Alright I am now in!!

After looking for awhile bought this 71 Cutlass Cvt. Initially saw it on this site, but was hesitant to pull the trigger not being able to put my hands on it. Calif Car and I am in ILL. It went to an auction site and my buddy kept telling me this is your car, so I bid last minute and now its mine.

I want to give a big shout out to Alacrity on this site aka Steve, he did a great job putting a lot of pics and video on the site to really illustrate the car which made me a little more comfortable to know what I was buying.
He was also a huge help to me and the widow he was selling the car for. Great guy made this transaction go really smoothly and fret free.

Restores your faith that there are still great people in this world.


A couple of questions, I am fairly handy around the house but cars not my strong suit. What is the best manual I can put my hands on to give me some guidance? Chiltons?
2ndly, any recommendations for a good convertible top repair locale in Chicago area.


Here are a few pics. It need some TLC but looks really solid.

Plan is 1. Top repair, 2. suspension and steering 3. Front disc brake conversion.

Then I can deal with getting rid of THOSE WHEELS which were such a topic of conversation!!


Any thoughts or suggestions are welcomed, I am sure I will be reaching out as I get deep into this FUN!!

 

That's a cool car!

Welcome to the site. I actually like the wheels. Are they Cragar Soft 8s? All they need is a spinner and I think you would take a liking to them.

You need to get a Factory Service Manual, not a Chilton's or Haynes manual. Check out E-bay. They are listed often. Just be careful not to get one of the reprints. The illustrations suffer and some are unrecognizable.

 

Welcome to the site, yes Steve did a great job describing this car. Congrats on your new toy. We have a lot of members like you with no real previous experience working on these old cars performing restos and mods they never thought they could do. There is a plethora of knowledge and expertise on this site that can walk you through most difficulties you may run into. As stated, factory service manuals for your year/model car is probably your best investment. I also like Motors Manuals. The next thing is a good quality set of basic SAE hand tools, a floor jack, and some quality jack stands.

Wheels/tires are very subjective and there are a lot of choices.

 

Welcome to the forum and the world of Oldsmobile from another '71 vert owner. Looks as if you have a nice car - much better than miner looked when I bought it, for sure!

 

Welcome to the forum! Nice, solid-looking car! I have a '72 CS Convertible.