I really havn't taken many pix of it during the process because I felt it was disrespectful to the old girl but today I finally got tired of the project in limbo. I ordered the full set of seat upholstery from Legendary this morning as well as placing an order for almost 1500 to Fusick today as well.Ordered new bumpers, weatherstripping, mirror,bunch of piddly crap. Only things I have left to do now is wire the switch up for the electric fan relay,and make a killer chassis to ground strap and then put the sail panels in for the headliner. Then I have to wait for my parts to arrive. I will drive this rig this year come hell or high water.I do need a windshield and an exhaust system.I just had to announce this to someone cuz the wifes mother is not doing well with cancer so to save her the trouble of saying"Go tell someone who cares!" I'm posting it here! Whew....

 

By the way, Last time I really drove this car was in 1989. I'm long overdue!

 

Glad to see your back in the saddle, 21 yrs...! . You'll be happy with the Legendary interior, and I made my fair share of "piddly crap" purchases from Fusick as well as others. That "p.c." adds up quick. Good luck on your resto and post some pics! Prayers for your MIL, been there.

 

Sorry about the cancer. The car sounds like fun. Keep at it

 

Sometimes projects have to take a back burner to life. Glad to see your on a roll. Look foward to more updates as you make progress. Hope your mother in law gets better. Best wishes

 

Good luck with the old girl! Would love to see some pics. I know what you mean about the chinese crap. I just made $3000 purchase from fusik and I hate to tell you but alot of that stuff is made in taiwan. I feel like Im turning an American classic into a foriegn car!

 

It seems to have failed me...

 

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I'll try a different approach.000_0023.jpg
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Dang... Oh well. There's a few pix of it. Engine is a 455 dynoed at 480 hp/ 540 tq. Muncie 4 speed. Pretty much all option deleted according to the window sticker except for heavy duty drivetrain. Truck Drive I believe it was called. 3:42 posi. No power steering or power brakes.
This part of the build seems to be by far the most tedious. Detailing every stupid little thing I put in. I think I worked on it for 3 evenings just to get the heater box in. Gotta clean, paint, touch up all of it. but that includes the kick panels. Dang kids are never around to help but when I took it for a little banzai blast around the neighborhood(Yes. No glass, bumpers, lightsor even seats. I sat on the floor because I was afraid if I fell back, I wouldn't be able to push the clutch.) the little rugrats wanted a ride!
Over the years a bunch of stuff has disappeared or gotten broken. I had over a week into putting the front end together. My grilles had all but one mount tab broken off. I went to the hardware store and got a hunk of aluminum strap and made my bracket tabs from it. I then used 3M panel bond to glue them on. Then to sand em and paint em... Phew. Just seems like it takes forever.

 

I'm a rebel... My neck hurts from holding on. I think I have more motor than I need. I drove it around the block. Open headers, still sitting on the floor. My bumpers and stuff will be here hopefully this week. I need to lower it. Dang. My headliner is done. Torque is a scary thing.
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Awesome looking car!

 

You'll get used to the torque. Seats will help you control it

 

Looking really sharp. Like your wheel choice.
Remember that song "Black cars look better in the shade"?. Not so with yours. It's gonna look killer all day long.

How much you planning to lower it?

 

at least 4 inches. I'm thinking the big block with alum. heads and intake weigs a lot less than the 350 when it was stock. It looks like it's on stilts now.

 

It's always hard to tell the stance when it isn't fully loaded. Great looking car so far. Everything looks better in black IMO.

 

Beautiful !!!!!

 

Nice and straight! Excellent work you did there! It sounds like you've got a serious street/strip machine. Keep the pics coming. Can't wait to see her done

You mentioned that you replaced the front suspension and yes your car looks a little high in the front so my question is... was the weight of the car with motor/trans on the ground before you torqued all the suspension nuts & bolts to spec?
I've heard the entire weight of the car should be on the ground before cranking all the hardware down. Someone correct me if I'm wrong...

 

that is one sharp (dare I say sexy) car. well worth the wait.

 

Absolutely killer Oldsmobile! Really sharp looking. Cannot imagine using the clutch, shifting, sitting on the floor, with nothing to hold you in except your hands on the steering wheel!!!! Keep the pics coming.

 

Great looking car!! I thought 2 years was a long time. My aluminum headed (and radiator) 455 sat the same way. Original with 350 and AC. I put Hotchkis 1" BB lowering springs in the front. 245/60/15 in the front and 275/60/15 in the rear and IMO I think it looks great.

 

Sweet. Remember, torque is your friend!

 

Actually I havn't touched the suspension. It's the way it was when it rolled off the line but it must be weighing less in the front with the alloy engine goodies because it does sit a couple inches higher than it did from the pics i have from before.
Just to let you know how twisted I am, tonight I installed my front bumper I got from Fusick all by my lonesome. I'm actually pretty happy with the product. I started putting the guts in the rear bumper too.(One of my taillights is broken now.) It's too dark now to take a decent pic to post but dang. What a bear.
"You want the torque? " "I think I'm entitled." " YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TORQUE!!!!" lol...Sorry Mr. Nicholson

 

Got my bumpers and lights on today. I'm pretty satisfied with the chinesuim bumpers. Compared to the cost of having Keystone redo mine with their show chrome treatment I saved about 250 bucks. Got the boot for the clutch rod thru the firewall in too. I have my glass going in this week. The guy at Restoration Specialties swears his belt mouldings are perfect. so the side glass is going in too. It really is fun at this stage when every part I put back on makes it look more complete. Wife hates the racket so the open headers stage won't last.
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wow. i can only hope mine will look this good one day sooon. great work!

 

i envy you sir...one lovely piece of olds right there!

 

Thank you.:-) It's getting warm finally so I will be adding a few more new bits and trinkets. I get a lot of thumbs up when I drive it.

 

wow, nice work, how many of those years did you spend block sanding that quarter panel.will be nice to drive it when all done

 

Hey Mustang, did you ever lower it? What springs do you have in the front? I'm asking because I just did the front end on my '72 Supreme w/ poly bushings but I left the stock 350 springs in it because I was worried the 455 w/ aluminum heads will be light on 2" lowering springs or aftermarket springs period. After seeing yours I'm wondering if I might have cut a ring off when they were out of the car.

What do you have and what was your solution?

Steve

 

Normally I'm not a fan of black. In this case I HAVE to make an exception. Your car doesn't look just good, it looks EXCEPTIONAL!! Very nice work. BTW, I got a 'chinesium' rear bumper from Tamraz a few years ago, and I have no issues with the cost or fitment either. Good to hear you didn't have any real issues either.

Job in progress is a job well done!

 

Very Beautiful!!!

 

Gotta love a black olds.... Looks great

 

Thank you all for the compliments:-)

 

... And all the tech. support questions I've asked and things I have looked up for references.

 

wow, your care looks ****!!!!!!! I want mine the same but with gold stripes!!!!! Nice car!

 

What year is yours and where'd you get those grill's? I've been looking for something like that and have never seen them.


edit. never mind I just saw the back bumper, '72, perfect, where did you get those grills!?!

 

They are the factory 72 Cutlass S grilles I painted the front of the bars silver and masked them off to paint the rest of them silver

 

VERY NICE looking ride! your just ahead of me I havnt got my motor in yet but I have the exaust ready for it. nice job

 

442:
What can one say?? That has to be the best looking Cutty I have ever seen! Like others said, the black paint looks awesome....Most Excellent!
Let's all pray that your wife will get better. God is still in the healing business. Take care... Remember...He is Risen...Risen indeed.