spartanbilly

I had mine done by a guy out in Oregon. I can get the name if you need it. He replaced all the capacitors (which I am told are usually the main problem) and cleaned it. Works great! I believe the charge was $190.00 plus shipping. If you check on ebay, he usually has some for sale already reconditioned and they go for about what I paid for mine to be repaired.

The fabric is something I found at a Knoxville, TN fabric outlet. They cater to mostly furniture upholsterers. I checked SMS for original maroon broadcloth and they wanted $89 per yard. At 16 yards that would have put me in the poorhouse. I knew I wanted something that didn't sparkle in the sunlight and look synthetic. Everything I saw at an automotive upholstery shop had a modern pattern and nothing but grays, blacks, charcoal, etc. (or crushed velvet...puke) Since I couldn't find the color and texture I settled for texture and the mohair look. It appears to be a dense and durable fabric and the upholster said it should wear well. I paid $16.99 per yard. It pays to shop around $16.99 vs $89.00!?

Here is my new interior on my '47 Chrysler Windsor Club Coupe. This forum is priceless even for my car! (1) Carpet, binding and armrests recovered $50 (2) Door panels (board and fabric) $175 (3) New headliner and windlace (SMS Fabrics) $317 all of the above installed by myself (4) Fabric for seats $300 (5) labor for seats $1200 (James Auto Upholstery, Fletcher, NC) Total $2042. It can be done fairly cheap if you are willing to tackle some of the simpler stuff

I believe that triple carburetor option was called "J2" and to be coupled with a standard transmission on an Oldsmobile 98 would have been rare indeed. From what I have read, the J2 option was rather trouble prone as it was commonly ordered on "loaded" cars by older people. Since they seldom put their foot to the floorboard, the front and rear carbs were seldom utilized (progressive linkage) and would gum up from lack of use. Don't know if this was true or not, just read it in some Oldsmobile history book.

If it runs smooth without apparent misfire and top speed is low, I would check the catalytic converter. If it's plugged it will limit power and top speed. One way to check it is to hook up a vacuuum gauge to the manifold and rev up the engine to about 2000 rpm. If the vacuum steadily drops over a short period of time the exhaust is restricted. Just a thought.

In my Junior year of high school I purchased a '54 Pontiac Chieftan for $50.00. It needed nothing and ran great but it was horrible on gas with the straight eight and manual 3 speed. Being mechanically ignorant at seventeen years of age I didn't realize you needed to grease these things once in a while. It would moan and howl when I would turn a corner (very difficultly) A Mechanic put it up on the rack and greased the kingpins and that fixed that. That was in Bolivar, MO in 1975. Three years later I bought a '53 Buick Super two door hardtop real cheap. It had the Dynaflow transmission and it made the strangest whirring sounds on hard acceleration. Stan Kenton (Big band leader) recorded a song in the early 50's called "Dynaflow". That was a good car, never gave me any trouble other than the front shocks which were built into the upper control arms and they would seize on me and leaving the car sitting up high in the front.

I am in the process of installing my headliner as I write this. I am not sure what you mean by keeping a "straight edge" but I will try to explain. On the sides of the headliner the material engages small barbs which are attached to the removable plate(s). You will not see these plates untill you have ripped out the old headliner. These plates cover a tack strip which is what your windlace is tacked into. If you are going to replace the windlace the plates will have to be removed exposing the tack strip. While you have the plates off you will want to straighten the barbs so they will engage your new headliner. These plates leave a small gap between the windlace and the edge of the plate which is where the new headliner is tucked into. This allows for the straight edge I think you are referring to.This may seem a bit confusing but as you remove the sides of the headliner it will be very apparent to you then.

While removing the carpet and seats from my '47 Chrysler coupe I found a couple of dollars worth of silver coins, all from the 1940's, a bobby pin, an old pencil with a telephone # that didn't use the current prefix number......something like MUrphyhill7-4808 so it had to be pre 1960's. Also some matches with the striker on the front cover. Some Chesterfield cigarette butts and some Juicy Fruit wrappers. Kinda fun to think they had been lost all those years waiting for someone to uncover them.

Make certain the throttle plate is completely closed in the carburetor bore and is secure on the throttle shaft. It could be binding in the bore if loose. Should this be the case the suction past the plate will cause the idle circuit to become ineffective and fuel will then be sucked out of the "cruise" circuit of the carburetor giving you a high uncontrollable idle speed. Just a possibility, I experienced this on at least one occasion.

Call Restoration Specialties. They fixed me up with all the proper window channel and anti rattle window "fuzzies". They all fit properly and were the exact duplicate of the original.