The core support is assembled on the ground. The radiator, headlights, shroud and many other parts are installed making this assembly ready for the frame. The radiator is gloss black, the shroud natural plastic, the core support is semi gloss black. Originally many of these parts came from different manufactures so the shades of black vary on the gloss level.

After a few attachments to the fender it is ready to go on the car. The emblems are reinstalled and the holes for the side marker and emblems have to be filed for a perfect fit. The fenders had white overspray on the inside edges.  The W-31 also had a marking on the inside of the fender at the W-31 emblem to note the location since it changed from the front to the rear of the fender in 70 - Apparently there were a few mistakes from the carry over 69 model. 

The core support  installs with a 2 bolts and a few shims. Nyle and Bill from Wings are now starting with the driver side fender and to get it just right there will be plenty of shims at the top and bottom of the fender. The top used 1 shim the bottom of the fender used 5 thick shims and in the door another 4 shims were used. Oldsmobile fenders were always pushed away from the door but on this install we want all the lines to be perfect. .

Here is the re-chromed rear bumper and the back side did not get much attention from the chrome plater. This is typical so the flash was all ground off the hammer marks sanded and now the back side will be covered with a filler primer and Deric and Adam from wings will fill, sand, fill, sand, prime, and paint and when it is done it will look like the rest of the car factory freash.

Since this car is a special experimental olds it was decided to have custom VOE mufflers made - This was a rare option that appeared on the 70 GTO for a short time that allowed the exhaust to open at a pull of a button to allow straight flow exhaust. Jo from Waldren exhaust work on the project to make a special length Cutlass muffler. The rest of the pipes were from Gardner. The VOE Mufflers sound awesome and we had lots of fun opening and closing the exhaust.

Bill is the 3 guy to work on the column - First James then Nyle, then James & Nyle and now Bill, then James & Nyle again. The column fought the project for hours. Every body had a frustrating turn trying to work out the problem. Every thing worked fine but when the 4 speed was put into reverse to shut off the car - you were still able to mover the shifter out of reverse. They finally got it figured out.  These are the small setbacks that take hours of time to figure out. There must be 8 hours in the column problem.

The interior is now starting to go back in. The new headliner is installed by Dale from LA trim - you can bounce a quarter off it. The sale panels are also tight and the trim snapped in place to finish the headliner. The package tray is installed and glued at the seat back edge. The original paper shields go back in place and they still have the interior panel ID white tag on them.  The seat belts have been cleaned and the covers restored and bolt right in .

Since this was such a low mile car the interior was super so a few minor repairs were made and it was all reused. The seat frames and the materials were factory fresh - this saved allot of time and money. The rear carpet fit much better than the front and was installed in no time. When cutting the sill plate edge make sure to leave enough material to go under the rear door panel and front kick panel.

It is time to look at the trunk. This car had no rust issues and the trunk splatter paint was so nice but the line work never sprayed under the matt and the spray job was uneven from side to side. It was decided to caulk a few minor areas and cover and even out the areas that needed attention. the rear window interior color over spray was duplicated and you can see it under the rear window trim between the trunk seal. There was rarely a tape or mask line on so the over spray is also on the front cowl and the upper door jamb.

The spatter paint is dry the next day and covered with matt clear to help protect it.  The spatter never covered all areas and you can see the blends all over the trunk. This is a neat progression of the process of  assembly.

A custom trunk matt was made and spray dyed the correct gray/green color for an exact match to the original. This is a detail that is often overlooked but adds most of the detail of the trunk. The jack was refinished and the decals applied and the spare tire is ready to go in along with the trunk seal. The seal is glued in and had the split at the latch off center with the white and orange locating marks applied. .

Ofter looking at the original photos of the front end nothing lined up but that would all have to change. The grills, headlights were in and out several times with holes slotted and ground to get just the right fit. These are the steps that make perfect alignment but burn hours of time fitting and refitting.

The front bumper was the same as the rear and got the same treatment of filler, primer and paint to look factory fresh. The restored light assemblies and bumper brackets are all installed and the bumper will go on as one unit.

It takes 4 guys, 2 on each end to hold align, tighten, align, adjust and final tighten and after 20 minutes the bumper has even gap and space around all the surrounding pieces.  Since this is a Oldsmobile experimental car it had a tag on the core support with the vin. It was attached with same rivets the VIN used in the dash. This piece has a bit of wear but has to be on the car.

The front seat and door panels go in with no trouble and saved lots of time over a console bucket seat car. You now get a final idea of the basic interior. Bench seat, radio delete, 4 speed, rally pac and you can see the VOE know for the exhaust.

It is nearly complete with us having 2 weeks to go at this point. We forgot to order hub caps which can quickly be overlooked and stall out the assembly. This minor item will not slow the progress but the trunk lid will. The lid has fought the Wings guys for days. It is not going on the car until Nyle says it is perfect and it close but he has not said the work install yet.

The car has now been fired and after the dyno session there is not a single engine tune problem. Nyle is taking a final look at the timing and idle adjustments. We are set to 36 degree advance and 950 RPM at idle. For a 350 this all aluminum experimental engine packs 415 HP and 455 LBS of torque at 3900 RPM.

You can see the Winters foundry Snowflake on the intake and the corner of the head where there is usually a head letter.

One final check with the timing light and it is the end of the work day.  All the details have been buttoned up and after the installation of the trunk lid and a few trunk lid items this car is finished ahead of schedule - Thanks to Nyle and all the guys at Wings - Bill - Adam & Deric

Please look at the finished car pictures in the last article.

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