elfreedman

Hi from Southern California. I am a long time mostly lurker on a number of Olds boards.


Pic of my ride is below. My dad purchased the car new in January 1971. I was 7 years old. I learned and took my driver's test in it and it was my daily driver until 1995. When my dad purchased it, he loaded it up with all of the creature comforts - air, power steering, disc brakes, power windows, etc. But he put none of the performance options in it except for a 4 barrel carb.


I have had the outside of the car fully restored. I updated the wheels to 15" with wider tires from the 14" and Brady Bunch caps that came original to it. Somewhere, I have the original bill of sale and a few other documents from the purchase.


The car is on its second 350. It's old and leaky and done. I am about to have AR Race build me up a mild 455 pump gas street engine and will later add posi & 3.23 gearing. That ought to put a little life into it without going too crazy. I'm sure I'll have some questions as I get into the build.


Someday, I will get to the interior. I have my poor man's version of seat covers in there now - black crib sheets for the benches and rear seat back and black pillow cases for the front seat backs, lol.


Thanks for reading. Cheers.


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oldcutlass

Welcome, very nice car. I bet your dad is proud that it's still on the road and loved.

Oldsguy

Wow I am liking the looks of your car! Those "brady bunch" caps which I call "poverty caps" are nice and go well with blackwall tires. Welcome to CO.

Fun71

Welcome aboard. It's good to see another '71 convertible that's still driving.

There weren't many performance options in '71 besides a 4bbl, dual exhaust, and limited slip diff, so don't feel left out there. You have all the other good stuff - AC, front discs, and power windows.

I drove mine with a set of K-Mart seat covers for many years and they probably didn't look any better than your sheets. Don't let the seats intimidate you - installing repro seat covers was a breeze compared to most restoration stuff. It took me an afternoon each to recover my front buckets and another afternoon for the rear bench. It is not difficult at all, so whenever you're ready don't be afraid to tackle the job.

elfreedman

Thanks for the info. I didn't know that the options were that limited back then.


The poverty caps and 15" wheels are the new look.


Here is the old look - 14" with the bigger hub caps. I also had the stainless molding taken off.



Old:

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New:


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elfreedman

For the interior, I would like to do something other than vinyl - it's just too hot in the summer with the top down.


I was also thinking of possibly using Sunbrella - it's pretty tough material. I have been searching the web, but can't seem to find anyone who has done a car with it other than some aftermarket seat covers.

dc2x4drvr

Welcome, looking forward to updates)

whiskey runner

nice car.. love the dog dish caps on the black wheels..

QMaster

Welcome. Nice car!

501Paratrooper

Nice car, talk to some golf guys I think some golf carts have sunbrella seatcovers.

Fun71

Yeah, I know all about black vinyl seats in the sun. I just throw a beach towel over the seat when I park. Still gotta watch out for the seat belt buckles - they can brand you.