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1935 Olds F.35 Roadster - Restoration from the Ground Up
I know the vast majority of threads here are weighted toward Oldsmobile’s of the 60’s & 70’s but I thought I’d share something a bit different to the last thread I did on my ’70 442 W30 restoration over here in Australia. This thread will cover a lot of old history to start with and then work through the next couple of years as I finish what will be an almost 40 year project to return my 1935 Oldsmobile F.35 Roadster to it’s former glory.
The photos of the car as found show the steering wheel on the right side and that’s because this car is an original Australian build Right Hand Drive. RHD Oldsmobile chassis’s were shipped out from Lansing in CKD (completely knocked down) form along with front & rear fenders, hood & grille. The body from the firewall back was made here at the General Motors Holdens body plant and then fitted to the assembled chassis.
Just 29 of these F.35 (6 cylinder) Roadsters were produced and today 1 complete original, 2 others requiring significant restoration plus my car still exist. My car started life with side-mount spare wheels (6 wheel equipment) and was originally painted a maroon color. During the 50’s it had a severe front end accident so all the front panels were replaced and a grille was fabricated from stainless strip as the grille’s were almost impossible to source.
I bought the car in January 1988 where it had been sitting on a farm of a Buick collector about 100 miles from my home city of Melbourne (the south east corner of Australia). After some negotiation I secured the car and my brother & I trailered it home. In the coming week I’ll post more of it’s progress and the big barriers that stopped the restoration for almost 30 years.
Last edited by 35olds; April 30th, 2023 at 05:08 AM.
So in late January '88 the Roadster arrives home and the closer evaluation commences. We immediately see that the frame has had a real hard hit in that accident in 1950's and a donor car is going to be needed. The frame is badly bent and cracked, a '34 engine has been transplanted at some point in it's life and in the background I'm thinking where on earth am I going to find a grille as they are made from "unobtanium" - but seriously the pot metal grille is going to be a serious drama as we progress. Initially I put the car away in the family garage and started the search for parts for 3 years or so and spent all my spare cash (as I could at that time being a young single guy with no financial commitments) flying to the US for the Hershey & Carlisle Swap Meets every 2nd year looking for parts and a grille in particular. There are a few pics here that show the condition of the timber frame & the rest of the car when it arrived home.
So after saving hard for a few years in May 1991 I looked around for someone capable of doing the body on the car - not straight forward when it's got a timber frame (which Olds used until 1937 when they went all steel). Given that I had no grille my aim was to get the body from the firewall back finished and set up on a good frame and then ready for the day when a grille was found and the rest could progress. A local restoration shop was selected and the car went to them to strip and commence work with my modest budget. In 1991 we had a downturn in the economy here and other projects in the shop stalled so my car had 3 people working on it full time for quite a period. With little to no floor left everything had to come apart to repair the rust in the body and remake the timber frame. With the rivets holding the floor to the rear panel-work removed this allowed the floor, panels and timber frame to be separated and progressed independently. Work on a new floor commenced whilst the rear panels were sent out for media blasting. On return the rust repairs to the inner rear fenders were started and patterns of the timber frame taken and new pieces made.
So through June '91 the new floor is made replicating the original design and that is solid riveted back into position, new timber framework also made and work on the front fenders commences. The timber frame that runs around from the left to right door pillars is steam bent by a shipwright in one single piece and profile cut to the contour of the original body. With the body off the frame we find nasty signs of the serious front end collision that the car had in the '50s when the complete front clip sheetmetal and a hand made stainless grille was fitted to the car . Close inspection reveals that a donor frame will be needed and the engine is identified as an incorrect '34 engine - so a complete donor car will ultimately be needed. As the car was originally a dual sidemount (6 wheel) car I tracked down a pair of fenders but like a lot of vehicles of this period mud build-up on the inside of the left fender had led to really serious rust. We weighed up cutting a regular fender to sink a well into it but as the fender pressings are somewhat different a decision was taken to graft a large section of a regular fender to repair the rust. Overall it came up pretty well.
Wow! The woodwork is awesome! Having a shipwright to fabricate that piece between the left and right sides is really going to be a story for the car when it is finished. Nice thread. Subscribed
I love those older Oldsmobiles. Owning one is on my hopefully someday list. I have an Oldsmobile book that has almost every Olds from first through the 80's. I really enjoy the pre war cars. Looking forward to more updates on your car. 👍
Last edited by Cossack; August 17th, 2023 at 01:10 PM.
