Troys Toy 70

Well, I must say that I have already posted my first thread under the small block forum. So this wont be my first, but i thought it would be a good time to introduce myself anyway. I've owned several Olds through the years, and while my dad was a Ch... guy, I fell in love with Olds in highschool. My neighbor had a tripple black 67 442 convertible with red pin stripping. It was a beautiful car, and almost every day after school he would smoke the tires. That's all it took. My first car was a 67 Cutlass 4-door, and I have had several Olds since then. My favorites are the 70-72 A-body's. Although the 67 will always have a special place in my heart. I had a 72 CS when I got married, and then life happened and kept on happening and after 20 years, I recently purchased a 70 Cutlass S.

I can only say that it is good to be back in one of these cars. I think what sums it up best is that my teenage daughter thinks I lost my mind, because every time I upshift that auto, and she chirps the tires, I can't help but chuckle. I'll post pictures if I can ever get them to load.

20 years is too long to be away from these fine automobiles.

Aron Nance

Welcome to CO, Troy! Stick around, you're gonna' enjoy it. Love the thought of your daughter thinking you've lost it by retroing for an older Old's! Now, chirping the tires, you're teaching her bad things when she gets to drive it!!! LOL! Glad you are here. Pictures a necessity, of course.

Allan R

Nice intro. Welcome aboard.
Well since you've now got a 70 Cutlass S, I'm sure you'll be getting the itch to do some maintenance and upgrades. Lots of us have fallen prey to that disease. My 17 year old son just shakes his head when I say anything about working on the car. He just wants to drive it - hmmmm. Sounds a bit like me 40 years ago

501Paratrooper

Welcome to CO

Chumley

35 years is even harder. My first car was a '70 SX which I inherited from my college bound sister.(see avatar)Didn't really know what I had when I sold it back in '78. Currently I have a '72 Supreme I've been refurbishing for the last 5 years. I'm almost done, just about half the interior to go and install the grille. I think I had the only Olds muscle car at my high school. Everyone was always impressed with the "luxury" interior, with power windows and a/c. (of course that 500 lb.ft. of torque made their jaws drop as well. Welcome, and post some pix of your current ride! Chumley

Troys Toy 70

Thanks for comments. Yes, the improvement bug has already struck. Since, I just bought it, I want to enjoy it before I get too heavy into upgrades. If I can contain myself to winter time improvements and upgrades, I will be doing good.

Allan R

RUN! RUN FAST!! RUN AWAY!!! Don't LISSEN TO THE VOICES - they want you to tear apart the whole car and rebuild it to see if you can have leftover parts.....

By all means you should enjoy your car. I enjoyed mine for all of June and July this year before the 'voices' made me tear her front end apart....It's nice when the improvements are done though, then it's time to enjoy it again; at least till the voices start up again. I tried wearing aluminum foil over my head to 'shield' myself from them, but I think I needed boiler plate steel instead!

Troys Toy 70

My better half loved this post, she told me she had a cure for the voices, and it just involves cast iron and a handle. After she hits me with it, the ringing will drown out the voices.

Seriously though, my winter project is the front suspension. Here is the question? Rubber or urethane bushings. I heard the urethane develops squeeks, and unless you are hard cornering you may not notice the difference.

Allan R

Sorry bout the frying pan thingy . She needs to develop a sense of ha ha, or get under a car more often. You can let her read that; I'm too far away for her to hit me. But you should stand back to avoid a repeat....

The front suspension is as much fun as cold toilet seats. It's just something that has to get done, and after a while you're more comfortable with it. Rob Young and I just did the front ends in our cars this year. He's a little ahead of me though - his wheel alignment is done and his car is driving. Mine is parked for the winter and will do the alignment in the spring.

Lots of guys like the urethane, but I prefer rubber. It's a personal thing you have to decide on. Is one better than the other? I really don't know. Does urethane squeak? Yup, ask my neighbor - he put urethane in his truck. Sounds like a rusty bed spring with every bounce. My rubber ones (even the 39 yr old original parts) never squeaked - ever. That's how I made my decision. Pricewise, they're about the same. But urethane comes in such purty colors

While you're doing the suspension, you 'might as well' take it all apart: take out the inner liners and replace the rubber control arm flaps, clean up the frame rails and do the steering and brakes at the same time. You can get some really good prices from RockAuto if you make sure they ship out of the same warehouse, so parts cost won't eat you alive. You will save TONS of money doing all the labor yourself. I figured out that my front end rebuild saved me over 2,000.00 at a shop + it's done right and the way it looked when it was new from the factory. I spent a total of 590.00 for the whole thing.

