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Old July 6th, 2010, 07:34 AM
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Fools Rush In

Well, let's hope not. Here's the story.

It's not my story but my son is too shy to post a lot, it's his car. He inherited an old car of another make. He isn't really crazy about the car but it's got him interested in the classics. Now anything that get's him away from that dam X-BOX is fine with me. On the way into town there's a 68 Cutlas sitting by the side of the road that he's always liked the look of. Well suddenly there's a for sale sign on it and we check it out. After a little dickering, the boy owns it. I'm sure he paid way to much for it, ( it's a project car ) but around here you just don't find these kinds of cars available. So now the journey begins.

We're hoping to grab it today if the weather stays good. Now we don't know squat about cars other than driving them. Actually son is even too young to have his license yet. If it wasn't for the internet I don't know if I would have encouraged him. Hopefully we can find a lot of help here, and I do mean a lot.

Signed, Well meaning dad.
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Old July 6th, 2010, 07:43 AM
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Welcome, I'm sure you find all the help you will need. Post some pics when you get it home. Take it slow and at first don't try to much. Start with some small easy projects before some of the larger harder ones. It will all have to get done sooner or later.

First thing you should do is get a service manuel and maybe a fisher body manuel for a 68 olds. You can find them pretty easy on ebay or maybe someone here has one.

Larry
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Old July 6th, 2010, 07:45 AM
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Well Hi there, and welcome to our site - both of you!! I know what you mean about the video games, lol!! My daughter is the same way. Congrats on being the proud owner of an Olds!! My guys on here are the absolute best, and will be happy to help you out, so ask lots of questions! This is the best place you could be for info and tips. Lots of knowledge and experience on here.

Where are you located? Does the car run? Any pictures of it?? This will be a great project for you guys!!
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Old July 6th, 2010, 07:46 AM
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Talking Welcome to CO

Father and son projects are great. You'll find lots of help here. As stated above start slow and take your time. Good luck
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Old July 6th, 2010, 07:51 AM
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We're in southern Alberta, Canada. The manuals are an excellent suggestion. The cars not running but she's not seized. As soon as we get her home I'll get some pictures.
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Old July 6th, 2010, 08:00 AM
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Welcome

Welcome aboard

X 2 We love family projects
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Old July 6th, 2010, 08:26 AM
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Welcome to CO, I hope your project goes well.
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Old July 6th, 2010, 09:02 AM
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Welcome - lots of car nuts here - you've come to the right place.
Keep us posted on the project!
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Old July 6th, 2010, 09:08 AM
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Well finish the quote!

Fools rush in "where angels fear to tread."

I suspect you'll end up being the angels after all for saving that car.
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Old July 6th, 2010, 09:28 AM
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Welcome. WE look forward to seeing pics. If it doesn't run but turns over with the starter motor then hopefully a basic tune up will get it started.
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Old July 6th, 2010, 11:10 AM
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Welcome to CO. Did you find the car in S. Alberta cause if you did then it may be in not too bad of shape? My 69 came from Saskatoon originally and the body and floor had no holes , almost no rust. You will get lots of help from the guys on this site and lots of knowledge about the 68 cutlass. you can check on ebay or Fusicks to find a service manual , i have one for the 69 as well as a fisher body manual and if you plan on doing work yourself along with your son then you should invest in these manuals in that order.
there are a few albertans on the site as well so they may also be some help to you. Cheers
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Old July 6th, 2010, 12:56 PM
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http://www.oldsnorthernlights.com/ based in Alberta. Ken (442much) is a knowledgeable regular here.

The 68 is a simple car to understand and repair, it just may be a little more difficult to find reproduction parts. 68 seems to be a forgotten year sometimes. But I will admit it's my favorite year Cutlass.
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Old July 6th, 2010, 08:37 PM
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1968

Welcome to the site! There are several people who have 1968's here so when the questions come just post them! And there are several Canadians including a few in Alberta, although I know that's a big place! You may be able to network with some Olds people close to you. John
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Old July 8th, 2010, 06:44 PM
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Well, we got her home. Trying to add pics to this post but keep getting an error message, and the link to notify the administrator seems to be leading in circles.
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Old July 8th, 2010, 07:26 PM
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It's best to use a site like photobucket to host the pics and just link to them. The error message you are getting is most likely due to the size of the images you are trying to upload.
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Old July 8th, 2010, 07:52 PM
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Thank you.
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Old July 8th, 2010, 08:23 PM
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If you're not up to much on the 17th of this month, come on up to Olds for the annual rocket roundup. 12-4 at Hildibrandt motors.
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Old July 8th, 2010, 08:48 PM
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Okay let's see if this works.

DSCF5109.jpg

DSCF5110.jpg

DSCF5111.jpg

DSCF5102.jpg

DSCF5104.jpg

DSCF5106.jpg

DSCF5107.jpg

DSCF5112.jpg

DSCF5108.jpg

DSCF5105.jpg

The Olds trip will have to wait till next year as I found out about it to late. We are headed to Lethbridge this Sunday though for a show and shine. We live just a little out of Medicine Hat.
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Old July 8th, 2010, 09:05 PM
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Sigh, I miss my '68.

