Maniac on the Loose yet Again! 67 wagon
#1
Maniac on the Loose yet Again! 67 wagon
Hello, my name is Joseph and I am an Oldsmoholic ..... There I have admitted it! So this Cutlass wagon turns up on Jersey craigslist. Its exactly what I dont need but it is coming home with me. If he didnt get 500 bucks for it, the car was headed for the crusher. Posi rear decent interior, engine original but not running and out. It was a 4bbl low compression 330. Car has factory AC and is complete. Suspension and brake work already done. Body has MINIMAL ROT! How could I pass this one up?
Last edited by Oldsmaniac; July 30th, 2013 at 01:27 PM. Reason: spelling
#4
Thanks ED and Eric, have not taken possession of it yet only gave a deposit till he pulls the Poncho engine out of it. The original 330 will be included and I hope to rebuild and put it back there where it belongs.
#8
Thanks 64, Wes and oldcutlass for the comments. I cant wait to get the wagon home so I can look her over good. You dont see too many of these for sale. I think production of the v8 Cutlass wagon for 67 was just over 8000 units.
#9
I picked up the wagon on Sunday. Have to go back for bumpers as they were stored in a different location. I also need to get original engine and title. Turns out the car took on water during Sandy last fall. Water came up to mid door panels but did not reach the dash. Its pretty dry now with no musty smell. The engine that was under a tarp in the yard was also submerged for a little while so I am anxious to pick it up and disassemble as not to cause too much rust inside. I also want to pull gas tank and drain and rear axle cover just to be sure no water is inside. I still think it is well worth the 500 I paid for it. Dash and headliner are real nice as well as interior except for drivers seat which needs a recover. All moldings are there and pretty nice. I hope to post some pictures soon.
#14
Funny, my buddy said the same thing about my flat top vs. VC. Of course he wants to tub it and paint it Kandy...
$500 bones for a complete car? Now yer speaking my language! Like my mom always said, " good things come to those with ready cash..."
Nice find.
$500 bones for a complete car? Now yer speaking my language! Like my mom always said, " good things come to those with ready cash..."
Nice find.
#17
Thanks again everyone for the kind words. Maybe this weekend I can get some pictures. Yeah this one appeared out of the blue and I passed it off as "forget it I have enough cars" and then the urge took over and then the phone call and then he dropped from 650 to 500 before I even looked at it and said it would be headed to the crusher in a week...
#19
Partially true! But I am still working on the C30 hauler for the 442. The wagon will need to wait till the TC is done. I hope work on the wagon's 330 rebuild in the mean time.
#21
Ok, had a chance to take some pictures today. She aint no prize but I love her! Oh yeah and check out all the PATINA!
Last edited by Oldsmaniac; August 3rd, 2013 at 04:41 PM. Reason: spelling
#27
Thanks guys for the comments on the wagon. I picked up the original 330 today. As I thought it was full of water! Also the sludge inside was the worst I EVER saw. I disassembled it as far as I could. As of now the lifters, cam, distributer, pistons are stuck. Need to mark the rods and see how much further I can get and sum up the condition. Its a good thing the 330 will accept a major overbore! My concern now is the lifter bores... I am hoping to save this engine...
#29
Engine is all apart and as of now I see nothing broken. Lifters were stuck and pistons but not frozen. With some tactical blows I got movement. Now I need to see what I have. The 67 is a Lansing car but has A.I.R. heads with the ports plugged. I see no other hint that this may have been a California emission car. The engine appears not to have ever been apart. I am not sure if 67 330's are supposed to have .921 lifters. This one did not appear to have them but I have to decode casting numbers and see. I just found out my local machine shop has closed its doors after 58 years so i need to hunt down another. I do want to have the crank drilled for a pilot bearing in case the trans is trash and I decide to do a stick conversion.
#30
#31
Hmmm dont really know but it was taken over by a younger guy maybe 5 years ago. Same business name. Guy seemed to be pretty good. Its really the only shop in a 15 mile radius. I am thinking with the throw away cars we have these days the work was just not there? Maybe economy still bad? Seemed strange that when I was having parts machined for the 442 I dropped off the crank and had him order bearings. I paid for all when I picked stuff up like 450 bucks. Then I dropped off the block and gave him pistons for overbore etc. I paid for all when picked up. Then I dropped off heads and he said he needed half $$ to start the stock valve job.
#33
Ok,am hoping a moderator looks at this thread and moves it over to the major builds section.... I removed the rear differential cover today. There was no surprise there as water came out. I wiped inside as best as I could and reinstalled the cover. While I was under there I saw the rear housing stamp, SD. So my book says its a 308 posi but not used in station wagons?? Well its there thats all I can say. Next I pulled the gas tank and it was full to the top with a gas and water mixture. I am glad the tank washed out clean and after it dries in the sun I will reinstall. I also found a roof rack on ebay so that hunt is over!
#35
Yeah thats what I thought till I read this "1967 330s used a 39° cam bank angle and larger 0.921 lifters." 442com I sorta dont believe it as this 330 does not have large lifters and does have #4 heads.
#37
I need to check block numbers to be sure this is a 67 block should I need to replace the cam. The lifters are small and not .921. As I mentioned before the heads are #4's with plugged A.I.R holes. I did drop off the crank for drilling of pilot bearing hole and turning. Seems the 2 shops I spoke with send their cranks out. It would be nice to find a local shop that does things in house like the old shop did.
#39
Thanks ED. I think I will be using the old Andalusia Speed Shop in Bensalem Pa for the rest of the engine work (when I save up some cash). If you can go by looks the place I took the crank to did not impress me as far as neatness and equipment and like I said I would prefer not to use a "middle man"
#40
The wagon is tarped for the winter and still sitting on my trailer. I got a call today from the shop where I dropped off the crank for turning and pilot bearing install. They said the crank was done. I went there to pick it up and it was pointed out to me that the pilot bearing no longer spins. Hmm he did not do the drilling, turning .010 or bearing install and said he should have checked it before he called me. He attempted to pull out the bearing with a slide hammer and jaws and it would not budge. I said apparently the hole was not drilled with enough clearance. He said he would hone it out and get it right with a new bearing so I guess that is fair.... My plan is still to do a stock rebuild on the 330 and install the engine in the spring in the wagon. Time will tell.