Well actually I do. But they were a set that someone else recovered with some ugly saddle colored vinyl. They're on my 4way power seat in the shed. Maybe a suggestion to help you along with this. Instead of painting the old ones? Send Legendary or PUI an email and ask if they can send you just the headrest covers. Can't hurt to ask. Then you'd have new stuff all the way around.

You're soooo lucky. I checked Montreal's temp just now and you're only at 0. We have been at -29 to -30 with windchills approaching -40 for the last 2 days. Not supposed to warm up till next week. So I'm burning a lot more fuel right now. My Mrs. doesn't like driving in this weather so I take her to work and back + shopping trips and pick up my son at school too. The good part is gas is only running about $1.02/litre. Don't want to think about my electric and heating bill come Feb though

 

That sounds like a plan! I'd rather do it right to start with and have a fresh/new interior for my olds. Afterall, cockpit has to look good! (and honestly, my cockpit looks better than the outside of the car right now lol.

Do you guys use oil for heating out there? We just converted our place to a dual-energy system with a bit of a cutback on electric costs. Seems to work pretty well so far.

 

We use natural gas. Only thing that's good right now is that it's running about 2.65/gj. The actual gas doesn't cost that much - on a cold month we might use about 65.00 worth. Then tack on the delivery charge, the rate riders, admin fees, fixed and variable cost for delivery, the gouge and screw tax and anything else they feel like bending you over for and it will be around 300 clams just for gas. Then for electrical and water? Yup, more of the same....Cold weather out here my utility bill is easy 500.00 / month. I need to build a house that is powered by solar energy, has its own well, and runs a heat pump for heating/cooling. If I could sell energy back to the grid I'd take em for every penny I could. These guys are as corrupt as politicians and think I have deeper pockets than a banker. Grrrrrrrr....

 

I was about to trash it, then decided to give it a scrub bath with citrus based degreaser. It came out dry and clean, but the rubber is whitish-grey.
I will see how it does. I think by summer it will be oozing, but I will see.
If so I will try your method with some lube before it goes in the dumpster.

 

Hey Rob, Don't throw it out. Send it to me and I'll fix it up. Have you ever seen or heard of a product called 'Pink Solution'? Supposedly takes this kind of problem out of existence. It's a BC based company. Product is pricey but they claim you won't need anything else for anything + it 'extends' from the base product to a water based solution that is multipurpose. Its a bioenzyme based on seaweed. Eats dirt, grease, oils etc.
https://pinksolution.ca/tipsAndUses/pictures.htm

BTW I do not have shares in this company but am thinking I should. I saw it demonstrated and was fascinated by how effective it was. Just was too cheap to spend the money at the time.

 

Rob! Dont throw it out! if You're not getting anywhere with cleaning it you could always bolt it to the wall! (thats what i plan on doing with my 2bbl air cleaner that my car came standard with.)

Post some pictures, maybe Allan can assess the situation for that Pink stuff??

In other news! I totally got excited about my seat covers and mocked up the interior. The carpet is about 1/2'' crooked on one side, but i guess you get what you pay for.. I'll see if i can trim it to get it to fit really nicely.

 

Nice! You should be proud. That car is starting to look complete. It owes you it's life so I hope it appreciates that. Have you decided what kind of silver pen marker you're going to use to help the dash trim pop? I'm leaning to the 'sharpie' chrome pen.

BTW did you put that tach in the dash or was it there when you got the car? Looks like a decent installation. I'm not a big fan of tachs being bolted to the dash or column. If you're going to add gauges? May I suggest you get in touch with W70442? Randy builds really nice 'pods' - they look like the one for the factory 8 track - but he customizes it to what you want and the faceplate will match your dash. Plus you could also have an aftermarket stereo/cd in the same area. He has some really cool products. Have a look at this thread. I got my 8 track housing fixed by him and would recommend him till the day I croak. https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-housings.html

 

And now... As this suspension adventure continues..

We head back to the engine bay! Where there seems to be a mysterious ticking from underneath the passenger side valve cover. I can only faintly hear it when the car is idling. As i slowly increase RPM, the ticking increases in volume.

I took a tube and think i've isolated the noise somewhere around #4 cylinder.

Can anyone suggest me some good diagnostics that i can run to find the issue. I've never worked on my valve train.. Maybe this is a hint that its time..

 

Well Tony, good news and bad news. Your car should be running like a clock, but isn't. But lets verify that first. Go to the other side and listen to the #3 cylinder to see if you hear a soft 'tocking' noise that increases also with rpms. If it's there you have the famous tic-toc of a well oiled clock....

