Hello - I am a new member and was asked to start a thread on the new projects page of the 1970 Cutlass Pace Car I am restoring. I joined the group to seek help and meet other enthusiasts who have restored and own. I found this car advertised locally. It was advertised as a Pace Car. Certainly did not look like a Pace Car when I found it with only traces of white showing. This is my first Olds project. I would certainly like to ralk to other Pace Car owners to get the striping and lower paint correct. Plus the engine is original but the engine compartment has been "messed with". Thanks for the opportunity to share

 

there are a bunch of pace cars here in the Chicago area not sure if they are on any of the boards though.

 

Hi and welcome, Pretty solid car to start with, I almost bought that car from a real nice guy named kenny and I think it is this car on the pace car registry # 79 4267 M296641 Bill Armstrong, Little 500 6F30 5H19.

Take you time with that car it is a special piece a real track car. I had a whole basment full of parts to complete that car, nos quarters and a rust free drivers door, sold the quarter ironically to a gentleman in Chicago with a Pace car.Still have the door if you need it. The only reason i didn't buy it was I just did't have the time to do it justice. I am in Clarence NY.

Good find and good luck

 

Yes - that is the car. Yes it was a good solid car to start with. the quarters are fine except for a scrape on one side at the top of the molding. Found doors for the car. I always liked the looks of the 70 Pace Cars. This is the first Olds that I have restored. If you saw the car, you saw the original engine and how the A/C had been taken apart. Missing the suction and discharge hoses. Hopefully when the car is finished I will take it to the Olcott Beach show some year.

 

Good luck, sounds like a great car to restore. Full restorations are a TON of work, but with patience and persistence, it's about the most rewarding thing you could possibly do.

 

Good Luck with your pace car !!!!

 

Haven't posted new photos yet. The restoration is moving along. Picked up my wheels and mirrors today. Codes on the wheels are MA. I'm working on the frame - front suspension and rear.

Original engine, 350 4 barrel will be hgoing into the shop soon. Was wondering if any members have any suggestions on what cam or other modifications to make to have the Pace Car be a good driver with a bit more performance.

I want to thank everyone for their comments in all my posts. This looks like a great group of Olds fans

Brad

 

Love hearing about 70 pace car finds. Would you have any history on the car as well as the vin??
Thanks keith

 

Sorry should have read a little closer. Let me help you with some history. I have known the car since the mid 80s a good friend of mine in elida ohio owned it at that tie,. He sold it and then restored his 70 442 pace car. Since then hes restored other pace cars.
Thanks

 

Yes the car came from Ohio. I bought it from a collector who had it as one of his projects. He did not do anything with it that I am aware of. When he dropped it off at my house, it had no brakes. I bought it last year. Took a year to find a painter/ bodyman that I was comforatable with for the car. An Olds guy. My main painter is tied up right now and I wanted to move forward. It is festival # 79. Vin 4267M296641.

 

Looking forward to seeing this one come together.

 

Went to the body / paint shop today. The painter, Joe, is doing a great job. Firewall and floor pans are in primer ready for paint. Hardest issue was the floor was rusted under the back seat. The rear window was broken and moisture had gotten into the rear seat area. Tough area to work on but it looks like new now. I have followed the work of Oldzzy in London, Ontario. Wish I had his skills.

I'm working on the frame, suspension, rear and related parts now. Hope to put up more photos soon. I'm sure I will have lots of questions. I plated the drag link in black oxide or the bluish black color. The front sway bar was bare metal under the mounting clamps. Is this correct, natural color ?

thanks Brad

 

Here is a photo of the body in the ship

 

Working on some of the smaller parts. Here are some photos of the Power Steering Pump. The aluminum cover is dated 070 1970 and the main box is casting date 68 - Julian dates of the 70th and 68 th days.

The sway bar brackets appear to be natural. Covered in a lot of grease and underneath looked like bare metal.

 

Put the rear differential all together. Ready to bolt up. A lot of the numbers on the rear - Axle code is R2 - stamped on the passenger tube but facing to the rear. On a flat surface on the pumpkin is the date C17, my car has a build date of third week March. A casting date seems to be 33 - March 3rd. Other numbers AB, CFD 5 and 402227.

