nice build.. real inspiring, im keeping a look at this

 

The interior does not look that bad! I also own a 72 Supreme but mine is a convertible. It is definately a fun car to drive!

 

Damn nice work. Keep it up, and keep the updates coming.

 

Un-boxing of my new CP/Carrillo Bullet stroker 350 pistons...

 

.....

 

Awesome rebuild, i may be taking on something similar soon, not quite frame-off but a mild resto. Yours was in great condition before the resto, mine wont be in nearly that great of shape, as said befoe your interior looks great as it is. I remember flipping through and seeing "this was my grandmothers car" and a little bit down the page saw a pic of the motor in the car with headers and thinking "whoa! youre grandma rocks!" hahaha
Awesome project, looks like you have very high standards for her, should be a beauty when finished

 

Not much done at all lately (still gathering engine parts). Picked up a set of BFG 245/60/15's and 15x7 rallyes for the rear, and had them painted Silver Pewter Metallic (code #14).

 

wow , everything your doing looks great , that car is going to handle/look great with all them shinny new parts

 

Ken, I should have been following this thread along with Robs. You're doing a fantastic job. Ya also have more space and $$ than I do for your project though. I'm very impressed with what you've done.
Is it going to also have the 'new car smell' when you're done?

BTW, I got the brake lines today. Thanks very much. I'll see if I can get them installed in the spring. Note: did you ever get the DS brake line to sit on the frame? When I put mine back, it sat tight onto the frame. Maybe the mounting clip helps suck it down there?
I'll keep monitoring this thread for 'inspiration'. Now I know there's at least 4 of us who have shared a lot of the same pain - you, me, Rob and Tony.

Now I understand why you claim 72 Supreme is the 'best of the best'. When yours is done, I'd be afraid to touch it.

What's happening with the engine build? Why did you need a new intake; was the old one a 2bbl?

 

Thanks. Not sure on the new car smell, but there is always that vinyl seat smell which seems to last a long time. Space is a bit tight b/c there is the other car beside it.

Never did get the DS side brake line to go flat on the frame. I could have if I used force to decrease the gap a bit, but did not bother (was afraid to screw up the end threads/fittings. I emailed ILT about it, and they said it was normal. Normal overall in general or for just their lines not sure, but that is what they said. In particular... "Ken, talked to a tech about this and he stated that is how that line fits and will not cause any problems."

Very slow on the engine build. I am pretty much out of funds right now, and trying to offload some things before Christmas. It is 'smaller' things here and there I am getting for now. ie. 15x7 rallye rims for the front. The engine is still on the stand not taken apart yet. Once I get new rods, and a few other smaller things like pumps/gaskets, I am 'hoping' to take it to BTR Performance in Rochester, NY to have put together and dynoed. At this rate, that 'might' happen next year. I put my engine together myself the last time around, so having someone else do it is going to be big $$$ for sure,

I thew my original 4bbl intake manifold out stupidly like 15 years ago, then had a Performer RPM put on, and been that way ever since (never could mount the A/C bracket properly though - bolt would not line up). And I had Hooker headers and Holley carb of course. This time around, I want the original engine bay look w/ original exh. manifolds... but with some nice internal engine upgrades. That is why I picked up another original 4bbl intake (from 2blu). I also needed it to lift the engine out b/c did not trust lifting the engine/trans by an aluminum intake.

 

I found (you probably did too) that there is some flexibility even in the OEM brake lines; they will bend/flex without causing a problem. Try undoing the brake line from the hose and then bending it down a bit, or is it just too high coming up the side of the frame? Either way I don't think you will have any issues. There's nothing there that is affected by the position of the line.

When you did your engine the first time ( I know prices have changed since then) did you find it very hard to do? Reason I'm asking is my buddy has an engine hoist, I have a stand..... I can order parts and farm out the heads and block machining as needed. I don't think my engine needs a lot and I really would like to learn to do this myself. The past 3 months I've learned a lot about my car. 72 Cutlass S's are the best however.

