So I just got this 72 Cutlass home a few days ago. Doing a little bit of an inspection. Got the car from wife’s friend. Here is a 3 min video walk around






My biggest concern is a place above the drivers side rear fender. Looks like a piece of bad Sheetmetal about 5 inches above the tire area. Suspect it may have had some body putty there or something? Just don’t know yet. Maybe just a rust through?





I think the old paint may be beyond saving. Just too rough for me to look at, but I have buffing equip and will see how it looks.

i would like the car to look like this. I like those wheels. Was that a factory option wheel? What are they called?




Engine runs OK. Heat tube from exh manifold to air cleaner is missing. Looks like the carb was swapped out not too long ago. New bat and alternator. ATF is full and clean. Shifts great. Oil is clean. Coolant two quarts low.

Idle speed seemed low so twisted that screw a little. Idles cold ok, but once warm it will die at a stop light occasionally. I need to research tuning a quadrajet. Been a while.

Top isn’t working, so that is next on agenda. Got a quote for all new interior and top from a local shop. About 6400 for carpet, door panels, armrests, seats, and the top. Never had a vert. So wondering if I should dismantle the top and clean and paint the framework before delivering for the new one?

Front bench seat adjustment appears inoperable, so need to work on that.

Fuel gauge is funny. Needle point to 3 o’clock position, between two idiot lites, so don’t know what that means.

Any comments are welcome.

 

I'd say it's highly likely that what you are seeing is bondo coming up, which likely means that there's rust underneath. Expect this to be the tip of the iceberg. The wheels are SuperStock III and yes they were a factory option for the 1972 model year.

 

The fuel gauge pointing past Full is a common issue. Could be a bad ground or loose sending unit wire at the tank. You can do a test: unplug the brown wire at the rubber grommet in the trunk by the latch. Ground the wire coming from the front and with the key turned on the gauge should go to Empty. If yes, the gauge and wiring up front are OK and the issue is towards the tank.

 

I would not remove the top material until ready to install the new one. The manual says to mark the old top before removal and transfer those marks to the new top for proper alignment. Maybe a shop could install the new top without that info but probably best to confirm with them first.

 

Take a look through the trunk at the back side of the body area you're concerned about. You may be able to see if there's been some dent repair or metal replacement done based on the appearance of things back there.

 

Thank you Fun71. I once again am having fun working on a car that I am growing fond of.

I did just what you said, and the gauge needle went right to empty. Looking under the tank, not seeing any way to easily get to sending unit. Do I need to drop the tank, or can I open up one of the sealed holes in the trunk deck to gain access?

 

I was able to get the top working today. It appears that almost all atf had leaked out of the system. So there must be leaks somewhere. Looks like top of cylinders are wet with fluid. Can’t see the bottoms of them. But the motor and pump appear to be working OK. Top material is way better than I thought it would be. I filled the pump once with atf, got the top up and filled it again. Each time I reinstalled the rubber fill hole plug. When I pulled the plug the third time, it was obvious that there was built up air pressure in the pump chamber. Should I be running this with the fill plug out of it to purge air?

I know I need to buy the Shop manuals. Watching eBay for them.

 

From what I can see, Sheetmetal visible from trunk area looks OK. The area in question is a little more forward than what I can see. But no obvious repair work that I can see.

 

Were you able to put it up on a lift and have a good poke around underneath prior to purchase?

 

The leak is usually around the shaft seal on top of the cylinders.

 

Short answer.. NO. Unique situation. Car was owned by wife’s friend that lived Arizona. She moved to Iowa and for the most part, parked the car, driving less than 100 miles a year. Presently at 56,000 miles lifetime. So Sheetmetal is way better than typical Iowa cars. I am not finding significant rust problems. To find something like this as a survivor in Iowa is nearly impossible. Frames actually rust away due to winter road salting. Now that I have it home and able to dig into it I can see that the frame is very good.

I just pulled up the trunk liner yesterday. No significant rust. I am having fun with this car.

 

I started a thread in the Body section of forum dealing with the crack in the paint in Post #1

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...6/#post1606950