JCMC64

Another Matte Silver



Here is what metallic silver faceplate looks like-




Btw, I removed the temp dash insert and put in a even smaller one to do
some more test on.

JCMC64

I painted the cowl underneath part where the wiper linkage lives, as there was overspray from the car all over it. I prepped it and hit it with Satin black.

Then installed the wiper linkage with the proper wiper transmission linkage bolts (these were missing on the car and I went to junkyard and acquired the right ones and installed them)




I made a template for the shifter plate I will need. After mocking it up out of paper, then cardboard, my next prototype will be out of balsam wood.
At least I will have a template to give someone when that time comes.
I painted cardboard silver just to see what that would look like. I can cover real top plate with whatever I want, even wood grain if I go OEM.


Pic above was just a quick mock up.

Well, Im going to wrap up this thread for a while. Ive documented tons of stuff, and now is just the visual stuff left you easily see when looking at a car. All the hard work you don't see so easily has been done. Its to the point where its just finishing the interior, and getting it painted, putting exterior finishings back on, then choosing what wheels to go with. I will take pics when its all done and post the final product, in say a year or so. Adios amigos.

orismedic

I went with brushed aluminum on my gage cluster and I loved it. Im doing the rest of the wood trim in it. I also love your exhaust, it is how I want to set my exhaust up.

JCMC64

Cool medic, any pics? Like to see it (aluminum gauge plate ) Thx.

orismedic

here are the pics

JCMC64

Very nice medic...excellent job. As crafty as I can be at times, that would be a tough one for me to pull off, without screwing it up at some point!

Allan R

X2 on the cool factor. Is that a plastic or metal appliqué? IMO it matches the AC dash controls and small bezels almost perfectly!

orismedic

It was made out of a brushed aluminum door kick plate I got from Lowes.

JCMC64

Latest update- Door skins on and primed. Rims blasted and painted, with ultra clean centers with new emblems (these are the stock 14s...15s are up next)

Allan R

Looking good Jim! Looks like mostly it's just cosmetic stuff left to do. Do you have and end goal date in mind?

Mr Nick

Good call on not using GTO seats, if you're looking to save weight, they are tanks. They also sit pretty high.

I'm running seats from a Hyundai Tiberon in my Cutlass, and I fit pretty well. I'd like an .5-1.0 of head room though, especially with a helmet. (I'm 6'6" 225#)

OldSoldier

Great build! You are making one fine machine, keep it up!

JCMC64

Thx gentleman... End date? Well, that is all budget related. I got to be creative from this point forward. Since the body work is 80% done by previous owner, Im going to try my hand at prepping it for paint the best I can, then see what the damage is from there paint job wise. Im closer, but still got some work to go. But your right, its mostly cosmetic from this point.

Nick, yeah, I got the weight reduction bug big time. The car is so damn fast stripped down, its a blast to drive. With all the weight reduction at this point (not by design) its got to have similar effect of adding some decent HPs to the car. Be interesting to figure out how to calculate that...how much HP added per say 100 lbs of weight reduction. Or maybe that is HP not lost due to weight. I wish I would of listened to Allan regarding those Fiberglass fenders Copper was selling. I was just too overwhelmed at that time, and didnt jump on them . For now it will be a hybrid build a bit till I figure it all out. I love the stock look of these cars, but not the weight!

SO...Im going to try and keep her light where ever I can. I just went through my parts room setup where everything is stored. Man there is allot of weight in that room!!
This is really going to be a challenge on keeping it light as I can. Just havent figured this part out fully yet.

I got Suburu Impeza cloth velour seats in it now that are pretty damn cozy...and super light. WAYYYY better than those stock Bench seats that arent comfortable and weigh a ton.

dfire25

I noticed in your pics that you have front and rear disk brakes. What brand did you go with and do they fit with the stock 14's?

dallas0593

Great job on this resto so far. I literally spent the whole day yesterday reading every post. Your hard work is something to strive for once I get the car I want and restore it. Just wanted to stop by and tell you great job and keep up the great work. One day after all is said and done you will look back and say "yea I did all that" . It will make all the time and suffering well worth it.

JCMC64

Dfire, I based it off Right Stuff Rear disc conv. But I acquired the parts individually myself from different sources to save money. Ex: I got a closeout deal on the calipers, same set that right stuff uses- 79' El Dorado calipers. I saved about 175 from their kit they sell on their website. This allowed me to then get all stainless brake lines with the savings. My whole car has been done this way. But it takes a lot of time to keep searching for cheapest parts. And yes amazingly they clear the 14" rims, but barely. Right stuff recommends 15 inch rims minumally. I did buy a set of 15" SS2/3 rims and they didn't clear anymore! This was a learning curve as I couldn't believe the 14s had as much clearance as the 15s , but it's true due to the design of the 15's versus the 14s which I've learned through the process. The 14s are more square where the 15s are more rounded where the caliper sits in the rim. Myself and the local olds guru in in my area helped figure this out. You can use spacers too if your not using super wide tires which will really make it clear without worry(we will soon see as I got some 275's for the 15" set.)

JCMC64

Thx Dallas! I tell myself that everyday!! I cannot begin to tell you how much work this is. But I love it. Very glad I did it. But to be honest if I had to do it all over again, I really don't know if I could! When you're on a tight budget and have to do everything yourself, of course you learn so much more, but it's a lot of wear and tear on ya. But I got a secret weapon, my son who is now going on 14, is going to start doing some of the grunt work!

dfire25

They do look really tight in the pic, but as long as they fit. I have heard that about the 14's fitting better then the 15's. I'm planing on going with 17's anyway, but I would like to keep one of my 14's for a spare.

I'm planing on going with The Right Stuff four wheel disk kit with the red calipers and drilled and slotted rotors as well. This is the reason I ask. Your right though, they do say to use 15" or larger rims.

