BUILD THREAD Project Olds Cool (Recognition!!)

Martin S.

Greasemonkey
Aug 17, 2017
137
198
43
Hamburg, Germany
Thanks, much appreciated! It fools most people at shows, they wander right by it without so much as a second glance because it looks (to them) like the stock engine.
:sneaky:



Yes Kevin, oddly enough you do!
Here it is...

Well, it looks like most everyone else has updated their threads in the last 2 days or so, so I guess I had better do so too!

Not a whole lot to report on this week, after seeing Mike struggle so much with welding in a patch on the driver’s side wheel well last weekend, I figured I had better give him a hand with it during the week while he was gone.

I finished off what he had left to do, then made and burned in two more patches that needed to be done on the same side. No pics of that process, it’s not terribly interesting anyways.
In my usual overkill manner, I decided I couldn’t live with the state of the existing paint and condition of the wheel well, so I went after it with the fibre wheel and started stripping the old paint and crap off. I’ve got most of the inner wheelhouse done, just a bit left to do on the outer and the seam between the two.

Once the seam is thoroughly cleaned out, the entire well will receive a couple coats of epoxy and a good scuffing before new seam sealer gets applied. Once that’s done, it’ll be time for the finish coat. At this point in time, I’m thinking of applying a couple coats of spray-in truck bed liner. That stuff is near indestructible and has a finish very similar to the undercoating that was in there before.
Should look good.

These are the pics of how the wheel well looks now, the patches have all been welded in already and dressed down. The remaining rust pitting along the pinch weld flange has also already been addressed, it was treated with some rust converter, and should now be neutralized.

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Unfortunately, there is still the passenger’s side left to do...
:(

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Something that I keep forgetting to mention too, is several months ago I picked up a different set of tailpipe tips. A couple of you had mentioned that the ones I had picked up earlier didn’t exactly suit the car, and in hindsight, you were completely right.

To better suit the style/build/theme, I found some 2 1/2” polished stainless slash cuts, 8” long. It’s tough to see in these pics due to the lighting and angles, but I gave them the brushed treatment to match everything else. They’ll get tack welded on for this year while I’m driving the car, but will have to come off again to properly access the underside of the quarters when the car goes for paint.

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This morning we finally caught a much needed and long overdue break in the weather, so I loaded up the front wheels and new tires I picked up a couple weeks ago, and headed off to get them mounted up.

My four legged buddy Tucker wanted to enjoy the sunshine and warmer temps today as much as I did, so when they were ready, we both jumped in the truck to go back and get them.

“C’MON DAD, let’s GO!!

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:rofl:

Once back in the garage, I cleaned up the fronts...

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... followed by the rears since they were off already anyways and desperately needed it after months of being covered in body filler dust.

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Time to get ‘em back on the car!

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I think these fit the bill nicely. They’re not quite so wide on these narrow wheels, and look more at home especially on the front. The car also now has a nice little rake to it, nothing major, but just enough to make it look good.
:)

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That’s all I’ve got for now guys. Thanks as always for checking back in on things!
Until next time,

D.
Nice rims and cool dog ! love these kind of dogs ! (y)
 
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Rktpwrd

Builder of Cool Shjt
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Feb 2, 2015
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This....

879A64EC-A632-4DE5-99BD-86C613582C96.jpeg


....can only mean one thing:

D’s about to do some more painting tonight!
 
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Rktpwrd

Builder of Cool Shjt
Supporting Member
Feb 2, 2015
4,152
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Ok, so it’s once again been a while since the last update. I know these can run on kinda long, but unfortunately this one probably won’t be any different. A lot has happened since the last one.

First off, nothing further has been done on the rear wheel wells. Between getting the proper front tires installed on the car and it back on the ground, and finally getting my carburetor back from being rebuilt, those have been pushed onto the back burner for the time being.

Yep, you heard that right, I got my QuadraJet back from being rebuilt by a good friend of mine about two weeks ago after getting a rebuild kit for it at a swap meet last October. I had him do it as I don’t really speak Rochester (but I’m learning), so don’t judge too harshly.
He did a great job on the rebuild, but as with almost everything, there was some tweaking and fine tuning to be done.

