1967 Cutlass Restoration

[sterling_michaels]

Well, folks, here is the skinny. I bought this car last year and slowly have been taking it apart to assess repairs etc. Looks like I am into a full restoration at this point. Body off, to boot... The interior is pretty much gutted, trunk cut out, quarters off, power train out, and last night I cut the drivers rear quarter out. There was about a quarter inch of bondo on the quarter. (is that common?)
I picked up a new 7pc trunk kit and inner wheelhouses and rear quarter patches. I am in need of outer wheelhouses and I can't find them for a 66-67 Cutlass. Does anyone know if the outer wheelhouses for a 67 GTO will fit? I am attaching some pics of the progress. Take a look at the last couple pics that show the quarter panel and the amount of bondo that I am talking about. The last one shows a cross section view of how thick the bondo is on the panel I cut out.

[2blu442]

Sterling, please post your city/state as some of us may have used sheet metal that could help you, but would be hard to ship. John

[gh5168]

Have you tried calling The Parts Place for the outer wheel housing?
http://www.thepartsplaceinc.com. I dont know if the GTO will fit or not but I have a 72 and was sent an outer wheel housing for a Chevelle and it most certainly did not fit my quarter panel and had to sent back. They told me the inner housing were the same but not the outer.

[joe_padavano]

Originally Posted by sterling_michaels

Does anyone know if the inner wheelhouses for a 67 GTO will fit?

Yes. The inner wheelhouses and trunk floor are the same on all A-body cars for a given year (well, all 2dr anyway). The outers are unique, but the inners are the same.

[sterling_michaels]

Thanks for the inputs. Is there any chance at modifying another A body outer wheel house to work in a Cutlass? I am in the Boston area if anyone has parts they are off-loading.

Well, the fun continues. As I was inspecting underneath the dash, I noticed that a repair had been made up by the windshield / dash area. The globs of fiberglass and epoxy were quite telling. I removed the windshield and back glass. I used a scraper to clean out the windshield channel and the layers of fiberglass just started coming off. I am looking at some serious body work here. The previous repair work was limited to fiberglass and bondo. I think the pictures tell the story:
So far, I am looking at trunk repair, quarters, wheel houses, floor pan. front and rear window channel and other misc stuff...

Any ideas on the window channel job?
I had the channel on my GMC redone by a 75 year old body guy. He leaded the whole thing for me. He said he wouldn't do it with "plastic".

[2blu442]

Wow, your obviously comfortable doing sheet metal work! I've got some 1966 and 67 stuff but I'm in Oregon, the other side of the country. I would create a post in the parts wanted section if I were you. Good luck with your car!
John

[gearheads78]

gotta love quality work

only way to fix is fabricate patches or cut out of a more solid car. You might be better off finding another clean body.

[Allan R]

Originally Posted by sterling_michaels

Thanks for the inputs. Is there any chance at modifying another A body outer wheel house to work in a Cutlass? I am in the Boston area if anyone has parts they are off-loading.

Well, the fun continues. As I was inspecting underneath the dash, I noticed that a repair had been made up by the windshield / dash area. The globs of fiberglass and epoxy were quite telling. I removed the windshield and back glass. I used a scraper to clean out the windshield channel and the layers of fiberglass just started coming off. I am looking at some serious body work here. The previous repair work was limited to fiberglass and bondo. I think the pictures tell the story:
So far, I am looking at trunk repair, quarters, wheel houses, floor pan. front and rear window channel and other misc stuff...

Any ideas on the window channel job?
I had the channel on my GMC redone by a 75 year old body guy. He leaded the whole thing for me. He said he wouldn't do it with "plastic".

I think someone needs to get this project on Overhaulin - a 7 day miracle to get rid of that rust. If it was my car, I'd look for another body in better shape and just use pieces off this one as a donor. It would save a lot of time and probably money. But, if you have the time and the patience, money, and welding supplies it will definitely be a build to look back on.

