Projects New Project: 1953 Oldsmobile

Excited to see Baloo on the ground!



Still a very long way to go. I’m starting to worry about my driveshaft tunnel. It’s gonna be pretty massive. That’s doable, but is there any reason I can’t run a two piece drive shaft? That would keep my tunnel just below the back seat.

 

You would need a mount for the center carrier bearing. Outside of that something from an X-frame GM would be a good place to start.

 

Driveline vendors should be able to offer good suggestions. Had an X frame years ago and the weakest point in that driveline was the center bearing. Still would require a slip joint in the rear to accommodate the travel when lowering/raising with the suspension.

 

Spent most of this weekend correcting stuff. I gotta quit working tired, I discovered a few stupid mistakes I made.

Turns out I put the front bag cups on the wrong sides when I reassembled The car was off by an inch each side and the bags were rubbing. Got that fixed, now the car measures perfect again on each side.



Also had to move a rear bag mount so it would sit right.


I threw on one of the side skirts with the car laid out. Did my heart good.



And the big repair of the weekend; I ripped the hood when I went to close it for a picture. I looked
Through old pictures, and the crack has been there at least 4 years.

I didn’t do the perfect patch, but it’s good enough for now. So much for not taking the hood off. Oh, and hood springs suck to reinstall.



I’m still undecided on one versus two piece driveshaft. Debating just cutting cutting the floor because it’s easier and cheaper. I picked up a two piece from the junk yard to play around with it. May hit a driveline shop today and get their opinions on it. And hopefully a rough idea how much it would cost me.

 

Hood springs are indeed tough to install. A bit late for you but a tip for the future. Off the car bend the spring and install washers/spacers between the coils, bend spring other way and add more washers. Keep bending and adding washers and eventually the spring will be long enough to install as is with no pulling with vice grips. Close hood and all the washers will fall out as the spring lengthens.

 

Yeah, that's more or less how I went at it. Didn't have enough washers, so I used flat head screwdrivers and some of the 4 link brackets I haven't used yet. The trouble was getting the screw drivers to stay in place. Got it in the end though!

 

Things keep coming up, and I feel like I’ll never finish this car. Pretty sure Pistons and Paint is off the menu, but I’m still pushing for it.

I’ve decided to go with the two piece driveshaft. Way too much flooring would have to be cut, and more importantly, the upper part of the X in the frame, and I don’t want to do that. After lots of measuring, I’m convinced I know what size I need both halves to be. Hopefully dropping them off at a shop today for resize, u joints, carrier bearing, and balance.

I used the carrier mount from the truck I got the driveshaft from. Cut it up to fit where I need it. I won’t mount it till the driveshaft is back.



I also got my rear shocks in place.



And after some final measurement checks, I pulled the differential and pumpkin and started welding on my tabs. Taking it slow so nothing warps
.

 

if you can do that much w/out warpage--you are a magician!

 

I like it, slow and steady wins the race. I think the 2-piece driveshaft is a good idea in your case.

 

Feels like I haven’t made any progress in a while since everything keeps looking the same. Finished welding the notch today, but need to get it all painted up. Need to paint the axle and link bars as well.

Differential is off at Elevate because it was making some funky sounds. Driveshaft is at Truckmotive to be shortened, have the carrier bearing replaced, and replace all the u joints. Decided on a two piece. So, once the fist half is done, I’ll put it back in the car and remeasure for the second half.

Put the front fenders back on too. Probably should have held off, but it’s nice to see Baloo going back together.



Also got my carb and TV cable linkage figured out. I ended up cutting the bracket off the junkyard Q and welding it to the bracket on mine. I’m happy with it. The cable has not been set or adjusted yet.


Oh, and had to go back to my crappy homemade AC bracket. The one from vintage air pushed the compressor into the battery, and I don’t feel like relocating it yet. Maybe eventually.



It doesn’t look like I’ll make Pistons and Paint which is a bummer, but I’ll keep pushing till it comes and goes. Then maybe I’ll give myself a weekend off.

 

Well, good news and bad news.

The front clip is 90% back on and looks amazing.


Still have a lot of little stuff to do. A few bolts here and there, finish some wiring. Driveshaft should be done in a couple days.

I’m still really happy with the engine bay, even with the black. Here’s a comparison shot. I’ll do another once it’s all done and back together.


Ok, now for the bad news. I screwed up a measurement. No one has to know. Only I would know. The car would still sit level. I should just ignore it. It’s not a big deal.

But it’s going to bother the hell out of me. My driver side rear bag mount (upper) is 1” too far forward. I hate it. It’s stupid that I missed it. And now I’ve gotta cut the whole upper bridge out and redo it. Thankfully, everything else is fine.

I’ll start on that this weekend, unless I ride out to Pistons and Paint for a bit.

 

I dunno, does it impact any function or skew the wheelbase? If it helps, I cannot see it from my house.

 

It puts the bag at a weird angle at ride height, but doesn't otherwise affect the wheel base or ride height. I could totally get away with it.

I'm not going to ignore it, but I'm going to hold off cutting it back up for now. Once the car is mobile again, I'm going to take it in for a 4 wheel alignments. I'll make sure everything is set 100% correctly, then decide how I want to tackle the bridge.

 

You will sleep better once it is fixed.

