1929 Olds R/S Roadster $4,000 C/L MN

[Hudsy Wudsy]

I just came across an ad for a '29 Olds rumble seat roadster for sale in northern MN on Craigslist. It's a big project, but what a desirable car when finished:

 

https://brainerd.craigslist.org/cto/d/1929-oldsmobile-roadster/6378216375.html

 

[keiser31]

Dual sidemounts! Cool car.

[Hudsy Wudsy]

I get a bit of a chuckle out of the crankcase venting into the carburetor intake. Early PCV, huh?

 

 

 

[old car fan]

Bill of sale scares me ,Ohio sucks getting legal.

[Hudsy Wudsy]

7 minutes ago, old car fan said:

Bill of sale scares me ,Ohio sucks getting legal.

I understand, but I can tell you that it won't scare the next fellow.

[old car fan]

agree,but we were 5 years getting  title for a Packard we bought at auction,Cold feet

[TheMoneyPit]

2 hours ago, old car fan said:

Bill of sale scares me ,Ohio sucks getting legal.

 

I would be more scared at the amount of wood in that body and the cost of making it roadworthy let alone a full restoration... it is a prime example of being better off buying an older restoration in the long run...

[1912Staver]

Sadly it's another one that will probably  be torn apart in a futile attempt to make a rat rod.  A great body style; and no doubt very rare, but from a cost point of view it wouldn't make sense even if it was free. The lack of a title is probably the final nail in its coffin.

 I am so glad that here in Canada we don't use titles, they seem like an endless source of frustration and expense , not to mention the occasional case of it simply can't be resolved satisfactorily. 

 

Greg in Canada

Edited November 23, 2017 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[Dave Mellor NJ]

Wonder what the other one is.

 

[Hudsy Wudsy]

I'm a little surprised that none of you have remarked on the unlikeliness of finding a roadster Up North. Outside of the occasional Model A or T Ford roadster pickup that might have been bought because of very limited funds, closed cars were the norm here in Minnesota. It may have spent the last fifty six years here, but I doubt that it started it's life in MN. It doesn't appear to have a heater of any sort and I'm glad that no one wasted their time cutting up the firewall to install one.

[Bloo]

7 hours ago, 1912Staver said:

I am so glad that here in Canada we don't use titles, they seem like an endless source of frustration and expense , not to mention the occasional case of it simply can't be resolved satisfactorily. 

 

They are an endless source of frustration. What do you use? If I were to buy a car in Canada, what papers would I need to prove I own it?

[mercer09]

titles in the us ARE A NON ISSUE-UNLESS YOU DECIDE TO GET YOUR LIVER IN A QUIVER............... so many worry worts out there, that yes, you can turn anything into a huge mess if you try- Brady Bunch syndrome, I call it.

 

as was sited-the wood could be a nightmare on this one. with that said, a very cheap entry point for a really great car!

 

thanks for sharing.

[1912Staver]

6 hours ago, Bloo said:

 

They are an endless source of frustration. What do you use? If I were to buy a car in Canada, what papers would I need to prove I own it?

In Canada ;in virtually every province, we have a registration document.  They are generally quite simple to replace although the process varies from province to province.  In the case of a vehicle that has been derelict for a substantial length of time and a DMV search for registered owners does not turn up any results, most provinces only maintain records back to a certain point in time, you can then re-register the vehicle.  Usually a bill of sale and a notarised statement declaring that to the best of your knowledge the vehicle is not stolen will allow you to re-register the vehicle in your name. It's generally a reasonably painless process. If the vehicle shows up on DMV records you are required to send a double registered letter to the last address on DMV records, If the letter is returned { postman couldn't deliver} then take to DMV and once again you will be able to re-register in your name. If the owner is contacted then you must negotiate with them and as you can imagine any outcome is possible.  Sometimes  a slight hassle but 99 % of the time quite simple.   Of course if the vehicle was stolen at some time in the distant past the rightfull owner could still claim it, but I get the impression this is true in the case of a Title as well. 

