Here we go! Have just brought the car to the shop and will be working on a full body on restoration of my 1970 Cutlass s. I have removed the bumpers and have started to remove the trim. Car needs a trunklid. new quarters and a passenger side door. Oh and a driverside front floor !

This work was done on December 21! Will be picking up some parts after Christmas! Maybe Santa will bring me something...........

 

Looks like you have your hands full for the winter!! You going to keep it the same color?

 

Yes - Hands very full! Dirty as well! I am really torn on the color. It is a RED car! My first "old" car was a 1970 s - got it when I was 16 was bought new by my Uncle John (Everyone has an uncle John) He sold it to other relation and I purchased it later. Wish I still had that car.

Anyway. That car was Platinum Silver with a black top.

I am leaning towards going Platinum but the car is a red car, It is supposed top be red. If I were to paint it today it would be........ I can't make up my mind...... Red or Platinum.

What do you think? -

I left my vista "Green" and I love the way it turned out!

 

congratulations to your purchase!!!

I have the same project running and dont know which color to paint, too.

I had a 71 Cutlass Supreme in original Matador Red and it looks hot to death

I would paint it red and with the black top it will look awesome, but it s your choice.....

Keep us posted!!!!

Torsten

 

Work done on December 23 / 2009

Started taking out the Interior! It is in great shape! All door panels / Dash / Headliner and all other plastics / vinyls are in great shape!

New carpet and recover the seats and it will be really nice!!!!

It is amazing what you have to take out to get to a few nuts holding exterior trim!

Got everything but the front seats. Ran out of time today - have a Christmas party!

 

paint it the color you like, if I ever got a 71 it would be painted Lime green, that was the car I learned how to drive in.

 

Have decided to keep it original color. Found two build sheets in the car. One really nice under the rear seat. The other basically unreadable under the carpet. Have been hard at work. Here are some pics of the progress. The interior was gutted. The front driverside floor board needs relaced. The rest of the floor is in pretty good shape.

 

I ordered the quarter panel skins. A brand new decklid, and some fender patches. They have come in!

Of course the floor board has been back ordered- These cars had that issue.

 

That will be a very nice car when you get done

 

Thanks! The goal is to drive it out of the shop completed by the time the weather get nice in Lansing MI. Hopefully drive it to the olds Homecoming Show in June!

 

Have decided to only replace the rusted area of the driver side quarter. Here is a look at the progress. Car is pretty clean (believe it or not) I have not had to wrestle with any bolts. The bumpers even came off with hand tools!

 

Motor is ready to come out. Will get the rebuild treatment.

 

 

Oh......... I still need a passenger side door! Anyone out there have a nice one? I'm in Lansing, MI

 

The car is now bare bones! The motor and trans came out of the car yesterday Morning. - (OF COURSE I FORGOT MY CAMERA!) It went very smooth - I dropped the motor at the machine shop and they will get to it in about 2 weeks.

It was great to be under a car again ( I think) Cold Cement floor in Michigan. - Every bolt came out w/o usng a torch! Not too bad for a michigan car!

I am hoping that the machine shop doesn't find something really bad with the engine as I plan on being as cost effective as I can with an olds motor.

One quater is basically hung! The other is ready to go. Waiting on the floor pan to arrive so I can get on that next.

 

Sounds like things are moving forward. Cold concrete floors, a large cardboard box flatened helps insulate from the cold a lot.

 

Dang,Man you don't mess around. Your moving quick. I am glad you did not use that nos left rear,I think.

 

If I had a 442 I definitely would have used that panel. You are the lucky one with the car you have! You will really like the panel. But I know you will like it more when it has finally been painted!

 

More pics. have basically got the rear quarter done. Then off to the passenger side. Also have the motor out. Getting ready for the floor pan replacement.

Moving along nicely with a completion date that has to be before June 18th.

What do you think about doing the 350 or buying a 455 already done for $1,200??????? Any Ideas?

 

Good job on the body work!!!!

