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Hey guys been a while since I have been on here but been pretty boring at work so I thought I would start another thread with my wagon build. I have had a 72 Vista Cruiser for a couple years now that was a pretty fully loaded wagon, disc brakes, power windows, power bench, A/C, 455 4 bbl, chrome tint roof windows but not a 3rd row.


It was sitting in storage waiting on me to get working on it. As some of you know I got moved from San Antonio to Las Vegas and it stayed out in texas. Then I got it hauled out to me so I can start working on it. It has a fair bit of rust issues but it ran and drive. Smoked like cheech and chongs van but it ran good after I swapped an HEI on it and had the carb rebuilt.

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Well one day I was surfing facebook wagon groups and a gentleman in Fallon, NV was parting out a 71 Vista Cruiser. I was asking him about all the metal I needed for my 72 and then we decided it would be cheaper and easier just to buy the whole damn thing. After about a 16 hour day trip there and back it was in the garage. Body is VERY solid with a couple rust spots but the problem was it was on a gasser frame. So my buddy Louis Ames (AmesOlds on here), who I got the 72 from, drove out to Vegas from san Antonio. We did a body swap in 110+ weather out in the front yard and it took about 3 days, LOTS of water and Gatorade and Dr. Pepper but we got it done with new poly urethane body bushings.




End goal with the wagon right now is a flat/matte black top with an ebony woodgrain bottom. NO chrome showing at all, instead of chrome I am going to be painting it in a high gloss black. Drivetrain plan for now will be a 455 bored 30 over with multiport EFI, with a t56 transmission attached.

 

Well done Tom

 

Then I picked up a set of wheels to use besides the BLVD American Racing rims (18x8). I painted the centers satin black and the trim gloss black, testing the waters to see what I like before getting them powder coated. Fronts are 14x7s and the rears are about a 15x11.

 

For the next wheel I went with a flat black and then I added a clear coat to the gloss black on the trim for that extra contrast. man you can see the difference between the 2 wheels for sure. MOST likely going with the flat black coloring or a matte black instead of the satin

 

Then I was originally going to put 2004-2006 GTO seats in the wagon but with it being a 4 door I figured having the seat lean forward like a 2 door would look silly in the long run. So I found a set of G8 seats that a buddy of mine upgraded in his G8.


I welded in some after market A body brackets in case I either didn't like the way the seats worked or down the line someone wanted to change it back to stock then they would be just bolted in and don't have to worry about readjusting everything. Also this is my first fabrication job in a car, except the angle iron I welded in to hold my core support together on the rallye lol.


Seat tracks on a g8 measure about 17.25 inches, the front bolts on a body bucket brackets are 13 inches in the front and 14 inches in the rear so I had to make a sorta L bracket to make up for the track width as seen below.

 

Still need to update the drivers side as I did it a totally different way and it was too bulky and heavy. But here is how the seats look once they are mounted and bolted in.


Also, I have started tearing out the interior to get it all redone.

 

Thanks for all of the pics Tom! I like those flat black wheels, they look bad@$$!

I wish my yard looked like yours, I hate mowing in the summer!

 

Nice job Tom!
Good idea on the body swap . It's ALWAYS easier to start with a good body , than to try to fix a rust bucket .
How did you lift the bodies on and off ?

 

Lifting the bodies on and off was a combined effort of 2 jacks some pavers and a bunch of stacked wood on the jack lol.

setting the body and lining it up was ratchet straps attached to the truck, the fire hydrant and the house lol

 

Sounds like an episode of Roadkill!

 

The neighbors must love you

 

It was very roadkillesque lol.

and i was using part of his property with his permission to do the swap. Also one of his hall and he helped😀

 

And all of that in 110 degree heat ! Congrats , you deserve the classicoldsmobile medal of honor !

 

do you already have a t56?

