What did you do to / with your XLR today?

[long Tall Sally]

hope you got you some turbo rocket fluid. haha I had a 64 turbo. I pulled the turbo and installed a 4 barrel like most people did .the turbo set on a shelf for 20 years then just disappeared one day. Glad to see someone doing and old olds correctly. Hope you drove slowly thru Knoxville to enjoy the scenery

 

[Gord]

Hi Sandy, hi Steve,
Great going! That's outstanding mileage and super to hear it was an 'uneventful' trip. And now...I guess you have to do the mandatory x days of self-isolation? To the garage...there's turbos to install and a XLR to shine!

Welcome home!

Gord

 

[graytoad]

hope you got you some turbo rocket fluid. haha I had a 64 turbo. I pulled the turbo and installed a 4 barrel like most people did .the turbo set on a shelf for 20 years then just disappeared one day. Glad to see someone doing and old Olds correctly. Hope you drove slowly thru Knoxville to enjoy the scenery

You must have had a 63 as they did not make 64 Olds Turbo cars. If in fact, if it was a 64 then someone put a 1962 or 1963 215 aluminum V8 turbo engine in it. (or was the turbo mounted to a cast iron block?) If it had the Jetfire trim/logos etc it had to be a 63 as the bodies were different and the Jetfire trim would not fit. I would love to hear more about your car: when did you own it?

For others reading this: There were less Oldsmobile Jetfire's built than there were XLR's - only 9,607 in the two years of production. They sported 215 Aluminum V8 engines (as all the F85/Cutlass models did in those years) and had a Garrett airResearch turbo and the car produced 215 hp! As you mentioned (LTS) you pulled the turbo and installed a 4 barrel. (dropping it down to the 195 hp range) In fact: Oldsmobile offered this exchange service to Jetfire owners 'Free of charge' in 1965/66 as they had many problems with the owners complaints - due to the fact that the owners were not maintaining the system correctly.

Jim Noel (the Jetfire guru who rebuilt my turbo) approached Oldsmobile head office in Lansing in the 80's and went after the parts suppliers to produce more parts for rebuilding the turbos and keep these cars on the road as the parts had become obsolete. He purchased 50 pieces of all the necessary parts which are now running out. At that time he was told by 'Oldsmobile' that in fact approximately 80% of the cars had this 4 barrel swap done by their dealership network. That means that less than 2,000 of these cars were left on the road 'Turbo intact' by the late 1960's (of those: 10 -15% is the normal obtainable rate for running or restorable cars still 'out there' for 60's classics) The 4 speed manual floor shift cars were less than 17% of production.

My 1963 turbo intact, 4 speed manual shift car was removed from in a drive in shed on the property of the original owner in the California mountains last year where it had sat since 1986. As for the Turbo Rocket Fluid: this was a fluid injected turbo car! The Turbo Rocket Fluid can not be purchased but I have 'the recipe'! <strike></strike><strike></strike>

 

[graytoad]

Hi Sandy, hi Steve,
Great going! That's outstanding mileage and super to hear it was an 'uneventful' trip. And now...I guess you have to do the mandatory x days of self-isolation? To the garage...there's turbos to install and a XLR to shine!

Welcome home!

Gord

There certainly is lots to do on the car but 'installing the turbo' is one of those jobs that can NOT be done. That is because we took the engine to D&D Aluminum V8 in Michigan before we drove to Florida. The rebuild was competed 2 weeks ago: he knew in the outset that we would not pick it up until after we returned from Florida which is normally by May 1st. Well now there is not any 'non essential' travel allowed across the US CDN border so even when our quarantine ends - we can't go get it for a while?!? What a way to slow down a restoration! Oh well, at least I have my XLR home this summer!

Mark @ D&D sent me a photo: sure does look handsome! Have no idea why the photo uploaded upside down.... odd!

 

[Gord]

Gravity means nothing at D&D AluminumV8!

Hi Sandy,
That sure looks lovely, even upside-down!

