First I have a question: Is a post car Sport Coupe or SportS coupe? I have seen it spelt both ways.

So here is my '72 Cutlass S Sports Coupe. As far as I can tell it is a lifelong Arizona car. I bought it in Phoenix when I was down there on vacation with my father.

By the VIN and ID plate it is originally a 2-bbl 350, th350 car. The paint was originally Nordic Blue with a blue cloth bench interior.

When I bought it, it was painted red (not sure if it is Matador Red or just some generic, non-Olds red) and the interior was changed to black vinyl. The only thing that was not changed in the interior was the original cracked blue dash. It has 15" rallye wheels on it, but they where originally hand painted pastel green.

Here is the car as it was sitting in the driveway of the previous owner in AZ.

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Here are the green rims. You can also see some of the original Nordic Blue blue paint where the red is peeling.

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I could not believe how much damage the sun causes to red paint.

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The interior needs some work, mainly the front seat, dash and door panels. The carpet isn't too bad. The headliner is good and so is the rear seat. The car came with a Pontiac steering wheel.

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I could not believe how little rust there is, even on the engine.

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When the truck arrived, the Cutlass was on the top level so I figured it was a perfect chance to get some pictures of the underside of the car.

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Since the car arrived I have only done the necessities and some basic appearance things.

The first thing was to replace the broken 2-bbl carburetor with a quadrajet. I already had a couple of quadrajets in stock as well as a edelbrock performer intake manifold. That was the first time I had ever swapped a carburetor or intake. I did take pictures, but can't find them at the moment, so I will try to post them when I find them.

Next was to get rid of the green on the rims. Since I did not know what colour I would eventually be painting the car, I decided to go with the Olds argent which should look good with any colour.

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I also replaced the Pontiac steering wheel with a g-body 2-spoke sport steering wheel. It is beige, like the pontiac one, but at least it is an Olds wheel.

Another thing I did was to paint the headlight trim black as it should be on a '72. The longest part was masking off the front edge that is to stay silver.

I will try to get some pictures of some of these changes soon.

Next will be sending the car to a body shop for paint. Picking the 1 colour I want to paint the car is proving to be a challenge. There are so many colours out there and I can only pick 1.

 

First off, in the U.S., we would say that you've seen it SPELLED both ways.


According to Setting the Pace, your car is officially a Cutlass S Sports Coupe. The word "Sports" is plural. In fact, for all the years through that era, when Olds used the name Sports, it was always a plural.

 

Thanks for the help.

 

we are from Canada EH!!!! y`all oh and Sports Coupes rule

 

Yep.

 

Did a little bit more work on the Cutlass.

Took the door panels off. I know I bought this car in Arizona, but I am still expecting to see some rust somewhere. Must be since the roads around here are already salt covered.

When I took the door panels off, I found more Nordic Blue.

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Here is an attempt at a picture of the inside of the door.

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And here is some of the work I did during the summer.

Replaced the steering wheel. I know the steering wheel isn't right for a '72, but at least it is Olds.

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And after painting the headlight trim black. The longest part was masking off the edge.

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Great looking machine. Gotta love those clean desert cars!
Terry

 

This could be a real nice ride. Good Luck.
Also nice to see another Canadian here.

Wayne

 

Ok, now looking at the pics of the underside of the car, I am curious as to the rear axle assembly. I have 2 72 Cutlasses (Cutlii?). One has the same rear end as that and the other has the 8.5 with the same rear diff cover as the corporate rears all through the 70s. Did both types come in 72?

 

Sorry, but I have no idea.

 

Classes, a project and exams have been keeping me busy, so I haven't had a lot of time to post pics of the progress on my Cutlass.

I took the car to the body shop about 3 weeks ago. Before the car even got into the shop, the guy came out and was looking it over. He pointed out a few spots where he figured there was filler on the car. But agreed it didn't look like there would be much rust on it.

One nice thing at this shop, is we can go and work on the car for other things I want to do, like pulling the engine and painting it. We also helped with the teardown of the car.

Here are a few pics of the teardown.

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While they were stripping the paint, it actually looks like the car might have been repainted twice.

I wasn't quite expecting to see as much filler on the car as was found once the paint came off.

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It looks like the car might have been side-swipped at some point in its life.


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The interior is mostly stripped, except for the dash (which still has to come out) and the headliner.

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More updates to come.

 

Nice. Any hidden rust ?

 

I know it has been 2 weeks since I last posted an update. But end of semester exams and project have kept me busy for that time, and sleepless for a couple of days.

But yesterday as soon as my final project was submitted I headed straight out to the Cutlass.

The fenders are off.

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442_Mustang, funny you should mention rust. When they were taking off the old paint and filler they noticed a few rust pin holes and then flipped the fenders. I think this was the worst of the two. This is still nothing by Ontario standards.

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The windshield and the rear glass both came out, and neither broke in the process.

The rear of the car stripped.

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Next step was to take the engine out of the car so that we can paint it Olds Gold and paint the firewall as well.

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And here is the engine.

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One of the fenders bare. I was actually surprised to see the original fender script and emblem holes in the fender when everything was stripped.

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I have more pictures of the latest progress that I will try to post tomorrow.

 

Looks like you picked up a great car from the south. Is that a shop in Kempville you are at or in Ottawa??? Keep the pictures comming it will help me to get started on tare down once my garage is finished - bad time to pour a slab!!!!
Keep up the work

Glen

 

Doesn't look bad at all,going to be a nice car when finished.Keep us posted with lots of pictures.

