hello all,

after 26 years of sitting in parking lot by my cousins house my wife and her father decided one day to drive to Wausau and trailer the olds back and surprise me. It was a surprise. My brother died at 19 in 1990 and the car has been sitting ever since. yesterday my friend and I got it running.
body isn't too bad, needs floor pans, trunk is rotted out, and front bumper looks bad. interior is totally bad. I am not looking to make a show car out of it but something I can drive now and then. it appears junkyards do not have any of these olds to source any parts.
I live just south of Green Bay so if anyone can point me to a few items that would be great.
Tom

 

Welcome to the site, congrats on bringing your brothers car back to life. I would post a list of what you need in the Parts Wanted forum, the members here may be able to supply what you need.

 

Sorry for loss of your brother at such a young age but glad to hear you have his car and are doing something with it.


73-77olds.com has a lot of guys selling parts. It's tough sometimes to get registered there but a lot of the 73-77 guys are on here. Also remember that for a lot of stuff like door sweeps, weatherstrips etc whatever fits Chevelle/Malibu will generally work on Cutlass, LeMans and Regal too.

 

X2. You'd be surprised at what other interior parts will swap from the other GM "A" bodies of that era. Give a shout if you need help. There are dozens of "A" bodies (including Cutlasses) sitting in the yards in my area.

 

Hello Tom, welcome to CO. Sorry for your loss, my condolences to you and your family.

It's cool to hear you got the car and you're going to do something with it. That was mighty nice of your Wife and Father-in-law to bring the car back to you.

What are the specifications on the car (color, engine, history, etc.)?

As Eric stated, make a list of what you need and lets see if we can find what you're looking for. Aftermarket parts for the interior trim panels for '73-'77 as a whole, is virtually nonexistent. You'll have to source them from another car in this era...with a slight exception for '73. That's due to some of the trim pieces being specific to that year only. It's also worth mentioning that each year in this era, had some year specific parts so depending on what you're needing, be mindful of the fact they may or may not fit your car properly, if at all.

Regarding the rust issues, aftermarket floor pan sections and lower quarter panels ('76-'77) are available. On your trunk floor, please elaborate on "rotted out". Reason being, here's an instant where it could fall into the "year specific" category. The '77 trunk pan has some one year only specific parts that are slightly different than the '73-'76 cars. So, depending the severity of rot in the trunk floor pan, take caution when you're buying a replacement. Better yet, if you're buying an entire pan, buy one from a '77 and you'll be fine.

I'm a member on the '73-'77 forum Rocketraider mentioned. It's a challenge to join at the moment so don't be discouraged if you try and don't get in right away. There's a chance you may get in without a problem or it could be a lengthy waiting period.

Some of Us from that forum, are here on CO. Feel free to post your questions, concerns, or needs here. That includes any questions you may have about factory features, paint or trim codes, part numbers, etc.. You're in good company here, as well.

Looking forward to seeing and hearing more about your car.

Again, welcome to CO and best wishes with your car.

 

Good to have you here with us, you joined the best Oldsmobile site on the web!! So many guys here with lots of knowledge to help you with all your needs and questions.
Good to hear another Olds will be preserved, post some pics when you get a chance. We all like pics!!
Looking forward to hearing more about the progress on your 77.
Cheers
Eric

 

Sorry to hear about the loss your brother that early in life.

It is very cool that you have his car to enjoy and remember him by and rides you both enjoyed earlier on in the car.

I have some sources for parts you can try. Like others have indicated interior parts are hard to source... A posts are reproduced, lower door panels minus the carpet... Seat backs under a pontiac lemans.

The Parts Place Inc
OPGI
Fuisick
Rock Auto

I have the number of a guy who has a huge cutlass only junk yard in Indiana, good chance they have some hard to find pieces either used or NOS pieces. Pricey, but worth it when no one has it...
There is another guy in south carolina that has a oldsmobile junk yard. Interior parts ... will have to call and inquire.

Post some pics, specs of car, plans, more history of the car and you and your brother.

I am a member of the 73-77 olds forrum but have not been able to post anything on there or respond for a few years. Given up on that site.

Alex

 

A little history as best I can remember it.
He bought the car around 1987 and the trunk rot was there at that time already. Being in high school and not strapped with cash he "fixed" it with sheet metal and road signs.
I just found that out when we started ripping the trunk apart. He had the engine and tranny rebuilt. Engine was pretty strong with some go fast parts like a different cam, headers, and other parts that I cant remember and he had to have a 3 speed auto that you have to shift, B&M maybe??? and I remember him talking about a higher stall converter whatever that is.
Anyway it needs a different rear end as this must be stock because you shift out of 1st going about 50 mph. I would rather have it the other way around and be geared a little better to get to 60 a little quicker.
Anyway he died in a three wheeler accident and the car was stored at my cousins house. I think because I was 16 and my mom and dad didn't want me to have such a fast car. So I bought a ZX-10 Ninja that could almost break the sound barrier. Went into the military got out went to college got married 4 kids later and now 42 years old and I always thought about that olds. I must have been talking about it a little too much about and my wife and her dad snuck over to Wausau and picked up the car when I had a meeting that went late last week.
Got it running no problem. got the tranny going with a little fluid added. welded up the headers and exhaust so it didn't catch the interior on fire. just going to fix the brakes tonight and hopefully take it for a short ride. Maybe just one burnout for my brother.

 

Tom,
That is cool you both share the interest in autos together and continue on with his car!

My cutlass had originally a 2.92 ratio rear end, non posi-traction rear end. I upgraded to 3.73 and the ration was way to steep for a automatic car where you want to still run down the highway regularly at 60 +. So went down to a 3.42 rear end and is better, though it does suck gas at 70mph, that and the bigger 455 big block I put in.

Stall torque converter is when the transmission isn't engaged until a higher engine RPM, which depends on the stall converter he put in. I stalled mine up to about 1200 RPM which is nice. I wonder if he had a shift kit put in the transmission to make when it shifts more distinct? I went with a medium level one and you feel each shift. I also put a Hurst dual gate shifter in which allows you to drag run it while shifting and not worry about bumping from Drive into neutral or worse yet reverse...

Have fun with the car! Look forward to pics!