 

 

Greg

[JustDave]

• HELLO ALL
• I EMAILED THE GUY WITH THE OLDS,IT LOOKED LIKE IT MIGHT BE AN INTRESTING PROJECT,VEHICLE HAS ALOT OF ISSUES ACCORDING TO THE OWNER,WINSHEILD HAS BEEN MODIFIED,RUST THRU IN THE REAR FLOOR PAN BROKEN BLOCK THREW A ROD,ALSO HAS A 28 CHASSIC COMPLETE THAT GOES WITH IT HAS MOTOR TRANS ETC,IF I WHERE CLOSER I WOULD STILL LOOK AT IT,WOULD MAKE A NICE RESTORATION PROJECT,,     DAVE

[Steve Moskowitz]

If anyone is in love with a '29 Olds (first year for true convertible) I have one that was a Cars & Parts cover car in 1985 but has gone down hill since then.  I bought it to re-restore and accept for having some parts chromed, etc. have not touched it since I put it in the garage.  I have no time to restore it so if someone was really interested I'd be happy to show you the car and talk numbers.  I paid way too much for it when I bought it and know I cannot get that back but will listen to fair offers.  I would prefer someone to actually see the car first. 

[auburnseeker]

3 hours ago, Steve Moskowitz said:

If anyone is in love with a '29 Olds (first year for true convertible) I have one that was a Cars & Parts cover car in 1985 but has gone down hill since then.  I bought it to re-restore and accept for having some parts chromed, etc. have not touched it since I put it in the garage.  I have no time to restore it so if someone was really interested I'd be happy to show you the car and talk numbers.  I paid way too much for it when I bought it and know I cannot get that back but will listen to fair offers.  I would prefer someone to actually see the car first. 

Do you have any current photos of it?  

[Steve Moskowitz]

It has not moved from that spot and looks the same!  However, I could take more photos.  I have not been actively trying to sell it. 

[old car fan]

Steve it eats nothing,Looks great Keep it,Hate to see you  let I go. If you have to send her away,Pm me,

[wayne sheldon]

Steve,  I do think that anyone not doing much with a car that is sitting, should at least consider selling it to someone ready willing and able to do something good with it.

That said, consider this. Your Oldsmobile is much better off where it is now than that other one has been for 56 years where it is.

 

Yours is a beautiful car by the way. But I am not in the market myself. I have reached the point that I seriously need to consider selling a few of my project piles. One in particular, I have been considering letting go of for awhile now.

[chistech]

I have restored a few cars and done a fair amount of wood work. Removing the sheet metal and rebuilding the wood structure on this olds is not that bad to do if there is enough wood to copy. Because it's an open car, there's no roof metal to deal with. I am currently rebuilding my much rarer 32' Olds roadster which has a ton more chrome which is a major cost to a restoration these days. I'm willing to bet this 29' Olds has a lot in common with a 29' Chevy cabriolet with many body and interior parts common to both much like my 32' and the 32' Chevy cabriolet. Restoring this car would probably be an enjoyable time for sure yielding a fairly rare car.

[brasscarguy]

The wood replacement is not all that expensive. I had "The Craftsman" in San Diego replace all the wood in my 1931 Hudson boat tail roadster a few years back $3500.00 and he provided the materials. I got it back with both doors hung and fitted, the rumble seat lid finished and fitted. 

 

I had him rewood a 1912 Overland roadster $2000.00. When I got it back it was like I ordered a new body from the factory, the doors fit and it mounted on the frame perfectly. I think his "new model t bodies start at 3 grand. Wood work is not all that big of a deal.

 

just sayin'

 

brasscarguy

[sligermachine]

the wood work is not that hard I have done it 2 times  I was just wishing a kit could be bought for the 1925 buick im re wooding now I remember when i was 23 I bought a ruff kit that came with the start shape for my 1929 ford truck .It came with some shape but it was up to the man putting it together  to cut the matting surfaces . I would really enjoy fixing this "  29 olds  " up so it could be driven daily 

as far as i'm concerned it would not be that hard to restore it  just to far away  from home to buy . I was thinking about whipping up a dozen wood kits for 1925--- 1924  buick if there was any real interest for people to buy some  close to finished wood kit  kyle

 

 

[Mark Gregory]

sligermachine I am completely rebuilding the wood in a 1931 Reo Royale Victoria . I make the new piece from either tracing the original or starting from scratch and designing my own piece . I trace the new pieces on craft wrapping paper 3 ft X 6 ft and then go to a Blue Printing shop who copies them for $5 a piece . I then mail them from Toronto to a fellow Royale owner in Flint . I do not have to spend time making and storing the wood product . Just a thought . By the way I would never do a wood car again just too much work and the time factor . I can see why they went to wrecking yards when they were damaged or the newer cars came out .

