First off just want to introduce myself to everyone. My names Ronnie, I'm a 25 year old and I'm the worlds greatest son! I recently just bought my dad a 1972 Cutlass S. I plan on presenting it to him for Christmas as a father son project car. His first car was a 1975 Cutlass but I am told by my uncle who owned a 72 that that was the year cutlass he wanted...so thats what he is getting!

I am open to any and all suggestions from you veteran restorers out there. What I have:

72 Cutlass S all original with the exception of the wheels

Motor is all original, matching to the car. No modifications to the motor with the exception of new spark plug wires.

I guess my question is... now that I have the thing, what are typically the first few things that you do when starting a project vehicle? I have already degreased, cleaned, and detailed the engine the best I could and I also pulled out the seats, door panels, and carpet. I have an appointment to have the floor pans redone. What else should I do?

Thanks for checking out the post! Help a young guy out!

 

Welcome to C.O. Ronnie
I see you haven't lost your modesty yet. Actually I'd be tickled if my son did that for me too.
Well, hate to burst your bubble but it's not ALL original, so that suggests to me that previous owners may have added other things too. eg: the front grills are from a 72 Cutlass Supreme. The air cleaner (wrong color BTW - should be black) on the car says its a Rochester 2GC underneath. It's missing the heat pipe from the ps stove element. Aw heck, these are small things that can easily be overcome.

Before anyone starts offering suggestions it would be a great idea to spring this on your Dad and come up with a plan that outlines the kind of build you'd like to do. After that, sure we can make some good recommendations.

 

Start with safety, then move to functionality, and then cosmetics.

First ensure the engine is properly tuned and check/ repair leaks and change fuel filter. Check belts, hoses, and vacuum lines. Change the oil, flush the radiator if it needs it, and check all the fluids. Check trans level and color, if its not a pretty pink and smells bad, let us know. Then move on to brakes, pull all 4 wheels, check/ replace shoes and pads. Then inspect and repack front wheel bearings. Check rear axles and wheel cylinders for leaks, flush brake fluid if needed. Check suspension for wear and play, replace as necessary.

Check all that is electrical and A/C. Move on to window operation. Door and trunk seals, etc...

Then on to cosmetics.

 

Welcome. The paint differences from the front end to the rest of the car suggests that it may not be just the grilles that were changed. It's possible that the entire nose was replaced with a Cutlass Supreme nose after an accident. Check the front frame horns for crash damage. You probably already know that the A/C compressor is missing as well. And clearly the engine has non-original plug wires and that chrome breather, so someone has been messing with the car previously. None of this is particularly worrisome or unusual (the car IS 40 years old, after all), but these sorts of items tell me to look very carefully for other things that previous owners may have messed up.

 

The hood is proper one for a Cutlass S; the louvered one was not offered on the 72 CS. And it is the correct hood for AC cars - it doesn't have the rear vents that non AC cars got. This is a 72 feature only AFAIK. In 70 and 71 they all had those rear vents.

The fenders being a different color just suggests to me that someone has started sanding the car and stopped with the front clip. No biggie. The color of the sanded area looks very much like what the brown would be after light knock down. You may be right that the front has been replaced, but fenders for all Cutlass/VC are the same for this year. I think the only CS transplant on the car is that set of grills.

EDIT: Just noticed what Joe P said about the compressor. In addition to it being missing, so is the fan shroud. All 72 AC cars had that too.

 

Thanks for the welcome, and the suggestions. I have been wanting to tell him about it but taking the advice from my uncle I have been talked into waiting. Knowing my dad he will want this project to be all original, from the inside out.

As far as the air cleaner goes I was just messing around with it, thought red looked good, Didn't think about the fact that I could have left it black. Hopefully pops wont mind!

As far as accidents I dont think this vehicle has been in any, the car looks structurally sound. The guy who had the vehicle before me also had a Chevelle that was taking up all of his attention, he seemed pretty happy that it was going to a good home and I got it for a great price.

The fan shroud is also there, I pulled it off when I was cleaning out the engine and taking a look around. Are there any good websites for ordering original 350 replacement parts?

 

Thanks for checking out the post Joe, and the advice. The car seems structurally sound, I havent noticed any signs of structural damage, minor surface rust on the frame but that is about it.

do you know of any good websites for original 350 parts? What kind of breather and spark plug wires did the vehicle originally have?

 

Thanks for the posts olds. I was so excited about working on the cosmetics of the car and working on the motor that I hadn't taken much thought to safety. Breaks are my next project. I plan on replacing all of the drums and shoes on the vehicle ASAP! I will give all the other stuff you mentioned a look as well.

