1934 Oldsmobile - the Find and the Restoration
by
Gordon Thomas

For about two years prior to the time I purchased this Olds I had been looking for a mid 30's Buick but with no success. I knew of this Olds and even looked at it at one time but paid little attention because I wasn't really interested and it wasn't for sale anyway. Some time later I was phoned and asked if I was interested in a restoration job on this car. When I found it was for sale I thought it was worth a better look. It was close to a Buick so maybe it would do. It was in terrible condition ! A disaster! It had wire around one tie rod end to keep it from falling off. The same was true for the inside lower A frames arms. Nothing was any good .I wondered how much time I would spend finding parts or if I could even get them for this car.

For some reason the wood was unbelievably good.. Not one door hinge was loose. And there was no rust. This is hard to find in a car this old. Hard to believe judging by how awful the car looked. Almost all the windows were broken and the upholstery was in shreds. The front seat even had had a fire in it at one time. Worse were the dents and rips in the fenders.  Maybe with the good metal and wood I could convince myself I didn't loose my mind and I could deal with the other stuff.    Everything seemed there but that's difficult to tell when so much was in pieces. A previous owner had pulled a lot of stuff apart attempting a restoration and many parts were in boxes and tin cans with no labels. Common sense flashed through my  head telling me I didn't need all this work so I told my wife this wasn't for me. It's not even a good parts car!

I made a mistake. I had showed her what a 1934 Oldsmobile looked like new and she really thought it was a nice looking car.  But this one wasn't! Mistake or not we now had another car in the garage. So much for common sense. It took me about three years and some to finish it. The parts situation was not so difficult. Between club newsletters, various parts suppliers and EBay it all worked out. The hardest to find was undersized main bearings .... and expensive!  A good rearend took time  to locate as well but wasn't expensive. The only item I just couldn't get was the upper halves of the trunk hasps. That was something that took a lot of time to make.

 It started up perfectly.. right off the bat. and   runs  just great...  you can hardly hear it . .  Cruises on the highway around 60 without any trouble .   The rear end could be a little higher geared... maybe 3.78
that  would make it even better. It steers nicely ...because it has worm and roller rather than sector . A big plus is really good hydraulic brakes .It has  Independent suspension and that makes for a really nice ride. It was the first year for independent suspension and hydraulic brakes ...For a  1934 it's a very nice comfortable car to drive.