fjwhoopie’s 1984 Oldsmobile Hurst/Olds

Well Happy new year to all !!!! After a long time away from the cars I am back. The doors are in final sealer and the car has been block sanded. We will be fitting the new doors next week. Here are a few pics of the car taken yesterday ... Sometimes life gets in the way of our enjoyment in the garage but we are back on track. More updates to come ... stay tuned :-)

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 friend's recommended I go see his buddy who 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...

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 ...

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   :-)

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,

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 ,,,

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 ,,,,, ByeOk, well I'm back to add more pictures, pulled the car outside and cleaned it, it is going into the bodyshop for paint. At least the interior looks nice in the sunlight....

Went down to the salvage yard and took the hood hinges off my parts car. Originally the hood hinges and the latch were painted black but they always get chipped or marked up so .... mine are going to be replated in Grey Phosphate. They will look better than new. Here are pictures of them before and then after a trip through mu media blaster ...

After hours we do other work in the home garage, tonight I am going to assemble the hood hinges that came in today from Mike. The Grey Phosphating came out great!!!!! Here are the before and after pics.... I will post pictures once assembled .... I also have bolts and the hinge springs which I am going to replate with my Black Oxide Kit. ....

Well they are off to Mike Richards in Morris Alabama for plating, I will add more pics once they are done. Bye :-)Well I'm back to add more pictures, weather was real nice this weekend so time to do more work on the Hurst. Finished assembling the bumpers. Front bumper had two little dents which are now gone, acid etch primed, then coated in primer sealer, ready for a final wet sanding.Back bumper was worse, three good sized dents, one on each corner and one on the drivers side near the bumperette. The dents were banged out, skim coated with body fill and removed. Coated with acid etching primer and then filler primer. I ran out of primer sealer but will finish up this week, then one final wet sand .... ready for Gloss Black paint. ,,,,  Cool !!!

This week they will be ready for the final wet sand, I will add more pictures soon. Stay tuned for our next exciting episode ...Back to add more pictures .... Talked to the bodyshop guy friday and finally there is a spot open for me. The car should be going in on Monday or Tuesday .... I took the interior out today so that I won't get any dust or overspray on all the NOS interior pieces.

I will add more pics this week as we get busy with chemicals .... bye  :-)SO WE RUN INTO A BIG PROBLEM !!!!!!!!!!But first a story  .... I have had this car for several years. About a year after I purchased this car my buddy came by my garage with his 81 Z28 which had just been painted. He was telling me that a guy we knew had opened up a body shop close by and he was doing real nice bodywork cheap and was looking for some work. I was impressed with the paint on the Z28 so we went to the shop and struck a deal for the Hurst. I am very critical when it comes to my cars so you can imagine how nice the paint job was on this car. So I drop off the Hurst for a paint job .... (can't you just hear the ominous music in the background ...)So he starts on the car but is painfully slow, a month goes by and even with me stopping by the shop weekly, very little work is getting done. I should have pulled the car then but.... I keep stopping by the shop but a month turns into two, then three, then six, then I get very busy at work and with another project so I stop going by. About three months later my buddey Richard comes by and tells me that my car is in the back lot of the bodyshop with a thin car cover over it with the drivers window down and ,,, it has been like that for a couple of months !!!!!!! WHAT !!!!!! So off we go with the flatbed to get the car. I get the car out of there but not before noticing that the nice pile of wet leaves on the drivers side floor and rear floor. My interior was soaked and it looked like some animal was living in my car!Well fast forward to this weekend. After pulling the interior I finally pull up the original rug .....

I had this car on the lift when I bought it and the floors were not rotted. Also the rest of the floors and trunk are perfect .... this must be the result of the car sitting outside for several months with the drivers window down .... Hello, I am back, working at the bodyshop, trying to fix the floors, we started by drilling out the spot welds and removing the floor brackets. Next is the cut out the rotted sections, check out the pics....