Mr Nick

I've heard a loose rule of thumb is 100lbs is equal to about 10hp.

Allan R

Hmm, if that's the case I am around 200 and some HP!!

JCMC64

Nick, thx for the input. If true im around +40-60 HP. But that won't last very long . I did recently read about fiberglass bumpers The damn Bumper mounts and braces alone are some decent weight. I still haven't figured out exactly what I'm going to do re weight. But I'm starting to get an idea. Long term goal will definitely be to reduce weight wherever I can including fenders. Being just a cutlass S gives me lots of flexibility.

Allan R

Jim, you can actually get the whole front clip in fibreglass, doors and partial quarters too. Rocket Racing has a lot of what your end goals seem to be. Check out the link.Not sure about the work it takes to fit everything though. If you do go that route, you'll likely be able to recover some of the cost with the sale of the OEM fenders and hood..

How do you like this? Just needs to be trimmed for pin on hood. You'll also lose some of the weight for all the bumper brackets and some (no longer necessary) front end components...

JCMC64

Thx Al, yeah I found that site few months back and went through it contemplating shaving weight.

Just quick update...redid all my gauges again. After lots of experimenting I went with flat white interior and reflector. What a difference over the light sky blue painted innards I did. Also had the 15" SS rims blasted and powder coated gloss black. Came out awesome.
Ive done dozens of smaller projects, getting closer to paint every day.

Post pics this week of gauges. Trust me, skip the blue paint and just go flat white.

Allan R

So they came out quite a bit brighter with the white? Interesting you say to go flat white. Any particular reason for flat? Just curious.

JCMC64

I went with flat because original light blue was flat not glossy. In all the gauge cases I've seen (I've got 10 at the moment), they have been all flat blue or flat dingy white. I've also read some grow room articles about reflective properties of different materials including flat vs glossy. Flat just feels right. End product is awesome. No more dull blue hue. I got one more test to do- fresh flat white case and blue fresh reflector ring. Blue on blue just doesn't work for me, even though some original gauges are setup this way (I've seen orig gauges done both ways.)

Alex72cutty

Looks good!!!

JCMC64

Thx Alex.


Here is pic of the redone gauges. The Fuel gauge is yellow due to temporary old lens. Speedo has new lens. My old camera finally broke...my temp new one is not up to par imo. Got to do something about it. I don't like the pics it takes. Its much more uniform in person with naked eye.


I also repainted some other housings the silver color I like and use from time to time. Original housings I painted white to match
the repop tic toc tach housing for final assembly. So I got flexibility which way I want to go when that time comes...all ext white housings or silver housings if I want to paint tach housing silver . Its all in the details!

Also check out the badging scheme on the fenders I did...I always liked the this style 70' Cutlass S fender badges. New Script and S emblems. Better pics to come.

Allan R

So the "S" badges are not the ones that originally went over the body side trim? Nice job, I think Olds should have done that in the first place and just eliminated the body side moldings. Much cleaner look.

oldzzy

Those gauges look awesome! Did you change the bulbs too?I like the look of the 70 "Cutlass" script better than the 71-72 as well, looks not as fancy.

JCMC64

Thx fellas.



Body trim S badges-- S's are not on a 71' Cutlass S for some reason. There is no "S" on a 71' on the fender, just the script emblem. The S is on the stone shield and on the body sail area behind rear window. All three years are different - 70, 71, 72 when it comes to "S" badging. 70' Fender S is under the script emblem. On the 72' it is as you state, next to the script horizontally...or I have also got quite a few pics of them in the molding and many of the repop parts stores have the body molding version of the S emblem for 72's thus the weird cut S emblem to go over molding you see out there... at least from my research on all of this for a dozen hours. The 71' missing the "S" on the fenders is pretty lame imo. But I do like the look of the red and chrome S on the stone shield.

So now I got it the way I like it, best of all worlds. The S in the body molding is too lame, cluttered up as you state.


I kept the same LEDs as earlier in this thread. So yeah, already swapped them back the first time I redid the first set. Just swapped them over to these gauges to test em. And I totally agree 70' Script looks best, looks like real "muscle". But adding the red and crome "S" looks really good in comparison to fancy 71' script alone, which is a bit high brow alone. When I ever I see the Donks out there and the Cutlass scripts I always go "ew"! S emblem looks so much better. and they should of added for cool factor.
"Stay Classy" and some beef.
I just couldn't put 70's non script on a 71' as I thought that would be pushing it too far. But Id love too!!


This is what I like best- 70' Rallye 350:






HERE IS WHAT I DID

JCMC64

Mocking up emblems and Freshly P\C 15" rims and 275 tires. You can see I put a temp dash pad on since its going to be a while for paint.

JCMC64

Cutlass S line up emblem wise:


1969 -









1970

JCMC64

1970 (cont'd)

JCMC64

1971 -

JCMC64

1971 (cont'd)








Stoneshield




REGARDING the 71' Stoneshield emblem-- like I said before I also have pics of allot of supposed 71' "S" that have a normal rocket emblem instead of the "S" emblem. Don't know why, that's above my pay grade...but I wonder if some of these pics I got of people claiming to have "S" are something else...F85s perhaps?...or did they have both stoneshield emblems in 71' for Cutlass S...??????
All I know is there are allot of them out there.

JCMC64

1972 -

JCMC64

PS....they do not repop the stoneshield "S" emblems for 71's !!

JCMC64

Some updates since June...chrome Edel valve covers, braided SS fuel lines. Had to clean up the overspray on the head gasket areas.

JCMC64

I replaced crappy alum header gaskets that blew out over time. Used Remflex gaskets that fixed it right up. Awesome gaskets.

JCMC64