I just recently picked up a copy of GMs new Performance catalog and all I can say is WOW!! But we’ll dive into that in a future post.
Gracing the cover was the latest and greatest COPO Camaro. You remember those special order packages. Well they have brought it back and factory racing just jumped up and shouted “LET DO IT!!!!”
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I bumped in to Bill Holtzclaw from Cartersville, Georgia, virtually (Facebook) and he shared a few pics and some detail on his restoration of a 1967 Olds F-85.
Bill's F85
“I am doing a full, frame-off restoration on this 1967 F-85 Club Coupe. It has a convertible frame, 442 suspension, steel crank 330, .030 over with W-31 cam and 2” intake valves, close ratio Muncie 4 speed and heavy duty 3.91 posi rear. It is a radio delete, heater delete, carpet delete car with the factory cloth and vinyl interior. The drive train is built and the chassis is being assembled. The interior is done, the chrome and bright work is done. Next, we’ll pull the body and put it on a rotisserie. It will be two-tone Crystal and Midnight Blue.”
“I’ve had a lot of interest in this project from some of the leading Oldsmobile collectors in the country. It is my version of what would have been a 1967 W-31, which was introduced in 1968. All of the parts to build this car back in the day were available as either RPO options or over-the-counter upgrades. The W-30 package was available as an over-the-counter package in 1967. The W-30 cam and the W-31 cam are one in the same, and the OIA kit will work for both small block and big block cars. So, it was a possibility! ”
The upholstery turned out awesome! He used NOS fabric for the seat inserts. The car was a factory carpet delete car with a near-perfect vinyl floor covering. “I cleaned it and had it dyed the color blue (same as dash pad) that I wanted. It looks absolutely brand new! I had seat belts custom made to stock appearance, and the standard steering wheel came out nice, too.”
Check out the vinyl floor covering
“I had the gauges restored by R&M restorations in Greenville, SC. The odometer was re-set to zero.” The dash bezel was restored by Chrome Tech USA. They repaired the 44 year-old plastic, re-chromed it and then detail painted it. The radio and heater delete plates were purchased from Red Venom Enterprises. “They only make the radio plate, so I purchased two and trimmed one to fit the heater control panel and the PRNDL panel. ”
Bill did the polishing himself
He installed a Sunpro Mini Tach in place of the factory clock. Looks like it came from the factory that way!
Great Job - Bill!!
Final Product
Bill is also the owner of a 1967 Oldsmobile F-85 Town Sedan with “Police Apprehender” package. It has the HiPo 330/320 hp, Heavy Duty Jetaway and 442 suspension upgrades.
Nice!!!
Might be why he’s known as OldsMoBill. “I am also known as the “Oldsmobile Police”!” Bill states.
Bill, I hope you check back with your status from time to time and thank you for sharing.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
I have a couple of interesting pieces coming up.
1. Mercury Marauder name plate
2. Closure on the upholstery for my ’70 Mustang.
3. Reader choice – you choose the next engine to highlight
I have a couple commercial ventures on the near horizon:
1. Certified Auto Appraiser – I’m about to finish my certification and will be specializing in Classic, Muscle, Antique and speciality cars.
2. Auto restoration project management. Focus is on those individuals that love their cars, but don’t have the time nor the experience to know what needs to be done. I’m actually waiting for my first car. It is a 1975 VW Bug coming all the way from Iowa City, Iowa, should be here this will for inspection and the beginning of its restoration.
So what engine would you want to see highlighted? Drop me a note here or on Facebook.
Thanks for reading
Folks seem to like this segment so let’s continue with 1950.
19 major car makers existed back then and Chevy topped the production totals with 1,498,590 units followed closely by Ford with 1, 208,912. The rest of the field were all less than have that.
Plymouth – 610,954
Buick – 588,439
Pontiac – 466,429
Olds – 408,060
Dodge – 341,797
Studebaker – 320,884 (Don’t ya wish they would have made it? I would love to have seen their innovation continue.)
Mercury – 293,658
Chrysler – 179,299
Nash – 171,782
DeSoto – 136,203
Hudson – 121,408
Cadillac – 103,857
Packard – 42,627
Lincoln – 28,190
Kaiser – 15,228
Croslely – 6,792
Frazer – 3,700
Of note:
This was the last year for the Old 6 cylinder 76 models, while their Rocket 88 set speed records at Daytona – averaging 100.28 mph.
Packard began selling the only automatic transmission ever developed by an independent car maker.
The Rocket 88 - record setter.
Can a pick a Frazer out of a line up? Me either. Here’s one.
1950 Frazer Manhattan Convertible
How about a Crosley? Yeah I could do that one.
Crosley Hot Spot - circa 1950
And what did a automatic transmission look like in 1949? Here is the Packards Ultramatic.
