We came across the Vista Cruiser rather serendipitously. I was hunting down someone that I could trust rebuild the 425 in my original cutlass project. I came across an ad the local olds club website describing a 1965 Vista Cruiser that the owner wanted to go to a good home. The add itself was well over a month old but I contacted him anyway. The gentleman initially just wanted to donate the car to the Olds club where it was posted (turns out we were both former members) but since no-one showed any interest he was about to post it elsewhere and sell it off. We came along just in the nick of time.
A deal too incredible to pass up, the owner only wanted $25.00 for the car. The VC was his father’s car and just wanted it to be in good hands. Sight unseen we made the purchase and followed the former owner to the dusty parking garage where it sat in dry storage for 7 or 8 years. We had it flat decked home.
All of the stainless trim is present and in excellent shape. The glass is all perfect except the windshield which will need replacing. Being an f-85 VC the car has little in the way of options and a basic trim level.

 

Looks like an intact solid project car at a dang good price!

 

kudos to him for making sure it went to a good home instead of selling it to a scrap yard for more money!! i couldnt believe how many lowball offers i had on my old 89 lebaron convertible when i was trying to sell it they wanted to give me scrap value for it and melt it down i was like hell no id rather give it away for free than have that happen to it!!

 

Congrats on a super deal

 

Awesome save....buckets, tach and console....do you plan on fixing her up? If not, I can give you a 500% return on your investment!

 

Pic of the buckets/console/tach is of another car I think. Henry

 

For $25.00 how can you go wrong? Lots of work but definitely a keeper (unless there's a lot of hidden rust not seen). BTW, is that a 67 steering wheel? Looks like it's in remarkably good shape. Didn't think they had 3 spokes in 65

 

Nice find. Congrats!

 

I must have bad Carma I never come across deals like this. Congrats

 

Whoops! the buckets / console / '67 steering wheel pic is from my coupe project!! The car is actually the usual bench seat, column shift. The floors in the car are probably 95%. 3 small patches up front and one in the underfloor rear compartment. The only nasty area is below the rear side glass. I figure the whole section has to be cut out and replaced. Anyone with a 64/65 VC / sportwagon donor car?
We are focussing on the longroof since it's actually a lot cleaner than the coupe. The car is filthy on the outside from sitting in the parking garage but otherwise not too rusty. The spare tire well is crunchy but the rest of the panels are clean with only surface rust. The hood needs to be replaced but all of the other sheetmetal is definitely useable.

The drive train appears to be functional however my best friend described the engine bay as looking like it was left out in the rain for a few years. The 330 has surface rust on everything but at least it’s complete down to the original air cleaner.
The Restoration Plan

In a nutshell, we were thinking of going with the bone stock look with steelies and redlines, disc brakes at all corners and a set of lowered springs to put her in the weeds. The car will be slightly less perfect than its 2 door hard top siblings so we can keep the costs down and we expect to put a lot of miles on it chasing parts for the other two cars.
My lovely wife is taking point on this one - we're going with ocean mist for paint and retain the white interior. The carpet of course will be black, matching the perfect dash. We are going to keep the vintage 8 track player installed and forego any type of modern sound system.
The teardown has already begun. We decided that once the VC specific glass is out we will make a pattern for it and likely have a few sets produced for the other ’64 – ’65 VC builders out there.

I would like this car to be able to tow a heavy load – possibly a car hauler and not miss a beat. Heavy duty everything – rad, trans cooler, rear end.

 

Unbelievable find....yours sincerely, totally jealous

 

So I had some time over the last few days to blast my doors, hood, fenders and inners between other paying customers. The hood is toast but everything else looks useable. I might steal the mint one from my coupe project but then I'd have to find lower wheel line trim for the whole car if I do. The door bottoms need some attention but the rest looks pretty good. Front doors are easy to come by but rear VC doors are rather specific.
I have approach anxiety about removing the glass so I've been putting it off. That and the dash and all of the elctrical. That stuff is so tedious. The tailgate is still attached too so that will be this weekends mission.
Soon I can haul down the rolling to my shop and separate the body from the frame and blast all of that goos stuff.
I should already expect my first round of powdercoated parts back from my buddies shop.
enjoy the pics....

 

few more. Also wanted to say thanks for the congrats from you guys. I would trade this good fortune for your knowledge and talent any day. Thanks for thencouragement

In the next week or so I should have it at my shop for the big day.

 

WOW !! wagon brother, If I was in combat action I would want you right next to me. If I can be of wagon tech assistance give me a shout. May the force be with you.

