Hi guys,
I have come to a cross roads of sorts and need some opinions. Do you think I should continue refurbishing/restoring my Cutlass? Or do you think I should sell it and buy a nicer 442? I guess I am to the point of having more money invested than the car is worth already and thinking about possibly investing even MORE money. Just wondering if I should just cut my losses or if I should continue.

Here are a couple of pictures of my car as it sits. The next adventure will be the interior IF I continue.

Thanks,
Jon

 

Just my opinion based on finance 101. It'll probably take about $3k to completely redo the interior. Since you tried to sell your car previously with no success, you may end up taking a monetary loss for the current investments. In addition, anything you buy will cost more money initially plus whatever repairs. You'll be money ahead to keep playing with the one you have.

This all depends on how much you like your current ride. I would not base my decision on future worth in these cars, but more on the entertainment value. Plus the perk in pressing on with the current project is you know where the skeletons are hidden.

 

This happened the moment you spent the first penny on it.

The greatest truth of all regarding old car restoration is that you'll spend more on the car than you'll ever get back. You should restore the car because it is a hobby and because you enjoy the car and the process, not because you expect to get your money back one day or because it is an investment.

In my opinion, the car looks great. Keep working at it as time and money permit, and enjoy it along the way.

 

Even a nicer 442 will need things . Selling is hard . I try to look at the things I do to my cars as enertainment you will never get the money you spend on beer or strippers back so if i get a new set of hose's and clamps or a new R59 battery i could have spent that at the bar or some other way . I can alway go out in the garage and touch my Olds cant say the same for strippers (Dont ask how I know) . I would love to have that car to play with you can do some personal touches to it if you want without spending a load of cash a real 442 in the condition of your car from what i can see will run you 15 to 20 thousand. I think a new intiorior thread would be fun to fallow good luck with your choice

 

As the ol cowboy sayin goes, I've squandered away most of my money, the rest I spent on whiskey and ******. Financially speaking, my investment is simply the ride. Decide what you're after and move towards it. If it's about a package car, get one. 3k on your interior like has been said is a very realistic amount. Something about just finishing that chore sure changes how you see that little S. I chose an S cause it was a good value and I wanted to personalize mine a bit and didn't want to color outside the lines on a true 442 vert. Either way, you are spending money, it's only an investment if you have a show on TV buying yard ornaments, and turning them. Yeah, me neither.

 

Also, keep in mind there are ways to minimize 'restoration' costs while still having fun in the process and enhancing the overall appearance and performance of your ride. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you need to replace every slightly worn/faded part with a 'new' aftermarket part that is usually of inferior fit/finish to the original. Instead, do what you can to retain the original parts. Clean, blast and paint the original pieces back to as close to original as possible. Yes, many won't be perfect but they will be original parts and a little patina is appropriate and expected on a 40+ yr old car. This will also allow you to be creative in your methods for 'restoring' the original parts rather than always having to buy new stuff. I find myself more drawn to the survivor type cars at the shows rather then the over-restored, nearly perfect, super shiny trophy cars. They're just more reflective of the period from which they came. But, I also think you need to have a vision for your current ride. If you can't get to that vision with the funds that you have available, then maybe it is time for a change. But, as others have stated, any new purchase should be considered as entertainment or hobby money as they are just bad investments generally unless you're taking about the super rare purebreds. Good luck with your decision!

 

Thanks guys. This is the kind of stuff I was looking for. When I bought the car I planned on slowly restoring over several years anyway so I'm right on track for that. I guess I just needed to see if anyone might think the same way as me. Trust me this car isn't going anywhere except maybe to one of my son's when they are old enough. I have too many good memories and have created a great relationship because of it. Heck it and it's twin were the feature cars in Big Jerr's all Oldsmobile calendar for the month of October 2013. Nothing will ever change that.

 

Dan is 150% on the mark. The old car hobby as 99.9% of us know it is NOT an investment. It is a financial and time drain we are willing to accept. Maybe an 'addiction' is a better term. Anyone who makes their costs plus profit back on their car sale IMO has done very well, but I'd venture to guess that the 'return on total expenses' % is a very low number.

 

I think as these guys do. Old cars are not investments unless you have the serious dough on the front end to shell out for the seriously rare cars. No matter what those "reality" tv shows may suggest, you will rarely get back what you put into it financially.

