I'm new to the forum and new to the cutlass. I'm looking to possibly pick up my wife's boss' 71 cutlass. I've been googling as much as I can to learn as much as I can about this thing as I can. The car is silver with a black vinyl top, black interior with center console and buckets with headrests. She has american racing torque thrust wheels and disk brakes up front. Its a numbers matching car with 29k original miles.

It has its issues, mostly electrical, turn signals don't flash but the hazards work, fuel gauge and clock don't work, reverse lighs out and brake/tail lights are super dim.

Decifering the body tag says its a 71, 4th week in march, lansing plant, but the rest has me confused.

I see trim 902 and I can't find anything that tells me what that is. It also gives a 49 G paint.
49 is antique green but I can't figure out the G.



Thanks for the help. I'll post pics of her later

 

Welcome. Sounds like a great ride.
The numbers guys will chime in on
your cowl plate. 29K and from your
wifes boss? Nice...

 

Welcome, you don't see 29k mile cars all that often. Can they document that? Post some pictures when you get a chance.

 

The g is top color green.
02d is build date 4th week of February.
902 green interior I think.

 

I believe the codes mean the following

TR 902 = jade green vinyl bench seat
49 = antique green lower body color
G = green vinyl top
02D = 4th week of February 1971 build date

33287 = Cutlass 2-door hardtop with a V-8 engine.

I believe this car is a base Cutlass, not a Cutlass S or a Cutlass Supreme.

 

Welcome to CO, enjoy the stay

 

Welcome. Since the car has obviously been repainted silver, check carefully for rust repair behind the front and rear wheel openings. Also look for rust through the base of the windshield, on the dash. Finally, look for evidence of water leakage around both the front and back windows. Vinyl tops are notorious for trapping water and causing rust holes. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the great responses. He is a family friend and he has had the car for 15+ years the way it sits so I trust him on the mileage. There is a large amount of rust under the top and the passenger rear quarter. He has a new quarter and roof to replace them with. There is a leak in the front passenger area that seems like its coming in from behind the dash. I'm guessing that's from the windshield seal?

He also offered to help me fix everything and repaint it. There will not be another vinyl top installed. The wife and I are taking over the shop in a few years when I retire from the army so he is using the cutlass to teach me some paint and body work so that I know the business better.

You can tell the interior has been dyed black because the black is kind of peeling off of the bucket seat backs and arm rests.

 

Nothing wrong with a learning tool that can be appreciated when class is over. I say go for it.

 

If you're lucky, the leak is from the heater core, but more likely it's not the windshield seal but a rusted out pinchweld where the windshield seats. This is unfortunately common in these cars. There is a patch panel available, but welding it in requires completely removing the dash, for obvious reasons. Don't simply try to seal this with silicone.

As for removing the top, the only issue may be that sometimes the factory didn't fill the seam between the roof and quarter panel on vinyl top cars, they simply put seam sealer in it. My 70 W-30 is that way. This will need to be dug out and the gap filled with either lead or a welded-in panel before painting. Not all are like that, however. It depends on the assembly plant, apparently.

 

Its been pouring *** today so I didn't get but one pic.

 

Looks great from the one pic. You have responses from VERY knowledgeable members of this site so you are in good hands. Post more pics and good luck with your ride.