So..... last week a 68 Cutlass S shows up on craigslist for $1950 or so. A few days later the guy drops it to $1750, Sunday it's down to $1450. I couldn't take it. So Monday I call and go look at it. Today a buddy and I haul it to my buddy's place. (I don't have room right now) Final price - $1200

It's hit on the right side but I got an extra door with it. Plus some small trim stuff in boxes. Didn't have time to look through it. But I did get some pictures afterwards. Here's the good side:
68LeftSide.jpg
Not the original, but a good "S" 442 hood. Not sure if the bumper is salvagable or not.
68Front.jpg
The trunk is in pretty good shape too.
68Trunk.jpg
Couldn't get a real good picture of the interior. But the dash looks real good. It had a removable face radio minus the face. Bucket seats need new covers. Console and shifter look great but the console lid latch needs replaced. Basically everything needs recovered but not much I can see that's bad. Not sure on the floor but it feels solid and I didn't see any signs of leaks. Here's the one shot I got:
68Interior.jpg
OK, now for the bad side:
68RightSide.jpg
Yeah I'm going to have to do some quarterpanel work and find a fender. But like I said it came with another door!

The seller said the motor would run, but needed rebuilt, so we took a battery and tried it. But the carb was flooding out too bad. Had to pull and winch it into the trailer. Overall the car's in pretty good, solid shape. Well, other than the work needed on the pass. side. I'm real happy with it. Now I've got to get busy on the 67 CS!

The code for the paint is GG, Willow Gold. Anyone got a picture of Willow Gold 68? I mean one in good shape.

Don

 

Hey, for what you paid for it, that's a great project, and it's another one rescued. It's all good.

 

Not too bad, not too bad at all!

 

...and it has the optional Y70 G.T. Stripe - I hardly ever see that! Looks like a great find and a fun project. Nicely optioned car with buckets and a console.

Randy C.

 

Nice project. Similar to what I've started.

 

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...nvertible.html

68vert's 442, I actually like the color myself.

 

Thanks guys! I don't want to get too involved on it yet. I need to stay focused on the 67. I do think I'll rebuild the carb. Would like to get it to where we can move it around. And I'll watch craigslist, 68 parts do show up on there from time to time. Not that I can afford any right now. Randy C. - I thought the stripe might be original, thanks, I'm not that knowledgable on 68's. I do love the hood though.

Thanks for the link GAOldsman! I like to stay with original colors it makes the decision easy. But.. I don't always follow that. Your car looks great! Maybe I will go with Willow Gold. Good thing I have a long time to decide!

Don

 

Hey thanks Dapapadon for the complement, you don't realize how much that means to me. Hopefully everything will come together for you. If you are in the market for any parts let me know and I'll see if I can help you locate them.
Scot

 

Congrats on the new project Don! It looks like a great car for the price! Every once in a while I'll surf Craigslist in Portland and drool over the deals that go by. When the time comes to restore it hopefully you can find much of what you need locally. If it's a 2bbl I may be able to come up with a good carb for you. John

 

Man, that thing is sweet for the price. I wish I had the space (and the cojones) to take on a project that size.

Well, that and the cash required.

 

Thanks for the offer John, but it's a 4 barrel. I've got 20 bucks credit on my Autozone Rewards card so I'm going to order a carb kit and float tomorrow. Not looking to get it perfect just good enough so we can move it around. It leaks fuel so bad now I'm afraid of a fire.

Scott - Your car deserves the complements!

Don

 

I like it. Did you rebuild the carburetor? Keep us updated.

 

I picked up the carb kit and a float yesterday. But it will be later in the week before I can rebuild it. And this is going to be a slow project. Other stuff first.

Don

 

I promised an update and sort of have one. I rebuilt the carb, if you could call it that. I basically disassembled & cleaned, replaced the float needle and seat, accl. pump & the check ball and put it back together with new gaskets. And I hooked up the choke linkage and adjusted the float level too. This was Friday and I forgot to take the keys with me so I bolted the carb back on and that was it.

Today, with keys in hand, I hooked the battery up and tried it. Battery was too low so it went on the charger. I snapped some photos of differences between my car and the 68 442 in my buddy's shop while I was waiting on the battery. I'll post them below. With the battery back in and a primer shot of gas in the carb she fired right off. Another prime and she ran with a little pedal work. After a total run tine of two minutes it died and wouldn't start. After fooling with it for a while I think there's not enough fuel in the tank. (it's setting at angle now) I took the battery back out and put it on the charger. So I'll head back out and try it about mid week.

Here are some of the photos I talked about. The 442 was wreaked at some point.

Bondo on the left side under the vinyl top, not to mention rust:
442quarter2.jpg
442quarter1.jpg


Repaint showing on the edge of the hood:
442hoodedge.jpg

And what I think is 69 1 pc. trim on the left fender. This fender appears to have the mounts for 68 & 69 hood hinges, but the right one doesn't. I tried to get a shot of both but couldn't.
442lefttrim.jpg

Here's the right side 2 pc. moulding which my 68 S has on both sides:
442righttrim.jpg

And it looks like the quarter panel end pcs. of the trunk trim got left off during the repaint:
442trunk.jpg
68Strunk.jpg

The wheels on the 442 are 14 X 6 SSII bolt on center cap I think (the trim rings are narrow) and my 68 S has 14 X 7 SSIII's snap on caps painted silver:
442wheel.jpg
68Swheel.jpg

The 442 has standard side view mirror but the S has the remote:
68Smirror.jpg
68Smirrorinside.jpg

Looks like I forgot to upload the 442 mirror. The 442 has remote ant. and the S doesn't.
442ant.jpg
442antinside.jpg

The 442 has a flat top dash and a cool Oldsmobile steering wheel. The S has a bump top dash with an aftermarket wheel.
442dash.jpg
68Sdash.jpg

The 442 has chrome or SS trim on the sides of the headliner and the S has plastic trim. Sorry, both are hard to see in the photos.
442headlinertrim.jpg
68Sheadlinertrim.jpg

I'll update again next week.

Don

 

Wheels look like 14 x 6--trim rings look to be brushed rather than polished, suggesting they are original. Brushed was the original look, but they went to polished shortly thereafter, and most of the replacement "NOS" rings are polished.

 

I'm looking for the chrome headliner side trim for my Cutlass S
anybody have some?
Gene