I had a great time reading your thread seeing you experience some of the same doubts I had and overcoming them. I was shocked at the condition of the front cowl and trunk though. I sure hope there's something that you can do to salvage it. I didn't see anything about the floor panels - they ok? One of the bad things about reading your post though? I now have this insane desire to take the body off the frame and start over, but the body is in excellent shape with no rust. So I'm thinking: How hard can this be? What did you use to lift your body from the rolling chassis?

 

If it bugs me too much, I might try another source for that line to see if they are the same or better. Or I might take it off and bend it some. More of a gap on the top in between the frame.

When I had my engine completely rebuilt (only a few years after high school), everything was done at the local machine shop (pic below of receipts). It was a basic stock rebuild... but I put a big cam in and it ran terrible with no bottom end at all (stock CR and 2.73's as well). It was actually fun putting everything together myself, and I had zero experience. All I had at the time was the big 1972 CSR, no Internet or anything. Never degreed the cam at all, and do not even recall hearing the term at the time. Complete newbie.

In re to my floors, the fronts are rotted pretty bad IIRC (have not taken the carpet out yet, but it was rotted 20 yrs ago so...). As for the body/frame.... the body is still on the frame. The powdercoated frame in the pics is a frame I picked up about 13yrs ago. My original frame is really bad, just like the body. It rotted in half under the trunk floor, and in half just over the rear wheels on both sides. Roof is really rotted as well. Prob the only thing worth saving (other than hood/trunk lid and maybe the fenders/doors) is the VIN... and welding it into a nice southern shell. I loathe working with old rusty parts, rusty scaly crap falling my mouth and eyes, etc... so going that route seems likely.

Yeah the Cutlass 'S' is ok I guess. However... mine is 'Supreme' and called the Little Limo.

 

I consider all 72 Cutlass models to be top notch! As for the limo?? Naw, only the 4 door Cutlass models (including the Cutlass pillared sedans) were referred to as the Little Limo; and that goes back to 66/67. Yes, I'm that old

 

great work!!!!!
the piston is very excellent!!!!!

 

Hey Ken, any progress on the engine build yet?

 

Nope, nada. Hopefully, within the next few months I can work on getting connecting rods, even if it is one rod at a time. My father was telling me he had a dream recently where I put 12 carbs on my engine when it was done. LOL.

In the meantime, I am working slowly on tires/rims and small parts (like plating bolts, some powdercoating, etc.)... just so I don't go crazy not being able to do 'something'.

 

Ha, he should know you don't put 12 carbs on; you only need 6

Yeah, I know how slow the winter sometimes goes by. Would be nice to see some pics of the small stuff from time to time. I like the attention you pay to small details.

 

Thanks.

One small thing that I want to get done is having my new tail light screws (they are silver zinc - got them from ILT) either plated black or powdercoated black like they are supposed to be (I have never seen black ones anywhere). Then all I need to is find my four old inner red plastic light thingies... then my rear bumper is complete (however I did notice I might have to bend those inner metal tabs over a bit on one side so the housing is not rubbing against the bumper like it is right now). Then the thing might look as purty as yours..

I look forward to the day (year? decade? ) when everything is all pretty, and instead of going underneath and having rusty crap fall in my mouth/eyes and down my shirt... all I really need to do it is dust things with my feather duster. LOL.

As I get things done, I will definitely post more pics... even small stuff like the screws n stuff.

 

LMK if you can't find your inner lense diffusers. I think I have a set of them in the shed. Don't know if I would powdercoat the lens screws though - it might make them too tight for the threads. Have you considered phospating them instead? Some good web articles on how to do it for low cost. I believe that's how they came from the factory. Might have a spare set of those floating around too if the ones you have don't work out.

 

Yep, first thought was black phosphating/zincing the screws black b/c powdercoating the threads is not a good idea. Will likely do it that way if I can find a local plater. Only one I know of at present is in Mississauga, buy they have a $150 min fee. I also need to get my prop. valve screws done as well. Tried painting them, but the paint comes off once you start to tighten.