Here it is when I got it back:

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We had to readjust the float level a couple of times, the first time it was set way too high and was leaking fuel out of the throttle shafts and accelerator pump hole. Also, with it set that high, turning in the idle adjustment screws had zero effect. In addition, a temporary fix I had done on this leaking plug at the inlet....

997C3E14-6FBF-4409-B2F9-23340C956F86.jpeg


.....started weeping again, so when it came off we addressed all these issues at the same time.

On the advice of a couple members here, I drilled out the old plug and tapped it to accept a 1/4” NPT plug and installed it with some Loctite 567 thread sealant. No more leaks!

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With the float level and external leaks taken care of, we fine tuned the idle mixture screws and reset the timing. The throttle response now when you give it a whack is amazing! I can’t wait to take it for a rip and see how it performs.
:)

While we were tinkering with that last week, I got some sobering news last Friday afternoon. My good buddy Mike that you’ve been aquatinted with recently told me that he suffered a heart attack the day before and had to be rushed to the hospital. After receiving immediate attention, a couple of stents and a lot of rest and medication, he’s now recovering at home.

This kinda threw me for a loop and put me off my game for a while. He’s only 49, a mere 4 years older than me. Way too young for that to happen.
I quite easily could’ve been going to a funeral this week rather than writing y’all an update. Thankfully it didn’t end up that way. So no more sharing garage time with him for the foreseeable future.

The last few days I’ve been slowly getting back into working on the car again, and by last night I had finished stripping the last of the old paint from the rubber(?) filler panels that go between the quarter panels and the back bumper.

These pieces are absolutely horrible, I cannot put into words my incredible dislike of them. They’re made of some sort of strange rubber/polymer compound or something, and are extremely difficult to work with. Virtually every one you see has the paint cracked on them because they’re so soft and flexible nothing will flex with them.
And sanding them is something else as well. It doesn’t matter if you use 400 grit or 120 grit, the material seems to “self heal” and all leaves the same finish. I despise these things and would skid them in a heartbeat if I only could.

Anyways, I had to go on a resupply mission earlier this week to get some more materials including paint, so I picked up these...

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....plus some Bulldog adhesion promoter and reducer that was back ordered:

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With my interest gradually coming back again and the materials I needed in hand, tonight I prepped up the filler panels with a thorough cleaning of wax and grease remover and then hit them with the tack rag and a couple coats of the Bulldog.

Here they are ready to go:

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I mixed up the white with an additive of 10% flex agent, and got to shooting them.

Here’s tonight’s progress:

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Not bad considering that’s a 120 grit finish on there!

Once these are dry and fully cured, I’ll install them back on the car at least temporarily. Right now the huge gaps on the car where these go are bugging the hell outta me.

The next things to receive attention will be to get back on the rear wheel wells and start on the filler panel between the back window and trunk lid. It’s currently the wrong colour and has a bit of body work to be done on it.

That’s all for now fellas, thanks for looking in on things.

D.
 
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Texas82GP

Just-a-worm
Apr 3, 2015
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Donovan, I'm sorry to hear about your friend but glad to hear he's going to be ok. It's so easy to take life for granted. I think it's human nature. We're in our comfortable little rut and then life kicks us in the *ss.

Awesome work as always.

Best,

Jared
 
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Turbolq4

Royal Smart Person
Sep 25, 2017
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Nampa Idaho
The fillers on these seem to be left over scraps from the GTO endura front bumpers. Weird stuff.
 
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Longroof79

Rocket Powered Basset Hound
G-Body of the Month
Oct 14, 2008
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D,
Glad to see you got the Q-jet dialed in and getting more paint work done on the fillers. Everything is looking nice.

I'm glad to hear that your buddy Mike is doing better. He'll be fine after a recuperation period, watching his diet, and regimenting himself to an exercise plan. Life isn't over for him.
My good friend Vince had to go in for a triple bypass last year and he's older than Mike. He's been doing well and trying to behave himself, but he's still wrenching.
It certainly makes us aware of our own mortality.
 
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1evilregal

Comic Book Super Hero
Apr 23, 2009
3,056
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Greensboro, NC
glad to hear your buddy is recovering,like others have said, it makes you take stock of your own life...

love seeing the progress on the car, no matter how little the part, and you always seem to ace it! looking good!
 
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