Projects The Consolation Prize - '61 Olds Super 88

Looking good. All you need now is a Bellflower exhaust and some Smithy mufflers and you’re set.

 

Man they look killer ! Im now covinced thats going to be the next set of tires I buy.

 

I was just thinking about the headlights in terms of running relays. Obviously it's already done here, but I was curious as to the electrical draw of the LEDs versus a factory bulb. Obviously a factory bulb works since we can safely conclude the factory engineered the headlight switch to accommodate the power draw of the stock headlight bulbs.

The stock bulbs, replacement Sylvania H5006 sealed beams, are 55 watts. The Sylvania H4 bulbs that were in the car when I got it are also 55 watts. The LEDs I just put in, which are around 3x as bright as the incandescent H4s, are only 45 watts. So I'm actually increasing headlight brightness significantly while also reducing the power going through the switch. So while I agree that putting bulbs on relays is a good idea to put less power through the switch, I don't necessarily think the lack of relays should be prohibitive in installing better, brighter headlights.

 

Agreed, BUT to be HAMB worthy, a vehicle must be 58 years old.
58 year old wiring, 58 year old switches, 58 year old bulkhead connectors in many cases.
Unless everything in that path is replaced or fully brought back to OE specs and condition, it's trusting stuff that wasn't designed to last more than a decade or two. Putting in modern lower current bulbs will be better than OE, but the rest is still well past it's sell by date.
I know that companies are trying to get every last penny out of modern stuff, but how often do you hear of electrical issues in the current stuff? Seems to me that electric and software issues are the most common now.
I had a 'fun' experience driving a 30 year old car that was fine in normal use suddenly lose headlights going on a long trip out in the middle of nowhere. The resistance in the headlight circuit over hours of driving with the charging system keeping up overheated the switch. That is something I'd like to avoid.

 

The relays are only part of the solution. Installing heavier gauge wire is the another part. In many cars, the wiring to the headlights is a light gauge wire, causing some voltage drop at the headlight (The bean counters specify wire that is "adequate", when you want a "superior" performance).

 

I hear you, and it's funny you should mention it. During my shake-down phase of this build, the headlight switch went on me. You could jiggle it and the lights would come on, and the rheostat for the dash lights stopped working... it was just old and worn out. Olds used a unique switch, and actually used 2 different switches, for some cars equipped with Guide-Matic headlights and others without. I found an NOS switch, but it looked pretty haggard too.

I experimented successfully by retrofitting a later model GM headlight switch in, which is an inexpensive and commonly available part. I had noticed that the stalk had the same triangular shape and groove as the later switches, specifically the AC Delco D1588, which was used from 1966 through 1996 in various GM cars and trucks.


For ease of installation I also bought the ***ociated connector, part number PT1930. The wiring diagram is available on the internet and it was easy enough to just cut off the Olds connector and splice in the new connector in the appropriate places. It just reinstalled with he factory trim bezel and stalk, so it looks completely factory from the dash, and works 100%. Total cost there was ~$50 and arrived from Amazon in 2 days. Beats looking for NOS stuff off of eBay that is as old as the broken parts you're taking out.

 

Singlefinger Larry @safari-wagon just informed me that we will be parked next to each other at Autorama! @guthriesmith and I are looking forward to it!

 

Looking forward to meeting in person! And you're right, I think the cars will look great next to each other

 

I think I may have met you there last year, or year before. I'm in the SuspectS Motor Club. I know you met a few of our guys at TROG a couple years ago, with our "Suspect Device" railjob.

 

The push to finish this car for the Autorama went into overdrive.

One of the things I've never liked about this car were the interior speaker grill covers. There were custom made for the car, but the "rocket" theme to the car sort of fell flat for me since a) it's not Olds powered, and b) it's less cool jet-age rocket and more scary Cold War-era ICBM mutually ***ured destruction rocket. Add to that the poorly executed covers that look cheap and didn't really fit and you have a recipe for something that needs improvement.


I went to Home Depot and got some wood to make a slightly larger cover. Then I covered it with some new grill cloth.




Then I did the same for the package tray.


The interior was beyond filthy from being piled up in the corner of the shop for the better part of the last 4 years.

I bought a pressurized steam cleaner off of Amazon that helped immensely. A combination of steam, soft scrub with magic eraser, more steam, wet sponge, more steam, and clean microfiber got it all nice and clean. It took almost a full week to clean everything.

I also was able to shampoo all of the carpets and add new white seatbelts with a chrome buckle, and get rid of the cheap black plastic buckles.

 

Wow, those speaker grilles are 100 times better than what was in it. Every detail looked great in person!

 

The interior garnish moldings were spray chromed previously, which I am a big proponent of. That being said, some coatings are better than others. When the car was painted, the car was properly masked off. But the making tape destroyed much of the chrome finish on the moldings because it wasn't a quality application. To be honest, I didn't even notice the damage until I started ***embling the interior and I almost had a heart attack with it being barely a month to the show.



