orismedic

So here is my new project, A 71 cutlass S. It is in ruff shape but it is some thing to start with. It has been sitting for at least 6 years but I think it is more like 18 years since it has been on the road. I have a lot of work to do but that is half the fun. I will be bringing it home tomorrow. the first thing I will be doing is seeing if I can get it to run. I will be rebuilding the rochester 2bbl it has on it, replacing the fuel pump, lines, and tank and all the little things like plugs and fluids. Next will be breaks, gutting the interior and then a new floor pan. this may take a year or two to get the car back the way I want it but I am looking forward to it. I will try to keep you all up to date on the project.

DENT

From the pics the body looks not bad!

jahlyfe'scutty

welcome to co...how is it going im working on da same car a 71 cutlass s but i thought the s had a 4barrel not a 2barrel im not sure i was told that maybe i heard wrong.I'm no mechanic so i would'nt no really so if your sure u could tell me and let me no for the future...

Allan R

Welcome to C.O.
Looks like you will have your hands full for a while on that build. Looking at the inside of the doors I can't help but wonder if the car was originally Lime green (PNT code 43). Luckily there are lots of reproduction and OEM used parts available.

When you pick the car up, post the VIN info and a pic of the cowl tag; then we can give you more info about what's on there. BTW that Rochester 2GC was one of the most widely produced carbs back in its day so there's still lots of rebuild kits for it. Just curious why you'd want to keep it 2bbl when you can upgrade to 4bbl. I know everyone has a plan for their car, so I'll wait and see what yours is before offering any suggestions.The 350 2 bbl was standard for Cutlass S in 70, 71 and 72. What you may have mixed up is the Cutlass Supreme, which came standard with a 350 4bbl. It could be downgraded to a 2bbl to save some $$$. Not sure why anyone would do that though.

don71

Yea, Welcome to CO. That is quite a project you got there and lots of luck with it.

I noticed the missouri plate, the sticker looks like 96 or 97? just guessing. Are you in the show me state?

orismedic

I will let you know what the VIN is when i get a chance. And yes the car was originally lime green. Not a fan of the color my self, I'm thinking of going with a dark blue. As for the 2bbl it is cheap to rebuild and I have not decided what to do about the engine yet. I am still deciding between going 455 or 403. ether way the 2bbl will work for now.

orismedic

Yes I live in St.Louis

orismedic

So I have had the car at my house for a few days now. The interior has been gutted and the floor is rotted out, so i will have to put a new floor pan in. If any one knows were to get a good one please let me know.

I have rebuilt the rochester 2bbl and after putting the spark plug wires in the right order and a new fuel pump, oil and filter, some radiator fluid, and a little oil in the cylinders, that good old motor started right up. It sounds good too. I have some vacuum leaks i am going to have to fix but that should be easy.

I have also dropped the gas tank and have a new one coming in the mail.

It looks like the master cylinder is shot and i also wanted to change the front drums to disk brakes, so I also ordered a complete disk conversion kit. While I am waiting for that to get here I put new shews, hard ware and wheel cylinders on the back drums.

I have my eye on a few things on craigs list, I might get on Friday. A floor shift steering column, and some cheap wheels until I can find some olds rally SSII wheels.

So that's what I have accomplished so far.

Allan R

You've done a lot.
re: engine - Go with the 455. The 403 is a small block and IMO not as good as the 350 you are running now.

re: disc brake conversion - good call. Not terribly hard to install and you'll like the feel of discs better than drums. Who did you order the d/b kit from?

re: floor pans - check out Ground Up restoration parts (they are Chev but the floor pans for the A body are all the same) I have a friend who recommended them to me. If they're good enough for his top quality work I am comfortable passing that along. http://www.ss396.com/mm5/merchant.mv..._Code=RFP-1462

orismedic

I ordered the conversion kit from Gearhead enterprises off of eBay for about $450. and thanks for the tip on the floor pan.

I am leaning to the 455 because I can still use the 350 as I build the 455.

Allan R

If you end up needing more brake parts (like the proportioning valve) or new brake lines, check out ILT (In Line Tube)

orismedic

Allen I am wondering if you could help me out. I am looking for some dash parts. The dash pad i have is good but green (such is life). I can paint that but the lower part of the dash the radio has been cut out and there are a few other holes in it. Do I have to just try and find a used one that is not molested or is there some were i can get new parts?

