https://picasaweb.google.com/noeatno...eat=directlink

^ My car.

It runs, and drives. Front end feels sketchy, brakes feel sketchy. All of that I can fix myself without much problem.

Cosmetically, the car needs a LOT of work. Body is mostly straight, there are a couple spots where the bondo is cracking. (I can do body-work myself. I'll probably take it down to the metal and lead-fill it...) But the interior is TRASHED.

The major questions is this: What should this car look like when I get done? I don't have a big budget, just a decent knowledge of cars and repairs, a decently stocked shop at my house, and a lot of time on my hands.

I have a few modern touches I've considered, such as disc conversion, rack/pinion, etc.

I don't really have the money or the desire to factory restore, or make this into a show car. I'm considering trying to go with a retro-mod feel, something like you might see in the late-mid 70s, when a young guy might have gotten a car and modded it.

Anyone who was a young guy during that time know what you would have done to the car? What were common mods in that period? What would you have done with the car cosmetically, if it was in bad shape? Decals? Paintschemes/paint types? Cosmetic bolt-ons?

I have lots of ideas, but I need some imput. Satin black with big tires in the back? Mad Max? Looking for something kind of rough and DIY here, but not ugly.

Positive/Negative comments welcome. Can't hurt my feelings.

 

Get a used set of bucket seats a nice cover for the back seat non glossy black is good. Put a nice chrome air cleaner on top of the carb. Clean engine bay and your good.

 

That sounds like a great plan for the interior. Have any suggestions for the Exterior?

 

satin/flat black on the exterior. If you want to get fancy, put a set of dual wide white racing stripes down the hood/roof/trunk. Get a set of gauges to hang under the dash and if possible a center console & floor shift to go with the buckets.

I personally love the Mad Max look. I always wanted to mod a car all ridiculous and post apocalyptic yet keep it street legal. Thought about using a campsite fire ring for the turret and mounting a water cannon on it for kicks.

 

Haha. I don't think I'll put a fire ring on top of my car, but that does sound fun. I will probably go with satin black. It's a nice finish, and doesn't look quite as frumpy as flat black can sometimes look.

Am I allowed to put stripes on a 4-door automatic with a 350 in it?

Someday, before I die, I will have a 455 2door, black with white stripes. Blower.

 

Well, in my opinion, you're "allowed" to do pretty much whatever you want with your car right up to the point where a cop tells you "if I see this thing on the road again, I'm impounding it!"

I've been told that on one or two vehicles in the past, and so have a few friends. Hell, we used to drag race derby cars down a back road a buddy lived on back in the 90's. rattle-can black sedans & wagons, no glass/lights/interior at all, 8 pipes through the hood. welded diff, etc. Just made quick passes with em, then stuffed them back into a garage or barn when we were done.

We'd sit out in the garage or driveway drinking beer and waiting on the cops to cruise up & down the road looking around. We even had 1/8 & 1/4 mile marks spray painted on the edges of the road that were there for years. There were ALWAYS posi marks up & down that stretch til they built the golf course right off it and a bunch of McMansions. Then we had to quit the shenanigans.

 

That's awesome. We had a little ford ranger squarebody that we put a 351 in, back in the day. Welded the diff, bought used worn out tires (16yo's version of 'slicks') and drove it as hard as we could. Then the rear end literally exploded at about 80mph, pieces went flying, cracking a buddy's windshield who was behind us... and the flopping driveshaft broke the tail housing on the tranny. We then promptly pulled the motor and dragged it to the scrap yard.

This car is going to be more of an around-towner. I'm liking the satin black, but I'll hold off on the stripes, I guess.

