Greetings! Just Bought a '72 Custom Cruiser!

[no_grain_no_gain]

Greetings from Nova Scotia Canada, Classic Oldsmobile folks!

21 year-old student here with a love for original GM iron. My brother and I are automotive tinkerers/classic car enthusiasts with a few Pontiacs and Cadillacs between us, even owned a '74 Buick Electra for a while last summer. I love hunting for old vehicles and photographing them in their element almost as much owning them, although finding them (and people with similar tastes), in this area can be a challenge at times.

I have been looking for an Oldsmobile for a few years now, but most of the older, large models I have a love for are either non-existent in these parts, or out of my price range. I had been keeping my eye out for what I thought would be an obtainable treasure however: a 1980-'84 Ninety Eight, a favorite of mine.

But last month, something a little more interesting came along. I'm not one for rash purchases, but before I knew it, I was driving it home from Moncton N.B. It's a 1972 Custom Cruiser wagon, with 3rd row seat, with the 455, THM400 and woodgrain of course. I loved the novelty of these massive "clamshell" wagons, and the Custom Cruiser was my personal favourite. The outlandish nose of the '71-'72 full-size Olds, fender skirts and classy 98-like rear end strike a chord for me somehow.

I bought the car for $1200.00, with a current safety inspection. It is complete and unmolested, being owned by a senior citizen, and is in well-above-average condition for a Canadian car.

Now in storage, I have big plans to make this a summer cruiser, but it will need from... ahem, freshening. The interior is sensational, with only one tear on the driver's bench. Everything else looks very fresh. The windshield was the only broken glass, and I just tracked-down and purchased a replacement for $309.00. One of the hubcaps appears to be from a '60s Olds, and someone installed an older-model temp gauge where a clock should be, but original jack, manuals are all present.

The power tailgate works but the glass will not retract into the roof. I removed the motor and am having it rebuilt. The glovebox latch is broken and won't stay shut. Trying to find a replacement. The car is dark green, inside and out, but the paint is quite faded, and shows signs of spot-touch-ups. There are a few scratches/dings too. She's got power windows, AC and an AM 8 track but manual locks and seats.

The spare tire well is rusted completely at the bottom, and the same area on the opposite side of the car needs rebuilt as well. The rear bumper is very shiny, but is rusted on either end, and toward the bottom.The frame and floor are very solid though.

I'll share a few photos with you, and a few questions too. I figured Olds gurus might have the answers!

1. Replacing the rear bumper: would a '72 Ninety Eight bumper bolt up? Anyone have any leads on this, or an actual Custom Cruiser part?

2. The exhaust has a terrible ticking leak up-font under load, and the pipe runs under the rear axle, where it squashes practically flat before cutting at a right angle underneath the rear of the car and exiting out the driver's side. I would very much like to run a set of duals, exiting out the sides behind each rear wheel in a factory manner. Anyone attempted this on a big wagon before, or have any suggestions, as I plan to replace the entire exhaust system. Will the 455 hold any issues for easy duals? Is it a "banana" style pipe like the 307 in the '89 Cadillac Brougham I used to have? What size pipe would be a good choice here?

3. The old "Fridgidaire" AC compressor is making some racket. I will never be using this. Is it acceptable to simply remove the belt, or is it worth servicing the compressor so it continues to at least spin?

Anyone else have or had one of these monsters? It certainly performed well on the 3.5 hour trip home after picking it up... even through a freak blizzard!

That's it for now. Sorry for the massive post. It's good to be here, and I look forward to hearing from you all! Enjoy these pictures for now.

NOTE: You may have to scroll to the right to see some of the pictures, for some reason!

[no_grain_no_gain]

[no_grain_no_gain]

[no_grain_no_gain]

[Eric Anderson]

Welcome to the forum! Nice car, your lucky to find one in such good condition, that interior looks great. You'll have to join the land yacht club, that baby sure qualifies.