Edited December 3, 2017 by Mark Gregory (see edit history)

[Joe in Canada]

19 minutes ago, Mark Gregory said:

sligermachine I am completely rebuilding the wood in a 1931 Reo Royale Victoria . I make the new piece from either tracing the original or starting from scratch and designing my own piece . I trace the new pieces on craft wrapping paper 3 ft X 6 ft and then go to a Blue Printing shop who copies them for $5 a piece . I then mail them from Toronto to a fellow Royale owner in Flint . I do not have to spend time making and storing the wood product . Just a thought . By the way I would never do a wood car again just too much work . I can see why they went to wrecking yards when they were damaged or the newer cars came out .

There is a fellow in Cobourg about one hour from you that does very  nice wood work.

Edited December 1, 2017 by Joe in Canada (see edit history)

[chistech]

The wood work itself is not that hard though many try and convince you otherwise or that you have to have extra special talents. I learned to work with wood in my high school industrial arts classes. Yes, I did take advanced classes but they were also split between wood and metal shop. Those same classes are where I learned to run lathes and Bridgeport machines which I now also own and use in my current shop to restore these cars. I do have some better equipment than most but that equipment helps me save time more than anything else. The real difficult part about doing wood cars is getting the metal skins off and on but that only becomes an issue in the later year closed cars. Open and earlier cars (30 and before) are not as difficult as most closed cars from those years have the metal split at the belt line and covered with a molding. Getting the metal just right on the new wood just takes patience and time, sometimes requiring you to put the metal on and off numerous times for fitting. Thing is the people telling others that the wood work is difficult are those who really don’t do much of their own restoration or might be good at bolt on stuff or even paint but not good at being able to create things by hand. Wood working is a “by hand” creative art and some who can’t do it, label it hard or steer others away from what they can’t do themselves. Before I get all kinds of negative comments, I’m not picking on anyone, just stating some are better than others at certain things and that doesn’t necessarily mean what they’re good at is really that hard to do. It’s just hard for some.

[1912Staver]

One of the most daunting aspects of wood work is that there is sometimes almost nothing left of the original wood. As long as there is enough left to serve as a reasonable guide for the new parts I agree that it is mainly a question of careful,  methodical work.

 

Greg

[Bloo]

One should probably be realistic about the time and cost involved. At a minimum most people would need to buy a bunch of tools. I already had them. Then there is figuring out how to build the wood framing with no patterns. My late father was a master woodworker, and there was always a lot of reading material laying around when I was growing up. I have a very good idea what grain direction will provide strength, and how thermal expansion varies with grain direction, how to arrange boards to cancel changes in curvature due to humidity, the difference between quartersawn and flatsawn boards, the uselessness of end grain as a gluing surface, etc. etc. It seems so me all this would be a steep expensive learning curve for just one car, if you were someone who was never exposed to woodworking.

[Hudsy Wudsy]

For what it's worth, the ad for the Olds has been deleted. I'd like to think that someone here bought it to restore it, but that probably isn't likely. I'm sure that in another year or two it will have had any bad wood replaced by one inch square tubing and will sport a new frame with a new crate engine.

[Hudsy Wudsy]

...and be worth fifty to sixty thousand dollars.

[auburnseeker]

18 hours ago, Hudsy Wudsy said:

...and be worth fifty to sixty thousand dollars.

After spending 120G  to make it that. 

[Hudsy Wudsy]

Maybe or maybe not. Imagine that you own a body shop with several employees. There are times of the year when you have more than enough work to keep a crew busy, but there are slow times, also. If you have to  pay your employees anyway, you may as well have a few projects around to help offset the salary outlay and satisfy your itch to create street rods.