So if you like YOUR car and you want to see it restored to it's glory days, then you keep doing what you can, when you can until you're satisfied. (Which will be never)

One advantage, I feel, to restoring/rebuilding an older car instead of just buying one that someone else did is you get to point to it and say, "See that? I did that. I didn't buy it like that. It didn't roll off the factory floor yesterday or last year, or even last decade. I poured blood, sweat, guts and glory into that." And then you can drive around wearing that as a badge of pride.

 

Yes I would and I did.
I wouldn't trade my Cutlass for anybody's 442 no matter how nice, because I did most of the work on it, engine, brakes, suspension, rear end, interior, exhaust, etc.
To each is his own, if you want to own a 442 just so you can say it's a 442 than that's a different story.
I love my S, would never do a 442 clone out of it, I can do modifications that I probably wouldn't do to a 442. My goal was always to have one bad *** Cutlass S. I never thought about it as an investment, didn't buy it for everybody to give me thumbs up.
I bought it cause I liked it and money put into it was to make it the way I want it.

 

Based on your pics, you can have that interior looking 5x better for about $50 and a Saturday's time. Get the SEM prep solution and dye paint for the seat backs (unless there are major scratches and dryrot chunks out of them), armrest bases and kick panels. Clean everything else with Simple Green. Call it done for now and you'll be happier with the car since improving those "ragged edges" will make such a big difference. Your seats aren't a disaster and your door panels look decent from what I can see. You can also take more steps like seat covers later on if you decide to do so.

Terry

 

This my point about improving the car without spending cash on 'new' parts. Another example, the original carpet in my car looked like total crap. Took it out, cleaned/shampoo and resprayed it with a $5 can of Dupli-Color fabric paint. Looks 100X better and I saved over $100 on new carpet which has thinner padding and won't fit as nice as original. I could have bought 'new' but I wouldn't have had as much satisfaction as I did 'restoring' my original carpet. Had my seats re-padded and requested they retain the original covers. They're not perfect but at least they match the rest of the interior and they're original. Keep the 69 and make it your own!

 

I think the biggest factor in switching cars is that you know what you've got now, and you know where the flaws are. Another car would be a whole new can of worms with lots of unknown issues that you'd find over time. That said, if you've got your heart set on one thing in particular, you should get it. If it's just dollars and cents, I think just about everybody on here has more in their cars than they're worth. If they tell you otherwise the probably either lying to you or themselves.

I totally agree with this. The rip in the driver's seat would bother me, though. Still, in the grand scheme of things, I would consider that interior to be in excellent condition for its age. It really needs very little.

I have a '69 442, and it has the same gold interior as your car does. I had to redo mine from the ground up, as someone had changed it to black with the exception of the dash and kick panels. They had actually just covered over the stock seats, covers and all, but they were too far gone to reuse.

If you do buy seat covers, make sure you go with Legendary and not PUI ones. I haven't tried the Legendary ones, although I've heard good things, but my PUI covers lost all their heat pressed pleats in short order. They look OK but are flat as a board now. If I had it to do over...

 

Exterior looks great. Place a parts wanted add in CO's parts section for seat backs, arm rests, etc.. By the pics the interior looks good too except for some small items. Hell those parts are not that expensive new IMO. Glad your keeping it!

 

Jon,

Unlike the rest here I'm not going to sugar coat this for you. The truth is that the entire interior of the car is unsalvageable. Save yourself a lot of time and money and ditch the project right now. I only have your best interests in mind, and to prove it I'm gonna help you past this crisis by taking those god awful bucket seats and that horrible floor shifter off your hands, I'll even pay the freight because that's just the kinda guy I am.

Who love's ya man,
Scott

 

Man that bugger is a driver. Resto-Smeshto no show car or money maker there. I see it as a keeper that you make tight and right and a splash of go fast mixed in for fun.

My stupid car is metal flake "gasser" gold with old-school everything except the front discs. It's been a blast to "retro-mod" or whatever they call it? Complete repop interior courtesy OPG installed by me for cheap. Running a fresh Olds 350 cam, pipes and flowmasters. Okay, what you have here is a $7000 friday night special that my wife and I enjoy roaring around scaring people. Works for us.