Your 70 Cutlass S will be exactly the same as our 72 Cutlass models for the work you're doing. Have a look through these 2 threads and you can see how the 'bug' can eat you alive. Both Rob and I ended up taking about 3 1/2 months to git'r done.
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...+front+end+job

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...+front+end+job

If you run into any problems, you can easily get in touch with either of us. That's what this site is all about - helping each other

allyolds68

I wrecked my 68 C/S in 1981 when I was 17. I didn't get my 68, as a major project, until 2003. Didn't finish it until this past summer. It was worth the wait....

Troys Toy 70

Allen....I have been reading some of the threads on the suspensions, and its been a while since I have had one apart. Last time was two dumb kids and a sledge hammer... Presses, we don't need no stinkin presses. Suprisingly, we got it back together, and it worked rather well. I think I'll try a more sophisticated approach this time. I'm still researching parts, and appreciate the info. OPG had a Moog package: Bushings, Ball Joints, tie rods, spacers, and idler arm for $379. That didn't sound to bad to me. Still would need center link and (maybe) pitman arm. I'll probably get new springs while I at it.

Alleyolds 68, Aron, and Allen; love the cars. I finally got an avatar to load. So you can begin to see what is ocupying my time. Hoepfully, I can get more uploaded before long.

Troys Toy 70

Too Bad about the SX. What color is your 72 CS. Mine was Viking Blue with a white top and interior. It was a very pretty car.

Allan R

Actually that's no screamin deal; do they say what part brand you're getting? Have you checked the prices at Rock Auto? Just make sure you load items that are available from the same warehouses (A,B,C,D,E) and that keeps the shipping costs down. RA's prices are amongst the lowest I've ever seen for decent quality parts. You might also want to take a look at ILT for some of the other parts you may need. Their pricing is generally lower than OPG and it's the same quality; plus they have low shipping rates due to their corporate shipping volume. Add as much stuff as you want to your cart, the calculator will tell you whether it's available and the cost of shipping. That way you can easily figure out your cost/part and cost of shipping.

If your springs are not broke and provide the right ride height, why would you replace them? I cleaned mine up and repainted/installed them. The car rides at the proper height. Saved about 70 bucks by not buying an unecessary part.

Also check out O'Reilly's and Autozone and NAPA. Take advantage of your local suppliers before as much as possible. It supports the local industry and eliminates shipping. The most expensive part I bought for my steering was the centerlink and it was around 55 bucks. All the other stuff was a lot less. Put together a spread sheet and do the comparison shopping; it works really well.

Troys Toy 70

Alan.. definately take your advice and do some comparitive shopping. As for the front springs, she leans to the passanger side. I think that sping is weak, and eventually she is going to get a 455, so I thought I might as well do it since it is going to be all apart.

Allan R

It may be a weak spring, or the spring may be installed wrong. Check to see if the lower spring coil is properly positioned. It can make a difference of about 1.5" in ride height. The coil should be just covering about 1/2 of the drain hole on the LCA seat. If it's been installed over the embossed ridge it will definitely throw off the ride height. Have the springs ever been out of your car before? Mine were factory installed incorrectly on both sides. The drain hole had been completely covered. Then again, my car started production on Friday April 7 and was finished on Monday April 10. Go figure, the 2 days you don't want to find out your car was built on....

Troys Toy 70

Alan, been working on the front end spreadsheet. So far Rock Auto is beeting everybody for the same parts. Almost a $100 diff., Thanks for heading me that way. Haven't looked into the springs yet.

Allan R

Hope it works out for you Troy. Just a reminder: when you're shopping on line at R.A. take the parts to the checkout to see where it ships from, and what the shipping cost is going to be. You don't have to pay for them until you're ready. You might be surprised that in some cases you win! But in others you end up paying that money you 'saved' in shipping . Springs are really heavy, so you might be better off to buy them locally. Shipping springs is a killer on cost. I really hate the idea that they have to ship out of different warehouses to fill an order. But they also say to save the most money, pick the brands that come out of the same warehouse.

droptopron

Just a head's up that you'll find most in the Olds community don't love OPG. You are buying Cutlass parts froma Chevelle company. Fusick consisently gets high marks & I have gotten stuff from The Parts Place with no real complaints. People also speak highly of Supercars Unltd. Stay away from Brother's/BAP.

Congrats on the purchase & enjoy. What part of the country aere you in?
I had no skin in the game for 20 yrs since I sold my '71 442 shortly after high school in '86 until I bought the car I have now.

Allan R

X2 You won't find many Olds folks who endorse them. I got screwed by them twice. Fool me once-shame on you. fool me twice-shame on me. Never again. Besides, they sell exactly the same parts as the other more reputable aftermarket places.

Troys Toy 70

What part of the country aere you in?


Southeast Ohio.

The guy that sold me my Cutlass, had a Year-one catalog, and another small parts catalog. I saw OPG on the different TV shows, thought I would get a catalog. The catalog took 7 weeks to get here. That should have been a clue. After 20 years, I feel like a babe in the water of where to go to get what. I appreciate the tips, and I really enjoy talking to car guys (ah..people) about Oldsmobiles.