Ok, I know that was lame. Seriously? Sounds like you have a tappet (lifter) thats sticking. You can try some seafoam in the oil to see if it will unstick, but I think you're just going to have to live with it, or replace the tappet. Could also be a worn lifter/pushrod. Only way to really find out is take off the VC and watch/listen to it run.

Questions:
1. How often has this car had the oil changed?
2. How long did it sit without running with the old gummy oil in it?
3. How many miles (approx) on the car?

The only thing that's in the VC close to that location is the breather valve and that doesn't have moving parts. I'm pretty sure it's going to be a tappet

 

Looks great Tony! As much work as you put into this car, the best looking tach solution (IMO) will be a factory style tic toc tach! Either a good used one or a repro. Or just leave that one aftermarket one in its place.

Hope your valve issue is an easy one; that issue is a bit beyond my knowledge.

My steery wheel cleaned up very well with the citrus degreaser, but just need to find out how LONG it will stay ooz-free. In the winter it will last longer. As soon and our nasty summers hit, that ooz just boils out!

 

Hey Al,

Before i proceed with ripping apart my valvetrain, i shall answer your questions first.

1&2) When i got the car it had sat for 2 years, had really dirty oil in it. I have changed it very frequently since to flush out all the crap.
3) Well. the odometer says 16233. So i'm guess 116 233 miles??

I've had this problem before, same spot, same sound, but when i drove the car hard a couple times in the summer it seemed to go away. really weird...

Funny thing is, i need to put my ear about 10'' from the valvetrain to hear the ticking. i was reading the following in the CSM.. It also said something about giving the rocker above the pushrod a good whack..

 

Hey All,

So of course, being unpatient. I ripped off my valve covers to inspect what was going on. For some reason i couldn't really hear anything.

I posted a video on youtube. Also took a picture of my valvetrain for you all. Let me know what you guys think.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fD2s...wsmnFnLEQV_zT7

Thanks!

-Tony

 

Yup the U21 is the best looking tac hands down. But then he'd also have to take out his dash to put in the 'fasten seat belts' pod... Aw shucks much as I'd like him to I think the one he's got will serve just fine. One less thing to worry about. Tony, If it ain't broke - don't touch it! You know how this stuff works bud.

I think your heads look really clean for their age/mileage and I couldn't hear anything distinctive that sounded like a tick. Check the inside of your VC and see if there's any place where the 4 cylinder rockers might be touching. I can't remember which end the built in baffle is on them. You might also want to just double check that the rocker arm pivot bolts are set for 25 ft/lbs there. That's spec

BTW, keep reading beyond that section you pasted in the thread. It goes on to state that you might be able to eliminate the noise by rotating the valve spring. This noise could be from a lot of things, but until it's a real problem I'd just put the VCs back on till I decide to do lifters and pushrods too. Might even have worn rocker arms. This is so awkward on a keyboard. I just wanna come down there and wrench with ya, but that would involve pulling the engine

 

Tony, sounds like a good running engine to me! Or maybe the recording is masking the 'bad' sound out?
Looks very clean compared to how mine looked. Of course mine had years of dirt road, off road, and deer lease duties!
Please replace your rubber fuel line soon with a metal one or fuel injection hose. That rubber stuff can easily burst without warning, even when just a few years old.

 

Success!

i think i found out why my car was running crappy all of a sudden. (drop in approx 3'' of vacuum on my gauge)

Last muffler shop that touched this car screwed up big time (i wish i knew who they were....)

Instead of Joining the muffler to the tail pipe with solid pipe, they used one of those crappy flexhoses that deteriorate over time. So there was a 1'' gap that developed right next to one of the muffler clamps. So i cut the flex pipe out. and today it will be replaced with a proper and solid piece of steel tubing.

Hey Rob,

By the way, this thread is currently in the "suspension" section. I seem to be deviating alot... perhaps it would be better to categorize this guy into "major builds"? It's not a majorly-awesome build like many others, but it's a build nonetheless

 

Agreed!

I'll be honest, i think i actually probably should pull the engine soon-ish. I have a small drip from the oil pan that's been bugging me. I've tried snugging up the bolts on the bottom end. But it's still continuing.

I would drop the oil pan. all except for the fact that i have the exhaust crossover... Is that a heck of a job to remove? I'd really like to drive this engine a bit more before i have it sent out to be rebuilt.

 

Drive it till you have the time and $$ to pull and do the engine. You're going to send it out? Thought any about doing it yourself? I would loan you my engine stand .....

