Thank you! And it really is. It's sort of taken for granted with most cars. But when you have one that leaks, whistles, and that you can't even wash without using tape to seal the windows, it gets old. haha.

I got a belt that is....gone, screeches like none other. It was loose awhile back and I tightened it. I'm guessing it's the power steering belt? But that's just my guess, I'm not sure. How hard would it be to replace it?
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Replacement is not all that hard, but you'll also have to loosen/remove the AC belt so you can get the PS one on. That belt does look old and a bit frayed. Check the greave section and see if it's hardened, checked or cracking - a sign that it needs replacing. You did the right thing the first time by tightening it - that's usually the cause of a screeching belt. Now it's probably slipping on one of the pulleys because it's so dry and worn out.

 

Well, first, the good news!

Found this at an antique shop for $4, so I figured I'd pick it up. It's the trunk script, and is in better shape than mine! I'm probably going to use it for decoration though, lol.
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Replaced the old defective amp! Now I can really jam out! haha
-before-
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-after-
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I sanded and re-painted this because it was driving me INSANE whenever I was under the hood. Unbolted everything and cleaned it all off, then I masked the car off and went to town with some matte black and matte clear, put everything back in place, and it looks a lot nicer now.
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Replaced the old belt! Plus now all the belts are nice and tight

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But...the belt wasn't the problem!


It also will screech whenever I gas it, and continues once I turn the car off for about a second or so.

C360_2013-07-29-17-38-46_zpsa53793f0.jpg

It's rubbing a little bit I think, nothing major, but it may just also be shot. If I understand right, there's a fan clutch which sort of rotates it and those can go and need replacing? Plus I know they also can move whenever you gas it depending on which way the engine likes to go. Just not quite sure exactly what's causing the problem

 

2 things come to mind.

1) That screeching could easily be the water pump bearings. Fan clutches don't usually squeal.
2) When you took out the rad top plate did you put back the spacers that were on top of the shroud? That could account for the shroud being hit by the fan. By the looks of the pic, the fan hasn't been hitting the shroud till just recently.

 

I didn't even take it off, I ended up leaving it on after I got all the bolts off and just cleaned them up a bit sanded/painted everything, and put them back on. With the entire intention of not screwing things up had I dismantled it all and put it back together, lol. I took pictures of them and put everything back together accordingly!

It still made the sound before I did that though, I'll keep checking to make sure the fan isn't contacting, but that's not the cause of the sound that made me start looking. If it were the water pump bearings, would it increase whenever I rev it? I started it up a couple days ago trying to record it, and it wasn't there. Did it later that day, and it made the noise again.

 

Interesting.
The water pump can make that sound intermittently when it's starting to go. Have you changed out the coolant recently? The coolant is what lubricates the pump. If your coolant is old and scaly, that can contribute to the demise of a water pump.

re: fan ticking. If it was doing that before you did the cosmetic upgrade to the rad support, take a good look at the engine mounts on your car. Also, check the fan and look for any blades that may have a shiny spot worn onto the end. That would be the culprit if you find it.

BTW, you also need some shroud to rad seals for the sides of the rad. It helps channel the air flow. They are not expensive either, but will likely need to be trimmed a bit to fit around the condensor lines for AC. That's just how they are made.

 

Water Pump bearing noise can be intermittent.

The next time it’s squeaking, try this test.
Get a bottle of water with a simple squirt top (dish soap bottle). With the engine running and the bearing squeaking, squirt a little water onto the belts.
The water will act like a temporary lubrication.
If the belts are causing the issue the squeak will stop until the belts are dry.
If the belts are all tensioned ok, the squeak will not change much.
If it’s still squeaking, listen carefully to the location of the sound, your choices are:
Water Pump, Power Steering Pump, AC Pump and Alternator.
Look under the water pump for tell-tale signs of leakages from the bearing hole or fan shaft.

A squeaking pump will last a few months depending on how much you drive the car. If it is the pump and you wait too long, the pump shaft may snap and the fan blades will kiss your radiator.