 

The body is coming along nicely. Here are a couple of photos from the paint shop. first is the body before primer. Then in primer

 

Meanwhile I am working on the frame. rear differential getting done

 

I am having a hard time posting photos. Each time I get a message that the upload failed. Tried posting from both my cell phone and camera

 

You may have to resize them for them to load. The acceptable size(s) are listed on the load page.

 

pardon my lack of technology skills, but how do I resize the photos

thanks for the help

 

Here are a couple of photos of the car in the paint shop. One getting ready for primer. The second with the high build primer on the car

 

Awesome....Looks like a very solid car. Glad you saved it.

 

looks like its coming together quickly. great job!!

 

Nice job i am following the build more pics.

 

Loaded the frame last night and delivered to the body shop to reunite with the body. Here are some photos

 

Here is another photo of the frame before being loaded

 

Joe did a great job of getting everything set up to put the body back down on the frame. Used both saw horses and the rotisserie jacks. Absolutley a careful and meticulous process. Because it is a convertible, we decided to put the body back down before paint. The whie color is the sealer

 

Went to the shop last week. Color is on the car. Looking nice, very straight. Looking like a couple of weeks till I get the body back

 

man i am jealous,,,,,,,,,, you are a couple steps ahead of me. get some more pics up when you get the chance. charlie,,,

 

im a little jealous too. you are way ahead of me and i have had mine for 2 years! Although mine is in much worse shape. im finally looking for a rotisrere (sp) thought i could find one used after someone was done with it so i could save some money as well as maybe help someone out , where did you get yours?

 

The rotisserie belongs to the painter. he has a nice set up. That is his shop in the photos. My garage is not nearly as clean as you can see from the frame photos. he also used a tractor with a front bucket to blast the frame.

My other photos that I post would be of some of the detail stuff like the power steering pump.

 

Looks great !!! keep up the good work

 

Here are the A/C Evaporator box and the heater box. Cleaned detailed and just before installing in the car. Used Mother's Back to Black on the A/C and heater box. Also used mag wheel polish to polish the aluminum lines on the A/C evaporator

 

beginning restoration of the front dash assembly. Should the dash have a chrome strip around the outside. There is is groove alont the top front of the dash and around the sides. hard to tell if a strip was glued into it at some time

thanks

 

yes there is a chrome moulding/strip that goes in there. mine is still there but the finish has worn off. i forgot where i saw reproductions{ i was lucky enough to find a nos one} but i know they are available. maybe parts place or tamaraz. i am sure one of the guys will chime in. i gotta tell ya your resto is coming along great and fast. i will be starting to do my dash next week. keep up the great work!
charlie,,,

 

Fusick has them.

 

Thanks for the feedback. That is what I thought but was unsure. Oh well, one more thing to take care of. One surprise I had when I got the car back was overspray on the rear, floors, and frame. Ended up pulling the rear. Repainted. Had to clean up the e-cables and brake lines. Didn't count on spending three weeks redoing everything. A redo takes longer than the first time, lots of stuff to mask off. Plus cleaning up the brake and fuel lines and masking them off. Getting too old for this stuff.

 

Here is a photo of one of the inner fenders before going on the car. Tried the oven spray suggestion to clean the bottom - one layer of grime, one layer of green paint overspray ( on top also ) and another layer of grime. Cleaned up well with a lot of scrubbing. Also used Mean Green cleaner and acetone. Finished with Mother's Back to Black. These are dated on the bottom, guessing this looks like January 1970

 

The shop that painted mine did the same thing. I specifically told them I had painted the whole frame in Chassis Black and wanted it left that way. My front end was all powder coated. They got overspray on that too.

I'm sure I'll run into you somewhere. I usually do a power-walk through the Syracuse Nationals on Saturday morning. Maybe you'll be there. I can't bring myself to spend a day there, much less park the car there for a three day weekend.

 

First show that I usually go to is the MG Car Club Show in Farmington. Usually lots of cars. And lots of classes.