 

Welcome to our site! Sounds and looks like a great project. These guys here are the best, and will help you a lot!!

 

Thanks for the welcome! I'm very excited about the project, hoping to have it in the Woodward Dream Cruise here in MI next year!

And you are right! This site is awesome! The people here are great!

 

Welcome to C.O.
Order a free catalog from http://www.opgi.com/c/cutlass/1972/parts.html to get a good idea of the parts available for your car.

 

Thanks for the welcome, and the tip on the free catalog! I've been doing some browsing on opgi but I had no idea they had a free catalog. Just put my order in for one.

 

You could give your Father the Catalog for Christmas, and then spring the real present on him.

you can search https://www.yearone.com/Catalog/View/28 online, but they charge for the print catalog.

 

Just about ALL the replacement part vendors have on line catalogues
Fusick
Year One
Parts Place
Supercars Unlimited
In Line Tube
OPGI
Tamraz

Why pay for something you don't have to. They all will ship a catalogue with your order unless you tell them not to. I don't need the extra weight on some shipping items.

 

Thats a great idea Nunya, I'll prob end up printing out some pics to put in an album and order a few cutlass badges to put in there with a few different catalogs and a notebook that we can plan the vehicle out in.

 

Hey Allan, thanks for all the help. I've got a co worker at work who gave me his Fusick catalog. He's got a 69 hurst olds and some 70's model olds prototype. He's been a lot of help as well.

Do any of those specific websites/catalogs have good resources for original reproduction 350 rocket engine parts? I'd really like to get the engine back in original shape before I present the car to him.

 

Repro parts. Yes. Some of them but not all. Depends on what you're looking for. What do you need?

 

Just saw this and thought of you. Joe noted you were missing these components
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-391366-a.html

 

As you are in Lansing, Olds Homecoming in June (Saturday of fathers Day weekend) should be on your schedule.) ...oh, and welcome.

 

Hi, Welcome.

That car looks like a good starting point. I'm glad you got a good deal on it.

I would agree with the above regarding working on the functional aspects before the cosmetic.
As for the brakes, you may not need to replace all of the stuff you've listed - no sense discarding perfectly good original parts in favor of foreign-made replacements.
I'd check out the brakes and see what everything looks like. In all likelihood, you'll be able to get away with new shoes and adjusters, and maybe a spring kit. Cylinders are cheap if yours are weeping.

And there's only one thing to do with that orange air cleaner - you have to increase the compression of the motor to match the high-compression paint color on the air cleaner !

Looks like a great project! Keep us posted.

- Eric

 

Nothing major, just some of the small things that Joe P mentioned. I have been trying to figure out what the original air cleaner looked like on the vehicle and havent been able to find any online.

 

Oh yes I have quite a few things on my calender here in Lansing as long as we have the car the car in good shape by summer. Maybe we will see you there! Mostly excited for the Woodward dream cruise though! Thanks for the welcome!

 

Try this link:

http://www.google.com/search?q=engin...w=1366&bih=651

 

MD,

Its been pretty cold here and I haven't been able to do much work on the car lately since its parked under the car port at my apartment, hopefully we will get a few more rare warmer days that I can take a relaxing sunday and pull the tires off and check all the way around the vehicle! I will surely take note of your advice!

As far as that air cleaner I may end up repainting again haha, just had some red laying around and wanted something to do!

Thanks for the welcome! Stay tuned for more pics!

 

Thanks OLDS!

I'm going to have to post a pic of the motor and have some of you guys play where's waldo/whats missing with the motor for me! haha

 

Great idea.

For starters,
Where's the s shaped stove pipe that connects the snorkel intake on the air cleaner to the heat stove on the r.s. manifold?

Where are the A arm seals? They both look like they're missing?

Where is the pcv grommet and pcv valve/hose that should be where that silver breather is? I bet you find one of the front vacuum ports on the bottom right of the carb blocked off - that's where it should run from.

take more pics of the whole engine bay and include the fender area and front rad support.

 

Man I am glad I got on this site! Getting a lot of great help! I'm going to get under the hood and throw a bunch of pics on this thread tomorrow. I'm not sure where a lot of this stuff is or why it is missing but I'm going to make a big list and get it ordered and put on ASAP!

Cant wait to find out what else is missing so I can fix her up! Surprisingly the car idles fairly well for its age and apparently with some of the things missing. The guy I got it from had a Chevelle that was taking up all of his time, I think that may be why he had this vehicle just sitting collecting dust/rust. Glad she's in a loving home now! haha