 

Got a refund from the guy who screwed me over on the Metro, ended up getting $500 back. Learned he still had the car for sale on Craigslist, even though I had the title. Seem weird? It's because the title was basically fraudulent, lol. Glad that ordeal is over!! More money for the Cutlass
I have some tires ordered, and will be getting them installed on Tuesday at my local Monro's. They are Primewell's and have raised white letters. They're pretty good! I just don't have the cash for Radial T/A's or anything. Although at this point, anything is better than this...*cue scary music*
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Update on the noise : Haven't heard it since, even after multiple start-ups. There's now a different noise that's more faint, and a little lower pitched. I'll be looking into it this week!

 

And not a moment too soon. I'm surprised those still hold air.

 

Got the tires today! They are Primewell PS860 's 225/70/14's, better than the ones I had before, they were 205/75's


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C360_2013-08-06-17-30-08_zps8f2ca9dd.jpg


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All I gotta say is

 

Looks good.

 

Starting to look like Al's evil twin. Looks much better!
Cant wait....

 

Thanks all! And haha, it just might turn out to be! I might forgo my flashy orange and keep it the original pewter silver, but that's later down the road! The car drives so much better now, I can't even describe it. Might have something to do with the fact these hold air lol

So I was taking a nice joy-ride at sunset at a little factory complex here...
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Aaaaand this happened...
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Heard the POP, and then the wretched screeeeeeech as I kept driving. My friends helped me home, and I got it temporarily reattached back on with a u clamp. I got a quote from a local shop on the phone for around $70 to just weld and fix what I currently have. I'm also going to see how much it is to put all new pipe and maybe appease my new-found taste. When the muffler dropped, it sounded TOTALLY different. As in, the best sounding exhaust I've heard. It's enough quieter than straight that I can live with it, and so much deeper that my car sounds like it's coming straight out of hell! It's put the thought in my mind of dumping it after my muffler before the rear axle and throwing it down (away from the tires). It's just the positioning of what's holding it up, and it might need some custom fabrication which is $$$. I found it weird that nothing was supporting the pipe until the muffler, and those supports are basically shot on mine anyways, they sway wildly, which might mean the investment might be worth it, even if it were custom? I'm not worried about the rust problem the exhaust underneath would cause, and I enjoy the smell of gas and wont kill myself with it, just sort of testing the waters to see if anyone else has done it or their thoughts!

 

A simple universal hanger from auto zone or walmart would take care of the short term problem. Just bolt it to anything that works. We used to use coat hangers also as an easy fix.

 

Carbon monoxide is nothing to take lightly, and to be honest I wouldn't dump it in front of the axle. Still way too much raw exhaust can make it back into the car especially with any of the floorboard rust issues. Just because the floorboard holes are covered does not mean the gases can't get to you. Dump it out at the bumper. If the extra noise is what you want, try putting a glass pack instead of muffler and call it good.

 

My dad was saying they used to use coat-hangars! haha It's hard to find wire ones nowadays since it's all crappy plastic. I had one in my garage of course, but not on me when it happened! The actual muffler wasn't properly attached to a coupler we used, and it sort of wiggled/forced it's way free. I got it on there semi-correctly now, but the problem was that there wasn't enough of it sitting INSIDE the muffler, and it slipped off. The back of it has putty and tape, so I can't move it forward into the muffler either.

And alright, I've had conflicting opinions, but I'm still trying to decide what I want as well. I heard glasspacks don't hold up for as long as mufflers do, and I haven't actually heard one in person, and I also don't want it too loud. The sound was just SO unique, like nothing I had heard before. It was perfect, even if you'd be choking on too many fumes to enjoy it for long, lol If the quotes for all new pipe run too much, I'm just going to do the repair.

 

They are noisier but they should last almost as long as a conventional steel muffler. Modern glass pack resonators are built better than the ones in the old days. Bottom line is knowing what sound you like. Some on line vendors have samples of their exhaust sounds on various muscle cars.

 

Well, tried to just dump the exhaust to get me to the muffler shop, and that did'nt work whatsoever, even after 10 long grueling hours of trying to jam a pipe down the banged up muffler's throat with everything from a hammer, to a torch and pliers, to a sawsall; no go!

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So hey, I'll just take the muffler off, right?

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Wrong. Another 2 hours just trying to remove the muffler.

So, just cut the bad boy off!