 

Got to hear the engine again finally! Here are a few links if you’d like to hear it. Needs timing and carb adjusted, but it’ll get there.


https://www.facebook.com/share/v/fFHWJzctWnsKc8KP/?mibextid=WC7FNe


https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cz9ngFKPOLG/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==


https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8f5onHF/



I got my carrier mount finished and mounted. It went way better than I expected. No binding and everything clears.



I also upgraded to a 160 amp alternator to run all my extra crap. Some will be OT, but I’ve prepped the wiring for anything. I managed to clean up a lot of wiring on the passenger firewall as well.



I dropped the diff off last week to have it sorted out. The guy called me up and said there was a bad bearing. A case of “might be able to get away with it, but I wouldn’t." Thankfully, he’s awesome at cross matching part numbers, otherwise I would never have found the bearings. At least, we’re 95.12% certain I bought the right one. Won’t know for sure till it comes in.


Currently working on hiding gauges. I want to move as much as possible to the glovebox. I think I’ll move the coolant temp to the driver side under the dash and have everything else hidden.




Guys, I’m so freaking close. Not to being done, but just going down the road again. I’m so excited. I miss this car.

 

I remember reading your first post where you were planning on chopping the car. Make sure you locate an extra rear glass before you start if you plan to cut it. I have an unchopped 52 Buick Special and when the rear glass broke it took months and a lot of searching salvage yards to find one. I would assume an Oldsmobile is just as hard to find. Aftermarket windshields are still available (at least when I last checked). Nice car!

 

Nice work on the mount! Overall everything you have done is neat and clean.

 

I decided against the chop for this car. I haven’t seen a chopped Olds in person that I care for. It doesn’t look natural on it to me. I love the stock roofline anyway.


Nothing too new. Got the correct bearing for the differential. Found a Timken 3779 that works. Hopefully I can get the car back together soon now. Still need to toss in the radiator.

I finished up my gauge cluster for the glovebox. Really happy with how it turned out. It allowed me to ditch the gauges under the dash. I still have the temp gauge under there, but I moved it to the far left so it’s more hidden. Everything is wired up, just need to run cables to the back.

 

Looking good man. People don't realize how much work goes into this. When you're all done, you'll kick yourself knowing that you'd be able to do it all again in 1/4 of the time but the majority of the head-scratching time is what makes it work.

 

The things you can do with a center-dash glovebox. It looks like you have just enough of a visual sight line to see the gauges when driving, which, is kind of important. Really, that entire dash is a work of art, kudos for not mucking it up.

 

Why didn't you just fix and use the original oil pressure and temperature gauges? And you could put a volt meter in where the original amp meter is.

 

Nice attention to detail. But the recognition it took to accomplish will go over the heads of most of the clamdiggers that look at it.

 

I really wanted the gauges on the bottom so they would be easier to see. That was the original plan. The stock radio is just in the way, and I'm not about to take it out. I'd eventually like to get it working. Anyway, thankfully I'm not dependent on the gauges in the dash while driving. I can see them if I need to, but definitely not as well as I'd like.

I actually have them both hooked up and running. I wanted the more detailed gauge for the oil pressure and I figured a backup wouldn't hurt. The stock temp gauge isn't super accurate. It will tip me off if something is up, but I need the reliability of the other mechanical gauge. And I would definitely love to put a volt meter where the amp meter is, but I haven't looked much into yet. I just know it's not a job I can do myself.

 

On my 49 Buick I found an aftermarket volt meter that I took out of the original case and mounted it where the amp meter went. I didn't change the face on the dash. Straight up or zero amps is 12 volts, so if the needle is to the right of center it is charging. To the left of center I have a problem as it is less than 12 volts.

 

May have to see if I can do that. I have a spare Olds cluster I can mess with, just need to find a volt meter that might work.

 

Maaaaan, now I can't stop thinking about it. haha May order this cheap amazon gauge and see if I can make it work.

 

That's the ticket.

 

Ok, there’s a local show in a week, and I would love to cruise down the street to it. I made a temporary air management setup (that leaks like mad), and I only need the radiator and TV cable done.

I’m seriously scared of the Tv cable. I’ve watched every video, talked to everyone I know, and read every post I can find. I’m only more worried. I’ve heard at least 4 different ways to set it.

First off, here’s my setup. Does it look correct?


The way I’ll do it (if I do it myself), I’d have someone put the pedal to the floor, pull the shit out of the cable, and tighten the set screw. Then if I understand, it’s time to test drive and do fine adjustments using the ratcheting end. Also if I understand correctly, a late shift is better for the transmission than an early shift.


Here are the instructions for the TV cable I have:


My kit did not come with a spring for the set screw. Is that ok? Any advice is welcome. Still trying to con a local mechanic to come do this part for me.

 

Ok, doing more reading, and want to check. I believe I have a self adjusting TV cable.


If that's the case, it sounds like I need just a little bit of tension on the cable with the throttle closed, then push the pedal to the floor, let the cable ratchet out, and then it should be set properly. Does that sound correct?

 

Ok, last post for the day. Please check out this video and let me know if you think I did it correctly.

I pretty much tightened the TV cable with tension with the throttle closed. The. I slowly pressed down on the gas pedal till it was on the ground. Pedal feels great now.

Let me know what you think.