Did you ever deal with anyone from uShip? If Mark would put it in a box or carefully on a pallet, well, I've had some great success from uShip transporters that have just that little bit of space left to fill or are returning empty for some unknown reason. I suppose it would amount to a bit of extra legwork so far as paperwork goes what with the border, but if you do want it and you don't set any 'must have by' date in a uShip quote request, the prices are often astounding all things considered.

Just an idea as I have a sour feeling our current 'situation' isn't about to improve dramatically any time soon. I'm currently surviving by tinkering with things - if I run out of those it will not be good. One must stay busy doing fun things always!

Gord

 

[graytoad]

Hi Sandy,
That sure looks lovely, even upside-down!

Did you ever deal with anyone from uShip? If Mark would put it in a box or carefully on a pallet, well, I've had some great success from uShip transporters that have just that little bit of space left to fill or are returning empty for some unknown reason. I suppose it would amount to a bit of extra legwork so far as paperwork goes what with the border, but if you do want it and you don't set any 'must have by' date in a uShip quote request, the prices are often astounding all things considered.

Just an idea as I have a sour feeling our current 'situation' isn't about to improve dramatically any time soon. I'm currently surviving by tinkering with things - if I run out of those it will not be good. One must stay busy doing fun things always!

Gord

Haha! I like your style Gord and especially your 'subject matter'. Wondering if you have curly hair now after your experiment with that knife and the receptacle?

uShip sounds like an interesting option, I will have to check into that, thanks. I really want to pick up the engine myself so I can talk one on one with the builder and discuss his recommendations etc moving forward with 'fire up' but sometimes 'what I want and what I get' are not the same! I just finally went down to the shop today: I have been avoiding that as I had so darn much paperwork to catch up with: 4 months worth. Now that I have laid eyes on my Jetfire one again I 'need' to get working on it! Yes: tinkering will be our saving grace through this. Keep well!

 

[XLRATING]

Today I washed both XLR’s. Thought the wind and rain we’ve had this week would finish off the pollen, NOT. So they got hustled back in the garage quick.

Tomorrow or the next day, going to Zaino both. Usually I do that during a conference I have in May, but I’m thinking the conference is not going to be happening.

 

[LSNot]

All of the hydraulics are out - it’s amazing how easy you can flip the top without all of that crap attached(def would have been amazing if it stood a chance of working)

got the headlights done & the roof painted black - all black vinyl on the tail lights is next + limo tint all around, debating on doing the windshield too

 

[XLRATING]

I used my social distancing time wisely by getting up close and personal with our XLR’s - they’ve tested negative. Two layers of Zaino on each today, wipe down the V with Z8 (those aren’t scuffs above the “Supercharged” but a reflection off the wall), and the V got to be a mirror for its mini-me. All set for another year!

 

[LSNot]

^ That is amazing detail! Love the pic with the model car in the reflection

What is done to the grill of the red xLR? Is it chrome dipped?! Or?

 

[XLRATING]

^ That is amazing detail! Love the pic with the model car in the reflection

What is done to the grill of the red xLR? Is it chrome dipped?! Or?

Thanks! Detailing is a hobby of mine that I often hate going through but the results are worth it! We’ve had the red one 10 years and the black one 8 years, both were used and I’ve just plugged away at shaping them up over time.

On the grill - limited edition (usually based on color, like Alpine White or Passion Red) base XLR’s came with a chrome grill. I ordered one of those grills years ago and switched it for the original grill. Unfortunately based on posts on here it appears the chrome OEM grills may not be available any more, but I haven’t tried to look.

 

[beaver_jd]

We just arrived home from Palm Springs CA this afternoon and are in quarantine for 14 days. So I will do lots of waxing and cocktails every day at 4:00 pm.
John F.

 

[LSNot]

Drove it around a bit - it's nice having sound like a real muscle car, makes me wanna drive it around so much more. . . . I have my xF for the quiet missions

 

[XLRATING]

Drove it around a bit - it's nice having sound like a real muscle car, makes me wanna drive it around so much more. . . . I have my xF for the quiet missions

View attachment 9400

Like that XF! And yeah, you gotta have at least one loud muscle car sounding ride.