 

Go with the Nordic Blue again. Awesome color.

 

Looks like you ended up with a really nice project. Keep the pics coming.

 

GOOD WORK!!!!
cutlas I love all the more and more and this model is very nice.
worth?

 

Great start., builds are fun to watch and it helps the rest of us get back to our projects. Keep the pictures coming

 

Have you decided on the paint? Is Nordic Blue the original color? Nordic Blue would be my choice.

 

Looks like a great project. Keep the pics coming!

 

Econow, winter will be over soon enough (only 3 or 4 months left? ).

Yes the original colour of the car was Nordic blue. It was one of the many colours I had considered. I also considered Aegean Aqua and Matador Red. In the end I chose not to go with any of those colours.

 

[QUOTE=car_designer;223434
Next will be sending the car to a body shop for paint. Picking the 1 colour I want to paint the car is proving to be a challenge. There are so many colours out there and I can only pick 1.[/QUOTE]

Au contraire mon frere!

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Seriously though, I think you should take another look at the Nordic Blue.

 

The further the body guy went the more rust he found on the car. This is from behind both rear wheels. Still nothing serious though.

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Most of the parts have been primered.

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Obviously there is still more body work required before the paint.

So now the thread is up to date with the car.

 

Hmm, I never thought about multicoloured like that.

 

Here is a good question - what is the difference from the cutlass S, and the supreme????? - and the other body types are the 442 and f85 - is there a thread with the differences or a web site?????
Asking because I found a 71 Cutlass S for some parts but I have a Supreme. I will be stripping the remaining parts and see what I can use and if not compatible then up for sale.

 

The differences are primarily trim levels and base equipment. These are all the same basic car. Prior to 1970, the Supreme even used the same body style as other Cutlii. The 1970-72 Supremes used a notchback roofline on the two door cars vs. the fastback profile of the other Cutlii two doors. From the doors forward the body parts are interchangeable, however.

 

Hey, Car Designer, looks like you're having fun now! LOL! I met you at Sturbridge with your '83. What a fun time was had by all, except for all the rain Friday and Saturday! Was your car displayed in that low spot on the Show Field where about a foot of water ended up on Saturday? Great thread on the re-do on the Cutlaii (as Joe P. calls 'em, and sounds right). Keep the pictures coming. Looks like it's going to be a great Oldsmobile!

 

Great resto - I am doing the same car now myself - will have to get some pics uploaded. Are you going to stay with the drums all around or convert the fronts or all to disc brakes?

I had the exact same rust on the fenders and in the rear that area had been patched. Looks like a really great car! unfortunately unlike your nordic blue mine was really bad brown.. with two tone stripes down the hood. Being changed to either full black or tungsten metallic grey with black race stripes front to back.

 

lvelocci, I think the tungsten with black stripes would look nice.

Aron, I remember meeting you this summer. It was fun at Sturbridge this summer. I do not know if I was in the flooded area or not. I left for the day when judging was finished. I heard about all the flooding but don't know if that was where my car was parked or not.

I am really having fun with the Cutlass and learning a lot along the way as well.

 

I love ur car keep up the good work.

 

Would love to see pics of the Tungsten Metallic Grey with Black when you get it done!

 

I spent time Monday and Tuesday doing some painting myself. Obviously not on the car itself.

I painted the exhaust manifolds on Monday.

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Tuesday was engine painting day. Put the primer on it in the morning.

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After letting it dry for a few hours it was time to put the gold on it.

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So far I was painting with a brush. The valve covers and oil pan will be painted later, but the paint will be sprayed on for a better finish. I will probably have to redo the oil fill tube as well.

 

Spent the afternoon at the shop working on the Cutlass. Got the oil pan off to prepare it for paint, but unfortunately found a bunch of broken plastic pieces in the bottom of it. Time for a new oil pump.

The dash is out (earlier in the week).

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The painter did the firewall and brake booster and master cylinder this week.

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I took the timing cover off today to check the timing gear, to see if it was the source of the plastic bits.

Here is what I found.

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Hey bulldog, how is the alero holding up mechanically as well as parts availability just curious?

 

sorry car designer left u a message by mistake I am still learning how to navigate

 

by the way good catch on the timing gear another motor saved by the bell!!

 

What has happened since February? A lot.

It has been a long time since I posted an update on the Cutlass project. Some things happened with the body guy and it ended with me taking the Cutlass away on a flatbed. I kind of lost interest in the project for a bit. But it didn't take long for me to get back into it. And I am again anxious about getting the car finished and I can't wait to see it painted and to drive it.

The body work was almost finished and he started to paint the door jambs and under the hood and trunk.

Since February me and my Dad have been working on non-body/paint items.

The timing gear and chain have been replaced. The engine and transmission have been put back in the car.

The front suspension is back together.

Finally, after some good help from members here, got all the pulleys aligned properly. It took a new water pump (turns out the one I got, and the one on the car when I got it, weren't even for an A-body) and power steering bracket spacers from a 307.

All of the engine wiring is connected again, but took a while to figure some of it out, since we didn't take it off.

We put the old, torn seat back in to make it easier to do some things.

Reconnected all the brake lines. Bled the brakes this morning.

Our next goal is to reinstall the drive shaft. After that it is time to fill the fluids then it will be time to prime the oil pump. And I hope once that is done the car will start.

Any suggestions for priming the oil pump? Neither me or my Dad have done that before.

Also, when we try starting the car, I was planning on not connecting any of the dash components or exterior lights. As long as there are no bare wires, should this be ok to do? I think the steering column wiring is still connected.