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Then ghetto rigged the remaining pipe to get me about 5 miles down the road to the shop. Talk about LOUD

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New 2 1/2in glass-pack, new pipe, welds, and all for $116 total. This is the only pic I got in the shop. Sounds good! It's deeper than the thrush, but a little more quiet almost, overall though, it's great. And now, I know it is safe! and that's all that really matters

Lesson learned : Never over-tighten exhaust clamps. Ever.

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Congrats on the tires, they look great. Also look at it this way, you have 1/2 of your dual exhaust setup in.

 

Thank you, like I've said, they have really made the car just ride so much nicer. Those old ones were just....ugh. And haha, that is true!!

I went and looked at this thread and have been wanting to do this so badly! But it will certainly be down the road. I love how he kept the old styling, but made it modern. Definitely a resto-mod sort of thing, but I think it really retains the look and feel of the original panel.
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And does anyone by chance know where to find some mud flaps/splash guards for a cutlass? I can find some 80's and 2000's looking ones, but nothing that would go with my car. Just looking for the "Oldsmobile" or "Cutlass" in script. I think it'd look really nice!

 

Nice door panel. IMHO mud flaps are for trucks.

 

Rmsx327, good to see you have the exhaust fixed.

Your interior looks good as it is. If you want to just update the look a bit, you could by some vinyl "car wrap" and cover up the woodgrain. Go to eBay motors and search "car wrap". There is carbon fibre (in a variety of colors), brushed aluminum, lots of choices. And the stuff is quite easy to install. The one I bought is peel and stick. The biggest challenge is making sure you put it on smooth and there are no bubbles in it.

When I redid the interior on my Cutlass, I didn't want to go with the woodgrain, so I found "brushed aluminum" car wrap to cover the woodgrain. (The woodgrain was already missing from the dash.)

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More pics in my build thread.

 

Are you looking for the kind in my profile page picture? They are the heavier rubber/nylon reinforced ones. Also wider than normal to catch crud from the 225's. I think you can get the plain black ones still, but almost no one makes them with Olds lettering or insignia's anymore. The ones I have were bought from Stedelbauer Chev Olds back in 84 and installed right after the bodywork and paint were done. I think they look good on the car too, and they're very functional.

Thar ya go Eric! 1972 Truckmobile S, Might have to put REO badging on it.....

 

I do like the way that looks car designer, I even thought about doing some sort of wrap up top, and maybe taking the carpet off the bottom and putting in the PVC or something similar like he did, and wrapping it with the same material. Then it is still original, but looks modern. I will update if I ever decide to do something though!

And not quite, sort of like this...


But I agree with you, they look very nice, and they also have a function! I'll probably end up getting the plain black ones from AutoZone.

And Allan, you mean *cough* this??
http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/cto/4009056918.html
I do a search on craigslist every day just to see if anyone has any parting out deals that I might have to hit up. But today I was treated with this Frankenstein!

 

OMG!! I didn't think anyone would take me or Eric seriously about that...

Never heard the term 'Cutlass Truck' before, but it actually looks like it's been well engineered from what I can see in the pics.

If you go for the plain black flaps, go with something slightly oversize that will actually catch the crap that flies up off the tires.

 

haha, it definitely was a product of love because that had to have taken a lot of work!! And I would probably get the truck sized ones, they look a lot nicer anyhow!

This is the noise that I've been hearing. I can hear it faintly when the car is driving, and as shown in the video, it continues right when the car stops. Fan clutch?
I also went online and printed these off! (ignore the bad hanging, it's currently driving me CRAZY lol) My favorite site had 11x14's on sale for 1.99, so I scoured the internet and threw some old ad's into documents and modified them a tad, ordered some document frames, and TA-DA! The middle isn't for 71/72, but I loved the ad itself! If anyone wanted the files, let me know!

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Also, got bored and took some random pictures of the car!
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HA hahaha, Cutlass truck. I think through your video, it's time for a clutch. Car cleans up nice.

 

X2. sounds like the bearings in the fan clutch. Check and see if the fan will wiggle a bit side to side - it shouldn't if the bearings are good. You can still run the car with a faulty fan clutch without any issues other than noise.

 

What one would you recommend? I found this, and it seems suitable
http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/de...EPP313701.html
But there's also Hayden, AC Delco, and some others. I don't think it matters too much for this part though, unless you were switching to electric or something.

 

You could probably also find one in the boneyard for around 10 bucks. The one for autoparts will work fine too.

