Hey all,

I have a 70 Cutlass Sup. Conv. which has the distinction of having a 3rd tail light on the trunk. The previous (and original) owner felt unsafe with the rear lights being so low. He did a noble job, in that to the untrained eye it does look like it belongs, but it annoys me. I am afraid to remove it and not have the paint match. I do have leftover paint from its last paint job but i'm sure it wont match 100%. The current paint is almost perfect. Should I just deal with it? My wife thinks i'm a wack job for obsessing over it.

Chris

 

I think it looks fine, the messed up paint would bother me a lot more.


Allan

 

especially after you get done filling the holes.

 

Sorry but if that was mine that would have to be gone yesterday. That would drive me crazy.

 

My opinion is that it looks like a JC Whitney special. A good paint and body man can blend the paint to match perfectly. He would probably start with the paint you have. If it really doesn't bother you, leave it there. Remember, it is your car and your opinion is the only one that matters.

 

The problem I have with the CHMSL (does anyone remember what that stands for?) is that it constantly reminds me of yet more gov't intervention. I'd loose it. If there were holes drilled in the trunklid, I'd swap trunklids.

 

Center high mount stop light....Do I win a prize

 

My advice:
Take off the stop signal, hang it from a tree, get the trusty 12 gauge, fill it with a few bird shot cartridges, and let her rip. You will feel much better.
A couple of rattle can painted plugs may suffice for a while until you find another clean trunk lid to paint and install.
Did I say it would drive me crazy?

 

Another trunk lid for a couple of holes? richer blood than me. That light will end up costing at least 5 bills with a lid and paint job, I could live with it for that much.
Remember when everybody had CB antennas hooked to the back of the trunk lid? A good painter should be able to touch that up and blend it in no problem, a light color with no metallic should be cake. I'm not that good and I would tackle it, if it looks bad just put the light back or take it to the body shop.

Allan

 

It is sort of annoying. I am sure a good body shop could fill the holes and blend the paint perfectly. The only way someone could tell is if they used a magnet right on the spot where the body guy put the filler.

 

Neophytes, ricers, and non-Oldsmobile types wouldn't notice it but it is very irritating to me. Get a good body man on that right away, like Allan said.

 

I agree with the shotgun method. Spot weld a patch on the inside. A little filler paint to match...........done. Back like it shoud be

 

Lose the light. A good body man can weld the damage and grind it to perfection. The paint can be color analyzed for a perfect match. In a word, right now it looks like yuck.

For all the rest of you out there, remember what Oldsmobile did to pioneer the visibility of brake lights? Hint: Rhymes with Toronado (with 2 high brake lights).

So, I guess the guy who did this to your Supreme had good intentions, but you don't mix that kind of stuff with the appearance of a classic.

Really nice looking car by the way. Thinking of a color change or are you keeping that "yellow"?

 

BTW if you're looking for more information about your cars' vin check out this link:
http://www.buyclassiccars.com/offsit...ty.com/vin.htm

 

It isn't right but it isn't horrible, If it bothers YOU, then do something about it. Point is the car is yours, and should reflect your style, and taste. Being an owner operator, I tend to fall on the cautious side of the fence, and would probably leave it, but I would never put one on a car that didn't come with it. Just playing devils advocate.

 

Thanks for all the posts. Thats it, its gone! I'm going to try to do it w/out replacing the trunk lid. I like the shotgun method, but I prefer black powder myself. I need the target practice anyway. Hey Allan, when I first bought the car I was not crazy about the color, but it has grown on me. The original paint was that pea green with dark green interior. The dark green interior remains, and is in great condition, so my color choices are limited. Anyway, I dont think I will be doing a paint job anytime soon. Any recomendations with the dark green interior?

 

its not bad, but no way could i live with it. get it out of there.

oldman72

 

Dark green interior? angers the verdant gods, paint it black.

Allan H


http://www.snopes.com/autos/cursed/green.asp

 

Does the third brake light blink with one of the blinkers or did they take enough care to run another wire down the length of the car? I always have a good chuckle when I see the third brake light blinking with one of the blinkers on somebody's car...always reveals a hack job. The taillights seem pretty visible anyways, I'm surprised someone was concerned about it.

 

I personally think white or gold. They are both really good accent colors for green. If it was me I'd go white, it goes with almost anything.

Olds also had a metallic dark green or metallic mid green that would probably do real justice to this car.

One of my buds at work had a "yellow" 72 Supreme that looks like the one you have with the "pea green" interior as you call it. The inside was nice. Olds always had a way of trimming their cloth just right with the right amound of paisley texture and sheen to make it classy. But like you say it takes some time to adjust to the outside color. Anyway, he liked the color. His wife didn't. He's single again. Funny how that works.

Anyway, as long as you're happy with it that's what counts. Personally, I'm glad that you're putting the deck lid back to the original look.

 

Don't certain states require those 3rd brake lights for a car to be registered? I recall hearing that PA has quite a few safety laws that are hard for classic car enthusiasts to overcome.

 

News to me. I'm not aware of any state that requires the addition of safety equipment that was not factory-installed.

 

Thats funny.. my car was bought used from a dealer in RI in the 80's, it too had a third brake light installed on the package tray, was there a regulation in Rhode Island at one time that forced the retrofit?

 

Not that I'm aware of, however when the CHMSL first came out (Jan 1, 1985), there were many aftermarket versions sold. None were mandated for retrofit.

 

Since this thread morphed into exterior/interior combinations... I have a '71 with Sienna interior. Exterior was orginally "Antique Briar" (i.e. Poop Brown) and needs a repaint. What goes nicely with Sienna? I'd like to stick with a '71 color.

 

I do know that I could conceivably do anything to my car in the great state of OK since they don't do inspections of any sort. I have seen trucks that border on monster trucks and cars with tint that looks like black spray paint. Of course, maybe that is just the local police being lazy.

 

You lucky bastage!

 

I have a 68 cutlass that came in a dark green metallic. I know it would be a little redundant but there is nothing wrong with green on green, and the darker shades seem to do something for the cutty's lines. Just my personal opinion. If the thought puts a turd eating grin on your puss...you are probably on the right track