Watch out with snugging up the pan bolts too much. If you overtighten them that could increase the leak because you're bending the metal there and allowing a bow to develop between the metal and gasket. Kind of the same principle as the VCs. Oil pan bolts should only be 10 ft/lbs (see 72 CSM - P 6B-40) What you can do in the meantime is clean up the leaking area really good and put some RTV on it to act as a bandaid.

re: the crossover? Yes it will be a major problem for you. You need to get at it from below. Most of the shops use 2ft extensions for the sockets just to get up in there to undo the bolts. Maybe when the engine comes out, you can consider plugging the crossover inlet and converting to a dual exhaust. Double the pipes, double the mufflers and double the noise! Oh yeah, double the price...... Or, if you want a set of headers, LMK - I've got a set of Hedmans for an Olds 350 (new = never installed) in the shed.

 

RTV is my favorite duct tape of the engineering world!

Question being, would I have to loosen the oil pan bolts before adding a dab of rtv? I'm really not even honestly sure where it's leaking from..

I know 100% that one of the small drops is coming from the shift shaft seal. The other is somewhere on the oil pan. As what happened to rob in one of his previous posts. My oil pan bolts are barely hand tight!

I definitely want to convert to a factory type dual exhaust someday soon. Probably when I rebuild the engine and scrap the crossover. I think ILT makes a system that can I can use directly with my manifolds? Great to know I can buy some headers off ya If I need em'

 

RTV is my favorite duct tape of the engineering world!

Question being, would I have to loosen the oil pan bolts before adding a dab of rtv? I'm really not even honestly sure where it's leaking from..

I know 100% that one of the small drops is coming from the shift shaft seal. The other is somewhere on the oil pan. As what happened to rob in one of his previous posts. My oil pan bolts are barely hand tight!

I definitely want to convert to a factory type dual exhaust someday soon. Probably when I rebuild the engine and scrap the crossover. I think ILT makes a system that can I can use directly with my manifolds? Great to know I can buy some headers off ya If I need em'

 

That's funny. The duct tape of the engineering world! Made me laugh.. Far as putting it on? You probably have a good idea of where it's leaking. Spray it down with carb cleaner and get it really clean. Leave it for a day or so and see if you can isolate the leak. Torque the bolts to 10ft/lbs and RTV the hell out of them and the surrounding gasket area. I wouldn't take the bolt out - IMO that's just asking for trouble.

So that's a tranny leak. I hate tranny leaks. Can't really help out with suggestions.....only thing that comes to mind is check the CSM to see if you can do the shaft seal yourself or have to get a shop to do it.

I went with the block off plate on my 350 and have no regrets. I've looked at the Thorntons JR WZ styled performance manifolds for the 350 but I'm really hesitant. Don't really need them, and some of the reviews I've heard suggest they were really underwhelmed with them. T claims they are 2 1/4" instead of 2" that GM used; suggesting a better flow. Right now dewell92 (TT online store) is trying to sell them for 299.00 or make an offer). ILT is probably selling the same block off plate everyone else is. I'm glad I went with duals - they have a nice throaty sound to them. And yeah, the headers have been sitting since 2002 so there's no real threat they're going to be used soon .

 

Dear All,

The suspension adventure continues! As i was trying to loosen the tank straps, i decided to chance the rear shocks. Warning, MAW alert!

If you are used to sexy painted frames and cleaned mounting points, keep reading at your own risk!

So, i needed to get these BLASTED bolts out, Here is a picture of how rusted they were. I SOAKED them in penetrating oil and let it sit for a few hours. (Got a box wrench up in there to help me loosen it with a couple sharp blows.





So after 2 hours of wrenching and cursing, they finally came out!





So after i cleaned up one bolt really nicely with a wire brush, it had an Anchor on it! Do they look OEM??


Does anyone have any tips on getting off the lower shock bolt?? It seems like it's on there pretty good, actually, i wouldnt be surprised if these were the OEM shocks...

 

I've seen other factory bolts with an anchor on them, so I'd say chances are good that those are original.
Usually rear shocks for these cars come with a new lower mount/bolt. If so, fire up the sawzall if the old one gives you any trouble!

 

Tony, last night I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if the torque on a fuel tank support bolt was suddenly ripped mercilessly from it's comfortable resting place of 40 years.... The screams of other bolt threads soon followed and I smiled.....I knew the Dark Side had prevailed. BTW, did you notice that the only thing really holding that bolt was the spring clip nut that it threads into?

You kill me bud..But that's how it goes. You have a lot of work ahead of you. After looking at the pics and noting the somewhat crusty weathered metal condition I came to this conclusion about how I would proceed if it was my car. Seriously think about getting the whole bottom of the car professinally media blasted before you go much further. Then you could use some POR or DOM16 on it to seal it up. You might also find some holes you wish weren't there. I know you are doing everything to give it new life, but if that rust under there is left unchecked you might only be delaying the inevitable. I know how hard you've worked to fix the rust and exterior. Now ya gots ta deal with the parts no one sees.

