BUILD THREAD Project Olds Cool (Recognition!!)

Texas82GP

Just-a-worm
Apr 3, 2015
7,981
18,676
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Spring, Texas
Well gents, it was another great day.

After reinstalling the center console from the weekend’s mad cleaning session, I warmed the car up and took it for a short run around the block and returned home. I checked the torque on the wheels and double checked tire pressures. Bumped the idle down just a touch and hit the road!

Yeah, it’s missing trim, the quarter glass windows and the back seat blah blah blah, but I didn’t care. It was a beautiful long weekend and day off here today, and I was gonna be damned if I was going to miss out on it!

After cruising around for a bit and making sure everything was operating correctly, I hit up my favourite car wash and VERY CAREFULLY gave it her first bath in over a year. I was mostly interested in getting rid of the dust and crud that had accumulated under the hood and in a few other places.

I think it cleaned up pretty well.
:)

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Also, here’s the interior now that it’s been cleaned and mostly reinstalled. It still needs some attention to detail and some protectant on all the surfaces, but it’s already looking 100% better.

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These are the better condition lower door panels I got from a local G body guy a few weeks ago: I’m very pleased with the condition of them.

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And of course a couple gratuitous exterior shots just because I could. Hey, it was finally clean!!

In this one you can start to get a sense of the pillar-less look:

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After loading up my phone with these Cutlass pictures, I hit the streets again, did some cruising, some WOT pulls, and just generally had fun. Stopped for a bite to eat, and even got a couple of “cool car man!”’s.
It felt great.

That’s all for now.

D.
Congratulations Donovan! I'm very happy for you. It's unbelievable how much you've improved that car. I wish I could hit 'winner' twice. The hard work and attention to detail really shows.
 
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Streetbu

Know it all, that doesn't
Supporting Member
May 22, 2011
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Central NY
Wow great work! Judging from your progress it looks like you probably already know this, but I felt like u have to mention it. Primer doesn't protect metal from rusting. Did you spray any sealer over it? It looks amazing so far and I'd hate to see it bubble up under fresh paint!
 
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Rktpwrd

Builder of Cool Shjt
Supporting Member
Feb 2, 2015
4,152
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
:drool:

Great job!

Many thanks sir!

Looks fantastic.
Your interior is the same colour as mine! Can I "borrow" your seatbelt holders?

Hahahaha
Thank you and no can do my friend! I just got those a couple weeks ago from fellow member O.D. Showtime and they’re in exceptional condition. If you’re in need, I highly recommend you contact him to see if he can help you out. He comes across and saves great quality parts and sells them for very reasonable prices. Kevin is the man!

Congratulations Donovan! I'm very happy for you. It's unbelievable how much you've improved that car. I wish I could hit 'winner' twice. The hard work and attention to detail really shows.

Thanks Jared. You’re not kidding, I look back at the car I bought and the journey through all the work along the way, and it’s not even the same car anymore really.
I think that’s a good thing.

Everything I’ve done to it to date has only served to improve the way it looks, performs and functions. But at the end of the day isn’t that what our great hobby is all about?

Thanks for the support my friend.
:)

Wow great work! Judging from your progress it looks like you probably already know this, but I felt like u have to mention it. Primer doesn't protect metal from rusting. Did you spray any sealer over it? It looks amazing so far and I'd hate to see it bubble up under fresh paint!

Thank you for looking out for me.
:)
I do indeed know that high build primer offers no protection from moisture because it is porous. If it was epoxy primer, that would be a different story, as it seals off the surface. There are however 2-3 coats of epoxy on the bare metal and filler work underneath the high build, so that offers a bit of protection.

I’m still not comfortable with the idea of getting it wet tho, that’s why when I took it to the car wash earlier today I mentioned that I washed it VERY CAREFULLY. I took as many precautions as I could to only get the painted areas and under the hood wet. Any water that made its way onto the primer got dried off immediately after.

Thanks as well for the compliments and for commenting on the thread! Nice to have you here.
 
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fleming442

Captain Tenneal
Dec 26, 2013
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Ok, looking at the pics of the 2 tone, I'm scratching my head on the delineation at the back/ C-pillar area now that you did the A-pillars. I was thinking hood, above the body line, then swept up the C, but you painted the A. Care to clue me in?
 

old80cs

G-Body Guru
Jun 27, 2013
622
2,041
93
Massachusetts
That drive must have been nice, the car looks great and will only get better. And yes, that engine compartment cleaned up beautifully. Great work on the car!
 
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Rktpwrd

Builder of Cool Shjt
Supporting Member
Feb 2, 2015
4,152
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Ok, looking at the pics of the 2 tone, I'm scratching my head on the delineation at the back/ C-pillar area now that you did the A-pillars. I was thinking hood, above the body line, then swept up the C, but you painted the A. Care to clue me in?

Bruce, you’re bang-on with your assessment of where the split is going to be.

The B pillars are a stand alone color in black simply for the pillar-less look, everything else from the body line up is going grey with the exception of the back third of the roof. It will stay white while the front 2/3’s will be grey.

The A pillars and window openings got painted already simply because of the order of things that have to go back on and correspondingly, their difficulty to remove for paint when it comes time to shoot the whole car.

For example, the weatherstrip channels need to go back on around the side windows. To do this, the A pillar trim needs to go on first. To get the A pillar trim on, the drip rail trim needs to be installed first.
And you can see how it goes.

Once all these pieces are installed, they won’t be coming back off so they needed to be painted first. Depending on the area(s) in question, I can either scuff and spray over the already painted but exposed parts, or do blends into them.
 
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Rktpwrd

Builder of Cool Shjt
Supporting Member
Feb 2, 2015
4,152
23,827
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Ok, looking at the pics of the 2 tone, I'm scratching my head on the delineation at the back/ C-pillar area now that you did the A-pillars. I was thinking hood, above the body line, then swept up the C, but you painted the A. Care to clue me in?

This might help for further clarification, it’s a rough photoshop of what I have planned courtesy of Scott (InjectedCutty).

78D675B3-7F1B-4445-9017-A9B3D2DCEC3A.jpeg
 
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old80cs

G-Body Guru
Jun 27, 2013
622
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Massachusetts
That clarifies my next question, if you planned to paint the grey between the rear facing part of the trunk lid between the tail lights like they did from the factory. A friend of mine, years ago, refinished his wife's 79' Calais in two tone white and grey but skipped the grey on the trunk lid and did just the roof and hood as you pictured. It looked sharp, I have no doubt yours will too.
 
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