Latest on the '62 Olds Dynamic 88 wagon

OK, just got back from Spring Carlisle, with Impala Jim, and I DID take pictures of some wagons over there--I will be posting them when I get the chance to sort through all of my pics. For now, a two-part update on what we got done today (well, 99+% Jim, the rest, me!)


I picked up some new carpeting for the station wagon at Spring Carlisle this past week; here is the front carpet, right out of the box, ordered from Fusick Automotive Products in Connecticut, which has supplied a ton of stuff for my old Oldsmobiles over the years.


Here is the old front carpeting after it was removed from the wagon; as you can see, there was a lot of sun fade that took place over 50 years, as well as the usual wear-and-tear.


The front floorboards to the wagon were very solid, glad to say; rust is the biggest enemy of any old car, but this wagon has been well taken care of by its previous owners.


Once the floor panel area was vacuumed and cleaned, preparation for installing the carpeting began, with Jim applying a coating of rustproofing agent as a preventative measure to ensure the wagon will remain solid for years to come.


Next, some heat insulation padding was laid down; this, along with the padding on the back of the new carpet, acts as a sound deadener as well.


More to come...

 

Here's the rest of the pictures, showing that we (actually, mostly Impala Jim) were able to get the new front carpet installed in the wagon.

The new carpeting as it appears on the driver's side; the carpet had a sewn-in mat in front of the pedals to alleviate wear; however the original Oldsmobile floor mats will serve the same purpose. Looks pretty good!

Impala Jim working on fitting the carpet on the passenger side; while this side didn't have the extra work of fitting in the high-beam foot dipper, the area around the steering wheel, and the two rounded studs that the accelerator pedal mounts to, it still is a challenge to get everything to look the best it can.

The finished product, with the recently refurbished original Oldsmobile floor mats, on the driver's side.

Another angle that shows both sides with the mats in.

Finally, a quick shot of the Fisher--or I guess, Ionia door sill plate, with the new front carpeting in. Of course, one work begins on the rear carpeting, which will fit underneath the seam at the back of the front carpeting, the sill plate will be removed once again.

 

shes really coming along
luv that thing

 

The rear carpeting in the wagon was removed today; that required the rear seat to be removed, and revealed a couple of more interesting things that have been hiding for five decades...


The rear seat from the wagon was removed, so that the new carpet could be put in the rear; the springs and seat appear to be in good condition overall. The springs and the floorboards will be treated wtih rust neutralizer before being put back in the wagon, and the carpeting installed.


Here's a half-and-half comparison of the rear floorboards; the top is as they appeared prior to the rust neutralizer being applied, which is the case toward the rear. As was the case with the front, the floorboards are very solid.


Now, a couple of interesting finds once the rear seat and carpeting was removed. Another tag from the Barwick Carpet Mill was found; like the one designated for the front, this one for the rear carpet was dated September 29th, 1961, which is in line with many of the other date-stamped items from what is likely the late September-early October production of the wagon.


Previous owner Phil Fischer has indicated to me that the original owner of the wagon was the proverbial "little old lady"; perhaps she had some grandsons playing in the back seat, as these two baseball cards, featuring Boston's Ike Delock, and Pittsburgh's Bob Veale (both pitchers) are from the Topps 1963 series.


As the rear of Bob Veale's card indicates here (as did the one for Ike Delock), the most recent statistics ended with the 1962 season, which would mean these were from the following year. Some quick research I did indicates Delock ended his career in '63 in Baltimore; Veale was a rookie for the Pirates in '62, and I can remember him pitching (and having an early '70s card from him); his last two years were with the Red Sox in 1973-74. Finally, according to www.baseball-reference.com, both Delock and Veale are still with us, at ages 82 and 76, respectively

 

I have really enjoyed following your progress on your Olds wagon. Looking forward to more new posts.

 

Thanks--I appreciate it!

 

All of the new carpet obtained last week at Spring Carlisle is now in the wagon; and all that's left here is to re-install the rear seat.

The rear carpeting was installed by Impala Jim yesterday; the rear seat was removed in order to do this properly. The cuts to allow for the carpet to fit the contour of the floor boards will not be visible once the seat is put back in. Jim wants to refurbish some of the back seat edge panels, etc. before re-installing the seat.