 

[rocket83402]

Great day for a Spin

Went for a drive today. Was an outstanding day. Well for us anyway. In the 60s, but snow tomorrow...lol.. Stick around and it will change. Been in Hibernation for the wqinter. Started right up. I get a thrill evertime I drive this car.. Went to the Lake . As you can see the lake is still iced over, but was good to get out. Cooped up is no fun...Have a Wonderful Easter, and stay safe...

 

[LSNot]

you gotta have at least one loud muscle car sounding ride.

Totally, and the xF is not it - especially with a sc v6, not even the 8 would sound great on a Jag - I think

 

[hawkeye372]

Well for the last month she’s been stored.

I had one top down ride before the big lockdown then decided to put the top up and she’s been stored and parked for about a month. Maybe longer since I’ve lost track of days

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Gord]

Flimsy unprotected position sensors linkage!

Today I really got going with the front suspension clean-up. I even took out the 'position sensors' to give them a proper clean-up. I'm not happy.

Right front seems to have been tweaked at some point in its life (looks like it was pulled down, probably someone changing a ball joint and not disconnecting the thing - still works fine, just doesn't look healthy), but more than that, it's the absolute garbage quality of the joining rod / ball studs.








I've popped them all out and cleaned out the sockets meticulously, then spun the ball studs (GM # 10271003) in a lathe (could be done with a drill in a vise), and buffed 'em all to a mirror shine.

If you haven't looked, it's a somewhat coated steel ball stud, and that gets pressed in to a plastic rod end. There's -NO- seal of any sort. So that means a grit of sand or salt & water and any other sort of shtuff can get in there and start chewing up the metal ball end and the plastic cup.

New (original) sensors are expensive imho - like USD180 (MSRP $305), though there seem to be some other brands selling for ~35 bucks. Not sure if I'd trust the cheap ones.

The little ball studs sell for about $6 a pop at their best...more often it's in the 12$+ range. I didn't bother looking up the rods with the plastic rod ends as no doubt they'd be priced insanely as well.

So the moral of today's tinkering might be, take a moment and have a look-see at all your position sensor bits and pieces next time you're in the area. If your car has never seen rain or dirty or dusty roads, you're probably okay, but for the rest of us...

I will consider seeing if there's something I could use to try to provide a bit of protection and seal off the ball ends so they don't chew themselves to bits.

 

[LSNot]

^Right on, thx for posting that


I was wondering what was the spare computer in the trunk - since I took out my top BCM



Maybe one day I'll get to my suspension - I want all of that ride height crap gone & converted to Vette Bilsteins




Did some more cleaning - Man, I haven't spent this much time with a car for decades

 

[Gord]

You're most welcome.

You have to admit, it is kind of fun though isn't it. Oh, and I wanted to say your car looks great and a few pictures up, your broom trunk holder-upper. Gotta love practicality - seriously!

I have an internal war going on, quite seriously, regarding the folding roof - I'll never use it, ever! I've done my share of convertibles, and I just prefer this car as a hardtop and the look of it as a hardtop. I figure if one was to really go to it, I'd bet there's two or three hundred pounds of shtuff one could heave, just from all the top 'junk'.

The suspension I'm sticking with for the moment. I get the 'vette coil-over plan very much, I just want to see what can be done with the electronic stuff all dialed in and set up properly.

In regards to the garbage sensor linkages: I spent a good portion of the day today touring around the globe looking for something decent. I have found some tiny stainless steel ball & socket ends *with seals* over in the UK.



They're ordered and I've ordered some stainless rod to fill the gap once threaded appropriately. More on that when things arrive. Prices were fine, quality TBD, shipping cost - horrific. Some sort of 'minimum order' to North America B.S. (I should have ordered enough for everyone but I'll be the guinea pig for this to start).

Gord