Eric! How ya been? I didn't know that WAC had these manuals!!! When did that happen? Did you get my Christmas Card yet? If not it won't arrive in time. It's a hand made one with silver Delta 88 with (you know what color interior) .

Merry Christmas my friend, TTYL

 

Hi Allan! Thanks!

Merry Christmas!

- Eric

 

if you nee parts post in the WTB section and just keep asking F-85 on here seems to be getting parts cars and dealing out parts, others on here too.
call original parts group and Fusicks and get some parts catalogs and 442.com has classifieds too

 

Welcome to the forum!!! Nice car!!!

 

I took more pics today in the daylight. Does anyone know if this is an oldsmobile motor? I was told by a friend it was a Chevy... But the Gold paint on the engine block and my father-in-laws eye have made me question.. I think it might be an olds. Also, anyone know where I can get the plastic bumper cover?

 

motor pics.... olds or chevy?

 

Sure hard to tell from that picture but from the location of the oil tube and the alternator bracket I would say Olds!
Take the air cleaner off and it should say Oldsmobile on the intake manifold.
A 73 Olds motor will have OLDSMOBILE script embossed on the valve covers.
What is the letter or number on the corner of the heads behind the alt bracket where the ground is attached?
Better pic?
What plastic bumper cover? The one that sits on the bumper mount and runs from below each headlight to the middle where it attached to the header panel?

Yup I just looked at your motor pics..OLDSMOBILE

 

Wow thats exciting news! Thanks I will check it tommorrow...

 

Another dead giveaway is the number of bolts on the valve cover. If there are 10-bolts per valve cover, that is an Olds motor.

 

Thats an olds motor you have there. Absolutely no doubt. There should be a number on the block right next to the oil tube. That will help determine what engine they put in.

I really like the car.

If they are going to give you the original motor, and you have the storage, I would say yes, take it. They aren't making any more of them, and it may never be a 10 second 1/4 miler, but it wouldn't hurt to have a spare.

 

Hi Tyler, I like your car other than the color, lol.

I used to have a '73 442 that was an awful pale yellow...I ended up trading it off because I couldn't live with a column shift, "beige" 442 & it was too nice a car for me to monkey with. Very few of these things survived....that hood is a unique piece to the '73 Cutlass S...keep your hood hinges oiled.

The escutcheon posted earlier in this thread is for a 2nd generation Camaro/Firebird or pre '73 car... The escutcheon you would need can be found on most '73 to '77 GM midsize cars. Real common piece. '77 Monte Carlo/GP/Regal? yes: same exact part!

Lower door panels may be an easier find depending upon the color. Upper panel, not so much. You will probably have to improvise & find a matching color set off another '73-'77 GM car ((Pontiac Grand Prix is only exception I know)

I am not so sure about the rear quarter window moldings information posted earlier. From all the cars I've owned & seen at junkyards, I've only seen the metal (good) stuff on certain '73 model cars. Metal vs. plastic seems random & the application may also be based on assembly plant. I can tell you this is true for the body side moldings on the '73 Pontiacs (it's literally called out in the shop manual).

It looks like you have cruise control also which is quite rare on a Cutlass S. What else is your car equipped with? 73-77 cars will always be overshadowed by the '68-'72 models but this hobby shouldn't be about "what it's worth."

Depending on which assembly plant your car was built at, you may find a build sheet/ broadcast sheet hidden somewhere in the vehicle.

You can determine the assembly plant by the seventh character of the VIN. I'm not sure if the '73 "S" cars were built in Framingham, Doraville, or Fremont but I know they were built in Lansing & Arlington.

D - Doraville GA
M - Lansing, MI
G - Framingham, MA
R - Arlington, TX
Z - Fremont, CA

"M" cars will most likely only have a broadcast card with limited information on it -- still valuable, but nothing like the other plants. If you're interested and want to post the first part of your VIN, I can tell you where to look for the documents. Different plants had different "hiding places".

The fifth digit of the VIN is your engine...
K - 350-4 bbl, single exhaust
M - 350-4bbl, dual exhaust

Hope you enjoy your car enough to keep it but so much that it becomes an idol... that's an ongoing struggle for me. How nice to be literally blessed with an Oldsmobile!

 

Good looking car, It looks like an Olds 350 to me.

 

Great info thanks so much

 

The 5th letter of my vin is M so I guess it was made in Lansing MI. The Number on the motor is 395558 followed by a large 2. Does this tell us anything? They say it isn't the original motor on this 73 cutlass s. Thanks for all the help. Is there anything else I can learn from the vin? Is it unwise to post my vin on this forum? Thanks!

 

How many digits constitute the first part of my vin?

 

Yes Tyler. That casting is for an Oldsmobile 350 block. So you probably have the original engine in the car. That's great news!

Could you be more specific? Maybe just list the VIN on the site? It's probably like my 72 - can't see much changes for 73. My car starts like this 3G87H2M
Yours should be similary except the year check digit will be different ie: 3G87M3M
The 2 m's mean different things. In 72 the first M meant a 4 barrrel, the next M was Lansing production.
Not trying to be confusing here, but I don't have a 73 manual to work with.

 

The first few letters of the vin are 3G37k3m

 

That's consistent.
3 - Oldsmobile
G - Cutlass
37 - body style (probably 2 door coupe )
k - engine - 350 4 bbl
3 - model year 73
m - lansing built
The last 6 digits are the production sequence at Lansing. Mine is 208783 - built on the night shift of April 7 (Friday) and completed on the morning shift of April 10 (Monday) and shipped to Golden Mile Chev Olds in Ont. Rather a unique authentication from it's broadcast sheet and GM.

 

The last bit is 223952. That's very interesting.

 

Just hazarding a guess because I have no way of knowing when GM started actual 73 production, but it's likely to be similar to 72? If so yours might be built around the end of April in 73. Would be really nice to confirm. You would find the build date on a broadcast card somewhere in your car, or by comparing with someone who has a production date/number close to yours. Doesn't have to be the same body style. Most of the time broadcast cards were under a seat spring. If you pull the rear seat out (not hard) there's a good chance you'll find one under the seat springs. (assuming no one has taken it out before)

 

Nice car. The body style is gaining popularity. I wouln't hesitate to buy one if a clean correctly priced one came along.
Good luck with it.

 

Nice car. Welcome aboard. As mentioned earlier try this board also.

http://www.73-77olds.com/forums/index.php?