Hello All,

Figured I would share my project. This site has been an amazing resource. I am lurking on it daily.

1972 Cutlass Supreme that previous owner slapped 442 badges on and bad stripes. It has a 350 Rocket 2 bl(replaced blown original 350 4bl) that runs great.

Had my mechanic inspect prior to purchase and he thought frame could be welded and patched. I was not looking for a show car. Just safe driver. Got two opinions and both said frame was to far gone and to find another frame.

Found a nice rolling repainted vert frame with some new parts(body mounts/suspension parts/ect). Waiting on cost estimate based on frame swap and some driver floor/trunk work. May have stripes corrected, depends on $ and how upside down I want to get. I may try and tackle painting engine while it's out of the car.

It's keeping me up at night!

 

a few more pics.

 

Looks nice. Too bad about the frame. I see someone put snaps on the trim for the boot.

 

With the frame like that how is the body beneath the paint?
Good luck with it.

 

The body looks pretty solid. The story is it had the body and paint done about 8 years ago. One rear quarter was fixed(see in the picture) and the other has a little bondo at the bottom. This was the only spot that failed the magnet test. The body beneath was sprayed with some sort of rough paint/covering. I've added a picture of what it looks like in the wheel well. Seemed to neglect the frame though.

I am also up to any thoughts/lessons learned..

Here is my punch list:
1. new brake lines/fuel lines
2. New booster and Master
3. New gaskets while engine is pulled.
4. possible replace exhaust manifold or refurb current ones
5. fix floor plan/trunk
6. fix transmission linkage boot - slight drip now
7. Rolling frame has new drums so no disc upgrade as of now.

 

You may find out a lot about the body when you go to remove the body mount bolts. If you have frame issues I would start soaking the bolts liberally with PB Blaster for weeks before you decide to remove them. Don't ask me how I know? Great looking car. It is so easy to work on chassis parts while the frame is out. I would carefully check all of the suspension bushings on the donor frame. Front and rear Control Arm. Also it is a good time to look at the steering components and the dreaded upper ball joints. These are reasonablely
inexpensive to replace but very labor intensive with the body on the frame. Do you have any pics of the bad areas in the frame? Your car looks a lot like mine!

 

Sweet ride Sampson and thanks for the tips. You got the white interior I would like to have.. The saddle work, but I may try and tackle that next year!

I will not be attempting the frame swap.. A little out of my comfort zone and really have zero time.

Below are a few pics of the frame when I had it on a lift. The mount holes on the frame where in rough shape as well, but I did not get pics of those.

 

I'm surprised the 4bbl carb/intake wasn't swapped onto the 2bbl engine. Would have been a simple swap and matched the original throttle linkage.

 

I used a brush on rust converter in the inner side panels (like inside the doors) to stop further damage and then an encapsulator paint over it. Got it from Eastwood.com. While you got it apart you may consider it. Its a nice looking car. Good luck and post pics of progress.

 

Nice looking car. To bad about the frame. It really needs a lot of work or replaced. Think safety. It's not a hard job with a way to lift off the body. On the other hand, the magnet test serves about nothing as the previous body man may have riveted (or worse) metal over rusted holes and then covered them with body filler. The magnet or refrigerator magnet will still stick if the covering is not thick.
Anyways good luck with your car and let us know how it is coming along.

 

Just a quick update. I made the leap and bought the frame. Read many stories about "better to buy done than do yourself", but with the body being in good shape i went for it.

I will address as many area as possible while the car is apart from a rust standpoint.

Hopefully the body will not need a bunch of work so I can focus more of my budget funds towards the items you all had mentioned like steering components..

I will post as many pics as I can through the process, but will be tough since I'm not doing it myself.

Thanks for all the tips guys!

 

After seeing the pics you posted of your frame I think you made a wise choice. Where did you get your new frame from?

 

I got the frame about a mile from my house believe or not in RI. It was part of Buick restoration. The frame had been sandblasted and repainted. Seemed like fate. LOL.

 

Pic's of the frame..

 

Nice car and good luck with the build. Hard to believe from the pics that it was born Sequoia Green with a black top.

 

Is that what the Tag decoded too? I keep finding the saddle bronze in some areas. I guess it had a couple of repaints.

Thanks for info CO!

