1946 Oldsmobile sedanette

MGTSTUMPY

MGTSTUMPY

Active Member
I've been on the board for a while now however I've been more of a lurker than a frequent poster.

I bought this fat fendered 1946 Oldsmobile (Model 76, 'B' body) sedanette many years ago now and should have finished it quite some time ago however life and other things got in the way so it stalled. It's time to resurrect it and pull my finger out as I retire in April 2019.

I've been meaning to start a build thread but have never got around to it so here goes.

The car was imported into Australia circa 1990 and changed hands only a couple of times and has literally sat around in complete original condition until I purchased it from a restorer who had big plans but never got around to doing anything due to his other cars taking priority. When imported it still had original 67 Texas license plates on it and was pretty well rock solid give or take a few minor rust and dent issues. I've seen a lot worse that have been resurrected and/or saved.

I've done some research on the car after I purchased it and established that it's 1 of only 3,000 units that were produced in 1945 before the UAW strike (11/21/45 to 4/1/46) halted production. It is body #713 and was produced in August 45 at Lansing, MI. It was a numbers matching car down to the engine, frame and transmission etc etc.

 
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Bare with me as I bring everyone up to speed with the progress so far. Since I already have an open car with no roof or wind up windows I wanted a closed car this time around and this fat fendered body has always appealed to me.

I previously restored a US bodied 1966 Ford Fairlane convertible after converting it to RHD so it met local regulations, it wasn't 30yrs old so I couldn't leave it LHD and I wasn't prepared to wait until it was 30yrs old.

A bit of trivia (History) to set the scene, local GM products were based on their North American (Fisher) cousins however whilst there was some interchange with parts, not everything would fit. Local bodies were different to an extent and not ALL body styles were available. There were however RHD export products utilising North American platforms.

1946 Oldsmobiles offered locally for sale were produced by General Motor's Holdens (GMH) and fitted to imported RHD US frames and based on smaller 'A' bodied model 66. No sheet metal interchanged apart from hood and fenders.

Legislation required a percentage of local content to avoid taxes [Government tariffs]. A few complete knocked down (CKD) RHD Fisher bodies were imported however these are rare today. A friend has a RHD Fisher bodied former consular car.

I stumbled across this rare RHD 1947 Fisher bodied Olds 76 sedanette ('B' body) like mine not so long ago; the seller thinks it worth ridiculous money however it's really beyond salvage and in very poor condition. I'd buy it only for yard art. ;)

 
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Anyway, back on topic. After I stripped the car to a rolling body on frame I took it over to a friends where it was sandblasted back to bare metal. The surface rust had taken it's toll over the years of exposure to the elements of nature. I wouldn't recommend just using anyone, they need to know their stuff and how to tackle a job like this without ruining your rare precious sheet metal and damaging it beyond repair by warping panels with pressure and heat.

Once blasted it was blown out to remove ALL the sand from every nook and cranny, last thing you want is sand in the etch primer. Due to prolonged exposure over many years the body had slight pitting and surface rust that had to be carefully addressed. The body and every panel was sanded with a disc pad to remove imperfections before everything was painted in sealer, thus preventing any future surface rust issues.

There was rust damage to the area under the running and toe boards as well as near cowl vent with a very poor dent repair as well. Looks like a tree had fallen on it at some time as the area had been bondo'd up.



I'm chasing a couple of quality used patch panels for this car, if anyone has a parts car drop me a PM;)
 
I’m sure that everyone will be waiting for the rest of the story. So drip feed it to them slowly.😄😄😄
 
Great photo essay. Thanks for the photos and great story. If I remember correctly your name is Mark and we did meet on the last Canadian Rodder tour to Victoria. Keep us posted and thanks again
 
Keith, correct. I was the good looking young fella who chaperoned John from Oz on the 2016 Points West Tour making sure that he didn't get up to any mischief. ;) I've the 35 Chevy phaeton:D
Gary, I'll follow that advise and slowly ease everyone into the build rather than dump everything at once and overwhelm them.:D
 
Geez, where does one begin?
Anyway I locally purchased the complete drive-train from a wrecked 1990 C4 Corvette, engine and transmission along with IFS & IRS to update the OEM Olds suspension and had it freighted from interstate to my door. Next came all Air-Ride Shockwave suspension, might as well be comfortable.:eek:
Along the way E-Bay has been my best friend along with a US based freight forwarder and my credit card. Rather than send multiple single items I've been able to consolidate them all into single boxes for shipping here. More cost effective than sending multiple single items, all for a nominal fee of course. Like you Canadians, the government here sticks it up us however we pay more freight and then there is the damn foreign conversion rate which adds even more to the purchase price and build cost. Up until June 30 2018 we could import purchases up to $AUD1K without any duty whatsoever. After July 1 2018 the government removed the $AUD1K threshold and now charges us an additional 10% tax based on invoice total (GST or goods and services tax). The US freight forwarder is now authorised to collect the GST on behalf of the government, since I fill out the Customs Declaration online, I wouldn't even think of trying to circumvent the new rules. Doing so would be at my peril; fines, financial loss including forfeiture of parts etc etc.
The NZ, European and English members know where I'm coming from more than the US members as the costs we incur aren't even factored into their build(s).
During the build I was fortunate to track down and purchase numerous NOS items and accessories along with rare original literature, manuals (US and Canadian) and other items.
I plan to build a traditional [Restomod] style that looks totally original however with modern conveniences and a little more get up and go.
 