In regards to the question about bondo on the rear quarter? Only if it had been in an accident. But 1/4 inch is a lot thicker than a pro would use. Its basically only for redefining shape, so I'm guessing the original repair must have been pretty easy to spot once the bondo was gone.

[sterling_michaels]

I appreciate the feedback. As far as being comfortable doing sheetmetal work, I would say I don't know. My sheetmetal expereince is nill; however, I learn pretty quick and on the job training works wonders.

Getting a clean 66 / 67 body nowadays is real tough. On the east coast; they are non existent and if you do find one, it is big bucks. This car looked halfway decent when I got it; however, the more I take it apart, the more I see that there is more bondo and fiberglass than anything. I think that I am going to go the route of fabricating pieces as I go along. I will continue to update you guys on the progress with plenty of pictures.

[Allan R]

Originally Posted by sterling_michaels

... My sheetmetal expereince is nill; however, I learn pretty quick and on the job training works wonders.

Getting a clean 66 / 67 body nowadays is real tough. .....

Sterling,
here is a link you might find useful for getting some of your sheet metal. Its for Paddock restorations and they have lots of metal for 64-72 Cutlass models. I noted that you need pretty much a full interior floor pan, probably trunk pans too. They've got this stuff. Have fun shopping.
http://www.paddockparts.com/Paddock/...988D8D35ADDB73

[Ranzan]

Sterling 66/67 Skylark. GTO/Lemans. Chevelle or Cutlass will work for the channel areas. To bad your so far away I got a full roof that I can`t even give away here......

[ent72olds]

Sterling, your car reminds me exactly of my '72. But my '72 had a vinyl roof and when I pulled the windshield, the upper channel was so rotted, I could take my hand stick it in and pull up on the roof. The roof would flop. The top of the cowl/dash was so rotted, I got a dry, used section from out west. I had them cut it past the factory joints so I could trim back as necessary to the factory seams. I then spot welded it back in and butt welded across the dash structure(bars behind the gague bezels) for an undetectable replacement. No need for patches. Thr top though is a different story. Just cut a long length sheet metal L-bracket approx to the depth of the channel, make a couple of relief cuts, and spot weld and hammer form it into the prepped channel. Of course , cut the old rot out beyond where you think it ends and use plenty of weld-thru primer. Or just get another body!

[Run to Rund]

I have a rust free 67 3807 (2 door sedan) "parts car" but haven't tried to sell it because if I say it is worth a few thou' people think I'm insane. Yet, try paying to get all that rust fixed so it won't rust again in a year. I had a similar 66, but went ahead and fully restored/built it. It sure was a lot easier dealing with only minor dents instead of terminal cancer.
Good luck with your project. It won't be easy but the results are worth it. In my admittedly biased opinion, the 66-7 442s are the best looking cars ever.

[Ranzan]

that`s not biased Joe it`s the truth

[Allan R]

Originally Posted by Ranzan

that`s not biased Joe it`s the truth

Happy New Year Wes!
Had a look at your web page. Car looks really nice. Can't believe it is in such good shape. Nice work patching in the floor pans. Is that your shop??? Niiicce! I think a lot of guys here would be envious of that setup, me included. Are you going to badge this as a Cutlass Supreme when it's done?

Keep up the great work. I have to say that 66/7s hold a special place in my heart, but so do other model years. So, I'm leaning towards agreeing that "66/67 are among the best looking Cutlasses ever".

Where is Parksville close to? Cheers!

