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I got the pump swap all figured out. Then I remembered that I still had a broken cable tie in the tank. With those internal baffles, it took forever to get it within sight of a tank opening, Finally did and sucked it out with the detailing vac. The tank is only 3 yrs old and clean, but I wasn’t sure if I may have left something behind. So….washed it with concentrated APC, hot water, steam bath, etc and blasted it out. Now speed drying…..
And now I’ve noticed that between a tank install, reinstall, and all the swiveling it just did on entrance mat…..the powder coat ground off. I may get to paint the tank after all.
And then I fell off the face of the earth for almost 3 years. Sorry to anyone who was following, Life circumstances called me elsewhere. I should’ve at least FYI’d any folks who were following.
But I’m back and determined. Losing 3 or 4 seasons of cruising memories was not ideal. SO…..I’m gonna get this car back on the road by next season come hell or high water.
First thing was to get the fuel tank back up, That whole thing went way too well, My Fitech controller hadn't been powered up in years.. ALL the settings were still stored! Once I got the manifold wet with a few prime shots, it started right up. EVERYTHING worked first try. Pinch me I must be dreaming. Just had to tighten one AN fitting, That was easy plumbing.
Just like I left it Original power steering pump and gear. I didn’t wanna mess with the pump. Noticed Lares and Rockauto had the 2080 WITH reservoir again. $200 done. This will be stored with all the other original parts removed.
The new pump is on. Now I must finally select a steering gear. Finally confirmed that the old gear ratio is 17.5 to 1. (Thanks Joe P! ) Was thinking it was 16/13:1. That means to MY Cutlass brain, a mere 1970’s 14:1 steering gear, with no center slop, might feel pretty good. So Im considering popping for a new Lares 10970 and calling it a day.
The car had 60k miles on it, when Dad brought it home in 1983. The odometer had just flipped when I put it on stands. Now reads 00279.1. So of those 40,000 miles, I probably accounted for 35,000 of them and my Dad the balance. I was driving that thing aggressively at times on curvy county roads as a youngster. Squeezed whatever I could out of it, And that was on standard duty Sears type of shocks. Miracle I never lost control of that thing. But I tell you this, driving those old cars teaches one how to REALLY DRIVE.
And I just realized HOW I was actually driving it through the years. One handed, FULL TIME. And the only reason I could do that was because I had Deluxe Bench Seat with Center Armrest. With the armrest down, it kind of cockpits you. And more importantly, it gave me something to hang on to with my right hand, while driving with my left. I could never drive aggressively with my hands at 10 and 2. One hand had to keep me in my seat. 😁
My Dad had these recovered once, but didn’t get new cushion foams or whatever. I had been considering buckets as a given upgrade. Now I’m not so sure. This is unique.
It turns out that my 3 year break was a good thing. I’m mellowing out just in time. I’m going for an all original looking cruiser with a few mostly stealthy day 2 (or 3) tricks. I had threatened once to change the color scheme of the interior. Not gonna happen. Not spending time and money to change colors of an original dash in a 100,271 original mile car. Exterior lacquer will stay as is too.
Only regret I have now is the 2 1/2” x-pipe exhaust. Performs beautifully, but just doesn’t sound right. Drones badly with the 330 at boulevard cruise speeds . It’s oversized for that engine. At some point, it’ll be changed to a custom fit h-pipe setup downsized to 2 1/4. I can also see from the CSM that my pipes are sticking out a bit too far. I’ll fix that that too.
Contacted three transmission shops to get the ball rolling there.
Got all my MOOG front end stuff. Assembly looks pretty straight forward. Went with the heavy duty idler arm. Beefy looking sucker. Was that a good choice? No Moog center link, so got a Proforged. Oldscutlass made me aware of that brand. Kanter has one too for about the same price. Maybe that one?
Also cleaned up this area, before bringin er down.
And I did but forgot to take a decent pic. Mainly painted the engine with KBS Olds Gold. It went on lighter looking, but hopefully will be seasoned by a hot engine.
Last edited by Rocket Fire V8; Nov 13, 2024 at 02:49 PM.
So far so good! I did one lap around the block. All new steering felt good. Everything worked, couldn’t believe it. Tracked straight at 20-25 mph anyway. The old suspension however….still old and still bad. The good news is that I’m taking it to the suspension pros on 11/15.
They will:
1. repair my bad body mounts on the rear, will require welding in new braces
2. New rubber body mounts everywhere
3. Standard front end rebuild with Moog and 1/2” taller ball joints
4. Rear rebuild….. new bushings in the upper arms, old lowers will be swapped to 442 style braced lower rear arms
5. UMI 1” drop coils on rear, and Eaton Detroit 1” drop coils on front.
They started on it today, a Friday, I picked up the front arms and rear uppers. Will give them the Vintage Chief treatment this weekend, Except I’m not using easy off, Still have some goo-be-gone.
Long story short…..All that awesome stuff got done. I drove it back from the shop on a cold day…..and the brakes were magically subpar. Now I’m halfway through a cruising season, car sitting there doing nothing, and just now addressing the brake problem. The longer this winds out… the older I get…the worse my lower back gets, the more I realize I’m working on a car and never driving the car……I’m starting to think about SELLING IT. Yes, the fantasy is turning towards a simpler life with a freed up garage space. I’m hearing the sell whispers and I’m beginning to listen.
I'm right there with you. A few years ago I purchased another 72 U code Supreme similar to the one I had in high school. I worked on it for about 3 weeks and realized it just wasn't fun anymore, the looking for parts, being mad about how expensive everything is now, etc. Sold it not long after that and I'm still thankful.
Yeh, now I’ve been getting a crash course in brakes. This is my first time changing master cylinders and bleeding. Pain in the axx. Thought I had it. Firm pedal without engine running, Fired it up, Pedal went straight to the floor, Lord have mercy.
HOLY BUCKETS OF JETFIRE, BATMAN!! Hell to the yes! What a difference a day makes. So….i changed the master cylinder to a drum/drum unit from Fusick. (Power assisted of course.). Finally learned how to bleed a master and properly bleed all 4 corners. Gravity bleeding was all it took. Filled the tank and went for a cruise. Got lucky….don’t need to adjust the shoes at all. Doesn’t pull to either side when braking. Tracks straight and true. Heaven! Big, top down, smile on my face. Grinning ear to ear.
This was the first time since having all that steering and suspension work done to actually experience the results. LOVE IT! Steering is just dead on awesome. The 14:1 ratio was the right call. That plus the beefier Moog components made it perfectly firm. Thrilled! The massive body sway is gone. Nice controlled ride. Zero need for a beefier sway bar up front. Zero need to add a sway bar to the rear. Woo hoo!
I’m selling the car. Changes in my personal life have dictated that I no longer have the time or interest in this obsession. It’s going to be a GREAT cruiser for somebody, but it just no longer fits my reality. I’m not yet sure of asking price, but I know I’ll never get back the time and money I put into it. This is probably always the case with this hobby. If anybody wants to inquire directly, hit me up at….. 67keeney@gmail.com.