 

OK, so I should be bringing the car down to my shop to be blasted likely next week. I am thinking ahead to the drivetrain and I've been on the fence with regards to going big block or rebuilding the 330. Its a 2 barrel car so I'd like to put a 4 barrel setup on it at least. I have never rebuilt an engine before so I will be leaning on you guys quite a bit.
I will be putting a lot of mileage on this car when its finished. Can anyone recommend the best drivetrain combination (trans / rearend gears etc) for best fuel economy? Assume That I will stay with the 330.

I figure my good fortune with the VC offsets the $2400 I spent on my Royal mist coupe - basically I bought some paint holding together body filler and rust in the shape of a car...

 

I just bought a flat top 65 wagon for 500 bucks that has all of the goodies I need for the VC. Its actually in much better shape. So naturally the question is do I cut it up or restore it too?

 

Open Channel "D", I just raised the antenna on my pen.

 

We are so lucky to be Oldsmobile fans, this is another example of a great American car.
I will be following this thread, keep the pix coming.

Has anyone every counted how many different models of Olds are considered collectable? I'm guessing it's a long list...

 

I would say save the flat top. They are nice wagons and increasingly
popular. However, that does not solve the parts problem. I think another person on this site had a bunch of Vista parts from Texas. Not sure about the years. I think he was on the thread for 1969 Vista parts wanted - frame, etc. His thread was from 2008 but someone responded recently with many parts cars in Texas. I had a loaded 65 Vista, great car. I will be surprised if you can create new Vista glass for the 65 - 67 body. People want glass but hard to get what they are worth. If that works, I suggest making the 68 - 72 glass because there is likely a larger market. Open Channel "D"! Trent in Los Angeles.

 

"Open channel D - overseas relay..." Apparently there is a feature film in the works with George Clooney as Napoleon Solo.

That is a tough one. I'll talk it over with my lovely wife and see what shakes out. The flat top has a sbc which I will unload in a hurry and drop in a proper olds engine. It has more options too. That is of course if I don't cut it up. Do I need another project? No. Do I want to save this car? Absolutely. I only have a 2 car garage and right now I have the VC and my 65 coupe project in there. I'm storing my Jaguar at the inlaws house while they're away and I have another rust free 65 coupe on its way from Nevada.....

The Buick pics below inspire me to build either the VC or the flat top in a similar manner. This car is running an LS1 I believe. Sold for 20Gs on cars-online.
I'll need a template for the 68-72 cars. I'll keep you posted on the flat top - going to see it tomorrow. Its a 4hr drive.

 

Both Vista Cruisers and flat top wagons are way cool. I'd save them both if you can. If not, decide which one to keep, get the other running/driving and sell it as a project car to another Olds nut!

John

 

take what you need off the flat top then sell me the rest for say like $25.

seriously good luck on your builds!

 

Maybe it's just me, I kind of like the traditional approach to putting on a cool set of wheels to a stock car to make it pop

 

So we just got in from our all day on the road trip too see the flat top. The car is incredible! No rust anywhere except a bit on the bottom of the driver's fender. Front Bench is fragged but everything else looks decent. Door panel will need replacing.

We decided on the 4 hour drive home that we are going to get this car fully operational by summer. She runs and drives well now so I'll just do all of the proper roadworthy stuff and paint. We plan on enjoying this one while restoring the others. I have a customer with as set of torq thrust Ds for sale...

We're picking it up on Friday. I took sucky pictures today so hold tight.

 

Sounds like you have 2 wagons to work on now. I'd put the VC on hold someplace where it's protected from further deterioration till the flattop is done. If it's still a project in waiting when I move out to the coast I can try to help you with it. Looking forward to the 'sucky' pics.

 

Hey, Allan,

I look forward to it! I'll put the coffee on.
How this car remained this clean in the NW is beyond me. Door bottoms, frame, floor pans - all rock solid and clean. Its a factory AC car too although the system was removed when the engine was transplanted I guess. Right now there is a functional chebby 305 in there which we will leave for now to keep the car operational.
The plan is to get her running in top shape, strip it to bare metal at my shop and repaint it factory colour to keep it simple.

Here's the 'sucky' pictures - I guess I was too excited to concentrate and just took random ones. Expect a full set next Saturday when we get it home. I guess I should start a new thread - the VC is on hold...

 

Thats awesome, how is it nobody wanted that?
What local Olds club?
Nice to see someone get a car deal like that who's interested in that car!

