1951 Oldsmobile 88 (Deluxe) by 1951Olds88

4 minute(s) of a 31 minute read

Finally, progress; last weekend I managed to complete the rewiring. In the end I actually connected, disconnected then reconnected the under-dash wiring more than once, due to not routing the overall harness correctly. My own fault too, as I had taken pictures of the old wiring, but forgot to look at them when placing the new harness. To simplify the job, I did cheat a little on the harness for the rear wiring. After ordering and receiving the rear wiring harness, I found that it runs underneath the headliner to the trunk area. What I could see at the dashboard and in the trunk seemed in pretty good condition. It was just where some of the wires went through a grommet, out of the trunk that the wiring deteriorated. Coincidentally, all but one of these 'exterior' wires had connectors in trunk. So I ordered a set of pigtails only, as well as some spare wire and only replaced what was in poor condition. this means I have a full rear wiring harness available for a 1950/1951 88 4 door sedan, with backup lights. This will appear shortly in the AACA Oldsmobile buy/sell forum, along with other pieces surplus to the restoration.

One of the surplus pieces will be the non-functioning radio, which has been replaced by a functioning one that I found on Ebay. The EBay one was actually for an S88, based on the faceplate, but everything else is the same. So after switching faceplates it installed easily.

meanwhile I did find another full set of hood/trunk letters, which I decided to purchase as insurance. I did earlier indicate that I had found replacements for all my missing letters, but I also had a couple of damaged ones. As the pins on the back seem to snap off easily I decide having an insurance set is probably a good idea, especially if I capitulate and have the car repainted. Removing the letters for the repainting definitely runs the risk of damaging the existing letters. And otherwise, these too may appear on the Buy/Sell forum at some time in the future.

While I was doing the rewiring, I also tackled a couple of other mini projects. One concerned removing the back bumper, so I could reach the license plate lights. After the removal I discovered that the rubber splash guard inside had hardened and crumbled to the touch. After searching the Internet, I found a company called Zoro, who have strips of rubber 2" wide in different thicknesses. The thinnest, 1/8", was just right and I ordered a fair bit there. One thing I discovered, the strip are not just available in different thicknesses, but also different stiffness too. For those doing the same kind of restoration, let me suggest that in most cases the least stiff version is probably the most suitable.

This Memorial Day weekend I will be getting the car ready for the heavy work, that I cannot do myself. I will first return the front bench seat to its place in the car. Its removal was absolutely required to do the under dash wiring. I am also going to clean the engine compartment and suspension area, in preparation for the removal and refurbishment of the steering gear box and other underbody parts. I am going to use a method suggested, I believe somewhere in the AACA forums, using Purple Power, hot water and an aircraft high pressure air cleaning tool. I also hope to do more work on the paint, firstly wet sanding the places where I touched up the worst of the paint scars. I will then carefully polish up the sanded areas and then the whole body. For this I am using a suggestion at Autogeek.com for old cars. This recommendation was to use Meguiars #7, putting a generous layer on the car and then leaving it for 24 hours before removing. Apparently the formula for this product is older than my car and very suitable for the paint type used at the time of my car. This should be done three times, and then followed by the usual Carnuba wax top layer. I have already done one #7 treatment, so that the paint would be protected slightly before the sanding. Hopefully I can use the long weekend to complete the sanding and two remaining treatments before I send the car to the shop. Then when it returns in driveable condition, I will put on the wax layer, which should last most of the summer.

Can't wait to be back on the road!!