 

Back to what 72cutlass455 was saying about the interior - how do these cars look without headliners/interior panels/carpet? I've thought about stripping it all out and coating it with a satin black equipment coating I've used in the past for other projects. Will it look super groady if I do that? Should I plan on fabbing up something to cover stuff up? The trim panels that are in it are most likely beyond reconditioning, and I can't afford to buy a new interior. I do have the upside of having worked on car interiors as a job in the past, so building something is an option. Just a whole lot of work. =P

 

As long as the floor is there they look alright covered in rubberized undercoating. Door panels can be very inexpensively cut with carpet and fiberboard and it helps make the interior look a lot less scary to people who might not "get it". For the headliner if your passengers are focused on the roof you're not driving fast enough. I have a buddy who has had a few cars done like that they tidy up relatively easy

 

olsmobum: Perfect. That's what I was hoping to hear. Any idea what the road noise is like w/o interior parts? I know it's not quiet even with the interior in it. Heh.

Anyone modify one of these cars when they were a kid? (or a 2-door version) What did you do to it? Garage paintjob? Decals? Winshield visor? Spoiler? What size tires?

 

The biggest thing for noise is not having carpet on the floors. The floor is bare on my 55 and you can hear everything. I got a remnant of regular old carpet at lowes for 15 bucks I will attempt to install for the time being. I have heard unmolded carpet can come out decent with a hairdryer or heat gun and a little time but I haven't tried it yet... We will see how it goes.

 

I hate carpet. =/ My truck has rubber floors and I LOVE them. I wonder how I could go about putting rubber floors in a cutlass?

 

Bedliner should do the trick.
As for the car, just get it to the point where it's a safe driver and you enjoy it. Personally, I would keep the exterior as is and get rid of most of the interior, trading the front bench for junkyard recaros in the process. Maybe drop in a turbocharged 3.8 out of a T-type/GN, or an OldsmoBuick/Rover V8.
Of course, you could build the 350...

 

Exterior
Cragars or ET slots... Big in the rear
Air shocks
Cheap fog/ driving lights on lower front bumper
Speed company stickers in rear side windows

Mechanical
Open element air cleaner (or flipped OEM lid!)
Cherry bomb mufflers w/exits in front of rear wheels

Interior
Faux leather sterring wheel 'lace-up' wrap
Jensen 6x9s in rear deck
Cassette player with Foghat/Aerosmith/Blue Oyster Cult/Zep tape !

 

Hahaha. This is what I was hoping for. I'm saving this post to my hard-drive.


Will that have similar sound-dampening qualities? I've heard of people doing it, but never done it myself.

 

Update:

Got the car running strong. It is purring like a kitten now. The handling surprised me, it really is quite tolerable. Not NEARLY as much wobble as I remember; in fact, it's pretty much tight, for how old it is. Not more than a half-inch or so of play in the wheel, and it's holding true in corners. It's holding oil consistently, not leaking at ALL so far as I can tell. Has lots of power!

The suspension is trashed.

It's leaking water.

As stated before, the interior and exterior are trashed.

 

Do as little as possible and enjoy it as is!

 

But the doing stuff to it is almost as fun as driving it!

 

Hey, nice car. I have the same one. Here is a different look to get some ideas. I have hopes and dreams myself. My future plans include Kandy Brandy Wine paint, Porsche peanut butter leather suede interior, bucket seats, shaved doors, suicide rear doors, headers w/ dual exhaust and some engine/drivetrain upgrades. Its got a 350 Rocket. I got this a year and a half ago and have changed out quite a bit of things as well as some TLC. Suspension has acted up the most and still needs work. 41 year old bolts and parts....sketchy is a good word.

A lot of people down-talk the 4 door. To be honest with you...thats why I like mine so much. The car still gets a lot of attention and love but I do get those people once in a while who try to take shots at the fact that it is a 4 door. Little do they know they only made 400 of these 4-door no-post "convertible hardtops" and more of them get scrapped everyday. 20 years from now we might have the only two left!

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Dang, man. That car is slick. I like it. Mine has door-posts, though. =/ Did yours have a canvas top on it originally? Mine used to have one, but it's long since been ripped off.

 

Thanks! No cover on the top. I found the build sheet under the carpet and learned it's been in California all its life (was bought in the town I grew up in ironically enough). All I know is this car was once teal with teal interior. Someone must have done a low-budget restoration in the 90s if I had to guess.

 

gotcha. Mine was teal/teal as well. It's still teal-ish on the inside. heh.