So I bought this car from a gentlemen in New Jersey who happened to see my other 69, stopped by, mentioned he had a parts car he'd sell for anything over $200. I said $210 and he was happy. All said and done, with truck n trailer rental and gas I'm in it $475. I was gonna use it for parts (and still will use the interior for my other car) but I'm actually gonna register and plate this car and drive it. No frame damage, so why not? Anyway, it was side swiped about 20 years back, the guy bought it for parts for his 69 vert, and ended up driving it for a few thousand miles instead of stripping it. The transmission was rebuilt about 300 miles ago. A few years back a tree fell on it and crushed the majority of the rear body of the car. Anyway, lets skip ahead. I changed the plugs on the car, poured some gas in the float bowl and she fired up. Today I put a small gas can in the engine bay and ran a line from it to the fuel pump and got it running on that and put it in gear, drove it back n forth a few feet. Current to-do list: bleed brakes, rig up a driver-rear light, new rubber fuel lines and filter, oil and filter change, ect. I plan to have it registered and plated within two weeks.

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At the right angle you can't even tell!
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Uhmmmm.......why? Is it safe to be driving that on the road? Safe for you and others? I can't see it passing NYS safety inspection.

 

Wow! I like it, just the way she is. Good Luck with her.

 

Just a little sheet metal massaging and it will be good as new!
Really if the frame is good and not too much rust elsewhere, why not.

 

That looked like snow on the ground in the pic. I noticed the car has no back window. You will need to bundle up real good on those chilly mornings. What are your plans for the left rear taillight brake light area?

 

Take a porto power to the roof and the rear quarter area so you can atleast put a rear window on it and a deck lid. Besides that she looks like a real peach. Looks like my kind of project. Ultimatley you need a roof , lt. rear quarter , dr. side door .

 

HA! I garuntee its safer than half of those rusted out plow trucks with giant metal knives on the front cruising around I've gone over the car, its rust free, all the damage is cosmetic. I have a house in NC, NC doesn't require safety or emissions inspections on cars over 35. I walk in with my shiny clean title and walk out with shiny new plates.

Thanks man! I agree, it might be battered but its probably the cleanest OG 69 I've ever seen, when you leave out the wreck damage

No rust anywhere luckily, she was bought by a little old lady, and after about 60K miles she got too old to drive and pulled out in front of someone. her kids sold the car to the guy I got it from (second owner) and a tree fell on it in his yard. Its been babied. I'm actively looking for a 69 body shell to transplant.

Yessir, upstate NY, coldest winter we've had in 20 years. I'm still working on a window solution. currently a toss up between Seran wrap and lexan

Plan is, back it under a tree and hook a come-along to the tree, and to the crushed sheet metal and crank it back into shape. I just hope another tree doesn't end up on it again in the process

 

Oh, and if anyone's curious heres a video I took today after I got it fired up on the test tank. Since then I've gotten the crushed trunk lid off/out and aired up the tires, and drove it about 20 feet to check the trans. Once the ground drys I'll bleed the brakes and replace the rubber fuel lines n see if we can't get it running on that. Theres also a couple vids of my other '69 on my channel and a build thread is up on here from day 1 you can read thru if you'd like.

 

 

I'd be renting a porter power ...
And it would be Straightend out
Enough for a new deck lid
And to put a rear window in .
I think it's still too good for a parts car
As long as it' drives well + passes your state inspection
That's otherwise a nice clean car I'd be very
Happy to own dents and all!!!!

 

Not bad for $210!

 

looks like a car "Tickle" from "Moonshiners" might be drivin, or Ricky from the Trailer park Boys

 

Eh, I was thinking use it as a pickup truck, El Cutmino

Haha yeah, I couldn't believe I got it for that. It'll be a lot of fun

TPB! I've seen every episode of trailer park boys like 10 times now. That was part of what gave me the idea to drive it haha. I watch moonshiners too, Tickle is hilarious. I think I'm gonna throw some pretty knobby tires on it and do some off roading, probably not any Dukes of Hazzard bridge jumps but hey, I can dream

 

Well some bad news. The master cylinder leaks (I expected that, but it seemed to hold dry for the last few days). I yanked it out and I'm waiting on the other one to arrive at the parts store, hopefully around 5ish. it'll be too dark to get anything done but atleast I'll be ready for tomorrow. I also need to pick up fuel line and a filter, can anyone tell me off hand if I'll need 3/8 inch rubber line or 5/16? I have 5/16 but its too tight to get far over the barbs on the fuel pump inlet and the metal fuel line in the engine bay but I don't wanna buy the wrong size filter. Line is cheap, filters aren't. Also, I have these old school firestone town and country snow tires that have no dry rot that are going on the car, to aid in some light offroading lol.

