Just made my window tint appointment for tomorrow for the new OCC

I've got to drop it off at 11am. Going dark as legal on the front glass and then one shade darker on the back. I don't want it black in the back like my '89 OCC was...it was hard to see out of at night.

Doing this one exactly like the '96 Roady. Can't wait!

It's WAYYYY to hot and BRIGHT in there now!!!

Before!



After Pics to follow!

-Mike

Mike,

Caught a show last nite on one of the cable stations, first time I've seen it. Don't remember the exact title; but might have been something like "Texas Junkyard Wars". It was based in Austin. There were 4 or 5 teams of body shop / restoration types. They went to a junkyard where they auctioned off different cars. Each team ended up with one, and the one who ended up with the most profit was the winner.

Some of the cars were: 64 T-Bird, 55 Ford 4 door sedan, actually there were 3 to make 1 and an X-Terra. The 55 Ford was the winner. I'll watch for more details.

Tom

silverfox103 wrote:

Mike,

Caught a show last nite on one of the cable stations, first time I've seen it. Don't remember the exact title; but might have been something like "Texas Junkyard Wars". It was based in Austin. There were 4 or 5 teams of body shop / restoration types. They went to a junkyard where they auctioned off different cars. Each team ended up with one, and the one who ended up with the most profit was the winner.

Some of the cars were: 64 T-Bird, 55 Ford 4 door sedan, actually there were 3 to make 1 and an X-Terra. The 55 Ford was the winner. I'll watch for more details.

Tom

YEP! They're filming that show at a shop less than a mile from where's I'm sitting as I type this.

Mike,
My guess is you are keeping those nice stock OCC wheels. If not please let me know. I may want a couple for spares.
By the way. Your new car is very nice. I enjoyed the photos of the maiden voyage. I took mine in for a wheel bearing problem. Replaced one siezed bearing and repacked both sides. I had it towed and did no damage.

We are installing four new Bilstiens today and AIRLIFT 1000 with on board compressor next week. Can hardly wait.
Dick

COL wrote:

Mike,
My guess is you are keeping those nice stock OCC wheels. If not please let me know. I may want a couple for spares.
By the way. Your new car is very nice. I enjoyed the photos of the maiden voyage. I took mine in for a wheel bearing problem. Replaced one siezed bearing and repacked both sides. I had it towed and did no damage.

We are installing four new Bilstiens today and AIRLIFT 1000 with on board compressor next week. Can hardly wait.
Dick

Yikes, front wheel bearings? Glad you didn't have spindle issues.

I "think" I'm keeping the stock wheels. If I update the car I most likely will keep the pieces so I can put it back to stock one day. I do however not like the white-walls and may budget for RWL Radial T/A's. The white-walls may be "correct" but I want to make it look a little....younger. I thought about Impala SS wheels with Olds rockets on the center caps, but that's been done, and the car will ride better with the 15's. Also, if I come across some 89-90 OCC mags in the salvage yard, I might go that route. They are the same size as what's on the car now, but the design, to me, makes them look larger. Had them on my '89 Custom Cruiser and I loved them!




As for suspension, I had the Monroe Severe Service shocks on my '96 Roady wagon and found them too harsh..over bumps and expansion joints the change in my dash storage box would rattle. Ha. I went to KTB Gas-A-Justs and loved those....much smoother but not floaty. I'm planning to put a full set of those on the new OCC as the budget allows, along with some variable-rate rear coil springs so I can get away from the air totally. I just don't want to mess with air.

I hear the Bilstiens are the BEST. Let us all know how it rides. And thanks again for the comments about my new toy. Yours is gorgeous too....my next goal is to make my underhood look like yours!

-Mike

Quote :

As for suspension, I had the Monroe Severe Service shocks on my '96 Roady wagon and found them too harsh..over bumps and expansion joints the change in my dash storage box would rattle. Ha. I went to KTB Gas-A-Justs and loved those....much smoother but not floaty. I'm planning to put a full set of those on the new OCC as the budget allows, along with some variable-rate rear coil springs so I can get away from the air totally. I just don't want to mess with air.

I hear the Bilstiens are the BEST. Let us all know how it rides. And thanks again for the comments about my new toy. Yours is gorgeous too....my next goal is to make my underhood look like yours!