I propose to keep car LHD and not convert to RHD. Coincidentally I also had the IFS & IRS from a wrecked RHD 86 C4 Corvette that I sold for someone's 57 Chevy project. It used a rear steer LHD GM R&P that was swapped to the front of the C4 cross member, perfect geometry and width etc. It only required new mounting brackets.
Before I went too far I fabricated a jig to hold the C4 suspension at Olds 125" wheelbase, that way the C4 suspension sits where it needs to sit at desired ride height with 125mm between lower rockers and ground (Legal height for registration here) with my wheelbase. Next it was slid under the Olds minus C4 suspension and bolted to Olds brake drums. Once it was braced to the frame the body was removed. Lots of threaded rod and others brackets were needed to keep things level, plumb and square. A chassis table would be ideal however I needed to improvise as best as I could and maximise my space to be efficient. Upper dog bones, batwing, 1/2 shafts and lower front control arms are all parallel to ground at ride height. 3° pinion up at flange. Perfect track width, front and rear
Measure twice, cut once. To ensure things were square and even I fabricated a trammel bar to check lengths and diagonals. A couple of different tips for different size frame holes.

Next was rotisserie so I could work with the body on frame or either one or the other. I also fabbed up a moveable dolly that bolted to underside of body through frame holes, this allowed me to move body out of my 6mx6m shed as space is tight when it is separated from frame. Then there is a work bench, drill press, MIG welder, engine crane, roller toolbox, compressor and a plethora of other tools that I need to use.

This is my vision, pawnee beige (Metallic) - upper over New Ivory - lower. OEM 1946 2 tone colour scheme similar to this 47 Olds sedanette which matches the OEM colour code on my data plate.
 
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Since I'd stripped the car to a rolling body chassis and determined what the OEM colours were I moved to the interior and ordered a complete OEM interior from Hampton Coach and all new rubbers, window felts etc from Steele Rubber.
I decided to go with OEM woodgrained garnish molding so I prepped them before they were done with hydrographics. I had them all done as per OEM in 2 tone, brown and woodgrain. The brown will match column, brake pedal and seat frame

Roughly at the same this was happening I entrusted all the chrome to be redone by a local, soon to retire, plater. He stripped everything down, prepped and copper plated, rubbed things down and recopper plated until he was sure then nickel plated everything before chroming was undertaken. LOTS of pot metal and chrome was undertaken. All the stainless trim was polished to 'As new' condition'.
 
Interior was a little beyond salvage but complete. My upholsterer is keen to get started, I just need to find somewhere to safely store it when it's done. OEM pattern was 15-21 or 15-21-4 so I'm on the money. All I need is carpet to match the interior as I already have Olds embossed heel pads and NOS brake and accelerator pads.
 
Well, all the OEM gauges were there but toast. Car will be rewired with a Rebel wiring harness and headlamps updated to QH so I bought new domed 7" headlamps to retain the OEM look. Flat glass with H4 bulbs just doesn't work for me. As we need to run both front and rear traffic signals I picked up a pair of NOS front park lamp assemblies and NOS lenses. The NOS lamps go into the front bar and the old ones will be refurbished and modified to fit the rear rear over-riders that also needed some work to match the front assemblies. For all intents and purposes the rear traffic signals are OEM. I'll just add amber bulbs and put the park lamps in the headlamps. I also have a NOS Guide B31 back up lamp that I'll use as well.
 
I've been doing a fair bit of on-line shopping and located these, NOS trunk and hood emblems.
At this time I used a local business to make all new UV resistant plastic window winders, cowl vent and ashtray knobs. Again these aren't available aftermarket so I had to carefully remove the back where buttons had been penned over to drill and tap machine threads for small button head screws on the rear. They are assembled and look like factory.

The same business also did a new hood insert after I prepped the old faded one. Rusty Olds got a blue one for his 47 vert :D. I returned the favour since he brought back my new Walker radiator when returning form a work related activity.



All he needs to finish is the small coloured lexan letters for the OEM column hydramatic shifter gate. Since I'm running a 700R he also needs to mold an additional 'R' that needs to be converted to 'P' as there was no park on early hydros. The gate needs to be finished to work properly as well.
 
Redid the OEM gas tank and modified it for an in-tank EFI pump from Professional Products. Added vent fittings, mounting plate for pump and restricter to inlet tube as well as blanking OEM sender/pickup hole. Removed OEM baffles so I'll need to fabricate some new ones to clear new pump and pickup. Engine builder states I'll require 1/2" fuel line all the way for my 383SBC :D
 
Had to rebuild the gauges and add new VDO movements. Rechromed the surrounds and had the steering wheel pearled
 
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Nice Mark, I’ll have to get the steering wheels guys name off you eventually. No rush though
 
A little teaser of what will be coming. I sold my Edelbrock C97 and upgraded to an Edelbrock X1. The 97s are faux with hidden injectors. The frog mouths went with the C97 and this time around I went for the Muroc stacks. I have small internal aircleaners to keep the crap out.

 
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