1972 Olds Clam Shell

My guess is that it was tinkered with or broken, but I don't know for sure. The product brochures don't get specific on operation of the tailgate. I will check the owner's manual and/or body service manual for my '73 later today and see what they say.

 

I've heard it from some guys around here that had them, once upon a time, such as my Uncle, he had a clamshell Olds Custom Cruiser when I was real young and had problems with the motor. Some of the other guys who talk wagons when they see mine have told me similar stories.

 

Odd term, clamshell .... I always thought clamshells were Buick Riverias, I think maybe 63 or 64 Rivis where the headlamps would flip above the radiator. Never heard the term used for a 72 Olds.

I just learned something new

 

OK, the 1973 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser owner's manual shows a handle on the tailgate, in the center top, that you grip to raise or lower the tailgate once it's been unlocked at the key switch. There is no separate latch that you press a button on the gate itself to release it.

However, the manual does say that you unlock the gate and then grab the handle to "raise or lower the gate." Thus, the presumption is that the gate does not fall into the floor itself when it's unlocked. It has to be manually pushed into the floor. Any tailgates people report that fall into the floor after just being unlocked are not working properly.

 

It's not restricted to 1972 Oldsmobiles. The term refers to any of the 1971 to 1976 General Motors full-size station wagons, all of which (Buick, Pontiac, Olds, Chevy) featured this type of tailgate.

"Clamshell" is actually not a good description of the operation of these tailgate/window combinations because a clam's shell doesn't open by the top half rolling up like a roll-top desk and the bottom half rolling down. Rather, it opens as if the shell halves are attached with a hinge on one side, and then the top half lifts up as though you were lifting the lid of a pirate's treasure chest or something like that.

But the name has caught on, and we live with it.

 

Swanny- I assume the manual gate was counter-balanced in some way? Seems to me that otherwise it would have been very hard to lift up out of the 'pit'.

 

It would have to be, just as are the trunk lid and hood of a car or a garage door. If a manual gate fell into the floor as soon as the lock was released, that would suggest a problem with the counterbalance system.

 

It is NOT counter balanced, it is not very heavy but when you pull the "trip lever" in the middle it DROPS. You have to make sure and keep a hold of it, I have ran many other of these cars in my former life with manual gates and they dropped just like my driver wagon did