Since you're only up to June '91, I assume there are many more posts to come.
I'm fascinated by this project, and the skill it must have taken to accomplish it.
Since you're only up to June '91, I assume there are many more posts to come.
I'm fascinated by this project, and the skill it must have taken to accomplish it.
There are more posts to come but unfortunately there was a 30 year break in the project - and I've only recently recommenced.
By August '91 most of the rear bodywork is now completed, timber frame for the doors is completed and work on the front cowl is underway. This is probably the trickiest parts of the restoration with the pillars and cross bar of the cowl being steel clad with timber frame and a HUGE amount of lead wiping thats been done to cover up the joins. The front windshield is a one piece foldout design (different to the US Fisher Body that has 2 fixed screens). Sadly there was a lot of rust in the lower radiused corners of the cowl where the screen sits and reproducing that correctly was challenging and I really wasn't at all happy with the result. The work done was good but to seal the windshield was going to require way more lead than I was going to be happy with. This issue along with the looming concern that I had no radiator grille for the car rapidly made me take a step back and consider pausing the project - well at least until I could find a grille and anyone with cars of the '30s will likely know that good grille's let alone the unique F.35 grille is like finding the W27 rear axle for a '70 W Machine - true Unicorns.
We kept going for a bit longer, repairing the rear fenders, making the timber frame and finishing the rumble seat lid, prepping the rear body and epoxy priming it.
35, 36 Oldsies have always been one of my favorites and a convertable to boot. Ever since I saw AL Sandy's car at the 90th and 100th i would love to own one.You have a major project underway. All the best 👍 👌. We have to preserve these beautiful cars. Best of luck with the restoration.
Last edited by maddoctor; October 4th, 2023 at 04:05 AM.
35, 36 Oldsies have always been one of my favorites and a convertable to boot. Ever since I say AL Sandy's car at the 90th and 100th i would love to own one.You have a major project underway. All the best 👍 👌. We have to preserve these beautiful cars. Best of luck with the restoration.
Thanks @maddoctor . Al Sandy was my "American Dad", I came to the US with by brother in '85 and ended up staying with Al and his wife just out of Philly for a lengthy period, then returned to visit and travel with Al for Hershey & Carlisle in '87, '89. '91 & '93 he was a wonderful guy, a true Olds Man and always up for a chat. His L36 Convertible was a beauty and I rode in that car on many occasions including with my wife at the 100th Anniversary Parade in Lansing. Al's son Bill sold the Convertible about 2 years ago and it resides in Kansas these days largely unchanged from the time you probably last saw it.
My Aussie '35 Roadster when it's finished will be very similar looking to Al's '36, it was originally painted an almost identical color and has sidemount spare wheels just like Al's car. I'll get back to more of the story on my car in the next few days with lots more to come from current progress over the months ahead. Al Sandy & my wife at the 100th Anniversary Al driving with a couple of Aussies in the rumble seat
So we are still in 1991 and I sadly decided to pull the pin on bodywork due to no grille to complete the car. The rear body & rear fenders were epoxy primed and everything else left bare hoping that this was only going to be a short pause whilst I found a grille and let the bank balance recover for a while. I went over all the bare panels with Zinc Phosphate metal prep to give them some protection for a while whilst stored away. Well that pause was to end up lasting 32 years !!!! Lots of things ended up getting in the way which most of experience through our life- marriage, house, family and to some extent loosing the motivation. Through that 32 year pause I didn't totally loose focus, in 1997 my wife & I travelled from Australia with a bunch of friends from the Oldsmobile Club of Australia for the Olds 100th Anniversary event in Lansing, the swap meet was to become a very very memorable location for me. It had rained on & off on the first morning so as we walked down an isle some covers were coming off stock on the ground and to my amazement right in front of me were 2 Unicorns, not W27 rear axles or W30 Tri carbs but both an NOS 1935 F.35 6 cylinder grille and also an NOS L.35 8 cylinder grille. The price tag back then was $500 each and that was quite a bit at the time. I walked away thinking can I afford it and how would I get it home but I didn't walk more that 25 feet when my wife said to me "go back and get it" . A lot of people around that site couldn't believe me paying that much but I knew what they didn't, and 6 months later I realised it was a cheap investment. Getting it back home was a bit of a nightmare but it travelled with us in each hire car and airplane we travelled on all the way back to Melbourne AU.