[2blu442]

Nice Car! Somewhere I have some literature on the 1972 model year and I remember being surprized that a full sheet of plywood would fit in the back of one of these wagons! My brother used to have a 1973 version of this car and he could load the family plus luggage and tow a trailer over the mountians without any problem. They are great cars! John

[Oldsguy]

Very nice find! Congratulations on getting it and welcome to our site. The exhaust ticking sound may be actually exhaust valves since it is under load and not all the time and toward the front (closer to the engine). That is just a sign of an old engine with lots of miles. There was someone here that polished and buffed up the original paint on his car and showed some pictures as well about six months ago. Now, who was that? gearheads78, Richard was that you? Anyway someone may pipe up about that and be able to refer you to him. It did wonders for his car's appearance and that deep green is a nice color. I really like the big cars, my favorite color is green, and love the 455s so I am an automatic fan of your car already. You should have no difficulty running true duals all the way back. I think you can get some good exhaust manifolds (or maybe even headers!) without too much trouble since your steering box if forward of the control arms (front steer). The earlier cars had the steering box behind them and it is hard to get headers to fit. I would definitely run the exhaust as you described, up/over the axle and out the back behind the wheels. You may find you fourth wheel cover here, just post a good close up of one of the other three and see. Man, I can't stop typing as you car really gets my juices flowing, nice car.

[zed]

Great looking car. They don't build them like that any more.I guess Moncton NB is less harsh on car bodies (rust) than Nova Scotia? Welcome aboard.

[Olds64]

Awsome car. Welcome to the website. Custom Cruisers are AWSOME!

[rocketraider]

I wish I could find a 71-76 Cruiser in that good condition. They are few and far between here. You got a good deal on that car.

The glovebox latch is a common problem on those cars. I had to fix the one on my 73 Delta convert but I can't remember exactly how I did it.

The car probably came without a clock. Even though it had 98 all over it, it was considered a Delta 88 and as such clock was optional. It's not hard to install one and they show up on ebay often. Pull off the pad and trim piece surrounding the clock and there it is.

You may not be able to run the exhaust over the axle as clearance is limited there, and these beasts had leaf springs in an effort to maximize floor room.

I'll have to check parts books on that rear bumper. I think there's some difference in wagon bumpers. The window is cable-driven and has a relay in the circuit too. Interesting that all of the clamshell rear windows were power, but the standard tailgate was manually operated with power optional.

I've got to ask- what do you do for a living? I ask because I see some funeral service equipment there in the garage. A West Virginia funeral director bought my 73 Delta convertible, and one of my high school buds' family operated a funeral service.

[ent72olds]

Great car at a great price...love the classic color combo! Have fun and welcome

[Oldsguy]

About my comment on buffing/polishing the paint. Take a look at this thread. Your car should look just as nice after you're done.

[no_grain_no_gain]

Thank you guys for the wonderful welcome, and advice. I can't wait for this terrible winter weather to be over with so I can get to work on this car, and start driving it.

The hubcap(s) I'm looking for?



This 98 has a set:
http://www.cars-on-line.com/38418.html

So does this Delta 88:
http://www.cars-on-line.com/37906.html

This guy's beauty is wearing a set:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2484560

and his picture shows them best:


This is the hubcap that I'm looking for. I've seen it on different 1972 models, mostly Custom Cruisers but also the 98's and 88's. If anyone has some of these lying around I'd be interested... paying $100.00 for one plus shipping from hubcaps.org seems more than a little steep... any suggestions?

NOTE: As you can see below, it's my driver's rear hubcap that doesn't match. Not sure what year Olds it's from... maybe late '60s?



rocketraider: Good eye sir! I am a funeral director apprentice, working at a locally owned funeral home here in Windsor, N.S. These photos were taken in my boss's garage, where I am fortunate enough to be able to wash my vehicles. I took this the day after buying the wagon. It needed washed severely, and thoroughly after driving home through a terrible blizzard on salty roads. Couldn't bear having that salt sit on the car until Spring!