I made a call to Don at Coat of Chrome in Wind Gap, PA, explained my situation and he said he'd be able to help. I wasn't going to chance some being better than others, so he totally redid all 10 pieces of interior moulding and turned it around in 10 days. To say that I was impressed is an understatement. He had done a set of tail lights for me years ago and I was very happy with the work, and he totally came though here again. 10/10 would do business again.



I also wanted a set of white pleated floor mats to break up all of the gold carpet. The tailor I typically deal with wanted no part of this project so I turned to a local FB group to see if anyone could help me out. A local mom stepped forward who has a side hustle doing crafty seamstress type work. I told her what I wanted and she was super excited about the challenge. I thought she did a killer job! (they're a little curled in this pic but they were fresh and relaxed in a couple days)

 

Wheels went on with fresh spider caps. Wheelsmith did a great job and they fit perfectly.



I also realized that when it comes to interior, I need to learn how to do at least the basics. I bought a Singer heavy duty sewing machine off of Amazon, watched some YouTube videos, and got after it. Count that as a tool I never thought would find its way into the shop.


I sewed together some upholstery for the fender wells.


I cleaned up under the hood and trunk a bit and hit the road.

 

Thanks man. I totally agree, it was a big improvement. Small details like that can have a huge effect on the overall impression. How many times have we seen a great looking car, you look inside, and it's some horrendous steering wheel, and it's just this totally deflating feeling? That's how I felt about those speaker grills.

How was the ride back to OK?

 

Will you be displaying at Chicago World of Wheels this weekend? Or heading back to NJ?

 

After a 10+ hour drive with the wife and kiddo, we arrived Thursday morning and got set up. We were lucky enough to get parked next to Matt Smith and his *****in' 61 Buick. We coordinated ahead of time for the white carpet.


I'm in the background here, trying to take in how good these two cars look next to each other. I'm also going to steal some of Matt's pictures, which are way better than any of mine.



A couple particular highlights of the weekend were taking home some nice awards.

The Rumblers' selected it as their custom pick. These guys had an unreal attendance at the show, coming in from all over the country to display their cars. These guys have great taste in their own cars, so I sincerely appreciate the honor of being their choice. Not to mention they're all real nice guys who are real car people.


It also garnered a pro pick design award from Larry Erickson, who somehow made his own rendering of the car for the trophy. I was floored by the honor.

 

We headed back to NJ today and I will be showing it at the Toronto Motorama the coming weekend. Aside from that, I'm not really sure what the agenda will be for the rest of the year. Perhaps the Custom Car Revival in June? I talked to Kevin Anderson this weekend for a while who does such a great job with that show and I'd love to make it back out.

I'll also be back in Detroit next year for the 2025 Autorama, this time upstairs.

 

Magnificent!

 

Looking good! I like the Fender grill cloth!

 

Gorgeous! One of my favorites.

You need to post a better picture of that custom trophy!

 

LONG! I left my brother’s house at 5:00 am and pulled into my driveway a little before 8:00 pm which was 9:00 pm Detroit time. Anyway, hopefully your trip back to New Jersey was uneventful? Great finally meeting you in person!

 

Dang, 16 hours is a long haul! But we can deal with long, as long as man and machine return in good order. We had no issues getting back. Thankfully the weather was dry so we just packed up whatever we had and drove the car across town and loaded up in the trailer lot. Made it much easier than trying to maneuver the big trailer back inside. Aside from ocean-liner-esqe fuel consumption, the trip back home was just fine. Great meeting up with you, as well!

 

I hope the glow from the recognition surp***es all the difficulties and hard work to get it to that level.
Truly amazing.

 

Congratulations on the awards and an outstanding car.

 

I'll be honest man, it helps. I even said that to my wife when we were there and loaded in. I turned back around as I was walking back to the truck and said, "Damn, the car really looks great". It's easy to lose the forrest for the trees when the car was sitting in the shop for the past 4 years. All I saw was the bad, so to speak. What needed to be fixed or built next. And that obviously colored my opinion of the car and the project as a whole. It stopped being fun and exciting a long time ago, and sort of transitioned to an obligation, an albatross of significant time and funds, and a major stressor. This was the first time in a long time where I was able to just sort of enjoy the car.

That a lot of people, both respected builders/folks in the industry and the public alike, seemed to really like the car helps put my personal feelings in perspective. They can't all be wrong, and if they like it, then maybe I should too. Obviously, awards and recognition are not why we do this. But it is a salve that helps heal some of the sting of the journey to get here.

 

Good eye!

You know, I spent more time than I care to admit looking for the right colored grill cloth to go with the car. One day I was sitting in my office playing some tunes through my Fender Hot Rod Deville 4x10, and it sort of struck me. It wound up being a great choice.

 

This! This right here is when it's real. Glad you stuck it out through all the gestation. And now you can sew!

 

You know, when you go to a show, and one vehicle just stands out and you keep going back to it, looking at all the details, and so on? Your car is THAT car. It truly looks amazing.

Excellent decision for you and Matt to park next to ne another, too.

 

Incredible car and well deserved recognition! You should be proud!

 

Bring it to the Custom Car Revival, I'll park next to ya