Your wire wheel skills are showing some great results. That is an original bolt and you've got it looking like it just came out of the mill. I have run into odd markings like that on my car too. I think it is just a manufacturers mark. Far as getting the old shock out of there? Just bust the mounting bolt and nut - overtorque till it snaps. Much faster and easier than trying to unthread. Besides you will put new ones on anyway. The one that might be real fun is the one up top.

 

BTW, I didn't see anything in your thread about finding the elusive Lansing build sheet.

 

Hey Al,

There was a major disturbance in the force! Except I was only able to get out the shocks... The gas tank bolts are rusted in there REALLY good. I'm honestly thinking if just chopping them out..

The media blasting does sound like a good idea, I should call around and try to get some quotes on a frame blast. I would imagine they'd put the car on a loft and just blast the hell out of it? I really want to do this right. Only problem is having to tow the car around to have work done to it since it's not road inspected yet..

 

Hey Scott,

Definitely! I think this might be a job for the mighty angle grinder... That was the only way I could get the front shocks out... But it's cool becAuse i got to dissect a shock!

I already have the new shocks from delco in box.. I'm really hoping they come with new bolts, I'll check when I get home from work!

 

Wheel and Tire size questions:

Currently on my car:

215 60 R14 Bfgoodrich Radial T/A on 14x6 Rallye Rims

Spare Rim Size: 14x7

So i went on the bfgoodrich site and apparently my tires (215 60 R14) do indeed fit on 6 to 7.5'' rims. So would i assume they are fine to slap on a 14x7??

here is the chart i found.

 

Well Tony, That sounds like a dumb title but it's not. I thought I'd try to get some shots of my rear suspension and see if it would help. What I found surprised me. I'm a bit bummed out by what I found but I'm ever so grateful that I was inspired to take some camera shots for you and discovered some problems that are serious safety issues I need to resolve before my car goes anywhere. You know what they say about what you can't see won't hurt you? That was never intended for automotive stuff apparently.

On the good side....
1. My shocks should come out a lot easier - the bolts look good. Looks like Monroe shocks that got coated with that underspray. For once it might be working to my advantage.


2. There's evidence of gas leaking onto the bottom of the tank . Only on the right side so I have to hunt this down and I'll likely be dropping my tank too. (Hello Mr. Siphon hose)

Looks like it's coming from up top so there might be a perforation there. I'm going to order one of Patton's gas tank pads to put on top. Light smell of gas prevails so I'm going to have to be careful working there . And look how close that dripping was to the hot exhaust! It could have caused a fire. I'm sooo glad I went under the car today, really. This is scary $hit. Might have to get a new tank.

Oh yeah, noticed that the LS exhaust is mandrell bent but the RS isn't. If I end up doing the engine this year (it's going to be on hold for a bit till I resolve the fuel leak) I'll probably be looking at having the pipes changed to get better flow back here.


3. The resonator after the right muffler has a hole in it. And here I just thought the dual exhaust was nice and throaty on its own. Lesson learned: Don't start the car for only 20 minutes in the winter. Leave it the heck alone until spring, or warm it up for a good 30-45 minutes. I'm leaning more toward leaving it till spring from now on.



4. The rear sway bar bushings look like they're shot, and the fuel lines have seen better days. So this isn't looking good so far. Whatever you do, don't tell Rob. You know how he is when he starts on the topic of BUSHINGS So now I'm doing bushings on the rear control arms.



Might as well drop the axle at the same time and send it out to have the new posi and 3:23's installed. When it comes back I can put the rear suspension, brakes and fuel stuff back together. Somehow I get the impression I won't be driving my car this year >sigh<. Oh, the rear suspension is also being upgraded to a full F41 suspension: Sway bar, boxed control arms and body braces. I have everything, just need some good weather to work in.

I checked the bolts that hold the tank onto the straps and they look ok. Just by looking I'd guess they are 3/8" or 1/2"? I tried to get a shot of one of the really long bolts that is giving you some grief. Looks to me that the only thing with threads there is the threaded mounting clip like the ones on the front fender liners. Looks like pretty thin metal so I'd put a breaker bar on an extension and just crack it loose. You will need the old bolt to determine length for a new one. Sorry the pic is a little out of whack, I tried to edit it from the flash and it got kind of speckly.

