First Post - Intro

[Rocketman]

Buster:

Wow, that is a lot in common. You are way further down the road than I am. I did dig out a photo of the car on a trailer when I was moving it a few years ago. She is not pretty but she has some sentimental value in that my father-in-law gave me this car in 1968. He was a great guy and my buddy. We lost him in 1971 about 6 months after I got back from Viet Nam. It is amazing how raising a family and careers get in the way and the next thing you know, 50 years have slipped by. Nobody other than my wife thinks this car will ever be done. I guess I can understand that.

[Rocketman]

Here is a picture of my 54 Olds. I named her Lessie after my grandmother. She is pretty rare and is the only 54 Super 88 convertible I have actually seen. There are a few around but not a lot. It seems the Starfire had a better survival rate since there seem to be more of them around and they made about the same number of each. I have pictures of the original invoice and the first three owners. The owner prior to me was an elderly friend of mine who had one new. He had looked for one for about 25 years and I found this car on ebay. It was a California car with very little rust. I have included a picture with yours truly with the car after it got here.

[WagonCrazy]

Nice cars ya got there. Welcome to the site.

[JT56]

Welcome to the site Rocketman...I wish my dad wouldn't have gotten rid of the 68 442 he had!!! Sounds like your 57 project is something you will enjoy when your retire!

[chevynut]

Cool cars Rocketman....the 57 looks like a nice project. The Olds is unique and looks to be in great shape too. Time really has a way of slipping by. I bought my Nomad in 1973 and had a couple of false starts with it in the 70's before it went into storage in various places for over 20 years. I'm not really into restored original tri5s so this was going to be a modified car from day one. I've been working on it a lot longer this time than I expected, but I ended up doing a lot more modification to it than I originally planned and had to learn a lot on the way. I think I can see the end now, but it sure has been a long, expensive project. Like you, nobody thinks I'll finish it and sometimes I wonder . BTW, I was born 7 years later than you (and Busterwivell) and retired a little over 5 years ago....what's taking you guys so long?

[Rocketman]

I was scheduled to retire this Sunday but decided to work one more year. I have a daughter and two grandsons that live with us and that changed the plans considerably. I won't elaborate on that but they are great kids and are doing very well no thanks to their worthless father who is no where in the picture. My 57 has lots of dents and even a couple on the roof. It has some bad rust in the left quarter in front of the wheelwell. I have the entire replacement section I cut out of my parts car. I bought a plasma cutter and Mig welder earlier this year in anticipation of doing most of this work myself. I am limited to my wide 2 car garage and you know what is parked in one side. I sold a 72 Cutlass convertible a few months ago that I had owned for 23 years. It was time for a redo on it and I knew if I did that the 57 would never be done.

[chevynut]

My 57 has lots of dents and even a couple on the roof.

Dents are usually a lot easier to deal with than rust, for most guys.

It has some bad rust in the left quarter in front of the wheelwell. I have the entire replacement section I cut out of my parts car. I bought a plasma cutter and Mig welder earlier this year in anticipation of doing most of this work myself.

I wouldn't be surprised if you find some more rust as you dive into that repair. Usually at least the very end of the last body brace and some of the inner rockers are rusted out or very thin. If yours aren't, you have a very solid car. Replacing that section of the quarter can be tricky because there's a long weld in a flat area that's prone to warping and it's difficult to get to the weld behind the door to planish it. If you know how to MIG weld and work with the metal you'll be fine. I replaced the entire floor, both quarters, both rockers, and the firewall in my Nomad. Sure learned a lot about MIG welding and how to finish welds in the process.

[enigma57]

Welcome board, Rocketman! Great looking Olds ragtop you have there. I have a '57 Chevy which is still its original white over turquoise like yours there. One of several colour schemes I am considering for my '57 is a two tone white over powder blue much like you have on your Olds in the photo with the B-24 in the background. Look forward to reading about your '57 build and would like to see and hear more about your Olds, as well.

Best regards,

Harry

[Rocketman]

Thanks for the welcome Harry. The Olds came from California and was sold new in May 1954 at Empire Olds in Denver. The owner was an attorney with Chevron and traded in a 52 MG TD. They took the car away from him in 1995 when he was driving he wrong way on the freeway. It was originally solid Capri blue and had been repainted twice. The guy that was the second owner was about to make a lead sled out of it and realized what it was worth. He only owned it a few months and then I found it on ebay and my friend bought it. I oversaw the restoration. The colors and now Capri Blue and Glacier White which are actual 54 Olds colors. I was the executor of my friends estate when he passed away in 2011. We probably finished the car in about 2006. I have added AC to the car and had the treadlevac and hydra-matic rebuilt. I also added a set of Coker radials which really helped the car. We added power steering and power brakes during the restoration. I show it in local shows and it does pretty well. The neatest thing I have done with the car is carrying a 92 year old WWII Marine in the Dallas Veterans Day Parade in 2014. He is still living and is now 95 but is getting a little to feeble to do the parade again. I have attached a photo. His name is RV Burgin and he wrote a book titled Islands of The Damned which I had read. I have included a picture. Sorry if it comes out too big.

[busterwivell]

Rocketman.........I got my car from my best friend just before he died 5-5-07 from cancer. It's a totally rust free original Tucson car. It was a 6 cyl/3 speed car, but that was gone when I got it. I've been thru the entire suspension, converted to disc brakes, (front), added side mounts for the 350, put in a fresh 700R4, been thru the rear end and added 3:42 gears, rewired the car with an AAW kit, been scrounging swap meet parts and acquiring reproduction parts for over 10 years. In my spare time, I've had 4 surgeries for colon cancer, had two heart attacks and helped my wife thru lung cancer and a heart attack (we seem to do everything together). That's my excuse for not being done with it yet...........but are getting very close.
Retiring...........yah, I know. We've owned our business for 31 years this week. Trying to find a buyer, hope to complete a deal in 2018.