 

[QUOTE=Hawghead;722831]Jon,

Unlike the rest here I'm not going to sugar coat this for you. The truth is that the entire interior of the car is unsalvageable. Save yourself a lot of time and money and ditch the project right now. I only have your best interests in mind, and to prove it I'm gonna help you past this crisis by taking those god awful bucket seats and that horrible floor shifter off your hands, I'll even pay the freight because that's just the kinda guy I am.

Who love's ya man,
Scott[/QUOTE


I vote we make Hawghead Classic olds "Man of the Year" ! Any one second that ?

 

When I do the interior I plan on a slight refresh NOT a total redo. I plan on rebuilding the front seats new foam new springs new covers and new backs. I could just paint the backs, but they have scratches and pieces missing. I plan on new armrest bases front and rear, new kick panels because mine are all scratched up (well drivers side is passenger is actually pretty nice yet. I would love to put a rallye pack in it and remove those god awful aftermarket gauges. Heck only the water temp and oil pressure work, the amp gauge hasn't worked for years. I have an original radio and surround to put in. I won't hook it up just the lights. I'll probably put a remote head unit in the trunk. Repaint the steering column and replace that ugly wheel with a more factory correct unit. Similar to the '69 sport wheel. I'll also replace the carpet, there is NO salvaging this one it has a large hole worn into it near the drivers door. Oh and window cranks all of mine lost the spinner handles. Makes them fun to roll up and down.

 

Jon,

Window cranks are easy to find and cheap. I bought an very nice entire set of excellent condition cranks off ebay for $30. Including the 1/4 window cranks.

That was from the same year Skylark as my Vista, though. But they're exactly the same!

Buz

 

Let me just say I know what you are going through because I am at the same point with my build.

HOWEVER! I would KILL for a car like yours. Other than that I couldn’t agree more with the points the others have already made recommending you keep your current car.

 

You can do the interior yourself with a PUI or Lengendary kit. Yes the Legendary is nicer but it is also more expensive. Both are nice. If you can't pay for it all up front then buy as you can and when you get enough to do one thing then do it. Like carpet. Like seats, buy the seat covers, foam and seat backs and trim one at a time if you have to, then take a weekend and do the front seats. Then the back seat or carpet or what ever. Arm rests can be done very cheap and any time. Just make a plan and do what you can when you can. It is not hard stuff. If you need the headliner done, I have found that is the one place I use an experienced upholstery shop. It is just a pain to do them. Almost anything else you can do and take your time and do a great job and be proud of the work you did and then go enjoy it.
Never forget it is your car. Make it what you want.

 

You can get just the plastic window crank ***** from an auto parts store for cheap. They just press together, normally available in black. A lot of the plastic pieces can be cleaned and redyed. The carpet kits are relatively inexpensive. As stated above, with elbow grease and a bit of creativity that interior can be cleaned up and refreshed inexpensively.

 

Ok guys. I have already ordered some small parts for the interior to the tune of about $100 all told. Look for an interior refurbishing thread soon. Thread title to be "Dear God, what have I done?" Part 2 '69 Cutlass Interior Makeover

Jon

 

You're off and running now. Take your time, it's fun to hunt for goodies and find what best fits your theme. I went with OPG (PUI parts) and found things need a bit of tweaking to pull off the install. The cost vs. Legendary is a consideration but I suspect Legendary bits may need tweaking too? I wanted to do this on the cheap. The end results were perfect but it took 3 months fussing around.

Hunting Notes: I found a premium A-body rear package shelf and insulation kit from a Chevelle site for way less than other suppliers. I grabbed a pedal pad kit off Ebay for $10 shipped vs. $35 on specialty sites. It's all over the map what's out there. I have new GM labeled lap belts that are super quality. The proper buckle logo is the Fisher coach for my year. I sourced the blue GM style for hundreds less than what it "right". The point is, your interior can be clean and fresh without being exactly period correct. Purists would scoff at my build but an unknowing passenger would think, nice, all looks 60's to them. Then I scare 'em with the non-period correct engine! It's whatever you want.

 

There is nothing wrong with being different.
I would never want any of my cars to look like the next 5 parked next to me at the show.
Also being 6'3" I needed seats that recline.

Would you ever be able to tell that seats are out of a 2004 Cobalt??
[IMG]IMG_1874 by 70cutty, on Flickr[/IMG]