BUILD THREAD Project Olds Cool (Recognition!!)

motorheadmike said:

All of this is going to be so handy when I start farting around with the Monte this winter.

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Thanks for the comment Mike.
I'm glad to hear my trials and tribulations with this thing are of some value beyond mere entertainment...

TURNA said:

Amazing!

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Thanks Turna!

I almost missed it again this year, but at the last minute I managed to attend the local “QuickTimes Fall Swap Meet” this past Saturday. Good thing too, because I managed to swing a deal on a few little goodies for the car.


Got an overhaul/rebuild kit for the QuadraBog so it can get fixed up over the winter...


...right now it’s running so rich it’ll make your eyes water just standing beside it!

Also found some new roof rail weatherstrip seals to replace the nearly 40 year old trashed ones:





But the real score for me was finding this dual snorkel air filter housing:





I did ok on the deal, it wasn’t exactly cheap, but considering the rarity of these original pieces nowadays, it wasn’t too bad either. I’m not sure exactly what this is originally off of, but it’s one of the Ram Air style setups, where the outer edge is designed to have a rubber seal on it that seals to the hood when closed and is used in conjunction with a hood scoop.
It was a pleasant surprise to see and get the third part of the assembly that bolts to the hood. This is where the rubber seal actually sits on. That part you usually don’t see!



Because I don’t have (and have no plans to incorporate) a hood scoop on Olds Cool, this third piece is available for sale for anyone that wants to try and use it on their car with a hood scoop or possibly cowl hood. Reply here or PM me if interested.

After doing a quick test fit to make sure it was going to fit and work on my setup, I took the base and the lid to the shop and gave them a thorough going over with the bead blaster:



I forgot to snap a couple of the base after it was blasted, but here it is all cleaned up and with a fresh coat of satin black on it:




...And of course, the lid too:



Payoff pics next >>>

I’m pleased to report that it fits like a glove. It uses the existing air filter I already had, fits the top of the QuadraBog to a tee, and even has perfect hood clearance!
Thank you GM for making so much stuff the same across different years and makes!







This little mod should really help the 350, er, 305 breathe...


That’s all my fun news for now, back to more bodywork this week now I guess.


Thanks for checking in guys!

D.

Thanks Eric, Hutch, Scott and everyone for all your kind words and comments. It truly means a lot and I really do appreciate it.

Despite having your guys’ encouragement, I’ve really been struggling with anything car related lately. I’ve been in a bit of a slump and feeling more than a bit overwhelmed and discouraged with this thing. It feels like I just keep sinking time, money and effort into this, with no real sign of progress or accomplishment. As a result, some depression kinda took hold and I’ve done virtually nothing on it in the last few weeks.

The last few days tho I’ve been feeling a bit better and more like my old self again, so today I thought I’d try venturing out into the garage to see if I could get back on the proverbial horse.

The rust patch panel I had been working on when the feeling of futility hit was still waiting for me to finish it off. When I last updated the thread, I had made the replacement part, and was getting ready to weld it in place.

I punched plug weld holes in the lower flange and underside where it contacted the inner structure, and after positioning and clamping it in place, welded them up:



From there, I used my sheetmetal clamps to hold the top portion in alignment. It was fortunate that the hole was where it was, as I was able to unbolt and remove the seatbelt box to get access to the backside.



After placing tacks in between the clamps, I removed them and spaced more tack welds evenly across the top:



Working from the center out, I began closing up the gaps:



And here we go. The patch is now fully welded, ground down and complete.

From this...



To this:







What rust hole???


Now that it would appear that I’m back on track again finally, it’s onto the next. I think I’m going to tackle the flush mount marker light on the passenger’s side quarter panel next. (No, I still haven’t done that!)

I’m waiting on a piece I need to properly repair some previously existing damage behind the driver’s side rear wheel before I can complete the metal work on that side, so that seems like a natural fit before I resume with the filler work.
Stay tuned...!!!

Thanks everyone,

D.