On a trip with Dad to Colorado and New Mexico back in the late seventies it never used any oil and was totally reliable.  Having this car to restore is a great privilege.  It being a part of a family history for over forty years, its almost like taking one of their kids away.

Right, back to the workshop.  The front end bodywork was the first parts to come off.  This done the motor is far easier to remove, and so it was, placed on a stand and left until the chassis was tackled.  A week and a half later, and about two hundred weight of good Louisiana mud in the bin, exposed a completely rust free frame.  In fact the metal looked brand new, nothing recycled I guess.  Three coats of red oxide and two of satin black has bought it back to new.  The front end steering has been rebuilt along with the brakes.  All new thick wall copper brake lines were made up, polished, lacquered and fitted.  They were however refitted with plastic supports as the metal originals would have rubbed through the copper pipe.
On then to the motor.  Knowing that the internals were good, a good cleaning and painting was all that was required.  The block and inlet were painted in black engine enamel and the sump pan and rocker boxes are in blue.  I know, I know, you purists out there will say it should be in dark green, but the fact is I find the Olds green to be somewhat drab.  The transmission was tackled in about the same way and replaced in the car.  A rear main seal, oil filter and sump pan gasket set were ordered from US Auto Parts and installed, the engine was then refitted to the car.

The bodywork has been started and will be an on-going part of the job through to the end of the project.  All the paint that was applied the last time it was painted is being removed by wet flatting by hand.  Some may say a machine would do it faster.  That is the case, but would it be flat?  A high build primer is applied, and then another flat with 400 finds the high spots and then another two coats of primer are applied.  Just prier to the colour going on it will be flattened again using 800 wet & dry.  This is all being done in cellulose as, using two pack would make the car too shiny for the year of manufacture.