Allan R

You nailed it. That is not a reproduced part so you will need to source out an unmolested "lower dash". The Cutlass dash is actually 4 main parts
Dash pad - you have. Clean it with degreaser and then use an adhesion promoter if you plan to spray with SEM
Lower dash - what you need; it's all hard plastic.
Dash insert (over gages) This is being repopped now.
Glovebox door.

orismedic

Well i did pick up the steering column. But unable to get the wheels. I got the fuel tank in and painted it. It's looking good too. I am still waiting on the breaks to come in. They should be here this week. I did get the break booster, master cylinder, and front breaks off. All I have to do now is get off the spindals. I hope to have the car moving under its own power by the end of the weekend.

orismedic

A few pic of the interior before I stripped most of it out.

Allan R

Judging from those pics, I'd be more scared of sitting in it while it's moving. Those floors look really ugly. How's the cowl area for rust?

BTW, does your brake conversion kit also have a new proportioning valve?

orismedic

yes the floors are horrible, right now I can flintstone the car, but it will make things a lot easier for me if I can move the car around. Putting a new floor pan in the car is the next thing to get done. And yes a proportioning valve comes with the kit, it is not the one that goes on the frame but sits right under the master cylinder.

orismedic

Some more pics for you all. The cowl doesn't look too bad, I will have to take the window out to see for sure.

I now have a new hatred for ball joints. Three days of working at them and I have 3 out, I figure that one more day and I will have the last one out.

I did get the gas tank in and ran the new gas line. It's nice to not have to use a gas can any more. Maybe by the end of thanks giving weekend I will have it drivable (sort of). Next thing will be to put a new floor pan in.

Allan R

Whoever put that radio in was a moron. Now I see why you need the lower dash. I have one that's tan, but I want to keep it for now - I might be replacing the one I have in the car now.

A really good source for some of these dash parts on this site (all of them are members and super to work with):
Eric - jensenracing77 in Indiana
Scott - Oldspackrat in Indiana
John - 2blu442 in Oregon
Brian - 507OLDS in Pennsylvania

I'd be very surprised if no one had that part for you. It doesn't matter what color you buy because it can be painted. The raised areas that are silver can be redone with a 'Sharpie' metallic chrome pen.

Ball joints? If you're doing them on the car they can be a pain. I took my whole suspension off when I did mine and (sorry) all 4 were out in less than an hour. The easiest ones to do were the lowers. Pressing them back in took all of 2 minutes. Bolting in the new uppers is a breeze too.

orismedic

so after a long week I have finished the breaks. and after doing a little tuning the car is running fairly well. My biggest problem with the brakes so far is that I have to press kind of hard to get the car to stop. I have bled the breaks 2 separate times and I'm fairly certain that I have all the air out. It kind of feels like the booster is not working. But I am able to drive it around the block which I really enjoyed.
My next project is putting a new floor in the car. I just ordered a full floor pan from car parts discount. https://www.carpartsdiscount.com/aut...ml?3593=333057

Allan R

Ok, sorry to be a pain but what's with that master cylinder and proportioning valve? The MC looks like the wrong one and the pv is supposed to be down on the frame below the intermediate steering shaft. Is it possible your hard pedal could be because you may have the wrong master cylinder?
The one for 71 looks like this; even has the bleeders for bench bleeding. You did bench bleed the master cylinder before installing?


Check the clevis pin on the new brake booster to make sure it's in the proper hole. If you used the wrong one that could also generate hard pedal.

orismedic

the kit that i bought came that way. I know that the proportioning valve is normally on the frame but I am not really that concerned at this time with original more with functional. I think the whole kit is based off of a chevelle. here is the kit http://www.ebay.com/itm/160755905377...84.m1439.l2649

and yes I did bench bleed it .

Allan R

Well, it should work. Not a bad price either. Only thing I can think of off the top of my head is either a bad booster or MC. What exactly do you mean by ' I have to press kind of hard to get the car to stop'. Is the pedal hard or does the pedal bottom out??

orismedic

the pedal is hard like trying to stop with out the car running. Im thinking it is the booster not working.

Allan R

Sounds right. Are you getting good vacuum to the booster? That thing is brand new so it should be good, never know though. If you're getting around 15-17" of vacuum or better, get the booster changed under warranty. It might also be a defective check valve on the new booster, but I doubt it.

If you have low vacuum, heck to see if you have any other sources of vacuum leaks (old vacuum lines, carb, intake leaks). Might be as simple as that. You have a vacuum gage?

orismedic

So it has been a couple of weeks. after calling gear head(the people I got the brake kit from) 2 times a day for 10 days I finely got them to replace the brake booster. And the new one works!

I have also received my new floor pan. I am very happy about that. Most likely I will not get a chance to put that in until after the new year. I will let you all know how that goes.

Happy Holidays and New Year to every one.

orismedic

I got my tax return and decided not to put the money into the car. instead i am going to sell my car and buy another cutlass that is in better condition. so now I am looking for a 71 72 cutlass with black interior, bucket seats, running and driving. I have 4,500 right now and if I sell my car another couple of grand to add to that.

