This is my second '67 Convertible and since the first one was dubbed "Hooptie" by my then coworkers, this one shall be named ""The Hooptie Two"

When I moved to Phoenix in 1991 I had a 1967 Cutlass convertible that I drove there in. I sold it a few years later because I wanted a car with a heater. I have regretted that decision ever since!
So I bought another one!

It is gonna be a LOT of work but I don't care! It has most of the new parts with it so the biggest part with it is getting the time to do it. I have more time than brains some times it seems!

Anyway, here are a few teasers. It's kinda rough but not too terrible for it's age. My wife is from the same year and she is in MUCH better shape!
drivers_side.jpg
rear_view.jpg
interior.jpg

 

Couple more pics! It has the 442 hood on it. Dunno if that is factory or if someone put that on it later in life but it's cool! Somebody started to do some paint removal with a grinder or a really coarse sanding disk. I'd like to put a BIG wrench up side their head for that!!! Doesn't look like they ruined anything, but it sure makes more work for smoothing out the panels!
passenger_side2.jpg
front.jpg

 

Well, I have done some work on the car and it really runs decent but there were some reliability tweaks too.
First is the distributor, plugs, and wires. I put the new distributor in timed the same as the old one but things just weren't quite right. A couple of the wires were tight enough to play Yankee Doodle on, and the wiring was interfering with the throttle linkage. So I started tinkering with it and ended up with the number one plug wire over 180 degrees out from where it started. This took the tension off the shorter wires and took some of the slack out of the longer ones. Rotating the cap also moved the coil wiring out of the way with just enough clearance for the vacuum canister. The higher vltage of the HEI system allows me to use much wider spark plug gap. This wider gap and hotter spark gives me much more reliable ignition and better performance. It runs a LOT better now! Here is a before and after.
Before
engine_2.jpg
After
IMG_20120307_162227.jpg

 

In this first picture you can see that the power steering belt is crooked and if you look closely you can see that the bolt in the mounting bracket on the top of the intake manifold is cross threaded. The lower portion of the mount is supposed to set down on the stud there to the right of the #1 spark plug. Whoever put this back together last didn't take the nut off the stud so the whole bracket wouldn't fit right. One of the bolts that goes through the bracket into the front of the head was simply not there. The other two in the front of the engine were loose. Not good!
engine_1.jpg
So I took the rear bracket off, removed the nut off the stud and put the bracket back on. Viola! The holes all lined up! So I bolted everything back together and now the power steering belt runs straight! It's a LOT more solid now too!

 

While I was involved with the power steering mount, I also noted that the alternator tension bracket was waaaay over engineered! I did get a picture of it. Presumably whoever put the power steering brackets on wrong also used a 4 inch bolt with four nuts for spacers to mount the alternator tension bracket. Extremely redneck!!!

In the first pic you can see all the stacked nuts being used as spacers and the donkey dick of a bolt holding the tension bracket. It is even on the back side of the alternator mounting tab!!!
Alternator.jpg

So I took the bracket into the garage and straightened it out for starters. Then I guestimated how it needed to be bent so it would bolt directly to the block and also fit the alternator housing correctly. A few tweaks and it fits perfectly! Plenty of adjusting room and rock solid now. I don't think it is OEM, but for now it will work. I also added a nut to the pivot bolt on the botom of the alternator. You know, to keep it on the engine!

IMG_20120307_162312.jpg

 

One more thing I have repaired so far is the carburetor. I had noticed that the accelerator pump was not working so while I was under the hood fixing things I took the lid off the carb. The accelerator pump was pushing the gasoline back into the float bowl! I don't have a rebuild kit available so instead of the stainless check-ball I used a BB! It's as redneck engineered as the alternator bracket was but this works!

The carb still leaks though so it needs to be replaced. Gonna hit the junk yards and see what a 4-barrel carb and manifold cost compared to the late '70s Caddy injection system. That oughta make the Mrs. blow a gasket!

Putting a vacuum hose on the PCV valve cured a lot of the crank case smoke! I dunno if it was smoking because of how long it has been since the engine ran or if it is simply worn out. It really runs too good to be terribly worn though. I might try a little Marvel Mystery Oil to see if things loosen up and start playing nice. Or even some Sea Foam. I've heard good things about both. Getting the timing right seems to have cured a lot of the smoking though too!

Damm! I forgot how much fun these older cars really are!