What I might do is gather a bunch of stuff I wanted plated either silver zinc, grey phosphate, black, etc. and send it off to the same place I had my backing plates done. Steve @ brakeboosters.com

 

Have you looked at products like this?
http://www.eastwood.com/ew-metal-bla...tion-1-pt.html
Looks pretty inexpensive and if it does the trick, it won't break your bank acct. I don't know if anyone here has used it or not. The 4 product reviews for it seem to be positive though.

 

I've just used this product this week in trying to restore some of my underhood bolts. It looks good, however, it isn't as black as I would have thought. It comes out more of a dark grayish/blue color. I used their metal wash product on the bolts first, and then used their tumbler system with the green media to clean all of the bolts first.

 

Try soaking the bolts in hot used motor oil for 1/2 hour or so. I read somewhere on the web that this helps bring out the black color. How you heat the oil will be up to you though.

 

Soak them after you paint them?

 

No, the soaking in hot oil was supposed to give the bolt the color of phospate, thereby eliminating the need to paint it. This was a supplemental idea for oldzy if he decided to use the Eastwood product and wanted a deeper color.
I'm still looking for that article; it's been a while since I read it. I know there are other products on the market used to phosphate bolts. This article from the Mustang club suggests using WD40 afterwards http://www.mustangmonthly.com/howto/...ing/index.html

 

I just picked up a really mint set of 1972 Ontario 'doctor' plates (DX XXX) from eBay for only $11 and change. They appear to be new actually. I am assuming they are 'doctor' plates, as I read that a few times on eBay and at another old car site. It is a bonus b/c the original owner of the car was our family doctor. He is long passed... and our current family doctor is his son.

I called the MTO about their availability, and the rep said they were NOT available.

So I emailed the fellow (Eric) over @ http://www.yomplates.ca to see if he knew of any similar plates, and to let me know if he came across any. I got an email shortly after from him saying the ones I got from eBay ARE available. He went through the trouble of checking it out online at the MTO site, and even printing a screencap. Very nice of him to do so.

So once I scrounge up enough $, I will likely have them registered.

Even though my current ownership shows my 'personalized' plates on there now (expired like 10 years ago)... I am assuming they will still be in my name if I put new plates on.

 

Here is an interesting # only pair...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/140678043522

 

Looking good so far! Wheels look great - new rubber as well!!
Can I have one of those awesome looking pistons to keep on my desk? Look too pretty to hide in an engine........
Can't wait to see the 12 carbs... I think of the Munster's ol' T-bucket!

 

ok, you can have one of the pistons for your desk. Conditions are that you have to dust/clean it daily, and talk nice to it... tell it... it is a good piston... and a pretty piston.

 

Getting things done very slowly this year. I managed to get my dash to brake pedal ASM bracket PC'ed. This is the local shops version of 'flat black', but it has a nice sheen to it.

Here is a first for me though... the part is stamped 'Made in Canada'.

 

No surprise really. Oshawa was a major player in the Olds production back then too. If you look at the SS11 and SS111 rims? Almost every one I've seen is stamped "Made in Canada". So IMO GM simply had contracts out with various suppliers in both USA and Canada.

BTW, nice finishes on the parts. Too bad no one will really see them though.

 

Wow, I just joined and we have a 72 4dr Supreme. Your restoration journey is awsome! Can't wait to see more!

 

just put some more paint on it , and that 6 letter word will go away

 

no way eh

 

Hey Ken, is that your new ONT personalized plate in your avatar? I thought you were looking to get a 'historical' plate?

 

Nope, just for shts n giggles. When you go through the online personalized plate program to check for personalized or YOM plates, they give you a 'preview' screen with this pic.

I already have a personalized plate (had for at least 17 years). Also the recent YOM 'doctor' plate I picked up. It will be either the YOM, 'historical', or my PP. Not for sure yet which one.

 

I think the old YOM plates are friggin awesome!

 

Yep, they are neat.

BTW, I see 'oldzy' is taken in Ontario. I b wondering who has it.

 

I am guessing you? lol

 

Nope. I was guessing YOU actually.