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Another update! No pics though. Today it was raining horribly again but I wasn't gonna let that deter me, I only have until Friday to get this thing close to roadworthy and make a decision to get plates or not on my trip to NC. I got the new master cylinder in and bench bled it (installed on the booster, no lines hooked up, used bench bleeder kit to bleed it on the car). Worked out well, the brakes feel perfect so I'm calling that done. I also got the fuel line and filter in the engine bay replaced but its so soggy I can't safely put the car on jack stands in my dirt/gravel driveway to slide under and replace the sender-to-metal line hose and throw a few gallons in the tank just yet. Once I get that done and do a test drive, I'll call it good and get plates for it and worry about the 1 crushed rear light and the tires and oil change when I have the time before I actually drive it. More updates to come!

 

Me, I would use it as parts for
your 1st one. Take the engine and
trans out in one piece and use it
in the gooder one. Use all the gooder
parts and make 1 good, safe car.

If you insist on making the blinkers
and parking lights work, the problem
will lye within the crushed left rear
light assembly. No need for a new
underdash relay. JMOP.

 

Sure, I could do that, but why? Motor in the other car is fine, I'm mainly after the interior and front grill stuff, rear bumper ect. Of course eventually it'll be a parts car and stripped but for now I'm gonna have some fun with it. I got the rear lights figured out after that video and got the passenger side working. Brake lights don't appear to be working but im 99% sure thats a loose wire, as I jiggled the wire for the tail lights and those started working. Theres nothing unsafe about this car, its just ugly cosmetic damage. There no rot or structural damage to the car, and I'll be putting new tires on it. I'd feel much safer in or around this than one of those rusted out hunk of crap pickups that are allowed to roam around with giant blades on the front . Theres no reason not to drive it other than the body damage. The car could be repaired with a door, full quarter and roof panel.

 

[QUOTE=yamahondarider;641036]Sure, I could do that, but why?

Just following you posts bud.
The excitment at 1st was, you got
a chance to buid your Dad's car, sweet!

Next, a $210 car falls into you lap, even sweeter.
Now you have the chance to make dream # 1 a reality.
I'm just saying count your blessings while your young.
IMOP, you have a real oppertunity that doesn't come
along everyday. Especially on a 45 yr old S. Hell, clone a 442.

Making 1 out of two with all the left over parts to
recycle to some of the boys would go along way
for such things as window felts, new carpet and such.

Heck the front sheet metal on the $210 unit is
the same as a 69 442, short the grills, and if those
are as nice as they look are worth some bucks.

Good luck with your decisions, youv'e got a few.

 

[QUOTE=tru-blue 442;641044]Yeah understand what your saying. I really want to setup the 1st Cutlass as a Hurst Olds clone, I love the white and gold. The white car currently as it sits is roadworthy, the interior out of the gold car is going in the white car to make it even more driver friendly, I'm taking the front grill stuff that I need for my white car off of the gold car, but I am gonna cruise around in the gold car for a while since I don't need any parts off it at the moment that would make it undriveable. eventually the car will have the motor and trans pulled and put in storage in hopes that I'll find a solid roller, I'll pick every good piece off the car and stock up on parts for the next cheap Cutlass to show up on craigslist but I don't really have a good reason not to drive, beat on, and enjoy the crushed car for a while, and thats what I'm gonna do. Maybe I'm classless, but with the exception of looking like a goof to some of the yobbo's in town it'll be just as fun as driving around in a clean 69.