Allan R

Yup, saw you had the car up FS. Although sad, it's prolly a very good decision. Sometimes the $$$ it costs to fix is more than just finding another that's in better shape to start with. The car actually looks decent although I know it will bring someone who wants to learn to weld a cool project. I seriously thought about a 73 Ninety Eight project till I realized there was no return to sanity point on $$ that would be spent to restore it. I found I could buy one already done relatively cheap since those big boats aren't really a demand item.

Hope you don't mind, I'm adding the link here for anyone who scrolls down and sees it's for sale now.

orismedic's 71 Cutlass for sale

orismedic

thanks Allen

orismedic

So I found a car. it's in good condition, missing the front grill and bumper. I had to drive to Texas to get it. the trip ended up being more expensive then i was expecting (the transmission in my truck blew up) but it was worth it to get the car.

orismedic

since I got it home I have put some of the missing peaces back. I am just trying to get it on the road at the moment so just getting the peaces on.

Allan R

Nice find and easy to put back into condition for a driver. Can't say I'm in love with the 2 tone paint job though. Did you notice that you have 2 different styles of fenders on the car? By any chance is this a very early production 1971?

Check the cowl tag. If the build time build code (month/week) is somewhere from 07/(ABCDE) to 11/(ABCDE) you might have one of the cars that was using up leftover 1970 production parts when built!

Interesting to see bucket seats with column shifter.

Looks like a 350 that was painted blue? Easy to tell. The engine casting will be 395558 2 and the heads should be 7's.

You did well! Keep up the great work. Soon it's going to be cruising time.

The VIN on this car should start out with 33687? That would be the 71 Cutlass S coding and I see it has the S on the sail panel.

orismedic

I did not notice that the car had two different fenders. how do you tell?. I do now the whole front clip is from a donor car. the car had been wrecked.

I am with you on the paint job Allan I am not a fan of it my self. but it will be some time before I can get around to painting it.

Yes the engine is a 350 with a 2brl I thought it was kind of funny some one painted it blue. I have plans for putting a 455 in the car down the road.

I will have to check on the vin for you.

Allan R

Look at the inside of the fenders, especially the lower horizontal surface. The DS is completely flat (that's typical of all 1970 and some early production 71 cars). The other side has crumple ridges that were introduced into the 71 model year because of safety legislation.

Paint is an anytime thing. For now it covers all the metal so it doesn't rust.

If you have plans to install a 455 are you also looking for the TH400 as well? I know the 455 will bolt up to a 350 and the TH350 will work fine as long as it's not being overworked.

No worries on the VIN I was just curious to see what the factory letter was. You can get that info from the cowl tag too.

orismedic

thanks on the info on the fenders I did not catch that. and I plan on a TH400 to go with the 455.

Allan R

A sledgehammer car!! More torque than you can shake a stick at. If you need to get the bumpers and braces for the car, you're only about 200 miles from:
Eric Jensen (jensenracing77) Brazil Indiana
Scott Winn (oldspackrat) Indianapolis Indiana

Both of these guys will have all the parts you'll need for really decent prices.

orismedic

Well I have gotten a few things finished. I have gotten all of the lights working. I also had a problem opening the drivers door from the inside but got that fixed too. I took it for a ride and found that at around 55mph the car a had a wicked shimmy. So off came the old wheals and tires and on with the the wheals (that I think I spent 15 hours sand blasting and painting) and tires. Much better. also noticed the rear end was sitting all cadywompus (that's a word right?). So I put new shocks and springs in the back and presto it sits right now. I was surprised at how easy it was to put the new springs in. Any way it looks like front shocks will be next.

don71

Nice to hear an update on your progress. I think its pretty neat you stayed with an Olds

I'd say the paint is ok for now. Its looks allright. You will allways have a chance to change that later. I like the fact that you're working on the right areas of the car to keep it on the road and enjoying it.

Look forward to your progress so keep it coming.

Allan R

One of the few really easy things about working on these cars. Glad to hear you got it all done easily and the car is driving nicely now.

BTW, when you were changing the shocks and springs did you look at the pinion and axle bumpers? They're probably in need of replacement by now. The pinion bumper on my car had fallen out so I need a new one. The axle bumpers are very easy to remove and install.

orismedic

Well I have put the front shocks in and the ride is even better! It was another easy process. then I decided to replace the dash and that was not easy at all. I did manage to not break any thing while doing it. I picked up a better dash with out the wood grain at a swop meet. There is still some detail work that needs to be done but I am very happy with what I have got done. I now have a good dash to sell. any idea's on how much to sell it for?