[Ranzan]

hey Allen
happy new year to you as well

the only real reason I bought the 67 was because it was so clean I really wanted another 66 but couldn`t find one that was solid. the 67 has very minor body work on the car.. big draw back was it pretty much came as a shell its taken me 2 1/2 years to get all the parts I needed for it. assembly is in the plans starting this spring ..fingers crossed. we have had a nasty winter this year think we ended up with about 4 feet of snow in the last 3 weeks

I`m actually working out of a 2 car garage with the car but right now it is jammed with all my work stuff so no room to get anything done at the moment
I`m actually thinking of stripping the lower mouldings off the car without badges except for the C/S emblems on the sail panels and the reveal trim around the doors. It should look good I think with a 2 inch drop in the front with disc brakes

I`m about 15 minutes north of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island

[sterling_michaels]

Guys,
I have found this window channel on the OPGI website;
http://www.opgi.com/product.asp?topc...3442&yearrange=

I am thinking that this may help out some of my rot issues on the lower part of the channel. Has anyone used one of these replacement pieces?

[Dapapadon]

I put one on a 67 CS project car. It fit better than I expected. But the contours on the corners/edges wasn't right. Also the outside corners set a little high. Would have taken a lot to make it look right. And I would have had to replace 2" of the dash all the way across. I found a better project while looking for parts. So I won't have to deal with it.

All that said it would have looked Ok with a little work. But to get it to look correct would have taken a lot! I'm a little picky, it would of bugged me to death if it didn't look right. If I had to do it again I'd go for a low rust original. If I remember right I price one at around $150. To me it would be worth the extra to save all that work!

Oh yeah, I started a few small fires under the dash when I cut out the old stuff. So you might want to have some water around when you do this.

Don

[sterling_michaels]

I think that I will give that window channel piece a try since it is not too expensive and it will be easier than trying to fabricate one myself.

Any folks here have experience with media blasting their car? I am thinking that at this point, I will get the body and frame sandblasted to remove all the rust and bondo. I should get a better idea of what I am working with once all the cancer is removed. Any thoughts on pricing to get a body and frame blasted? I want to get a rough idea on what it may cost before I start talking to to some local blasting outfits.

[gh5168]

I was giving a price of over 1600.00 to soda blast my whole car. I decided to by a sandblaster and do it myself. If you do decide to do it yourself,make sure you blast outside because that sand goes everywhere.Also make sure you get a really good respirator if you do it yourself. If you have a compressor a sand blaster is a very useful and helpful tool.I used sugar sand to blast with.

[Ranzan]

my cost for frame and body was 750 that included my a-arms trans cross member and rear end. just make sure you take it someone that has blasted cars before!! seen some really warped panels in the past

[gh5168]

I agree with you,because I am told the pressure sandblasters will get the metal very hot and could warp the metal. I bought a siphon feed blaster which takes a longer time to use,but it will effectively remove paint and rusk and it wont warp your metal.

[sterling_michaels]

Ranzan, do you think $750 was a good price for getting all that blasted? I am meeting with a guy this week and I don't want him to try and rake me over the coals on the price.

[Ranzan]

Sterling I think I got a fairly cheap deal.... the thing I liked best is my blaster is completely mobile I used a friends field and he brought his truck up to me. It was great otherwise it would have been a 1 1/2 hour drive to get the car to him. I had a couple of quotes of 12 to 15 hundred.

[67 Cutlass]

Just read your post. Looking good so far. New England can be a PIA on car bodies.
How's the project coming along? Any updates to post? Looking forward to seeing more of your project.

I'm also in Massachusetts just outside of Fall River. If you're ever looking for something give me a shout and I'll see what I have and try to help.
I just ordered a rear deck filler panel from this place...
http://www.autobodyspecialt.com/
The rear window channel is shot so its gotta go.

[csstrux]

I know this is coming in late but Tamraz has outer wheel houses for cutlasses. I am pretty sure they have for 66/67. I think I paid around $90 a pop plus shipping. Goodmark parts.

[68Tom]

Yeah, wonder what happened to him on the build. Seems he stopped posting. I wonder if he got it blasted and found a complete mess like I did on the 442. Hopefully for his sake, not. In any event, if he's on the east coast, $750 for blasting the car isn't bad at all. And it needed to be done. I would have recommended he do it at the start of the thread based on how rusty everything else was on the car.