-Mike

I just picked up the OCC. I was lucky with the spindles. No damage at all. Only one bearing was ate up. The others wer perfect. We repacked with new grease. He suspected a multipurpose grease was used.

The Bilstiens felt really good. Not too harsh, but firm, cornered great. I have to wait a couple weeks to get the AIR LIFT 1000 installed. :-(
Dick

If I were you, unless you REALLY trust the shop you are using, I would remove all your door panels before getting the tint installed. I scratched the tint on my drivers front while replacing the window motor, so I took it in and had it re-tinted.

The tint guy did not install the door panel correctly and now I have a rattle when I close it that was not there before. I still need to get in there and fix it. I really hate that there is no integrity anymore...... I would take it back to the shop where I took it, but I'm guessing it would be worse if they touch it again. FRUSTRATING!!

Well the window tint is put off for a week. I mentioned that the driver's side rear door window seemed to stick. I didn't touch it on the trip. Well I figured it better work for the tint folks, so I took the door panel off and lubricated everything. I got the window down, and now it refuses to come back up....of course.

SO I need a window motor. Autozone has them for $36...guess I'll be doing that tomorrow and suffer through the sun one more week. At least it'll only be in the low 90's next week, not the 100's.

With a little luck I can still go salvage-yarding Sunday morning.

Now I have to figure out how to get this motor out...not a lot of room in those rear doors....time to drill some rivets....

-Mike

On the upside there is a bare plug in there that I guess if for Roadmaster door panel lights. Will look for those on Sunday if I get to go yarding.

I don't envy you on the window motor replacement. I did the passenger-side rear door on mine about 6-7 months ago and large hands make it even more difficult. When I was through it looked like I had wrestled a rose bush.

Since you have the door panel off you may want to do the rollers. Consider it a preemptive strike.

silverfox103 wrote:

Mike,

Caught a show last nite on one of the cable stations, first time I've seen it. Don't remember the exact title; but might have been something like "Texas Junkyard Wars". It was based in Austin. There were 4 or 5 teams of body shop / restoration types. They went to a junkyard where they auctioned off different cars. Each team ended up with one, and the one who ended up with the most profit was the winner.

Some of the cars were: 64 T-Bird, 55 Ford 4 door sedan, actually there were 3 to make 1 and an X-Terra. The 55 Ford was the winner. I'll watch for more details.

Tom

Watching this show right now and can only describe it with one word....Dreadful. They had the engine turning over, yet stopped to smack the starter in the hopes it would start, lol.

Give me some Fast N loud over this drama filled stuff any day.

The dumbasses building the T bird should just go flip burgers. A car on stands and a floor jack beside them, yet they blindly cut the front coils with a Dewalt grinder.

Ok I'm FINALLY getting the OCC to the tint shop tomorrow but need a little help. I've searched the forum but can't seem to find the post I did when I tinted my '96 Roadmaster....would have been in 2010 I'd think.

Can anyone find that post?? I'd written the tint darkness %'s in the thread. I LOVED the way my Roady was tinted and want the OCC to be the same....but can't remember what I did! The tint shop could not find my record there either...dangit.

If you can find it please post the link. THANKS!

-Mike

Mike,it was shortly after you found this forum and became active if that helps.

Mike you may not want to go as dark since you have a dark blue interior instead of the maroon.May be too dark!

Productive day here today. Window tinting is done! The Custom Cruiser looks SO much better and I'm sure will FEEL a lot better when the sun is out...again it rained here all day. It's really NICE inside the car now too...with all the glass in these cars, without tint, it's REALLY bright in there. Nice to have a little privacy while driving!

Also, finally got my Texas license plates and window sticker. Got the new-style Lone Star State plates that are only black and white with the single black star on them. Kinda retro style, somewhat like they had back in the 70's. They look great on my white car.

Big fail for no pics yet. Will make sure I post some tomorrow.

Off topic, but what a day. I had to be at the tint shop at 9am this morning, and my wife wanted to have a "girls day" with her friends to get manicures and pedicures and go shopping, so I got the kiddos.

We got to the tint shop on time, in light rain. Dropped the car off and then the kids and I walked down the frontage road of I-35 (!) in the rain to the Tinseltown theater and saw Hotel Transylvania at 9:45am. Popcorn and soda for breakfast...I'm a good father.

