Oldsmobile Progress

Last week I finished up on the 1958 Oldsmobile, for now. I got a ton of little stuff done and hung both bumpers. I discovered that the owner had plans to install a big stereo system with a large power amp in the trunk. Nobody told him that his stock 35 amp generator and charging system would burn the car down trying to keep up with the 50 amp draw of the stereo system! So the car is going back to the trim shop to get the interior finished and then it's back to me for an alternator and a complete rewire job. For now, here's some pics.

This car has two heaters, one each for drivers side and passenger side. The engineers at Oldsmobile decided to control all this stuff using vacuum, so there is about 30 feet of vacuum hose under the dash. Here it is in mid-installation.

Here it is all sorted out! The job was made a little difficult because all the hoses were black, not color coded like the factory did it.

The headlight switch retaining nut ws missing so the owner had this made out of stainless at a local machine shop. I thought I could make it a little nicer.

Done and done!

I sorted the stock wiring and routed it where it belonged. We have lights!

With the front bumper and grill installed the car looks complete. It took three guys, a forklift, a drum circle and a priest to get this thing installed correctly.

The rear bumper finished the car as well, it was a lot easier to install and surprisingly light.