Hi All,

I am a new owner of a '75 Cutlass Salon coupe. It is a 64,000 mile little old lady original. It has very minor rust, but not many options. Its a 350 4-barrel and does have bucket seats and console, but the seats are the flat style cloth seats, not swivel buckets. Overall its in great shape, but I want to make some changes. Its a cream yellow color with half vinyl top in the same cream color. I will be changing the color to red with white top and interior over next winter, but will leave it for this summer so I can enjoy it at shows.

Now, I need to put in a tilt column, dual sport mirrors and nice wheels. What years can I swap from? Does it have to be from a 73-77, or will other years or other models parts fit any of the components? I THINK I can use 15" rims from a '79 to '88 rear wheel drive Cutlass, but does anyone know for sure? I also know I can pull a column from a Buick, Chevy etc, but will any other years fit?I had a '77 Cutlass S 10 years ago, so I'm familiar with the car, but there are a lot fewer '70's cars in the salvage lots now.

 

You need the 73-77 A-body column. The wheel bolt circle is the standard 5 x 4.75" so any RWD A/G body wheels through 1988 will fit. So will some 77-90 B-body wheels. The B-body cars used two bolt patterns, 4.75" on the light duty cars and 5" on the wagons, police, taxi, and larger 98s and Caddies.

 

Hi. For the most part, you're stuck with 73-77 for parts. Tires/wheels, lots of options, other than the 4.75 bolt pattern. My old 73 had 14" rims from factory. When I was done, I had 15' factory ss2 rims from a 77, with Dayton 255-50-15's in the back, and 225-70-15"s in front. Never a rub, but the wheel wells were full. Best of luck with your ride. Jim.

 

Thanks for the quick answers guys. It looks like I may be able to get the rims from a local salvage yard, and I think I can also get a set of sport mirrors. The steering column may be a little more dificult.
Is it just me, or does the seat in the '75 Cutlass not go back very far. I'm just 6 feet tall, and even with the seat all the way back I feel like I'm too close to the wheel. Thats one of the reasons why I want to get the tilt column, its almost impossible to get in and out without twisting myself into a pretzel.

John

 

Hi. I don.t recall having an issue with the seat too close. You may want to check the seat tracks. Does it move as for overall as the passenger seat? Also, mirrors, see Ebay auct# 260114285623. Good luck. Jim.

 

Sport mirrors from almost any GM will probably FIT but as far as looking correct I would stay with the A bodies. Also about the seats, you might be able to re-position them back a little although you will probably have to use some spacers to maintain level and plumb on the seat. The reason I mention that drastic approach is my son is 7 foot tall and we have had to do this with every car he has owned. It works, but is a pain sometimes.

 

Thanks again guys. The seat thing really has me confused, I did not have this issue with the '77 I had, but for some reason I just can't get comfortable behind the wheel, my legs are cramped and the wheel is too close to my chest. I also have to scrunch down to get through the door opening. And its not me, I also had a '99 Trans Am untill last month, and I fit in that with no problems. The seat appears to go back fully, but I'm going to pull it out this weekend and see if there is anything I can do. The tilt column will help also.
I had a dual exhaust setup installed yesterday, and it sounds so much better, I love the Olds rumble that real Olds engines have.
Another question, I seem to remember that it was possible to swap an '84-88 Monte Carlo SS steering box into the earlier G-bodies to improve the steering feel, am I correct on this? Has anyone done this, and is it worth the trouble? I do plan on installing thicker front and rear sway bars, so the better steering box would be nice.

John

 

Hi. The Monte ss steering box you are refering to was probably the 2.5 turn quick ratio, also used on 442, and the Grand nationals. These will fit any G-body, not sure of the fit to your 75. Hope this helps, jim.

 

The quick ratio G-body box is a bolt-in, with a couple of caveats. You'll need to use the pitman arm that's correct for the car you're putting it on. Also, the G-body boxes use metric hose fittings with O-ring seals. The earlier boxes use SAE flare nut seals. You can either buy adapters that screw into the metric box or you'll need to change the hoses.

 

John, I used to have a 1976 442 with swivel buckets that felt real good, and I'm 5'11". What kind of seat(s) do you have in your 1977? John

 

My '77 had buckets, but not the swivel buckets, and the '75 that I currently own has very flat buckets, not like the '77's. I just scored a set of swivel buckets out of a mid 70's Monte Carlo, and I plan on putting them in tomorrow.
I also know of a tilt column that I will be getting next week. Hopefully I'll fit a little better after this.

John

 

Cool! Did you grab the mounting brackets welded to the floorboard? I parted out a mid-70's Chevelle with swivel buckets, then discovered how hard it is to find the factory brackets! John

 

All he had were the seats and mounts, the car has been gone for 10 years. I'm not worried about mounting them, I have a good friend who owns a body shop, he will make up anything I need to mount the seat track

John