BUILD THREAD Project Olds Cool (Recognition!!)

Canon_Mutant

Royal Smart Person
Aug 15, 2015
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Well, always a very real possibility I was just never very observant in my youth . . . :eek:

I'm guessing this was a pretty rare option though. Too bad as it's a cool feature.

Even cooler when flush mounted (y)
 
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Blake442

Geezer
Apr 24, 2007
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Minneapolis
There were turning lights on cars in 1980?

As far as the Cutlass line is concerned, cornering lamps were optional in '78-'80 but disappeared for '81-'88 coupe, though they could be had on the sedans and wagons as they still used the early front sheet metal.
For all the others you owned, I guess you just picked the wrong cars...
They were optional on tons of brands and models since the '50s. My '96 Roadmaster has them and they are nice to have.
 
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Rktpwrd

Builder of Cool Shjt
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Feb 2, 2015
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Yep, exactly. Blake nailed it, what he said. ^^^
😉
 
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Canon_Mutant

Royal Smart Person
Aug 15, 2015
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As far as the Cutlass line is concerned, cornering lamps were optional in '78-'80 but disappeared for '81-'88 coupe, though they could be had on the sedans and wagons as they still used the early front sheet metal.
For all the others you owned, I guess you just picked the wrong cars...
They were optional on tons of brands and models since the '50s. My '96 Roadmaster has them and they are nice to have.

:doh:Yeah, I've been known to do that . . . between the wife and I, total vehicles = 11 cars, 7 trucks, 5 SUVs, no turning lights until the 2010 model.
 
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Rktpwrd

Builder of Cool Shjt
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Feb 2, 2015
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Well, it’s doing this here today...

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...so I’m gonna be working on this:

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An update with some substance will be up later today/tonight, as well as hopefully another one tomorrow. The one tomorrow will all depend on if I have enough material to spray.

Stay tuned...
😉
 
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TURNA

Rocket Powered Basset Hound
Jul 24, 2009
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Socialist NY
The inside of that fender is going to look better than the outside of mine!!
 
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ssn696

Living in the Past
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Jul 19, 2009
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Permanent Temporary
Does the filler on the inside stiffen the fender? Are you going to see that part of the panel when it's reinstalled?
 
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Rktpwrd

Builder of Cool Shjt
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Feb 2, 2015
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Does the filler on the inside stiffen the fender? Are you going to see that part of the panel when it's reinstalled?

Not really Quinn, no. It doesn’t do much to stiffen up the fender, the strength comes from the shape and the integrity of the patch that was welded in.

Yes, technically that section would be somewhat visible if you were under the car and looking up at that area. I’ve given that spot a skim of filler more so because I believe in doing a mod “right”, which includes addressing the backside and protecting it properly. IMO, a properly done modification should be invisible no matter where you look, including inside or underneath.

I also like to think that us car guys don’t really ever “own” these cars, we’re merely their caretakers while they’re in our possession. I’d love nothing more than for this car’s future owner(s) after I’m dead and gone to look at one of my modifications and marvel at the fact that it’s unclear as to how it was done because there’s no evidence of my ever being there.
🙂
 
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Rktpwrd

Builder of Cool Shjt
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Feb 2, 2015
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As promised, update time!

Since the last one, much progress has been made. Once the thin strip of the marker light patch was repaired, I gave the surrounding area two skims of filler, blocking them out between each.

That gave me a foundation to work from with the light installed. It’s a bit difficult to explain, but I did several rounds of sanding the filler WITH the light installed, then I’d remove a pair of the shimming washers from the backside, skim and block again. This had the effect of gradually shaping the outer lens to the curvature of the fender:

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When I had the curvature close, I decided to go “Mad Scientist” and try something completely out of the ordinary. With the light installed and close to the right shape, I applied a coat of filler on the panel, right over the light and everything!

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I treated the light just like it was a part of the fender, and blocked the area out. Here you can see where most of it became exposed as I was working it:

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I continued on in this fashion for a bit, each time getting the fit and curvature better and better each time. Filler gave way to putty, and once everything was straight and finished in 120, I finally removed the light. Some minor sanding and addressing the edges of the openings was done, then I turned my attention to just the light itself.

Continuing on with progressively finer and finer grits of sanding, the lenses were hit with 220, 320, 400, 600, 1000, 1500, and finally 2000 grit. At the end of the 2000, the lenses were smooth enough to hand polish. Of course I had to do a test fit at that point to see how it’d look in place...

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Coming along pretty good!

At this point, the outside of the fender was, for all intents and purposes, done for now. Time to start looking at the inside. Much to my disappointment, the inside was quite rough and fairly rusty around many of the seams. I spent a considerable amount of time stripping old paint and primer from many of the areas, grinding/sanding out rust where I could access it, and feathering out the marks.

Here’s a look as I was in the middle of this process:

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As you can see, there’s a lot of bare metal areas now. Once again, the surface rust I came across was directly due to the factory’s poor application of paint. Most of the more severe areas were by seams where there wasn’t enough paint and primer applied.

Here’s a few closeups of these areas:

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With as many of the areas mechanically sanded and ground out, the only option left for the inaccessible spots was to treat them chemically. My rust converter concoction came out, and they were all treated. The converter is visible as a purple/turning to black film as it works and dries. There were still quite a few areas:

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After letting the converter cure overnight, I went back the following night and sanded and feather edged out all the treated spots. This too took quite some time, but it had to be done. The rest of the “unaffected” areas were scuffed up with red ScotchBrite.

With all that nonsense out of the way, I gave the inside of the patch a light skim of filler and blocked it out. As mentioned earlier, this was primarily cosmetic, there should be next to no evidence a modification was done here.

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Continued >>>
 
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