Disassembly allowed us to go back into history with this Olds. The Cowl Tag had to be decoded and we had to see what equipment was original or replaced as the original specification. The car had his/her shifter after the previous owner dropped a 455ci big block in. I always had trouble with that shifter, it would slip a lot and that had nothing to do with the Turbo 400 transmission. Turns out that the links on the shifter were barely connected properly.
The Olds started showing rust issues that would require some extensive metal patching and frankly some that we will later find out that we just would not be able to repair and would have to replace those panels. The more that was peeled back the more discouraging it was getting. I just thought about the amount of hours that it would take to get these repairs done and that meant a lot of money.
One a better note, the chassis itself was in really good condition and there was not rust or rust rot on the chassis. We also couldn’t figure out what type of rear end was put in. It had no markings and really nothing hinting at where it may have come from. One thing for sure is that it was not the original rear end.
The Olds started showing rust issues that would require some extensive metal patching and frankly some that we will later find out that we just would not be able to repair and would have to replace those panels.
Another surprise what the fact the Scarlett Red paint started show up where the black paint could reach when someone decided to paint the car black. Still had to decipher the Cowl Tag to confirm a lot of what we were seeing.
Since the Cowl Tag, with 30+ years of dirt, was impossible to read or take a picture of, I decide to do a pencil rub. Even that was a hard task since getting to the Cowl Tag to position a piece a paper and then have enough room to do a rub was not easy. After some hit and miss, I got a rub that I was satisfied with.
After I got the information, I put that into a format that was easier to view and share (via email so others can help me or verify what I was able to ascertain about the Olds). So after some research I finally settle on the following information regarding the Cowl Tag:
With this valuable information, I was able to verify some important information, such as the original color being Scarlet Red (R-2), It was built in the first week of February, Interior Trim, etc.
Here is the original Cowl Tag, after it has been cleaned up:
