Here are some Pics of my 84 Hurst Olds, The T-Tops really make this a great car for the summer

Here is a picture of the interior when I got the car, the seats need help, the rug is crusty, the dash trim has been cleaned so many times it has lost most of its chrome trim ,,,,

Check out the pullout radio and the worn out steering wheel ,,, it has two small cracks and the leather wrap has seen better days, this will have to be redone,,,,

Well we tracked down the radio shop which installed the pullout and incredibly the original Hurst Olds radio was sitting up on a shelf covered in dust. A few dollars later and I had my original radio back ,,, I still could not believe that it was still there ,,,, but you never know until you ask.

I took the correct radio plugs out of my parts car and installed the original radio back in the dash. I installed an NOS Radio Dash Trim along with NOS GM Radio Knobs, and NOS Heater Knobs.... starting to look better now....  check out the pics.....

I'm back to list more pics,,,,  but first ,,,, A WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING TO ANYONE VIEWING THIS CAR AND PHOTOS, THERE IS A SCAMMER IN LONDON WHO COPIED PICTURES OF THIS CAR, MY CAR, STATING IT WAS HIS CAR, WHICH HE WAS PARTING OUT TO FINANCE ANOTHER PROJECT, HE WAS INCLUDING IN EMAILS PICTURES ASKING PEOPLE TO VIEW THE CAR AND EMAIL HIM WHICH PARTS THEY WANTED AND THEN HE WOULD SHIP THEM OUT THE PARTS, ,,,,,, DO NOT BE FOOLED OR SCAMMED, I AM NOT PARTING OUT THIS CAR NOR AM I SELLING PARTS OFF IT, IF YOU RECEIVE AN EMAIL WITH PICTURES OF THIS CAR YOU CAN BE ASSURED IT IS A FAKE OFFER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The original steering wheel had a few small cracks in it, not really noticeable but you could feel them as you drive the car so,,,,,, I sent it out to Gary's Steering Wheel Restoration located at 2677 Ritner Highway in Carlisle PA 17013, (717) 243-5646, to be redone, have the cracks fixed, the black repainted and new Maple leather installed, I am very happy with the way it came out, excellent work, check out the pics ,,,,

While the wheel was out being done, I installed NOS Lightning Rod Black Shifter Balls, an NOS set of sweepers, an NOS Lightning Rod Woodgrain Plate, and NOS Console Ashtray Woodgrain cover with the NOS Ashtray Insert.  It really does look much nicer, I had a reproduction woodgrain shifter plate which did not quite match, ,,,, I picked up this console this summer and as you can see in the pics it is a shade off from Maple but we will redye that this summer, other than the slight color variation, it is in super condition, no cracks, or damage,,,,  

There is a lot of NOS stuff in this interior to make it better ,,, seats redone with NOS Maple material, the Headlight Switch is NOS, the Dash Bezel around the headlight switch is NOS along with AC vent, the Center Dash Bezel is NOS with two NOS AC Vents, NOS Hurst Olds Emblem, NOS Dash Passenger AC Woodgrain with two NOS AC Vents, an NOS "Oldsmobile" nameplate over the passenger woodgrain, an NOS Tilt Lever, and NOS Turn Signal Lever, an NOS Hazard Flasher Knob, a pair of NOS SeatBack Ashtrays ,,,,,    

I recently purchased, but have not installed yet, an NOS Heat and AC Dash Control assembly, an NOS Hood Release Cable assembly, and a NOS Trunk Rubber.

Now on the the body ,,,, the front end is disassembled so it can be prepped for paint ,,,,

The hood has about a dozen dimples on it and a slight crease on the drivers side ,,, it will need to be replaced. So off to Conneticut to purchase another Cutlass hood ,,, one of my friends buddy had three or four parts cars so off to go hood shopping ...  We unbolted a mint straight hood off an 87 for the low low price of $75     SCORE !!!!!!!! 

No Charge for the Rats Nest under the hood insulation ,,, Came free with the hood  !!!!!! 

On the stand is the replacement hood, sanding down the underside so we can spray it semi-gloss black...

The front spoiler is in nice shape, a little gloss black paint with flex agent and it will be like new,,, the grilles and headlight bezels are ok but we have a nice NOS set of Hurst Olds Grilles and NOS Headlight Bezels.

More Pictures coming soon ,,,,

Ok, Back to add more pics of the Hurst progress ,,,, it has been very busy at work ,,, inconveniently cutting into my garage time ,,,

The front and back bumpers were removed, disassembled, then sent out to be sandblasted, They were really crusty on the inside, might as well do this right, check it out ...

