oldstimer

Newbie Here.

I was driving near my home yesterday, and saw a 67 convertible with a for sale sign on it. Bought it on the spot. Explained it to the navigator later. Tough sell, but that baby's in the garage now. I'm so happy, I can hardly type.

Very little rust, mostly concentrated on the panels beneath the doors. Interior is in surprisingly good shape, although it needs door panels and arm rests, and someone put **** carpet in. The top is only a couple years old, and the hydraulics work like a champ.

Most everything appears original. 330 2bbl, don't know about the tranny yet. The guy insists that the 85K on the odometer is actual, although that seems hard to believe. It runs OK, but both exhaust manifold gaskets have let go, so it makes too much noise to tell for sure. Starter spins and only engages every 10th try or so.

I hope to replace the exhaust manifold gaskets and starter in the next month, so I'll have a cruiser for the summer. The manifolds (and bolts) are seriously rusty. Any advice?

Oldsguy

The body looks like it is in good shape. Try some PB Blaster on the bolts, soak them, let them sit for a day, rinse and repeat for a week. Then try them.

frdmftr

Very cool find. And the 'right' year.

Welcome to the exclusive Club of 'Olds'

FRDMFTR
aka dave maxwell
67' Delta 88 Convert

Oldsmaniac

Only concern here is that the frame is not rotted.....also originally there were no exhaust manifold gaskets just a metal to metal seal at head surface. As time goes by metal pits and surfaces are no longer true so gaskets at head area are used.

oldstimer

Thanks for the tip on PB Blaster. It has been a long time since Ive turned a wrench, so Ill be getting aquainted with all the stuff thats been introduced in the last twenty years.

The frame is pretty rusty, but is still pretty thick and seems solid when I hit it with a wrench. The rest of the undercarriage has a little rust here and there, but not much. Maybe it does only have 85K miles.

I paid very little for the car (can you say lucky?), so if it cant be restored, Ill just have an inexpensive and very cool convertible for awhile. I do hope, however, that it can be completely restored sometime in the future.

Ill be hanging out here trying to soak up as much knowledge as possible.

Jokers69

nice find, congrats..

please keep it a cutlass, resist the urge to stick some 442 badges on it...

www.fusick.com
www.yearone.com
www.opgi.com
www.oldsparts.com

there's a few parts suppliers, I've had good luck with Fusicks, OPGI had slow shipping but good stuff and a good return policy. Year One is reputable, I've never dealt with Brothers (oldsparts.com) so I don't have an opinion. There's lots more out there, send for the free catalogs and read, read, read...

oh, and in your photo, is that some kind of excersise torture device between the bays? It looks like a good place for your new engine hoist. LOL

oldstimer

I got the exhaust manifolds off. PB Blaster worked great. Turns out both exhaust manifolds are cracked near the front bolt hole. One is broken off completely.

I'm wondering where to go from here. I'd be willing to put headers on, but from what I've read, that's not a great solution. Are there any suppliers of new manifolds for the 330? Anyone have servicable used ones?

joe_padavano

330s and early 350s all use the same exhaust manifolds, so good used ones should be easy to find. You should not need exhaust gaskets. As others have noted, they were not used from the factory. Be sure the manifolds you get are flat and not pitted on the mating surface. Broken bolts at the pipe end are not a problem. Heat and a vice grip usually get the broken bolt out if you have enough of a stub to grab. Otherwise, just drill them out and install a helicoil if necessary.

oldstimer

The manifolds have a lot of pitting. It looks like quite a bit of metal is gone in the areas where the exhaust was leaking. Is there any danger that the heads are damaged in the same areas?

Oldsguy

There are people that can repair cast iron. It's not easy but can be done.

68/70 Cutlass

How did it turn out? If you haven't did more -Clean up the head area and try to put a metal ruler up as a guide and use a feeler guage to check the flatness. If they dont clean up that good you may have to pull the heads and have them planed if you don't want the problem to reapear. Gaskets would help but may turn out to only be a temperary fix.

oldstimer

Eightupman is shipping a set of manifolds from NC. I'm going to put gaskets in for this summer. Hopefully they will last until fall. I might tear into the engine over next winter, but I really want to be able cruise weekends this summer without major engine repair.

My project has gone beyond manifolds and starter. The wires going to the starter solenoid had fried, so I put together a new harness. I noticed brake fluid on the power booster. Since I had to replace the master cylinder, I pulled the front wheels and checked brakes. Tires are dry rotted and wheel cylinders had leaked all over. New tires and brakes (including hoses from the cylinder to the chassis). While I'm in there, might as well replace those rusty 'ol front shocks eh? Rear tires and brakes as well. I'm spending more initially than I planned, but I'm still having fun. I remember the days that I had to do this stuff and have the car on the road Monday morning in order to get to work. And believe me, I had to do that a lot! It's nice being able to leave the car on jacks stands on a Sunday night.