After the movie we walked to Austin's Pizza for lunch, and then down the main highway in Pflugerville, dodging across 50mph traffic, to the HEB shopping center for Cost Cutters haircuts.

The 10-yr-old HATES cutting his hair...he likes to look shaggy, but the 3-yr-old is happy as can be in the chair. After that it was a 30-min walk back to the tint shop, storm clouds all around us, but thankfully it didn't dump on us.

Picked up the car at 3pm (again looks SOO much better!) and the boys wanted to go bowling, so drove down into Austin to Highland Lanes and we played two games. Eddie, the 10-yr-old, is a wiz and should be on a league. He won both games easily and has great form. Tuck, the 3yr-old, either barely rolled his 7lb ball or tried to throw it down the alley overhanded...ahahaha. I, like an idiot, used a 15lb ball, and on the way home after the bowling came to realize my back, shoulder, and arm and legs were now rubber. I'm SO out of shape, could barely get out of the car when we got home!!

Walked into the house at 5pm and I plopped the kids in front of the TV and I took two asprin and laid on the bed, and Misty woke me up at 8pm....hahaha. Didn't mean to fall asleep. I'm getting OLD.

ANYWAY once I woke up it was too late to take wagon pics in the daytime....so again, tomorrow will nab some.

Fun Daddy-Day with my boys....good bonding time, got some exercise, and earned my day-off tomorrow for salvage-yarding!

-Mike

Here's some pics of my Custom Cruiser with its new tint and new black-and-white Lone Star license plates. This was early in the morning so the car has some dew on it, but you get the idea!

-Mike

PRETTY PRETTY!!!!!!Looks great Mike,now get rid of those whitewalls.What do you think of the
Chevelle I am sending you?

white walls look good to me on your car Mike. Of course my last car was a '58 Cadillac.
col

Just giving Mike a hard time,hey its monday so I have to harass him a little.Dick,I wanted to ask you how much your gas mileage drops when towing the airstream?Do you run regular when towing or upgrade to premium to cut down on detonation?

Thanks Jim, glad you like the pics.

I'm just planning a set of RWL Radial T/A's on the stock wheels, as funds allow. I know the white-walls fit the car...but I gotta make it look a little younger.

Does anyone still make Save the Whales wagon stickers?? I know Bewber made them, but have not seem them listed in a long time. Really want some for this car!

-Mike

That looks friggin awesome! If you get rid of those whitewalls and put RWL's on it, I will fly down there and slap you myself! Lol

Lower it a couple inchee and it'll be PERFECT!

I loves me some big white wagons with tint!

toomanytoyz wrote:

That looks friggin awesome! If you get rid of those whitewalls and put RWL's on it, I will fly down there and slap you myself! Lol

Lower it a couple inchee and it'll be PERFECT!

I loves me some big white wagons with tint!

I don't like the white walls, but want to somewhat keep the original look, and blackwalls on stock wheels look boring to me! T/A's are coming soon. On a white car, I think the RWL tires will look good.

I tell you what I'd really like, some turbine wheels like I had on my '89 OCC. HARD to find now, but think those would look great on this car.

Glad you like the pics! I loves me some big white wagons with tint too!

-Mike

My 3-year-old Tuck does not like the new window tint. He loved to sit in the rear-facing 3rd-row seat and wave to people behind us. He's such a cute kid most people wave back. On the way to daycare this morning he was waving but nobody could see him.

Poor kiddo....at least he was not sweaty when I pulled him out!!

-Mike

Guess you'll have to leave the rear glass open for him.

Looks good Mike.

I understand the kids in the back. We made a trip home from Mrytle Beach this year, my 15 year old daughter in the back. We kept the glass open the whole way home and she was lounging in the third seat. She got a ton of smiles and laughs as the Not Rod passed cars. Everyone gets a kick out of the third seat.

the white walls look great, and why are the plates black and white?

Always wish I had a 92 OCC....love that single "C" pillar and looong quarter glass with vista roof. Looks really good Mike!!

BigBlackBeaSSt wrote:

Looks good Mike.

I understand the kids in the back. We made a trip home from Mrytle Beach this year, my 15 year old daughter in the back. We kept the glass open the whole way home and she was lounging in the third seat. She got a ton of smiles and laughs as the Not Rod passed cars. Everyone gets a kick out of the third seat.

