My best friend picked up a 38 Oldsmobile L38 Sedan with Trunk this week and brought it out to my shop to get it running and driving. Pretty slick car. 90% original, 90% there. Starting this thread to get some information. There doesnt seem to be very many out there weather it be popularity or rarity. Pics below. Anyone have any leads for parts? So far I need a carrier bearing, U joint, front sway links, and possibly new spindles (I havent gotten the tires off to investigate but its got slop). Here are the pics when we got it to the shop.
Looks alot better since you got it out of the backyard. Really a pretty neat looking Olds. Now it's time to trade those wheels for something a little more fitting. Have you tried to start it yet ?
It does run. We ran it before we put it on te trailer. Had to dump fuel in the carb to keep it running. I'd say replace the fuel lines, new gas and a tune up and it should be a runner. Still need to put a lot of attention to suspension and brakes. Wouldn't happen to know of any interchangeable parts of this era would you?
Did a little work on the olds last night. Cleaned up the front suspension and took out the drive shaft. After looking over the front suspension I've come to the conclusion that we are probably going to have to front clip this car. The availability of parts on the 38 is slim to nill. Even as basic as brake shoes and drums have been impossible to find, and I am needing the king pins, tie rod ends, sway links, and a knee shock rebuilt. So, what clip to use? Drum to drum I measure 60 1/2" and frame to frame (outside) 38" I was thinking about grafting a Cutlass Supreme front frame to keep it olds but I dont have measurements for them yet. Maybe a Nova/Camaro front clip? Here are some pictures.. Before : After cleaning: The debris pile:
http://www.kanter.com/p56-fek.html#Oldsmobile kanter has a basic front end rebuild kit for under $400 and "deluxe" kit listed below for under $500 http://www.kanter.com/p58-fkd.html#Oldsmobile you're going to find it much easier to rebuild the front end than to swap in a late front end brakes are also sourced at kanter... http://www.kanter.com/p06-bk.html#Oldsmobile under $400 for the brake kits and wheel cylinders, with a $100 core for shoes for under $900 your front end is brandy new all over again
I got new sway bar links for my '47 Olds through AutoZone and they were like $12 I think. I can find the part number if you want me to. NOS replacement king pin sets come up on eBay if you watch for a while, they usually go pretty cheap. Same for brake shoe linings (they usually are just linings and not the whole shoe, you have to rivet them on) and canned wheel cylinders (which I'd still put new kits in, but at least you don't have to have them relined). Drums would be tougher if they can't be cut. Still, basic front suspension and brake parts are around, they're just not readily available at any time, you've gotta watch for them.
Hey there Pottsie454, I am going through a similar situation. I recently bought a 38 Olds two door hump back touring sedan. She certainly needs a lot more work than yours does. I have been scouring Ebay for parts and was able to find a reprinted 1920 – 1948 Hollander US Parts Interchange Manual, so if you need any help looking up some parts let me know. Maybe we can put our collective heads together.
Thanks! Sounds like kanter is going to be a great resource for both of us. And he's near you I believe! Let me know if I can be of assistance to you aswell. If you ever locate inside window frames let me know. That's a part that's going to be difficult for me to replicate and I only have the front passenger side door.
Those Window garnish moldings, or window trim pieces, or what ever they are called have been haunting me for a few months now. I have pieces for all the windows except for the windshield and it has been driving me nuts. According to "The Hollander", the windows for the 1937 and 1938 Oldsmobile's have a few variations. For 4 dr. sedans: - The windshield is interchangeable with all the following models except for any convertibles. - 37&38 Buick Spec. and Cent. (Respectively, I'm guessing that those are the special and century models); 37&38 Cadillac models 60 and 61; and all 37 & 38 LaSalle, Olds, and Pontiac models. - Front Door windows - only interchangeable with the windows off of the 4 dr. versions of the above mentioned vehicles. - Rear Door windows - again, only interchangeable with the above mentioned vehicles - Front Door Vent windows have the same interchangeability as the windshield so all above mentioned models except for convertibles. Now if the window glass is interchangeable, then I assume that all the garnish moldings should be the same. So far i have ordered a couple different non refundable parts and so far no dice. Well its late enough so im heading out. Hope this info helps.
The front end, or at least the shocks you pictured look identical, as far as I can tell, to what was on my '38 Buick. The "small series" Buicks (in 38 that was the "40 Series" aka "Special") shared a lot of basic structure and suspension with Olds and Pontiac. You may do well looking for a "Big Pontiac" or a "Small Buick" parts car. If I remember correctly, Buick outsold Olds in '38 by a large margin, so you may have some luck there...