Back from the sandblaster ready to be reassembled, but first a little primer to seal and protect the bare metal ,,,

Ok, so here is the front bumper before and after ,,,, a little crusty and had a few small dents, one bumperette needed a little body fill, ..... after being reassembled, the bumper was covered in acid etching primer, then sandable primer, then primer sealer, ..... lightly sanded with 400 grit then 1000 grit, ready for paint,,,, mint !!!

Time to turn our attention to the replacement hood, since it is an 80's GM vehicle, the hood will need to go to bare metal (Bad Lacquer ,,, Bad Bad Bad Lacquer) You can put Lacquer over Enamel but cannot put Enamel over Lacquer ,,, well unless you like your paint to look like the old Chrysler krinkle finish aircleaners,,,, no,,,, well then time to break out the paint stripper   :-)

Careful ... this stuff F%$*&in burns when you get it on your hands so don't forget to wear gloves, like I did ( Ok, Stop laughing you probabily did it too) ,,, Ok, time to break out the primer 

A little more fun with chemicals as we mix a batch of Semi-Gloss black paint,,, yeah !!!!

Next for the hood is to flip it over, fix the small dimples (Yes ,,, of course there are marks in the hood) ,,,, more fun with chemicals,,, then trim the hood in the original silver, that requires a trip to Providence Lacquer for a Quart of Paint .... Stay tuned for our next exciting episode , Same bat time, Same bat channel ......  :-)  

Ok, I'm back, the weather has been great so I have been in the garage every night ,,, finished the bodywork, time to fit the hood, drill new holes to mount the hood scoop, looking better,,,,

I have an NOS scoop and NOS hood mouldings, just test fitting them, it took about thirty minutes to adjust the hood to the fenders and the header panel. This hood sat a little low on the passenger side, so off to my friends bodyshop for a few shims ,,,, after installing two thin shims I am happy with the fit of the hood. ,,,,,,  

Here is the old scoop and the NOS scoop, the old one has a three inch crack which could be fixed but ,,, the NOS one is going on the hood 

I will add new pics tomorrow ,,,,,  :-)

Great weather this weekend so here is more pictures, time for "Fun with Paint Stripper" on the header panel,

Wanted to make sure there is no damage or repairs under the primer, next it is on to the fenders,,,,, really messy but worth it. 

The passenger side fender although rust free it has two small dimples / waves which need some filler, the drivers fender also rust free has a silver dollar size dent in front of the wheel and two more small dents near the hood hindge ,,,, more filler.

The car was relatively straight before I started but I wanted to take the extra time and do a really nice job.  ................. and now ................ it's story time ,,,,,,,, Years ago I worked for a crotchety old guy at Tony's Garage and he taught me something which has always stuck with me so I will pass it on now ,,,,, Picture a plump, short and balding middle aged Italian guy with a cigar hanging out of his mouth, he always had a greasy ball cap on and suspenders which kind of went around his beer gut ,,, that is Tony ,,,,, While chomping on that nasty cigar he would say ,,,, "Take your time doing the job, pay attention to the details, If you don't think you have enough time now to do it right, trust me when I tell you that you will find the time later when you have to redo the same job"  .........  some great advise ,,,, whatever you do whether it is mechanics, bodywork, or otherwise ,,,, take your time, do the best job you can so you don't have to redo it, you will be satisfied with the results. ....

Well now back to reality (these little digressions happen more and more often, really have to get that checked, HAHA) I will add more pics as the work continues ,,, Bye  ;-) 

OK, Back to add more pics, ,,,, I finished paint stripping the header panel and I was not happy with what I found ,,,, there was evidence of a previous repair along with evidece of previous mechanical stripping methods, additionally the edge of the header panel did not fit well to the hood. It had been sanded too much on one side.  ,,,,

Off to the salvage yard  to remove the header on my parts car ,,,

Here is the replacement header panel, the old one has been removed ,,,,

Time to install the replacement header panel ,,, bolting it up is the easy part ,,, aligning it would take more time ...

Well here it is  ,,, after two hours of adjusting the hood, latch assembly, fender hight, etc. this one fits much better to the fenders and the hood, ,,,, now more fun with paint stripper...

The new header is stripped ,, no previous repairs, ,,, only a few "rock chip" spots need attention ,,,, I know these are not the most exciting photos but the body work is going slow as I want this paint job to be killer !!!! Will be back to add more pics soon ,,,,, Bye