 

It's a shame that the gold car was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That looks like it was about an $8500 car here in NY before it got flattened. You and I are probably not that far off in age, but I have to come out and say that I would absolutely not feel good and safe behind the wheel of a car that took that kind of a hit. You cant say with confidence that there is no structural damage to the car if the trunk area and roof are that mangled. The roof, pillars, and trunk surround are all structurally related to the rigidity of the body. From an engineering perspective, the car is compromised. Not to mention any police officer in a 50 mile radius of that car is going to pull you over and ask you what the hell that thing is doing on the road in its current condition. Even if you rent a porta-power and pull some of it out, it's still going to look like a Coke can somebody stepped on. I'm not trying to **** in your cornflakes here, and I know damn well you're going to do whatever you please regardless of what I say, but I think you should take a step back for a minute from the blind enthusiasm of youth and think about how that car would perform in an accident, not to mention the implications of you injuring someone else. Food for thought, man, that's all.

Chris

 

Ahhh youth, sounds like you made your
decison. Drive on bud!

I gotta say, I have beat on a few as well.
Enjoy them, youv'e got the rest of your
life in front of you so why not. If I came across
a $210 beater, bet your *** I would be a hunt'n
a roller for it. Especially if it had a rebuilt 350 turbo.
Take $510 for that drivetrain? You make $300 and I
would still have to have it shipped, ha ha. You go my friend.

 

I don't expect anyone to understand what I am doing, but its fun and I'm gonna do it. Let johnny law come after me, I'm not doing anything illegal. I daily drove a 73 VW Bug for a while and I've owned about 7 others, trust me I've come to terms with driving a vehicle that may not perform well in an accident

 

Oh yeah I'm keeping my eye on every website I can think of and peering in every crusty junkyard I come across for a good donor shell. I know where theres a 1970 442 Convertible sitting, too bad shes so bad off. I wonder if the guy would sell it. Anyway, back on topic, the motor has 63,000 on it assuming it wasn't rebuilt and the trans has 314 exactly on it since the rebuild, thats one of the best points of the car , I'm a parts hoarder so it'll probably go in the corner of my storage unit but if I decide to sell the drivetrain I'll let ya know. Keep your eye on this thread, there may be some dukes of hazzard action videos in the near future

 

Just be careful out there young'un.
Have a blast, but don't hurt yourself
or anyone eles doing it. Oh, I will be following along.
There is just so damn many more cars on the road
than there were when we going 90 to nothing back
in th 70's. Disc brakes were a luxury back then too.

 

theres a 69 shell on boston cl...ill see if i can find a link

no luck on the link maybe it sold it was on there for a while $800 IIRC

 

Yeah I hear ya, I'm a pretty careful person unlike a lot of people out there.

If it ain't too far and it ain't too much I may have to pick it up. Everything except the body shell, driver door and driver front fender on this car is very nice and it wouldn't be hard to make 1 out of 2

 

So I took the advice of a friend of mine and dropped the tank. Its clean as a whistle inside and out, I'm very happy. I think the tank was replaced very recently as they also ran a new metal fuel line so someone was definitely under there. Fuel sender also looks new inside. Other than my crushed toe I'm calling this a victory, and the tank is going back in shortly. Making good progress, soon we'll see if it runs on the tank and if it does, test drive time. if the test drive goes well then she'll be getting an oil change and It'll be plated. I'll deal with the tail light wiring when I'm back in town if I run out of time, I need to buy 2 tires, I have two new tires on a set of bullethole rims already.

I'm going to dilute the nasty gas (its less than a gallon) with a few gallons of good gas and I've got a good fuel filter in line, pre pump and the sock is intact on the fuel sender

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There you go, the luck of youth.
More gooder parts, Take 2 make 1.
455 olds made a valid point, "Step back
and take it all in."

Give yourself a few weeks, make some notes,
revaluate, then set you goals.
With the way your luck is running, don't get
to caught up blasting some sweet, valuble
sheet metal around some of slippery corners
up yonder. Your probably know you'll meet up with some
of those real Northern shatboxes. Did you see the thread
where a man has a nos 68 rear qrt. And the worth?
Believe me, I am on your side, I remember the days.
I say again, you have a real oppertunity here young man.
Just pull back on the reins a little is all, and again, JMOP.

 

I thought you just bought a mustang? I would drive that before the Cutlass. NYS Troopers won't take kindly to that car, especially with Carolina plates on it...the tickets you would get would defeat the deal you got on the thing!

