsmobile 83]

I just came across this thread today and was amazed by the great restoration completed on the '32 Olds.  It is one beautiful car.  Best of luck with it at the National Antique Oldsmobile Club national meet in Lansing.  

Look forward to when I can see this beauty in person.

Tim 

[chistech]

On 6/28/2020 at 7:42 PM, John S. said:

Ted, I was looking through a list of automotive first, and the 1932 Oldsmobile had the first thermostatic automatic choke in the Industry. Great looking cars. 

That choke was made by Stromberg and others like packard, Cadillac, and others got them later. Olds has had many firsts throughout the years but many don’t realize it and those firsts are not often mentioned. While many think Ford was the first with an assembly line it was actually Olds. Olds has the first production turbo car beating the Chevy Corvair by about one month. Oldsmobile was GM’s red headed step child. If they kept quiet, they’d leave them alone. If they developed a successful item, it was put on other GM Marques and written up on those marques brochures like they were the first to offer it. Another interesting story is the stop on racing that GM put on all their Marques. A dealer in MA who supported racing Olds, which was not approved by Olds brass, helped develop with two local drag racers, the 442 model and platform. Another, Like the experimental olds F88 sports car, on the same chassis as the 53-54’ vette but powered by the Olds V-8, power windows and retractable hard top, it was a corvette killer so the Chevy brass had GM kill it and ordered all them destroyed. Harley Earl was pissed and had one completely disassembled, crated, and shipped off to his friend from Cord, Auburn, and Duesenberg where it was found and reassembled into a 3 million, one of a kind, car back around 2000. 

Edited June 30, 2020 by chistech (see edit history)

[neil morse]

Hi Ted, I found this nice pic on The Old Motor today and thought of your car.

 

[chistech]

Thanks for posting that pic Neil. What kind of unique about is that it’s a dealer promotional photo rather than a factory one. Many of the factory promo photos were taken pre production and are missing or have  things that were added or removed for actual production. This photo was originally taken as part of a dealer add describing the service offered by Ziegler Olds. That service featured mechanics who rode the motorcycles shown out to the customers location. They would then drop the training wheels on the back of the bike and clamp the tow bar on the front to the rear bumper. The mechanic would then drive the car, towing the motorcycle, back to the service center. Perform the service, then drive the whole thing back to the customer, returning to the shop on the motorcycle.

      The description of this scene lists the car as an 8cyl model but I don’t think it is because the bell housing appears to be too far forward and in the location a 6cyl would be. The car shows plenty of road dirt on the backside of the fender well yet there is no license plate on either front or rear as both brackets being visible with the rear just above the rear fender of the motorcycle. My assumption is the roadster was probably a dealer demo car. It has the SS narrow trim rings an the chrome spoke covers, both accessories, yet doesn’t have the metal spare covers. The pin stripes are visible and so is the cigarette cream paint door saddle under the woman’s arm. There is a factory promo photo that is missing both, again on a black roadster. This picture is a great asset when blown up for pinstripe research. Many 32’ Olds owners have  pinstripes on the radiator apron top line but it’s clear to see this car does not. The car in both yours and the below picture were done as the standard or common, triple black, paint, interior, and roof. My car had remnants of the original roofing material and it was the optional tan whipcord. You can see in the picture below the cigarette cream door saddle is missing and there doesn’t appear to be any pinstripes. The wood wheels are painted and when the picture is blown up, the sprocket design on the wheels is visible. The issue comes in is the factory paint chart lists the sprocket pattern as being cigarette cream which it definitely isn’t in the picture. This is why it’s difficult using factory promo photos for the basis of an OEM restoration.

[weathered1]

Ted, Really enjoyed your detailed explanation and knowledge. Very interesting about the motorcycle. Do you know what kind of bike that is?  George

[neil morse]

Thanks for that explanation, Ted.  Very interesting, as George says.  One difference I noticed between your car and the cars in both the photo I posted and the one you posted is that the hood louver doors are solid color in the posted photos instead of being chrome-plated like yours.

 

George, according to The Old Motor, the bike in the photo is a Harley "equipped with a Cycletow conversion kit."  

 

http://theoldmotor.com/?p=118925

[neil morse]

More about the Cycletow system -- it worked just the way Ted described.

 

 

http://theoldmotor.com/?p=118932

[chistech]

Here's the page and the article that Neil found. It has the story in more detail. If you research "cycletow" you will find out more. Again, the article calls the car an 8 cylinder and it may be. The motorcycle is listed as a single cylinder Harley Davidson. There is no noticeable difference with the 8 cylinder roadsters vs. the 6 other than a chromed white metal "8" attached to the Oldsmobile emblem on the headlight bar and rear tail light stand. The 32' hard top cars are easier to tell because they also had two wipers vs. one on the 6 cylinder cars. The 32' Olds chassis were all made the same with two set of holes punched for the rear bell housing/engine mounts cross member. If the car was built with the 6 cylinder, the cross member was riveted to the front set of holes, the 8, the rear set of holes. The 6 cylinder bodies had a straight firewall and the 8's had an indented firewall. There are exceptions to that rule as the year went on and sales were bad, many 6 cylinder cars got left over 8 cylinder indented firewall bodies! The eights, being more expensive didn't sell as easy so the bodies were evidently sitting there.

 

http://theoldmotor.com/?p=118925

Edited July 2, 2020 by chistech (see edit history)

[chistech]

LOL, Looks like Neil and I were thinking the same. The chrome hood doors were also an option too that I chose to go with along with the chromed stone guard. All the 32' Olds had black radiator louvers regardless of the body color and to me, my black roadster would be "too black", so I added the chrome doors and stone guard. I think the car looks much better than it would with all the added black.

[chistech]

Here's a whole bunch of info on the Harley Servi-car bikes used for car service. http://www.ridingvintage.com/2013/11/the-first-harley-davidson-servi-cars.html

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Chistech, someone posted your Olds on fb last night, it obviously drew a lot of admirers!

[chistech]

Thanks for letting me know Steve. About a week ago the group Pre War Restoration and Preservation made it the cover page photo so I expect it got a lot of coverage where others have shared. Hopefully it will be able to make a AACA show this year for it’s senior.

[John S.]

Ted, did you ever make it to Lansing to the Olds National?

[chistech]

No, it was cancelled about 8 days before I was supposed to leave out for Michigan.☹️

[BearsFan315]

Ted are you registered for Fall Hershey ??

you will have NO problem getting your senior

 

and i hope you bring it to our Grand National here in 2022, It will be out in Virginia Beach, already have Host hotel and location inked and covered. WE have blocked the entire campus and hotel !! onsite trailer parking, security, hotel on site, plus deals on other local hotels. will be doing flat rate on the rooms for that weekend. gonna be a great show. and only maybe 20 minutes from the ocean front !!