Thanks for that info guys. I will be on the look out. Tore into the suspension some more last night. Got the passenger side torn apart and starting to clean it up. Now, I am relatively young, and relatively new to classic cars so the question below may show some of my stupidity... I noticed that the front steer setup had caster and chamber adjustments on the top mount. Its a pretty ingenious setup... the top mount uses a machine bolt that is offset for chamber and threaded for caster. Pics below. Was this technology pretty common in these times or was this an engineering break through? Brake drum and backing plate off... dirty girl! Removed the spindle assembly.. Cleaned up a bit in the part washer, (its soaking currently) The machined bolt I mentioned above.. Thanks again!
http://www.ebay.com/motors/carsandtrucks/Oldsmobile/F-38/1938/SuspensionSteering [/UThere are many parts that can make up the Oldsmobile, F-38 suspension and steering system. While some problems only require replacement of one or two parts, other problems might require you to replace the entire system. In any case, the most important thing is the maintenance of the Oldsmobile, F-38. Be sure to replace the parts as necessary. Find all the parts you need right here! After all, there is no better selection available.RL] This info seemed intrestng , ''only one or two parts need replaced'' Bill aka Tnomoldw
Did a lot of work today cleaning up suspension parts, cleaning interior and removing glass.... Still looking for a source for a carrier bearing... kanter nor fusick have them listed and I have tried to source them elsewhere but coming up short. Ive got a number for a Peas Classic Auto but I havent been able to have them answer a phone call yet.... Any help?? Thanks!!
That's the same front suspension setup still used in the 1950 Olds.... and yes it is quiet unique. I lowered my front end a bit over 2 inches and was still able to get the alignment where it needed to be.
I just did a quick search on eBay for 1938 Oldsmobile and went through the first few pages. I havent found anything yet but Ill keep my eyes open for ya. Adam.
Alright, sorry, I am terrible at updating on progress. We've done alot, stripped interior, put the suspension back together, brakes, little painting of the frame and underside... Here are the progress photos below...
Suspension, I got it all put back together and halfway aligned. Only hicups are the drivers side knuckle support and the sway/roll bar its causing me problems getting it aligned. Before.. After.. Hicup in knuckle support, it seems that the threads are stripped on the bottom half. The new bushing doesnt want to thread, it actually slips through. I put it all together anyway and found that the once all the parts are in place, its actually a tight fit, so it might be by design? Old bushing, with some kind of gook that they seemed to have put there to cover the gap??.. Pointing at the knuckle support for reference... Damage tie link that I found we will need to replace next, and the pitman arm also has alot of slop, also on the parts list. Back on the ground, now to figure out how much lower we can get it with the factory suspension. I need to take a picture of the put back together suspension so you can see the difference. A lot of time and effort was put into cleaning, checking tolerances, replacing all bushings, king pins, and seals. It looks nice! But I failed to take a picture of the finished progress. I will get one soon.
Carrier bearing, Unfortunately I couldnt source an OE carrier bearing so I had to take some measurements and find one that would fit the OD and then had to make a new bracket to mount it to the cross member. Old carrier.. New carrier and mount. I used a 1/4 plate.
Brakes.. So we decided to get rid of the old single reservoir and get a tandem. My original thought was to use a 69 vette master because the dimension seem to fit nicely and it comes in a 1 1/18 bore, which matched the original. After putting it together it seems like a need more pressure and less travel... the pedal goes down half way and then stops rock hard, so I will be getting the 1 inch bore model to see if it changes. We replaced all lines, flex lines, and wheel cylinders. (7/8s bore) Master, 10 pound residual valves (that leak, need to purchase two more), wilwood prop valve.. As with everything, even the unseen items, I try to do my best to make it look like it was professionally done. I would one day love to only work on old cars, Im hoping that my quality of work deserves the merit.
I wonder how much of your problem lies with the lack of working residual valves? The 'Vette master cylinder was intended for a 4 wheel disc system which didn't require them. The drum brakes, when released, are trying to push all the applied fluid volume back into the reservoir. The next time that you need to stop you have to supply both volume AND pressure to each wheel cylinder.
I would agree with you, but if this was true then if you pumped the brakes pedal feel would be different, and its not. No matter how many times you pump you get to the exact same point and it stops, rock hard. You can push it down further with more force, and it does create more pressure at the shoes, but its taking a lot more pedal effort then we desire. As far as it being originally for a four wheel disc, this is true, and not certain of the difference in design, but I would have to assume its the difference volume vs pressure. My next attempt with be from a master that's from a 68 camaro, drum/drum, manual, with a 1 inch bore. I have concerns that it wot fit my height requirement though. Thanks for the input, it sparked my curiosity. Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
Check your pushrod length if you haven't already done so. It doesn't take much of a gap to have a big impact at the pedal. Cool looking car
Pushrod length is perfect. I had to make a custom rod to make it work correctly. Love the ideas and interest! Also, the pedal ratio is around 7to1 for all of those chin scratchers out there. And the brake and master have no air in the lines, even though I have a thread leak from both residual valves no air is present, or atleast none that will show. Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
I see what you're sayng. I would have guessed that pumping it quickly a couple times would have brought the pedal up, at least temporarily. There's maybe a couple things going on here it sounds like. Is the panel above the m/cyl removeable? Might be interesting to be able to see what the fluid level in the reservoir is doing while all this is happening.
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