1961 Olds 88 2 Dr Sedan sneak preview

[NAS Backyard]

Re: 1961 Olds 88 2 Dr Sedan sneak preview

Last nights progress:
Bolting new licence plates on turned into detailing the rest of the front bumper, cleaning up a cool frame and doing something with the holes in the front bumper. Out back I had to do a scotch pad scuff and shoot with some flat white paint. This thing has a pretty decent hitch on it with a plug socket which leads me to believe this may have been a Game Wardens car that might have pulled a boat around. The rear frame I got at a swap meet for 5 bucks. It says Since 1961 at the top (BTW I was born in 61 hence the homemade vanity plate) Before and After:

[fahrenschnell]

Re: 1961 Olds 88 2 Dr Sedan sneak preview

Very nice....I love that car.

Seth

[NAS Backyard]

Re: 1961 Olds 88 2 Dr Sedan sneak preview

Test Drive!

[squirrel]

Re: 1961 Olds 88 2 Dr Sedan sneak preview

Driving...that's what it's all about!

[62-impala-ss]

Re: 1961 Olds 88 2 Dr Sedan sneak preview

That is a nice driver. Great progress. What I like the most is that the grass is green in your test drive photo. I am jealous of the car and the climate!!

[NAS Backyard]

Re: 1961 Olds 88 2 Dr Sedan sneak preview

Detailed the wheels and checked the brakes, greased front wheel bearings on the driverside.

[NAS Backyard]

Re: 1961 Olds 88 2 Dr Sedan sneak preview

Found a bunch of closeout brake parts on www.rockauto.com last night so I placed an order for rear wheel cylinders, rear shoes, all 3 hoses, front whl.cyl kits, master cyl kit all for 75.00 to my door. Can get the rest locally. Got brave and drove it cross town to show to some friends, no problems at all. So I got home and pulled out the rest of the interior to take care of the rusty floorpans. Looks like I can save them. Going to wire wheel everything and use www.rustbullet.com on it.

These mud nests are EVERYWHERE on this car, good grief, theres enough dirt to start a small garden, luckily none of them are active.

[milner351]

Re: 1961 Olds 88 2 Dr Sedan sneak preview

Nice score on the brake parts, I paid nearly twice that to redo the brakes on the 54 when I got it.

Those mud wasps can be nasty - I stirred up a nest of them a few years back and ended up in the hospital from the reaction to all the bites, no fun.

This car is a great story - thanks for sharing, what a cool project and amazingly clean considering how long it has sat, I've seen so many cars of this vintage forgotten and rusting up to the door handles left in fields, it's a damned shame.

[Scott Liggett]

Re: 1961 Olds 88 2 Dr Sedan sneak preview

I second that on being thankful the owners of the mud homes weren't home anymore. Yikes. Mud Dawbers are very aggressive little bastards. I had one above my front door this summer.

Car looks great.

[NASBackyard]

Re: 1961 Olds 88 2 Dr Sedan sneak preview

One of the coolest things about the 21st Century is all of the new innovations in the chemical and coating industries. No longer is welding or brazing the only option. The epoxy products are endless, so much so, you have to research them all before making a choice. Thats why I decided to go a different route on repairing my floorpans in the Olds. I have a really neat Lincoln 135 with a gas bottle that we used during the 240 man hours of bodywork on my 69 Roadrunner, but I'm not going to use it.
After wire wheeling my floorpans I found some areas that were slightly ventilated, since I didn't feel the need to cut and weld I was going to use some JB Weld backed up by aluminum tape. But my fried Jeff gave me some stuff called POR Patch made by POR 15, bacically a thicker version for filling holes and strenthening metal. So I tried it on a spot where 2 sections of floor were broken apart, I was really impressed with the results. So I cleaned up my worst section of the floor, the RR floorpan, and applied it. I know the pictures make it look bad, but it's actually pretty solid. I also wire wheeled the underside were I applied the aluminum tape, it will be removed later. I also gave thought to sandblasting, but I tried that on the Starfire and the overblast peppered the glass and was a BF mess. I'll have Fri,Sat, and Sun to work on it so hopefully I'll have the rust bullet on by then.

The worst of it.
Holes backed up with aluminum tape

POR patch applied, I will also get a pic of the underside when I'm done.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

[malc]

Re: 1961 Olds 88 2 Dr Sedan sneak preview

Heres a bunch of info about chemical rust removal at Hot Rod.

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/body/hrdp_0901_rust_removal_guide/index.html

[NASBackyard]

Re: 1961 Olds 88 2 Dr Sedan sneak preview

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out. Well, I got the first coat of Rust Bullet on tonight, looks like some really expensive silver paint right now. My respirator was junk so I'm a little high right now. The wire wheeling and cleaning really sucked but it had to be done, that took a few hours to finish, then I found another hole that I will patch later. The stuff went on really smooth. I'll be doing all the red primer areas on the second coat, I wanted to make sure I had enough. My digital camera is taking a dump so while my paint is drying my girlfriend is going to take me to get a new one as an early Christmas present. Here are some pics, amazing what a coat of paint will do .

[ksj1]

Re: 1961 Olds 88 2 Dr Sedan sneak preview

Dayum!!! Ive got to do some floorboard work on the kids truck!

[NASBackyard]

Re: 1961 Olds 88 2 Dr Sedan sneak preview

Man I'm glad that job is done! Let's see how it holds up . I guess I'll put the seats back in tomorrow after I do some cleaning to them. Looks like I'm getting kicked out of my own shop this week. My friend needs to drop and engine in an 03 Honda Accord (barf). We made the deal awhile back and he needs his car running. At least I don't have to help him do it since I work nights. It will give me a reason to clean up the shop since it's trashed pretty bad.

Just got a Poloroid 8.0 camera earlier for an early Christmas present

The End........ of that job.

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: 1961 Olds 88 2 Dr Sedan sneak preview

Very nice. Love the POR 15 patches... I learned on a vehicle I won't mention that POR 15 and fiberglass make an excellent patch....