 

Yes i do already have a t56. Found one out of an 06 gto. But could always use another one if u have one 😀 as this ine needs a new counter and input shaft

 

Nice job. Wow was the fella building a Vista gasser? That would be unusual! Are you selling parts off the left over body?

 

I have no clue. Did find change as late as 2000 so...

and as of right now i need to see what i need for my wagon and it is also in another state.

 

I'm wanting to go back to a bench seat and I rarely ever use 6th gear so I'm likely to swap the t56 out. I want to sell the whole setup if I do since I won't need the bellhousing anymore either

 

Might be interested. Hit me up with a pm and maybe we can work something out.

 

This is a cool project!
Thanks for sharing.

 

I am in....

 

Very cool. Reminds me of the frame work i did in the same time period you guys did. Love the gloss black trim idea.

We used 2 cherry pickers in my case and i cut the pallet my tool box was shipped on in half for support.

 

I have a question for coppercutlass and sicky olds.

I noticed in the pictures when you both removed the body from the frame you supported the body with cinder blocks. Was this because it was convenient at the time? I've heard cinder blocks shouldn't be used to support heavy loads. Is this true? Just wondering...

 

Wow we think the same LOL

 

Placed properly, cinder blocks are very strong.

 

Cool. Thanks for the pic Eric. I guess you just have to use your tools right for them to work properly.

 

I stacked mine the wrong way but they held up fine and we did leave the cherry pickers in place as a fail safe.

 

I read someone else doing it with the cinder blocks and was like eff it if it worked for him then why not me, also they seem to hold up buildings fine . In hindsight and if I was to do this again I would have used more 4X4s or different lumber, the ones we were using seemed to be cracking from the weight.

 

Now that i have finished installing the seats, i have worked out a deal to get the interior done. here are the colors that i have gotten it down to. With the Dakota Digital gauges though i am REALLY leaning towards the blue accent color. MOST likely will be going with a black carpet, the walnut and blue seats and walnut and blue door panels. The blue really changes tints when its not in the sunlight also. Samples should be ready by mid of the week.

 

Those aren't "Cinder blocks" they're concrete blocks and FWIW there's a world of difference in strength

 

So i finally got an update from the interior guy awaiting samples of the seats to try to see which I like better. Which do you guys think? Also what colors would you do for headliner, carpet, dash pillars, etc. I have a vague idea of what I want but would love to get fresh ideas

 

I like the choice on the left. The perforated leather in the pic on the right is the same type of leather in my wife's Kia. It's seems more modern to me.

If you're going with one of those two choices for the seat material I would suggest either black for your carpet, headliner and pillars or perhaps a brown or tan.

 

Either material looks good to me, is one more comfortable than the other? Otherwise Istick with the non-perforated as mentioned by Olds64.

Agree with black carpet, headliner and A-pillars. I have a peral interior and black interior car. Both have black carpet and other trim options. I think with these old cars too many interior colors confuses the eye

 

What I am thinking is, and need to see what looks good in person, is the walnut with the blue color. then on the door panels and dash do the same color combo. Then black headliner, a-pillars, carpet, kicker panels, etc.

 

Interior guy sent me a pic of the walnut and blue on one of the seats. YEAH.... I think I like it

 

 

lol Richard Cheese , Woo ah ah ah ah . Nice wagons Tom , I kind of liked the brown with the red combo on the samples .

 

I did to but with the Dakota digitals I have it wouldn't match well with the blue lighting lol

 

The gf went and looked at the seat combo yesterday, from day one she hated the idea. she hated it in the pictures too. but when she saw it in person she liked it. cant wait for this interior.

 

So after waiting forever for my interior that was only supposed to take about a month. Someone "broke" into the shop and messed up only my interior and the guy who is doing the interior's sewing machine. So I am not happy, cause on top of that they also busted out ALL the glass on my 70 cutlass and left it out in the desert. Fortunately it was at the shop so the interior guy was in possession while it happened so it will not affect my paying for it that route.