car_designer

I have the opportunity to buy a 1971 Cutlass 4-door sedan. It appears
to be in very good shape, from what can be seen standing looking at
the car. The back window appears to be leaking, and the rear shelf
(cardboard) is curling under the leak.

Are there any known issues with these cars that I should make a point
of checking?

Allan R

yup, that's a common leak point. Either take off the rear trim and look for rust or have a glass shop do it if you're not sure how. If there's water going through the car, that's not good, but it depends on how long its been going on. It might be as simple as resealing the window. It could also be a serious rust through. (Does the car have a vinyl top? Some of them are notorious for rustout) As long as it hasn't gone too far it should be ok. You can get a new parcel shelf for it for around 37 bucks. The A bodies all have issues with rust behind the front wheels, rear wheels and door seams. If you have a chance, lift the trunk mat to see what condition the floor pan is in. Also check the floor boards if you can. Take a look under the car to see if there's excessive corrosion.

You haven't said what motor or tranny it's got. If it's a 350/350 combo they're pretty solid.

Keep in mind that you're looking at buying a 38 year old car. It's not going to be perfect, but if it's in reasonable shape and you want to fix-er-up, that's cool. FYI 4 door cars are not a popular as collector items as 2 door coupes. Is this a 4 door pillared sedan? A 4 door Cutlass Supreme pillarless hardtop?? A lot of the answers you're looking for are moot if the car has been properly stored and cared for. Why not post some pictures so we can see what you're looking at? We loooovve pics.

Bluevista

Four doors aren't as popular?, that's the best part if you ask me.

They don't have a lot of driver's room with a bench and the front door window is really small so test it. My wagon is exactly the same and I had to move the seat back a couple of inches and install a tilt column or I was crammed in.
The bench seats are usually worn out on the driver's side, good ones are rare.

The base of the windshield under the wide stainless trim piece is also a common bad spot to watch out for. The rust can be seen on top of the dash through the windshield sometimes, major pain of a repair if it's bad.

The front bumpers are often bent from very low speed impacts/jacking/the hook, they push in or bend up and break the stone guard/middle nose piece and grills.

If there aren't any leaks or rust spots at the rear window base those shelf panels can also get moisture on them from condensation from the back window and get water stains and curl up, very common around here with the weather.

They're great cars, dependable and easy to work on, built well, very stylish.
There are no major issues I'm aware of other than the rust-prone areas and they're no worse than anything else.

Olds64

Post pics when you get a chance. Four doors are awsome. BTW, that Delta 88 looks great!

car_designer

Thanks for all the advice.

After checking most of the car, with my father since he knows more about cars than I do (but I am working on that), the front fenders look great, as does the passenger compartment floor (some of it is still black). The frame looks pretty good as well. Most of the underside appears to have a thin layer of rust, but in Canada, what car doesn't?

Now the not so good. Looking at the dash where it meets the windshield, there are a few spots where rust is visible. I don't know how bad it is, but I hope to have a look below the cowl chrome over the next couple of days. There appears to be bondo along the bottom of some of the doors as well as the bottom of the rear quarter panels. Now, it doesn't appear that the bondo is "replacing" metal, but more just a thinner layer more for smoothing.

I still have not been able to look inside the trunk, and the gas tank hides the view of most of the trunk floor from the bottom.

And just a little more info on the car. It has a 350 V8, and is an automatic. Not sure what transmission, but the shift pattern is PRNDSL

I know it is hard to give a value for a car that you haven't seen, but what would be a decent price for this car?

Another question, how hard is it to find 4-door specific sheet metal (doors, quarter panels, ...)?

car_designer

And finally here are some pictures.

I have not had a chance to drive the car (school is getting in the way) but my father did, and he says it starts, runs and drives good, although it is running a little rough, but it has not been driven for a while.

car_designer

Ok, update on the condition of the car.

The passenger compartment floor is in good shape, looks and feels solid.

Trunk: Middle is in good shape. On the passenger side there is a patched hole. The only rust is the path the water leaking in from the rear window follows down towards the patched hole behind the wheel.

Cowl: The horizontal surface is rusting, some just a little line at the seam, some more severe. You can see it in the pictures.

Is the cowl repairable, and how expensive of a job would it be to get fixed?

Allan R

Overall this is a really nice looking Cutlass. Looks like a 350 2bbl and 350 tranny. PS, PB, AT. Your basic 4 door family driver back in the day. Might need to have the rear window taken out and a new seal put in. Probably will stop that leak. The hole behind the wheel can probably be repaired economically with a patch panel. They're available for these cars. Whatever you do, don't stuff it with a rag, that just makes the hole worse by promoting moisture/rust.

The cowl is a different story. It does not look good at all. In fact, the one photo (where the windshield antenna is attached to the glass) looks like it's gone right through. That could easily mean that part of your upper dash is rusted too. That's another problem. There should be a stainless trim piece the wipers sit on, and it's really noticeable that they are not parked in the right spot - an easy fix. To fix this cowl you're probably looking at a fairly big repair bill even if you found a donor car. Fabricating the repair still means drilling out the spot welds and taking the inside dash apart to see how much damage there is. If you really like the car, please do it right. If it's not worth the money or the frustration, POR 15 the heck out of the cowl, and seal up the holes and cover them with the required trim. Drive the car till it drops.

Don't mind the dust and stuff, my car's been under wraps for quite a while, but this is what's missing, or has been removed to show the damage. Note Wipers in correct park position.

IMG_1112.jpg?t=1254969214

You said it was running rough? Some basic things that I would do for any car this old if I just bought it: new plugs, wires, distributor cap/points, oil and filter change, air filter change, fuel filter change, set timing and check carb setting, check all 4 drums pads, hoses + brake fluid check, tranny fluid check, rad flush and refill, battery check, and change diff fluid, headlight, marker lights and brake lights work ok, and how's the exhaust system?. Amazing amount of work to do, but if you do it yourself, it saves a lot of money.

Olds64

I agree with Allan. You will definitely want to do a basic tune up on the car if and when you buy it.

This is also good advice. You can always cover the rust with converter and drive the car without worrying too much abou it. It is afterall a 30+ year old car. Enjoy it for what it is.

car_designer

The chrome trim that the wipers sit on was on the car, it was just removed to see what the cowl looked like under it.

And thanks for the compliment Olds64.

car_designer

I want to thank you all for the advice, but I have decided to pass on this car. I think there is a good chance that there could be more work needed than I am prepared to take on. I had a not so good experience when I got the body and paint on the Delta 88 in my signature done, and I am not anxious to go through that any time soon.

I am not ruling out getting an a-body Cutlass in the future, so I will keep an eye open for a good deal. I think a notchback might be nice, since the Delta 88 is already a 4-door.