 

Yes it was originally Sequoia Green with black top, saddle in color interior with either a conventional (notch back) bench seat (A52) or Strato buckets (A51). I can't make out if it is A51 or A52??

A rather late build with a begin build date of the 4th week of June 1972 in Lansing, Mich. Your body unit number is 30,818 more than my body unit number also assembled in Lansing but during the 1st week of June 1972.

 

Looks like a nice score on that frame! If you decide to do any ball joint or control arm work while the body is off you will need to invest in or rent a spring compressor. Getting the springs back on mine was a bear because there is no weight on the front end. Keep us posted

 

The shop started the frame swap on my car. The frame was worse than we thought when we lifted the body off so good thing i got a new frame. But, the tragic part was the body. The term, lip stick on a pig I think fits here. I thought we had a good body to work with, but under all the undercoating hide several surprises. Attached pics speak for themselves. Just a mix of emotions going on but clearly past the point of no return. New Floor pans and trunk pan will be going in.. And all my money will be going out...

Will be learning the lesson, It's cheaper to buy the build the hard way but at the end of the day, I hope to have a safe car to enjoy with my kids.

 

more pics

 

Ouuuch! Man that sucks! After going back and looking at your first posts of the body it is really unbelievable how bad that frame and underbody are. You have your work cut out for you. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

I know it is a major blow but don't panic, survey what you have, prioritize what needs to be done now, what you can do , what you need the shop to do, etc, seems your already on your way, you got the frame, so that's the back bone, your doing the floors and you will need to do the fuel and brake lines with body off if not done and the body mounts .

You might ask the body shop if there are tasks you can perform to reduce labor costs like wire wheeling etc I suspect most would say no due to insurance but some will allow you to build some sweat equity. I too am worried what is under that nice paint but take little bites your going about it the right way, make it safe, priority one what makes sense priority two... etc we are here for you

 

Oh my!!

 

OldsRI - just take your time and keep telling yourself this is the car you wanted. I recently bought a 1970 442 (check out my build thread) and it was a lot rougher than I thought. To me it is just a matter of how much more it will cost and how much longer it will take to get done. The people on this board are amazing, so you will get a lot of help and support. I live in MA, about 30 minutes from providence if you need anything

 

Thanks for all the words of encouragement and advice.

This board has been great. I will keep posting pics as I move along.

 

Making some progress...

 

Before...

 

Making more progress. Trunk work...

 

New frame is all set up with new brake and fuel lines. All four drums and components installed. Will be doing Oil pan/valve cover gaskets/tranny service and seals this weekend. Drivers and passenger side floor pans going in this week.

Spent several chilly nights degreasing and wire brushing the engine while it's out. Found some great tips on cleaning the engine on here.

Hopefully tonight I can scrub it down with some dish soap. Then seal it back up and hit it a few times with some denatured Alcohol for final prep for engine paint.

Think Bill Hirsch is the way I want to go. I've read good things about Duplicolor Universal gold, but will kick myself for not throwing the extra bucks out.

I have been on this site for the last two weeks straight researching.. Awesome Info guys.

 

Great progress! Man you are turning lemons into lemonade! Keep up the good work

 

Scot, the 4257 and 4267 only had seat options A65 (split bench with armrest) or A51 (Strato bucket). This cars cowl tag is A51. It was the Cutlass (f85 2 door) and the Cutlass S that had the A52 split seat without armrest as standard equipment.

Unfortunate series of events you ran into. Just found this thread and had a read through it. You're doing the right things and will have a nice and safe car when it's all done. What plans do you have for the finished product? Keeping it red or are you going to go back to factory colors? Best time to decide is when it's all apart and you have access to the jambs, cowl and inner door panels. Your car looks a lot like Steve's.

I'm also guessing you have a ton of work to do on the suspension - changing out worn bushings, ball joints, brakes etc? Do you know what kind of rear gears the donor rolling chassis has?

FYI, here's how your cowl tag breaks down. Scot already told you most of it.