I cant help with the engine question, because i dont know the prices "over there", but i think you have a lot more choices and options then here in Germany
Watcha want, a 455 Torque monster or a mild street cruiser?
I decided to change to a 455 cause an engine build over here is three times as much then buy a complete rebuild engine....
If i had the choice beween the 455 or the 350, i would go with a mild build 350.....
But thats just my Opinion

I think you come along nicely with your time limit...

So keep up the Good work and keep us posted!
Regards,

Torsten

 

I say you should go with the 455, you will have that or more into the 350 if you do a rebuild. Is the car # matching ? Or do you care one this one? Do you have that fender crated yet ?

 

Sorry not crated yet. Will get it done this week

 

Motor is in the machine shop. Rod bearings were pretty much shot. One bearing was even doubled up (see pic) I Have learned that I have w31 heads (larger valves and they have been nicely ported ect....... worth the big bucks! Motor will be .030 over flat tops, New everything. It's so fun spending the $$$$$$$$$ I think?

 

I have the floor pan ready to be welded in! And today the passenger side quarter will be in primer! I have also really cleaned the trunk pan and will prepare it for paint. This car is going to end up really nice! I'm excited!

 

Got the passenger side quarter in Primer! Removed the door and stripped the replacement door. It was pretty clean........ just some mud where they filled the trim holes - I need those holes anyway.

This is a lot of work! but well worth it.

 

Well ......................got the door in Primer today! Nice warm 38 degrees in Lansing MI

 

Will be working on the passenger fender tomorrow. Will have that side completely in Primer (Hopefully) It has been a good week to get some things done. - Teaching has its benefits - Mid winter break

 

very nice workyou don't let any dust settle on your back do ya!

 

Have been working pretty steadily on the old girl! Has been a labor of love. Can't wait to finally get her done! Working hard! Oh and there is plenty of DUST!

 

the way it looks dust is a flyin" and you ain't wasting no timekeep up the good work

 

Well, Some bad news - at least for the pocket book. I was stripping the passenger side fender and found a mess! The whole lower was gone and it had a lot of bondo in the front nose section. I guess I will be buying a replacement for that side.

Still made some progress on the trunk, door, and passenger side floor pan.

 

Here are some more pics of the door in Primer. And the front floor board covered with POR 15. Also the trunk with a coating as well.

 

Well got the door cut in and hung. The first new paint goes on the car! We also hung the new fender. Man those things are a pain to align! I also transferred all the door mechanisms , glass ect.... Car is coming to gether quickly. Maybe by the end of the month it will have paint on it!

 

Doug you mentioned that the fender was a pain to align, are you happy with it now that is on the car? This is a repop right? Who did you buy it from?

 

Well, Anytime you have the door and the fender off it becomes a major pain to align. Getting the door at the right height and the fender with all the shimming it is a little time consuming for what seems to be an easy install.

I'm really happy with the fit of the fender. I purchased it through Shermans sheetmetal. Nice piece. all the bolt holes are in the right places. Shermans has a website. I bought all my sheetmetal from them and am happy with it.

 

Well got the floor pan welded in! A student of mine did it for me. He did a great job! One of the perks of being a HS teacher I guess. Talk to kids about cars and they want to be involved. Found out he has been welding with his dad since he was 12!

 

Here are some more pictures of the fender installed. Hoping to have paint on the car by the end of the month.

 

Have the Driver side door in Primer! It was a really solid door. So Money stays in the pocket book. The Driverside fender is stripped and also was very solid. Put the hood back on and got it fit properly. spent some time on some little stuff as well.

I am stuck as to how to address the side trim for this "S"
The original has a black hard plastic piece. Most people remove this and just go with the chrome look. I have pretty nice plastic on all but two pieces. Anyone have any?????? LONG SHOT

 

more pics

 

We are getting there! Pretty much have the car in primer! Need to wet sand and button up a couple of spots. Need to get the new trunk lid on the car. Also got news that the motor is done and can be picked up from the machine shop!

Spring is almost here!