A new set of four door-sill plates was obtained from Fusick Automotive; the wagons had a special Ionia Body emblem on the front sills, as opposed to the regular Fisher Body carriage that appeared on coupes, sedans, and convertibles. Jim took out the emblems, which were riveted to the old sill plates, and re-riveted them onto the new plates.

A closer look at the front sill plate with that Ionia Body emblem, along with a closer look at where the front carpet seam covers the rear carpet, which extends underneath the seam.

The rear door sills did not have an emblem; I did not realize that some of the drops from last night's rain had not been wiped off before I took the picture...

Earlier, Jim had sprayed some rust neutralizer on the springs under the rear seat cushion; he then applied some rustproofer to ensure these remain in good shape for years to come.

 

Great thread about a great Olds wagon! LMK if you're ever in Memphis.

 

...one of my favorite places to be--been there seven times (Graceland, Sun Records, Beale Street)! Will keep that in mind!

 

Thanks for the Ionia Body sill plate . That wagon's looking great!

 

Just a quick update from the last couple of days...

Was at Impala Jim's early this morning to help put the rear or top part of the back seat back into the wagon; this has to be put in just right, as it has to be re-installed to allow for the seat to be folded down for more cargo room area. With the new carpeting all in, the only thing we're waiting for is the linoleum that adheres to the rest of the cargo area back to and including the inside tailgate panel, and the back side of the back seat.

The front pillars at each outer edge of the windshield, by the vent windows, were each removed, and given a new shot of that fawn paint we're detailing everything with; on the Dynamic 88 series, these are painted to match the rest of the interior trim; on my Starfire, these are chrome.

Here's a nice shot of the passenger side pillar as it is back in place...and here's the driver's side.

Had room to upload one more picture, so I took a morning picture of the wagon, so just threw it on here!

 

Got some "stuff" for the wagon that is dated 1962, so just a couple more items to make things period-correct.

Had the pair of 1962 Ohio year-of-issue plates refurbished; first by Chuck Sakryd of Cleveland, who restored the maroon background to the plate at Spring Carlisle, then by Mike Neely of North Canton, who detailed the white lettering. Put them on the wagon today, covered by a nice flat transparent shield to protect them. Just noticed the color combo on the plate goes good with the center ornament on the tailgate moulding!

I also picked up some NOS Oldsmobile seat belts, in the correct yellow and blue Oldsmobile box; these are supposed to be a "neutral" color, as the box indicates, though they are a light green. I suppose in the right sort of light, they kind of blend in with the tan seats, though Jim seems more convinced of that than I! It is interesting to note the date stamp on the label for the belts is indeed 1962, as the "62" is clearly visible. They were manufactured in Sturgis, Michigan, right above the Indiana border. Debating whether to dye them or leave them as is.

Taking the wagon on Sunday morning to the Northern Ohio Oldsmobile Club of America Chapter's "dust-off" in Parma; will be the first time in over four years that many of the people will have seen the wagon out and about, and for sure they haven't seen it this nice before!

 

Very nice, have a great time at the show. Snap a few hundred if you get a chance.

 

Awesome job! That baby looks better than it did when it drove off the showroom floor! Did you re-paint the iona sill badges? They look to be in perfect shape for a 50 year old car! Also looking to restore my rear tailgate window switch as well, any ideas? Did you run across the original build sheet when you were pulling her apart?

PS: By the way, thanks for the backup lens tip, so stoked I finally got one thanks to you!

 

Thanks again, and congrats on getting those back-up lenses--sometimes they're not easy to find.

The Ionia sill plates emblems are the original ones, haven't been touched up in any way other than polishing them to whatever degree you can.

Fortunately, have not had to mess with the rear tailgate window, it has been working fine, but if yours isn't working, best advice I could offer is to try to narrow it down--does the switch up front work or not, and same question for the key in the back--if either one works, then obviously it's the other item where the problem is located. If neither works, you may have to then trace things down, and I would guess you'd want to get into the tailgate area and see if something obvious is amiss.

I would probably go to one of the technical forums here and ask that question so you could get a more expert answer than I'm giving you here--would not want to steer you wrong.

Good luck!