[elwood565]

congrats on the purchase!

you have quite a nice CC on your hands there, certainly worth saving and restoring. the buick clamshells can be found, and same with the chevys and pontiacs, but finding an olds that is as nice as yours is a great find...and $1200 is a steal!

my 71 98 is solid as a rock, and i wouldnt hesitate to drive it anywhere. when you take care of these big ol' yachts with their 455's, they take care of you. your paint looks decent, although its tough to tell because its wet in the pictures. i agree with oldsguy that its worth seeing how it will buff out. here's a trick i picked up when it comes to the woodgrain. try rubbing a little bit of plain old motor oil on the woodgrain with a rag. it brings back the luster and gets rid of some of the waxy hazing that occurs. i found this out when i spilled some oil on my dad's 72 chrysler town and country wagon's woodgrain! my dad came home and saw the spot where it happened and said, "hey the woodgrain looks great! what did you do?" lol.

i agree with rocketraider...im pretty sure that there is some differences between the custom cruiser rear bumper and a 98 rear bumper. for starters, if you look at a 1972 98 rear and a 72 CC rear, the reverse lights are vertical in the CC bumper, and they are horizontal in the 98 rear. i also think they reach down a little farther because the rear quarters are lower to accomodate the tailgate sliding down and the spare tire well. i cant prove this, but ive compared my 71 98 to the 73 CC i used to have and the rear quarters do look different to my eye.

youre really lucky to have an indoor space to take care of your cars like that. this is the first winter that my 98 has to stay outside, which is very upsetting. but at least i havent had to drive it in any salty winter weather, which is the main concern.

great score! your CC makes me miss my 73 CC! im jealous! welcome again to the board, youre going to have a lot of fun here...i know i am!

-Bob

[Bluevista]

Those bumpers are different, the parts book shows them next to each other and there are a bunch of differences. The parts numbers are the same for the '71 and '72 Custom Cruiser rear bumper so at least you have two years for sources.

[a64olz]

Nice score on the wagon, the caskets would just give me the creeps working on my car late at night, so I hear this creeking sound from over in the corner and........... man I hate scary movies.

[elwood565]

Hey No Grain, how's it going? any progress on the CC?

-Bob

[OLD SKL 69]

Nice find and welcome! I love those old wagons as well. My first car was a 72 Ford Country Squire. Great car but unfortunately the rust bug ate my frame and I had to let it go. I am glad to see that it looks like you found yours in far better shape. Good luck with the resto and keep the pictures coming.

[Disco Dave]

So anhwho..... A few posts and a few days later I can finally bump this thread. I found this forum when searching for Custom Cruisers and hit this thread. I was making the same search a few days ago to try and find this place again, and I have discovered that this guy has this up for sale on Kijiji. Looks like he wants basically what he has into it (assuming he's spent a few bucks). This might be a good deal for someone in the northeast (like Maine or somewhere around there) or of course any Maritimer Canadians.

Had he been selling it a month or two earlier, I might have almost made the 19hr trip to go get it, just for the adventure. Wouldn't be the dumbest thing I've ever done

[Disco Dave]

OOPS I guess you can't edit posts here Forgot the link

http://halifax.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehi...AdIdZ120034765

[68Tom]

Here's your ONE hubcap. $9.95 plus shipping.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1-197...Q5fAccessories

[Olds64]

If he was in OK or TX I would buy that in a heartbeat!

[jeffreyalman]

I picked this up last month and am driving it every day, giving my 75 88 conv and 76 Toro a well needed rest

very cool 72 you have there

[ent72olds]

Beautiful collection you have there! If they ever do a Saturday Night Fever remake, they could call you for the cars...you should start a new thread and post more pics and tell us about each of them. We love that kind of stuff!

[jeffreyalman]

thanks, just gonna do that now

[citcapp]

Thats a sweet wagon. Nice addition to your collection

[Olds64]

76 Custom Cruisers are awsome too!

[jeffreyalman]

not sure if you are still looking but this looks like a good deal, and the guy may have more

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HUBCA...Q5fAccessories