1961 Oldsmobile Fiesta Wagon restoration

Well the tear down has commenced. :2_thumbs_up_-_anima Finding far more crud than we had hoped, but no more than we expected. Pulled the rear window out, the bottom channel of the window is really rusted so a new one has to be fabricated, found some very thin spots inside the tailgate at the bottom. The good news is we got the new lock in the back so the window can now go up and down via that key-way.

The spare tire cradle/bucket is a mess. It kind of hangs down low so I imagine it was damaged more than once going over curbs etc. Full of layers of roofing tar and newspapers. Going to just cut that whole thing out and remake it.

I was paranoid about removing the headliners ceiling panel bows, they are plastic and snap over the internal bows. My 57 olds had the same bows and they were brittle and garbage. Amazingly these appear to be the same product but came off without breaking. We have to remove the headliner so we can have the holes in the roof from the roof rack filled.

Anyone know how to remove that compressed paper type of sound deadening they put in the inside of the roof? I would like to remove it completely, get rid of any mustiness and use a more effective modern product.

Also got the dash lights working, one blown bulb and some wiring issues. We need to get a new headlight switch, it is sketchy.

Anyway, I will try to keep this up to date as much as possible.

 

Hi Toad! So the fun begins! We have another member with a white 61 that has been restoring his with the help of "impalajim." Check out his thread if you haven't already. Word to the wise: some of the members on here demand of resto progress so feel free to post away!

 

I feel your pain Brother.

Want to come off that roof rack for my 64 Dynamic 88 Fiesta???

 

Life sure gets in the way of what you want to do.....vs what you do get done. Steve had been working hard on the car. He ended up using a wire wheel on the drill to chew off that paper sound control lining on the inside roof of the car. He looked like a teddy bear, all covered in brown fluff.
The car is currently in the body shop.

 

Hi Toad, thanks for the update!

 

The body of the car is in very good condition. Just a bit of rusting along the bottom of the rockers and doors. Also some rust in the bottom of the tailgate, but the toughest part was the tracking for the rear window was rotted: that was a bit beyond our body shop.... who does amazing work......but this was a tough one - so it was sent to a local specialist.

The one pics shows the chunkss that were cut out. The rag shown was stuffed in behind a crappy patch to hold bondo: rags love to hold moisture....great idea if you want to promote rust!

I need to stop by the body shop and get some more pictures.....

 

I can tell by those pics that your body shop does excellent work.....

Good progress.......

 

Yes they do: Vintage & Performance Restorations in Waterdown Ontario and you can tell by their name they specalize in old cars only. It is a small shop with just a few guys but owner John Miles has very high standards and although they are far from budget priced; they do amazing work and yes, you do get what you pay for.

The also did the body and paint on our 65 Malibu, my 69 Camaro Custom (now in Phoenix, AZ) and our 70 Olds Rallye 350.

 

Hya Toad...we havent officially met yet

but...nice project man

 

You....have....a.......factory Olds Rallye 350????? Can we see?? :confused:

 

Let me guess.... it's yellow?

 

Progress looks good so far, and I'm glad to hear that your ceiling panel bows. As far as the sound deadening material that they used back then, the best way I have found is to honestly scrape as much of it up as you possibly can. I've removed most of it from my 63, and it tends to just come out without harm.

 

Wow, I have not been on this forum for ever: sorry I did not see your post MotoMike. I do have pics of the Rallye 350 but we sold it one month ago. I can still post them or PM me your email and I will send to you. Absolutely fabulous restoration on that car: the new owner is thrilled to own it and I am pouring the proceeds from that into my 61

 

update on Olds

Thought I best update the Olds. I will do this in order.

Obviously these are pics of the cleaning up of the firewall, painted fenders, painted dash (masking still in place) and our chosen exterior color scheme. The stock color was white: we have gone with Summit white (a bright pure white) with a Cortez Silver roof.

 

We have chosen an LQ9 LS engine taken from a Denali roll over backed by a 4L65E transmission.

I have also included a collage pic of the restoration of the steering wheel. I purchased one of the steering wheel restoration kits from Eastwood which I had seen but figured would be beyond my abilities. I had never done a steering wheel restoration but figured the wheel was so bad I certainly couldn't wreck it! :2_thumbs_up_-_anima The key to doing this is following the instructions, take your time and don't try to cut corners. I am the detail expert when we restore cars and patience is something I am good at where Steve is the chief mechanic! What a team!

Following the photos shown, it was shot with high build primer, sanded smooth and painted (painted by our body shop) Let me tell you - it is a thing of beauty now! I will take some more updated photos including the wheel and post this week.

I certainly will not be shy about my next wheel restoration!