ST 72 - 1972 model year
3 - Oldsmobile division
4267 - Cutlass Supreme convertible
LAN - Produced at Lansing
542674 - Fisher assigned body number. Not related to VIN. My body number is 442325 and it's a first week of April 1972 build. (note: All assembly lines had fisher body plants nearby where the bodies were welded together and many interior trim parts were fitted prior to being shipped to the final assembly lines.)
TR 979 - Saddle themed naugahyde interior. Naugahyde is often mistaken for leather.
PNT 48 B - Sequoia Green (fairly dark) lower body, Black convertible top.
06B - Fisher build code. 06 = June, B = 2nd week. So your car started being welded together at Lansing Fisher body works during the 2nd week of June 1972. There are locations on the cars original sheet metal that will confirm this.
A51 - Strato bucket seats



VIN:
3 - Oldsmobile
J - Cutlass Supreme
67 - body style: convertible
K - 350 4bbl single exhaust @180hp. Standard engine for the CS
2 - model year check digit - 1972
M - letter code for Lansing production
255487 - production sequence at the Lansing Assembly Plant (note: assembly plant is NOT the Fisher body plant) Your car was the 155,487th A body produced at Lansing. VIN numbering starts at 100001.

I doubt you'd be able to find it with all the rust, but there's actually a VIN derivative that matches your car stamped into your old frame just in front of the rear wheel hump. If the new frame is from a Buick, the VIN derivative from the donor should be easier to find.

 

Thanks guys...

Working on that lemonade.. LOL!

The car has strato bucket seats. One of my wifes requirements was it was either blue or red, so the change back to Sequoia Green ain't happening. I think that is a sharp color though..

Most of the suspension parts were new or close to it on the roller chassis I got. We also had some new bushings on the old frame. So we took the best from each and got it ready to roll.

Did some additional cleaning on the engine last night watching the B's smoke the Canadiens! Over the course of the last few weeks I've wire brushed with my drill and now cleaning.. Do you guys think this is clean/sanded enough for paint to stick??

Thanks for any input.

 

It might work ok. I'd spray it with some brake clean and then hit it with compressed air to clean some of the areas that hold grease.

Before you paint, here's a tip. The valve cover grommets will come out quite easily, so will the choke plate and disty cover. You can stuff a rag in the openings to stop paint entering.

Something that most folks don't know is you don't have to tape everything off. Use ALUMINUM FOIL to 'mask' off the parts you don't want painted. The foil will mold/contour nicely around those parts and it's easy to remove when cleaning up. I'm not a fan of painting the distributor, TCS, oil fill tube or the water valve at the back. The pulleys should end up being black if you're going for an original look.

 

Thanks Allan..

Would you do the Brake cleaner as last step before painting?

I am going to try and keep it as original as possible.. I will not be painting anything you mentioned other than possibly the oil fill. The last guy had spray painted all the brackets gold. They will be going to the original black.

I broke on of the choke lines to the carb. I will try and get the plate of this weekend prior to paint. I've researched the site and replacements are not easy to come byy.

 

The brake cleaner was suggested to get some of the grease and gunk out from areas that a wire wheel and sandpaper simply won't access. I've found that BC literally dissolves grease and gunk, and washes down the area really well since it's a pressurized spray. I also use an old toothbrush to help any stubborn areas - just douse the area/brush with BC and have at it. Don't forget that wire wheels and sandpaper will get contaminated and spread a thin film that you may not detect with your hand. I'd still wipe down the areas to be painted with a tack cloth and degreaser solvent before going to paint.

re: choke tubes? They actually are easy to find for replacement. If you want OEM stuff, there are several guys on the site who have these parts - just we don't know where you are so I don't know who to recommend. (*maybe put your location under your avatar?) The 2 bolts holding the choke plate will come out better if you heat the manifold around the choke plate first. A small propane torch will do the trick. Don't heat the bolt, heat the manifold.

If you want aftermarket choke tubes, look at In Line Tube or Fusick (P56 of catalogue). ILT is less expensive for the same part.

 

More progress....Floors are in..

 

And I got the engine painted. Bil Hirsch gold.

Starting Engine re-assembly this week! Come on Spring!

 

Very nice work! Were the floor pans difficult to cut out and weld in? I may be doing a partial job on my pans.

Keep posting.

Sean

 

Got engine back together and I think I got the Vac hoses back on right. Had to go back and blow up some photos I took on my phone. LOL...

Also cleaned up the inside of the bumpers while they were off..

Boiler, I am having floor and trunk work done by a local shop so unsure of the difficulty. But I think they came out good.

 

Hi OLDSRI,
Just found your thread and you are doing an awesome job!! Where in RI are you located? I'm in N. Scituate. Here are some pics of mine.
Thanks,
Fred