 

See, that's what I was thinking too.
The daily driver was good to go.

 

Eh, maybe. I did buy the mustang but its too nice (and overpowered) to subject to snow and road salt, that stage 3 clutch doesn't make taking off easy in loose stuff. I don't have papers for the white cutlass yet, can't do that until my dad has NY insurance, license, ect. so thats on hold for a while. I'm just goofing about the dukes of hazzard stuff, I may do a little light trail riding though. I saw that '68 quarter but if I remember right its for the passenger side and the drivers side is whats toast on my car. What can I be ticketed for? It will pass inspection. A ticket for being too ugly?

 

Got the tank back in, ran a new ground wire for the sender and a new fuel line off the sender to the metal line. Getting the tank back in was a royal pain in the *** but it had to be done. My working conditions suck. between snow melt and rain for the past 4 days the ground was a mud pit, I laid down a tarp but the tarp wasn't waterproof and basically seeped water and much thru it. I was pretty dirty after the job but tomorrow its test drive time

Before I started
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Hadn't rained all day and the ground was still soaked
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Heres the aftermath
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You asked what you can be ticketed for. Will you be able to get a rear window back into that window frame securely? Also, will you be able to mount a tail light on the driver's side? Those are the two immediate things I can see the cops giving you a hard time for. With the way that driver's door is crushed, will it open, close, and latch properly?

 

Yes, I'm competent enough that I will set up a driver tail light. I said that several times. I'm only required to have a front windshield, that's it, and mine is not cracked or damaged. The door may open, I've gotta mess with it, but it isn't a requirement. Hell, most of the Jeeps around here don't have any doors, or maybe a plastic sheet.

Look guys, I respect your opinions and your knowledge about these cars but with no disrespect, and I mean this in general I'm talking about any one person, please don't post in my thread if you're just going to try and discourage me. I'm not an impulsive 12 year old, I've had this car kicking around for almost a month now trying to figure out what I want to do with it and I've made up my mind. I just don't want my build thread to turn into a bunch of people trying to tell me what to do with my car. Not everyone has the cash to drive a mint Hurst Olds, I'm just having fun.

 

Cool , you certainly will have your work cut out for you on this one .... No pun intended

 

Hahaha yeah I do. Its actually almost done, I'm uploading a video now, I'll link it when its done. I got it running on the stock tank and got the fuel gauge working. Everything works, even the heat. Once I plastic-wrap the driver window and rear window it'll be a nice toasty winter car

 

I test drove it earlier, everything feels tight and right. Heres a link to the vid I make prior to the test drive


Heres a (rather crappy - sorry) video of the car moving

 

Just looking out for you, man. If you're confident enough and brazen enough to blast down a public highway at 70 mph in a clapped out parts car with no back windshield, no trunk, a crushed quarter panel, and a door you can't get in and out of in the event of a collision, that's no skin off my ***. I'm happy you paid $200 bucks for the thing, but I think what you're doing is stupid, in no uncertain terms. I won't post in your thread again. I sincerely wish you the best of luck. Have fun.

 

I understand your concern, I don't expect everyone to completely understand what I'm doing but if you saw the car in person you'd be more open to the idea. The car, other than obvious body damage, is near mint. If it hadn't have been totaled out the car would be an 8/10 survivor. I mean't no offense, I liked reading your feedback in my other build thread so please don't take it personally, I'm grouchy in the mornings haha.

This is the inside of the car on the drivers side (wreck side), for example:
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not a scratch

Also, heres the rear behind the seat (these pics are old so I don't have any of the rear drivers side area but keep in mind the quarter glass didn't even break, and rolled up and down until I popped it off the track by mistake
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The rear package tray area isn't affected either.

 

Incase anyones interested, the car is going to be plated this week. I packed the title in my suitcase and I'm getting NC plates for it when I go to check on my house in NC. I'll bring them back up, put them on the car and drive it (with new tires of course, and after fixing the rear tail light and doing an oil change!). But, so far so good, hopefully I'll be driving this around soon instead of the 1988 2 and 3/4 cylinder Toyota Camry boat anchor I've been suffering in ever since I sold my 76 280Z. Your only a teenager once, time to enjoy it