Lol, looks like the drivers air bag went off! oh wait......
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Old July 9th, 2010, 03:17 AM
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it looks like a good starter 2 me!!! i cant tell but it looks like a bucket seat car from the pics if it is thats a big plus!!!! good luck!! look up fusick online they will have anything you need!!
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Old July 9th, 2010, 03:20 AM
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Hi there; It looks like you have a '68 Supreme (342878) with a Cutlass 'S' hood...you'll have a great time trying to find all that lower trim, and Vista's have the same trim... air filter housing looks like Chebby
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Old July 9th, 2010, 05:52 AM
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EXCELLENT!

You could always fill the holes for the trim and run without it. That would be HERCULIAN!

BTW, those are nice wheels.
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Old July 9th, 2010, 06:40 AM
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Yup it's got bucket seats. Finding the trim was easy. It was in the trunk. A few boxs of stuff in the car. The chrome emblems, what might be the original air filter housing, bunch of stuff like that. I guess the new owner will decide about the bottom trim. The only place that has a real rust problem is the bottom edge where the trim goes. One of the reasons I don't like a lot of trim even on new cars. The under carriage looks to be in pretty good shape as far as rust goes. Also that airbag blew out the drivers window. Actually that was vandalism.

Apparently we have to get my shop cleaned out imediatley according to the new owner. Man do I have a lot of "stuff" in there. I need to redo the shop walls and of course vehicles in there will be a slight inconvenience. Does anyone here use those dollies that you set the wheels into? Do they work okay?
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Old July 9th, 2010, 07:03 AM
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Welcome, and great story. My dad and I started restoring a 1957 Olds 98 back in 1977 (when I was 7 years old), and we took 1st at OCA nationals in 1982 when we were done...Now, I'm 40, and we're still into Oldsmobiles, but he's in Ohio, and I am in California. We're planning on going to the OCA Nationals together this year! Great hobby!
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Old July 9th, 2010, 03:02 PM
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if you have all the trim your good 2 go!!! dont fill holes i love the look of new paint and alot of chrome!!!!!! thats going 2 be a very nice car!!
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Old July 9th, 2010, 06:08 PM
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Get in touch with 442much on this site he runs this Alberta olds club

http://www.oldsnorthernlights.com/


great guy to know his name is Ken
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Old July 9th, 2010, 06:09 PM
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and sweet 68 it looks real solid
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Old July 17th, 2010, 01:15 PM
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If you have all the trim you didn't get hurt at all here. The rust spot on the front fender is common, it wasn't really affected by trim, it was a design flaw that trapped dirt and water between the fender brace and the outer skin. Simple fix. It might be an adventure finding all those moulding clips though.

Other than that this car looks really straight, and an excellent restoration candidate. Something to be said for those dry western prairies, eh? I'm also guessing y'all are a farming family?

Supremes had a silver paint accent between the trim and the edge of the panel. Some like it, others don't. I always thought it dressed the car up a lot.

The door glass is common to all 1968 GM A-body 2-door hardtops- Chevelle, Tempest, Cutlass, Skylark. The F85/Cutlass also shares other stuff with these cars which makes life somewhat easier. If it's a Canadian-built car, there's tons of documentation available from GM of Canada.

Good luck, good score. Tell yer boy to speak up and talk with us, we don't bite!

Well, maybe Sandy (cutlassgal) does...




Last edited by rocketraider; July 17th, 2010 at 01:18 PM.
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Old July 18th, 2010, 06:09 AM
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Thats a nice car!!! Your son is going to enjoy this project,I use the wheel dollies on three of my cars and they work just fine.I purchased them from PRINCESS AUTO and they did require a little tweaking (one wheel wasn't round) and I'm pushing 63-98s around my shop.
Good luck with the project!!
Steve
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Old August 19th, 2010, 08:44 AM
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Yellowstatue, what makes you say it's a Cutlass S hood? Is it just the front emblem or is there something else? It looks like the car was a project at one time for sure. That not the original paint color. Also the hood doesn't close well but one hinge isn't bolted tight to the car. I also noticed the hood doesn't seem to open very far even though the hinges are extended as far as they can go. Is that normal for the Cutlass?
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Old August 19th, 2010, 10:22 AM
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Yah, 68 hoods always seemed to open a little "short". You need to watch the head! Just be glad it ain't a 69 or 70 with their "tooth".

The Supreme hood does not have the simulated vent chrome trim on it.
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Old August 19th, 2010, 11:44 AM
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Got it. Probably belongs to all the other parts that came with the car. The trunk was full as well as the back seat. One disappointment was the missing trim for one wheel well. We'll have to come up with that as well as the missing and brocken front end pieces. The boy says he definitely wants all the chrome as opposed to filling the holes.
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Old August 19th, 2010, 12:19 PM
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Welcome aboard and cool story. My son is 13 and I know what you mean about getting them away from the xbox. I look forward to seeing the progress...
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