Nice hubcaps were going to be my 2nd challenge as the '34-35 hubcaps are hard to get let along NOS ones. Luckily I came on a local panel beater who decided to move into trim restoration and he took on the challenge to restore 4 hubcaps for me. I selected the best four I had which I'd consider 50/50 and he pealed the brass outer skin off them, removed all the dents and scratches , plated them and carefully rolled the outer back on to the core. They were done nearly 30 years ago and have been carefully wrapped up ever since. Till the next instalment. The rear body epoxy primed and heading home for a pause - a very long pause NOS 1935 F.35 Grille secured at the 100th Anniversary Meet 4 hubcaps are restored and waiting to go back on
During 1992 and advertisement appeared in a classic car magazine listing another of the 29 of these F.35 Roadster's. The car was sad but had many important pieces that I was missing including the step on the fender to get into the rumble seat, trunk rack hinges (well at least 1 side that I could copy), convertible top folding hood irons and other bits and pieces. The car wasn't close by but after convincing the seller to hold it for me I coordinated with a good Olds friend to come with me on an adventure to buy the car and bring it back to Melbourne. It was a 9 hour drive to Adelaide (the capital of South Australia) and then a further 2 hour drive north to Burra. The terrain was super dry and HOT and probably the reason why it had survived very well considering it had lay abandoned in the most secluded location for probably 35 years or so.
On arrival we were confronted with a few challenges, we brought wheels with us but found there was nothing to put them on - no front or rear axle !!! Then the next challenge was how would we get the body & chassis onto a trailer. The flies on the farm were indescribable there were millions of them and they loved us it was literally impossible to open your mouth even the slightest without getting a feed of them. I was almost thinking this was a huge mistake but we pressed on. The front of the frame was cut off & a chunk of the rear fenders cut away to slide the the body on to the trailer. Once loaded we took off out of there as fast as we could leaving those damn flies behind.
We got the body back home and I transferred it to another rolling chassis so that it could be moved around and stripped down. The cowl was way better than mine, the rust was largely surface rust and the sections where my original cowl were repaired and I wasn't happy with the repairs was in great condition on this cowl - a decision was going to be coming on which cowl to use on my car.
Sounds like a real experience and glad for your find. Flies! hate 'em! My son and I had a bad experience with sand fleas on the eastern coast of Virginia during a scout camp out. I got bitten all over! Hate 'em. On another subject, is that what ya'll call a Ute in the background of the second photo? What is it?
Sounds like a real experience and glad for your find. Flies! hate 'em! My son and I had a bad experience with sand fleas on the eastern coast of Virginia during a scout camp out. I got bitten all over! Hate 'em. On another subject, is that what ya'll call a Ute in the background of the second photo? What is it?
Hi @Oldsguy yes that vehicle in the background is what we call a Ute here in Australia (or the formal name "Utility"). GM built this sort of style vehicle from the 20's here in Australia but the early ones had timber sides and and tailgate. The all metal body came in from about 1937 on Chev's and a bit earlier on Ford's, unfortunately there were no Oldsmobile Ute's based on the car platform but GM Export shipped Oldsmobile Trucks here (GMC platform) and they were available with the Ute body. Early all steel body ute - 1940 Chevrolet Early all steel body ute - 1940 Chevrolet 1939 Oldsmobile Utility based on the Olds Truck
Wow! that is cool! I really like both the chevy and the Oldsmobile. It would be so nice if someone actually had ont of the Oldsmobile Utes and restored it.
April 27th, 2023, 05:10 AM
. A lot of people around that site couldn't believe me paying that much but I knew what they didn't, and 6 months later I realised it was a cheap investment. Getting it back home was a bit of a nightmare but it travelled with us in each hire car and airplane we travelled on all the way back to Melbourne AU.
to buy the car and bring it back to Melbourne. It was a 9 hour drive to Adelaide (the capital of South Australia) and then a further 2 hour drive north to Burra. The terrain was super dry and HOT and probably the reason why it had survived very well considering it had lay abandoned in the most secluded location for probably 35 years or so.
it was literally impossible to open your mouth even the slightest without getting a feed of them. I was almost thinking this was a huge mistake but we pressed on. The front of the frame was cut off & a chunk of the rear fenders cut away to slide the the body on to the trailer. Once loaded we took off out of there as fast as we could leaving those damn flies behind.