That's one thing I miss from my boxy wagons...the power rear sliding tailgate window. It made for a HEAVY gate, but with all the windows down the breeze and nice days was great.

buickestate wrote:

the white walls look great, and why are the plates black and white?

Texas now offers a TON of new plates, but to me this is the most understated. Black-white, one star and The Lone Star State written on the bottom. To me it looks great on my big white whale.

-Mike

brokecello wrote:

Always wish I had a 92 OCC....love that single "C" pillar and looong quarter glass with vista roof. Looks really good Mike!!

Thanks! I was actually partial to the swoopy side glass design on the Roady, BUT I'm glad there are no door trim panels to fly off on the highway, and with the tint done, it looks better to me than before.

Toys!

Does anyone still make Save the Whales wagon stickers?? I know Bewber made them,

i got some less than a month ago from him, mrbeebody@aim.com

Flasheroo wrote:

Just giving Mike a hard time,hey its monday so I have to harass him a little.Dick,I wanted to ask you how much your gas mileage drops when towing the airstream?Do you run regular when towing or upgrade to premium to cut down on detonation?

Jim,
Since we live where we vacationed for 30 years (Oregon Coast) and we have not gone very far with the trailer this summer. We pulled it once about 200 miles before I got the new shocks, trans cooler, and Airlift 1000s. We leave leaving the morning for a 3000 mile trip to Sacramento CA and Grand Junction Colorado and back.

I will start a thread documenting the trip with the OCC posing along the way. I will use regular unless I feel it is not running well.
Our Cadillac got about 15 miles on the highway and 10 pulling the Airstream. The Caddy weighed 5,500 lbs. I think I can top that with the Olds.
I will get a shot here by the Dinosauars in Southern Oregon. This was our Pre Airstream unit. 1959 Mercury 15' trailer.


Dick

Looking forward to the vacation stories and pics Dick! Be safe and have a great time!

Just a question, are you towing in 3rd or 4th (overdrive)? I'm thinking of driving my OCC to New Jersey over Thanksgiving with the tow dolly on the back and pulling the '82 Z28 back to Texas behind it. I've very curious about the mileage and how you tow with yours.

I always towed in 3rd with my Roady wagon, and it still got ok mileage.

In 3rd my OCC is over 3K rpm at highway speeds. Have not towed with it yet.

Thanks!!

-Mike

Mike,
We took off this morning and headed south one Coast Hwy 101. We stopped several times along way. We saw three whales. Real ones surfacing and blowing. So far no B body wagons. I do not have good enough coverage to send pictures tonight but did take some.

We are pulling the 22' Airstream in 3rd gear. (3.23 Posi). It is running about 2200 rpm on the flat roads and about 2500 or so on the hills. It is up and down all the way so I am not expecting real good milage.

I got a free Oregon State pass for campgounds for being a Veteran. Tonight we used it for the first time. We will go into Norther Calif in the morning. I will get a picture in front of the Dinosaurs. A little further is a big Paul Bunion and Babe the Ox.

So far a perfect trip. The suspention work was well worth the money. Pulls great.
Dick

My wife and I drove from San Francisco to LA down Hwy 1 on on our honeymoon 12 years ago...in a rented Oldsmobile Intrigue (they tried to give me a Honda..ha!)

The Pacific Coast is GORGEOUS.

You folks have a ball and be safe, and post LOTS of pics!

-Mike

[quote="81X11"]My 3-year-old Tuck does not like the new window tint. He loved to sit in the rear-facing 3rd-row seat and wave to people behind us. He's such a cute kid most people wave back. On the way to daycare this morning he was waving but nobody could see him.

Poor kiddo....at least he was not sweaty when I pulled him out!!


You could always have a sticker made that says "There's a 3 year old behind this tinted window waving at you,please wave back"Makes
more sense than driving around with your back window wide upen

Hey Mike, I know its been a while since you had it done, but what percentages did you end up going with?

SShiftn6 wrote:

Hey Mike, I know its been a while since you had it done, but what percentages did you end up going with?

I did 35% on all the door glass and 15% on the rear cargo area side windows and rear hatch glass.

-Mike

That's 35% on your front doors? Looks almost as dark as my 20%.

Stingroo wrote:

That's 35% on your front doors? Looks almost as dark as my 20%.

Yes sir!