My Oldsmobile Restoration

[1962oldsguy]

Hello,
My name is Dalton and I am 13 years old and my father and I purchased a 1962 Oldsmobile F 85 Cutlass Convertible for my first car. Some of you may be wondering, “Why didn’t he want a Honda like every other teenager”, “Why would he want such a difficult project for his first car?”, “isn’t he a little young for a car?”, and “How did he pick an Oldsmobile out of every other muscle car?
— Well I talked to my father for at least 6 months hounding him for any project car in my budget. But it always seemed to come to these basic car details, Two Doors, Convertible, GM Product, Bucket Seats w/ center console, and automatic trans w/ V8 Engine.
— When I found this 1962 Oldsmobile F85 Cutlass Convertible in a small farm/wrecking yard in Litchfield CA for $700. the car seemed like a steal!! After talking it overfor a week while in Lake Tahoe, CA the car was purchased!
— Now I have 2 parts cars for this 62′ Olds, and a 1963 Oldsmobile Starfire Coupe DD barn find.

— Any Advice on the restoration?
— I make the money to restore my cars by selling fish fossils and other rocks and even some Baltic Sea Amber Jewelry at my dads convenient store in Bend, OR.
Any input would be gladly appreciated.
Thank-you
(We could all agree this is much better then sitting around and playing video games 😆
-Dalton
1962 Oldsmobile F 85 Cutlass Convertible (x2)
1962 Oldsmobile F 85 Convertible
1963 Oldsmobile Starfire Coupe
1963 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 4 door

[1962oldsguy]

Pictures of the car being pushed out of his home for the past 30+ years.
On its way home to the desert 😛

-Dalton

[macf85]

Hi Dalton,

I’m really glad to see a young man interested in classic cars as opposed to video games. I started working on lawn mower engines when I was about 9 or 10 years old and when I was your age I did my first car tune-up on my own including rebuilding the one-barrel carburetor. I had to teach myself because my dad wasn’t mechanically inclined. You’re never too young to get interested in cars and how they work.

It looks like you chose a good car for a project. A relatively rust free car is the best to start with. Your already on the right track by having a couple of parts cars to use. You are right that it will be more difficult than choosing a late model car for a project. The internet makes it a lot easier to find parts than it was before you were born. Part of the fun of a project is searching for and finding the parts you need. You will need a lot of patience.

I see that you have some other cars as well. I found it very helpful to focus on one project car at a time. Also, you should set your goal for the project. Do you want to do a complete ground up restoration or just get it running properly and leave the cosmetic stuff the way it is? It can be very expensive to do a complete restoration especially if you have to have a professional do the work for you. The more work you can do yourself or with help from your dad or others will help you save money.

Having a garage that you can use for the project is almost a must to keep disassembled parts organized and keep everything out of the weather. Take photos and make sketches and notes as you’re disassembling the car. Put fasteners into zip-lock bags and keep them in a box with the part that was removed and mark all boxes with the contents that are in them. One of the first things I recommend you do is get a factory service manual (Ebay is a great place to find these). But remember that the service manual may not give you every piece of information you need which is why you should take photos and make notes.

When I restored my car I treated each component of the car like it was a project in itself. When every component was restored I reassembled the car as if it were a life-size plastic car model. You will probably make some mistakes along the way, as most of us do, but don’t let it discourage you. You will definitely learn some things.

Whatever the level of restoration you decide on remember that safety if the most important thing. Always use jackstands that are securely in place before getting under the car. Definitely use eye protection, etc. The car’s brake system and steering/suspension systems need to be in good working order before doing any driving.

Let us know what level of restoration you want to do and I’m sure the members of this website will do whatever they can as far as advice, etc. I’ll do what I can for sure.

[1962oldsguy]

Thank you very much for the reply!
I have my oldsmobile on a professionally made rotisserie that a friend welded together for us. This way going under the car is much safer. I have all the parts disassembled since I am doing a unibody off restoration.
I have a 1 1/2 garage space but all my parts are organized into totes and stored.
Thank you
Dalton

[macf85]

It sounds like you’re already set up to do this. Let us know if you need any sources for parts or have a specific question. I’ll try to help if I can. Keep up the posts on your progress.

[1962oldsguy]

Here are some pictures of my restoration coming under-way.
Pink — Body for the project
Red — Parts car (Freddy Flinstone foot rolling shell)
White — Restoration project, very cheaply rebuilt

[1962oldsguy]

On the rotisserie

[1962oldsguy]

My favorite picture of my car

[1962oldsguy]

Here is a couple links to access pictures of my 1962 Oldsmobile F 85 Cutlass Convertible restoration.
Only sad thing is I think my project may come to a major holt since I am looking at purchasing a 1963 Starfire Convertible this weekend, also I still have my coupe Starfire which is pretty much ready to be put together 🙂
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