 

Got the new one in while I was away from the house, just installed it today!

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No idea what order, so we did the fan thinking it'd come off, only to see we had to do the others as well. But it made it easier for taking out!
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Old vs New fan clutch

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Fan
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Started it up, and the rattling was still there!!!! I had my friend turn off the car and help me, and I traced I couldn't pinpoint it. I was scanning the car, and when I looked at my air cleaner, I saw that the little piece that runs down wasn't attached to it! Fished down and pulled it out! (hot! lol) But amazingly, that wasn't even making the noise! This was...
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Mainly because it was loose, but I re-attached it and threw a little screw in the hole to attach it, and no sound!
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I've only read bits and pieces of this thread and I just got to say nice job on the documentation, I love the before and after pictures.

 

That is called the stove pipe from the manifold. On 1972 models (look closely at the heat shield) there are 2 holes exactly opposite each other. It's intended for a long cotter pin to be inserted through both holes and then bent. Once the air cleaner is installed the part becomes secure. You can also leave the screw in there if you want - on 1971 models there were 2 screws at 90° to each other - one on the side and one below.

 

Thanks Joff! I intend for this to be a nice thread for anyone else that shares my lack of expertise who is attempting a resto, and for me to look back on and reflect once I am finished (although, you never quite are! right?). Not to mention, it is a very good organization tool, and people like Allan are basically the only reason I have even gotten this far!

-Allan
Ah! I remember my dad talking about that! Gotcha! I'm a typical kid, "well the thing is where that is and then I put the this in the that!" haha There was nothing on there before, and I guess it was sitting loose, so the vibrations sort of kicked it off and it fell down. I've moved it back up there before, this time it just caught my eye and I knew it was the problem once I used it to re-create the noise I'd been hearing. Figured a screw would create some pressure just to make sure it didn't slip again!

Not sure what I'm going to tackle next! She's been running awesome and been getting me to my job everyday, so nothing too big that will put me out of commission for awhile!

 

How about changing out the differential fluid? Probably due if it's 41 years old.

 

I remember you telling me about that when I had the u-joint issues! I'm not quite sure exactly how to do it, but I know it cant be TOO hard *crosses fingers*

 

Piece o cake! Just remember to keep the car level when you do the gear oil fill.

Get a catch bucket that will easily fit under your differential. (oil catch pan usually will do the trick).

1. Put catch pan under center of differential.
2. Start undoing the bolts - start at bottom and work to the top
3. If fluid hasn't started leaking by the time you're almost to the top, leave the top bolt in and use a flatblade to open a gap between the cover and diff housing
4. Let all fluid drain. You will have to sop up some fluid from the bottom of the housing.
5. Clean the gasket from the housing and cover plate. Wipe down any spills on the bottom /side of the diff. (clean and paint the cover plate if you want)
6. Apply a sealer like permatex 2 onto the mating surfaces of the cover and housing. Place the new gasket onto the cover and line up.
7. I usually start the top bolt through the cover and then onto the housing. Makes the line up a lot easier.
8. Install all the bolts and snug.
9. Add 80/90 gear oil through the bung on the right top side of the forward housing. the bung will unscrew with a 3/8" socket extension.
10. When the gear oil starts oozing out the top of the bung, stop and reinstall the bung plug. snug down, wipe any mess that overflowed, and you're done. Your 72 isn't a posi is it? If it is, you'll need to add posi additive during the gear oil fill.

This is an easy 1/2 hour job and your differential will love the attention. Normal fill for a 10 bolt axle is just over 4 pints IIRC. It's in your owners manual.

 

Hopefully it's been changed at least once. I think mine wasn't and it was like scraping pine tar out when I bought it.


Progress looks great. Raised white letter tires always look good on these cars.

I wish I could hear what it sounds like with the glasspacks. I know I wanted to do that to mine when I was in high school.

The mudflaps would be a nice touch, if nothing else to keep all that rubber off the quarter panel when you go to the track. No more having to cover it in painters tape.

 

Hard to say. He'll never know till he cracks open the pumpkin. My diff fluid never got changed until I swapped out the carrier and gears last year and the fluid was still very viscous. Yours was like pine tar? I've never seen gear oil that thick. Sure the PO didn't substitute in molasses?