 

Tony, I went 225/70/14. If you do that however, you need to change your speedo gear so it runs accurately. I'm more inclined to go with 225/60/14 which should be really close to original sizing of the F78/14's it came with. I really like the 225s. They hold the road nice, offer incredible handling and look aggressive.

 

HOLY geez Al! You're really lucky that nothing dripped onto that exhaust! I'm very sorry for opening up this can of worms. But on the plus side, i'm also very glad that you found this issue now and will be able to rectify the problem. I've been letting my own gas tank bolts soak for 2 days now. I REALLY hope they will come off this evening. if not. I'm getting out the sawz-all...

So are you thinking of getting a new tank? maybe it's just a small patch that needs taking care of. I'll be very honest with you. I'm also thinking of just junking my tank and getting a new one. For something that important, i really dont wanna try to nickle and dime it.. I mean, especially since i was considering spending 800+ dollars on an OAI hood with accessories.. I think on my car that money could be put to better use...

 

Before you cut the bolt, you should try to see if that c-clip retainer will break from all the rust on it. I'd use the sawz-all as a last resort. You could also reach up there and use a small wire brush to clean off some scaling that might keep the bolt from turning. I don't believe there is any threading at all on the tab the c-clip is mounted to; just a hole for the bolt to pass through

I have no way of knowing yet. Will be able to see better when the tank is dropped. FWIW, if I was in your shoes, I'd be seriously looking more at the safety issues with replacing the tank instead of looking for OAI. OAI will be an option you can get anytime. Kind of wierd that most repop sites sell Canadian made tanks and advertise them as high quality, not like the Chinesium ones.

BTW, I was holding my breath for the past few days waiting for news that you found your build sheet, then I realized you haven't got the tank down yet..

 

Which repops make the Canadian gas tanks?? Heck maybe theyre made in my hometown then I could ship you one!

I only checked out rock auto so far but I forget the price...

What colour is the tank supposed to be painted anyway??

 

Well Tony,
How did you know? The ones I was looking at was SPECTRA. Their mailing address is..........are you ready for this????
1421 Ampère St
BOUCHERVILLE, Quebec
J4B 5Z5
They must have distribution across Canada though. I'll have to see if I can track down their network. Don't know what the shipping weight is. Tanks have a 3 year warranty.

The tank is actually not supposed to be painted. I'm going to put one of Patton's mats on the top when I'm finished messing around with what needs to be done.

 

That's minutes from my house!

Al! You're quite the eloquent fellow, call em' up and say a local Montrealer is coming to pick up 2 gas tanks!

 

Don't get in too big a hurry there bud. I still have to drop my tank. If Spectra is close to you and you need the tank, by all means get one for your car. I did some web searching and Spectra has branches across Canada including one in Edmonton - about 20 minutes from where I live.

I thought I originally saw these tanks advertised on TAMRAZ's ebay store. Have to check on how many vents are needed. I think it's 2 but I have to check.
They don't list a tank for 72 Cutlass/442 but they have 2 listed for 70, which you know is the same as 71/72 for size and angle of filler neck. .....jeopardy plays while I do some checking.....
Ok I'm back. the 70 won't work, the two lines on it are 1/2" and 1/4". You should also look at the auctions for new strap/sender/hardware kits. They would run 117.00 + shipping at Tamraz.

Checking ILT...
Pn# - OGM34r - 1971-72 $179.95 Ea (Tank)
Pn# - INL12270 - 1971-72 $55.00 Ea. (Sender)
Pn # - INL11037 -2 pc $26.00 Set (Straps)
Pn# - INL10372 - 6pc $18.00 set (Mounting hardware)

Wow! you'd save 18.00 just for the sender, straps and mounting hardware at ILT.

Looks like ILT has the best prices for the hardware. Gotta find out some more stuff so don't go ordering what I've put down right now, ok?

 

Bumper has arrived!

 

Nice! Pics do not do it justice though - chrome is hard to photograph!
I need a front for mine...

 

Tony, that looks absolutely fantastic. I'm happy that you got what you were looking for. How are the signal light assemblies? They will prolly be a lot easier to restore than the ones you have right now. When you pull the old one, I imagine you'll also be installing the new stone shield and 442 grills? Man, I can see that grin on your face clear out to AB!!

 

Shoulda said somethin Rob! I run across stuff all the time searching the web. Want I should keep an eye peeled for you?

 

Was not sure what I wanted to do yet. Mine is a little dinged up but is possibly repairable. I am thinking of trying to get it refinished. Unless of course I find a stellar deal on one here in the states...
The front one is harder to see the flaws on than the rear.
I DO want to find some good rear bumper guards, since my new rear bump has the holes for them... Lemme know if you run across some good ones at a good price.
Thanks!