 

What a cool car! Congrats on the new addition to your driveway

John

 

Congratulations on the finds, both of them, these wagons are now in an appreciative home, rather then being sent away as salvage metal. If I can toss my hat into the ring in way of power train choice, a nice 4-barrel intake with a decent spread-bore 4-barrel carburetor will work nice, along with a free flowing dual exhaust. The transmission could be a mildly built up 200-R4, it has a very efficient power flow, and nice gear spacing - 2.74 1st up to .68 in 4th. The final drive could be in the region of a 3.42 or so, giving a nice balance of pulling, and if you have to leave the lever in 'drive' while pulling heavy stuff, the 3.42's will work, but not have the engine screaming. The nice thing is, that when in overdrive, the .68 4th gear in the 200-R4 drops the final drive to 2.32, really nice long legs on the open road, about 2000 RPM give or take. As for the engine, it is really how much you will be pulling and how much oomph you want! Hope this helps, Howie

 

I did say I was indecisive...Tomorrow I go and bring the flattop '65 home. However due to the logistics combined with the space issues I've got, it will be parked in the back yard until I can figure out where to put everything. As clean as the flattop is, it will have to wait. In essence, the VC is well underway so we're going to see it through.

 

Great to see vistas being restored

 

Looks like you wasted no time getting it stripped down. The floor pans look pretty solid - just light surface rust? Dash looks incredibly good! At this rate you'll be done before Chuck Norris can whip the forces of evil. Impressive progress!

FWIW, I agree the VC should come first. It needs the TLC more. If you listen closely you can hear it saying nice things in the background

 

Indecision... that's the problem having more than one project car

But I'm glad your still getting the flat top, that looks like a cool car too.

John

 

LOL story of my life.

Just think Napoleon Solo, by the time your done with the Vista you'll cruise right through the flat top.

 

Its already happening! I stripped my first coupe we bought Labour day weekend and then stumbled across the VC, THEN I find an awesome deal on a rust free factory A\C 2dr ht cutlass in Nevada. What was I to do? Buy it. The flat top of course was going to be the potential parts car but far too nice to cut up. I acquired 4 cars in an many months. Nowhere to put 'em. Nevada car is still there though.

Looking forward to showing all of the progress - I'm further along than it looks. I just have to get the pictures posted. Yes the floor is super clean but the PS rear window edge is rotten.

Stay tuned...

Solo out.

 

Just went through this whole thread, nice cars have. As far as putting the flat top in the back yard, it's better than having a trampoline there. Seriously, before you park it, put some type of plastic tarp down, so that the floor pans don't start to rust out.

 

Hey mike88, I have a huge concrete pad out back. The car won't be out there long enough to even get a little rusty.

We drove from home to Wenatchee Washington and back yesterday. Round trip is about 8 hrs. On our way through Stevens Pass it was looking a little scary on the return side - one lane had 4 inches of snow on it and the other was slushy. I was hoping by the time we were heading back it would be cleaned up. Luckily for us it was. With truck, trailer and wagon weighing in at around 9000 lbs I was a little nervous about being able to stop the freight train in the twisties.

On the way, we had a ramp come loose, slide out and catch on the only narrow tunnel on the road. Fortunately it was just a loud bang with a piece flying off and the ramp being bent into a smile. Naturally being down one functional ramp made it interesting to load the wagon. Of course I forgot my tie down straps. We scrambled and bought some locally and finally we got underway.

When we came back through the pass it was clear (see pics) and the rest was smooth sailing. Mostly. Our plan was to overnight in Marysville and cross the border with the car at 08:00 in the morning. We got up early and went for a quick bite. We decided to clean out the wagon quickly before heading up. Marysville is about an hour from the border so we wouldn't be stopping again. We get to US Customs at about 09:00 only to find out we can't export the car - Its a national holiday! I didn't think of that. Trying to figure out what to do we realise we can't find the keys to the wagon - I may have tossed them in the trash in Marysville. We left the car on the trailer at a P.O. station and drove an hour back praying that the keys were in the trash. They were. Our daughter was running the shop for us today but we expected to be there by noon.

In essence we stayed in Marysville again tonight and we we bring everything home tomorrow.

What we Oldsmopeople won't do huh?

For those interested expect a new thread on the flat top wagon very soon.

 

The electrical is all out, dash tomorrow and then the glass. I am dangerously close to bringing the car down to the shop for blasting. I haven't done much to the car until recently cuz I had surgery done to my hand.
Is anyone interested in a vintage Kelsey-Hayes trailer brake controller?

 

Hmmmmm? maybe?

 

The VC came factory with a 2 barrel carb. My question is - is there any mileage/economy gain by switching to a 4 barrel? If the difference is minimal I'll just rebuild it the way it is. Again, this car will see lots 'o' miles.

I attached some pictures of the vintage Kelsey Hayes brake controller. It's in really good shape. The internals look like new. I just have to wipe it down and clean off that bit of surface rust and its good to go. There was no local connector so I had to snip the wires but I left enough meat to work with.