The looked a lot like todays automatic transmissions
Thanks for reading.
Tim
ANSWER: Michael. The pressure should drop when you stop, dramatic swings in the gauge could be a problem with the gauge or you need replace your oil sending unit.
Do we love our cars or what?
I recent attended a showing of the latest Transformers movie (“Dark Side of the Moon“) and if you know anything about this series or of the cartoon of years gone by, you’ll know that the main characters are machines that turn in to robots. Most of these are vehicles, cars, trucks, semis and even military aircraft.
The car group included a lot of chevys this time, a Camaro which is one of the main stairs, an Impala and a Corvette (actually a representation of a prototype Corvette). The Corvette transformed into a rollerblading robot – which I thought unfitting of my favorite car.
There is the human hero and of course a hot model as his object of desire.
When the hot model was threatened or in harm’s way you could hear the audience get involved. But when an evil robot was about to execute the Camaro character the audience got really vocal. Kids cried at that images, thinking that the Camaro was about to get wacked, forget about the girl….just don’t hurt the car!!!
Yes we love your cars. Oh and the good cars – the Chevy‘s– saved the world again.
But that’s movies and you can just enjoy it with no lasting harmful effects..unless you are me or maybe it wasn’t me but the subliminal messages. I left wanting a Camaro, but not just any 2012 Camaro, but a yellow with black striped bumble bee Camaro.
It must be subliminal messages, I had the same desire after watching Will Smith zip through the empty streets of New York City in the 2007 Shelby GT500 Mustang in his move ‘I Am Legend’ yes the red with white stripes.
2007 GT500 Mustang
2012 Camaro
You know you want both too!!!
Thanks for reading…and go hug your car!!!
Tim
Let’s jump up 13 years from 1926 to 1939 and see what the numbers look like.
1939 shows Chevy in the lead for production numbers with 577,278 units produced. Ford is about 100k behind at 487,031 (half of what they were producing in 1926). The rest of the makers finished up like this:
Plymouth 423,850
Buick 208,259
Dodge 186,474
Pontiac 144,340
Oldsmobile 137,239
Studebaker 85,834
Also in 1939 Mercury came on the scene with its 239 CID V8 making about 95 hps and hydraulic brakes.
Lincoln-Zephyr only sold 650 pieces.
Part of the Studebaker’s 85k cars were its light pickup truck, the Coupe-Express was powered by the Commander Six, knocking out 90 hps.
1939 Studebaker Coupe Express
Thanks for reading
Tim
From time to time I check out a product that I hear about, in this case, from a repetitive mail from Griot’s garage. This is a catalog of sorts, with a lot of merchandise and everything you need to spruce up your ride.
Thier “Long Lasting Tire Dressing” is the first item I’ve tried.
If you recall I did a review a while back on a tire gel here is the link: ” Like and Don’t Like – Products (Tire Gel) and Tools (Thread Chasers)”
http://wp.me/pKHNM-aJ
Here is my new try:
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Before, notice the off-color
More of the discolor and you can see there isn't must sidewall.
Lots of raised lettering
Raised logo
Coming up application and an opinion.
Are you like me and like numbers and history?
Here are some numbers for car production for 1996.
At the number one spot was Ford with 1,426,612 followed by:
Chevy 547,724
Buick 266,753
Dodge 265,000
Hudson/Essex 227,508
Willys-Overland/Whippet 182,000
Chrysler 135,520
Pontiac/Oakland 133,604
Ford was really knocking out some cars.
Here is a 1926 Willys-Overland Whippet
1926 Essex
In 1926 GM purchased all the shares of Fisher Body Company from the Fisher brothers and build a new building in 1927.
1926 was the first year for Pontiac, is sported a 40 bhp, 187 CID L-head 6.
Thanks for reading
Tim
Back by popular demand Auto Factoids.
July 12 – The first Checker automobile was produced in 1922.
– It was a merger of sorts between Commonwealth
Motors (making bodies for cab companies as ‘Mogul’) and Morris Markin’s Markin Autobody.
– The engine is a 4 cylinder Buda Model Q with 27 hp.
– 1935 Checker used the Y-8 engine (Lycoming engine) and the Y-6 engine ( a Continental six-cylinder).
– The last Checker autos were produced in 1982 with a 229-cubic-inch (3.8 liter) V-6 engine and automatic 3-speed transmission.
1922 Checker Cab
1982 Checker Cab
July 14 – VW debuts the Karmann Ghia in 1955
– 360,000 coupes and about 80,000 convertibles we made between 1955 and 1974.
– I will own one of these eventually.
1955 Karmann Ghia
1974 VW Karmann Ghia
Thanks for reading.
Tim
