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New to the forums, Oldsmobile and vintage cars in general
Hello everyone,
So after many years of being fascinated with older cars, I recently turned 40 and decided to buy what my wife would describe as my "midlife crisis deathtrap." I've been researching cars and watching craigslist and ebay since about February of this year. I was trying to find the right combination of mechanical soundness, aesthetics, safety, and budget friendliness. After a number of moments of indecision and half-hearted looks at various project cars, I finally found something in October that spoke to me: a 1971 Cutlass-S. I am not by any means a car guru, but my family has always been mechanically inclined. My dad used to do a lot of basic repair/service on the family cars. I personally drove a 1988 Dodge Dakota from 1998-2013 and did a lot of basic repair work myself, so I am pretty familiar with the hassles of keeping an aging rust bucket on the road. This car is far from a rust bucket, but definitely needs some work. I don't have any plans of showing the car or doing a full restoration by any means. I just want to keep it mechanically sound, clean, and safe to use as a fun driver. I've already done a lot of reading on the forums here and I can tell there's a lot of experienced and knowledgeable people here, so I'm hoping to soak up a little bit of that knowledge. I've already acquired an original service manual in good shape from eBay as well as several other related books.
So here is what I know/have been told:
350 V8 Automatic with 4-bbl Road Demon carb.
Prior to 1996, the car was titled in Florida. The person I bought it from acquired it around 2001 and had plans of restoring it. An engine rebuild was done around that time. The 350 was bored 0.030 over and an upgraded cam, pistons, and valve set were installed. I think original heads were kept. I don't know what the specs are exactly but the CR is allegedly around 10:1 now. The TH350 was swapped for a TH400 with a shift kit w/ 3000 rpm stall. The rear differential was removed and replaced with one from a 1968 or 1969 Buick and supposedly has a 3.55 ratio. Shortly thereafter, the guy lost interest in the car because he started an auto body business around the same time and working on cars became, well...work. Only about 500 miles have been put on the engine/drive train as the car has mostly sat in storage near Green Bay, WI for the last 15 years. Oil was changed periodically and occasional drives into town were done with it, but that's about all.
Color is not original (not sure what the original one was. Something kind of greenish yellow I think.) I rather like the current color as it reminds me of the 1976 Nova my family used to have. The paintjob is amateurish, but looks pretty good from 10 feet, if you ignore the few nicks and scratches that occurred while residing in storage for the last 15 years. Some interior work was done. Bench seat was replaced with bucket seats from a contemporary Oldsmobile of some kind. New headliner was put in. New carpet installed (poorly). Rear seat was reupholstered I'm pretty sure. Interior door panels appear to be modern replacements. The dash is a wreck, but can probably be salvaged. No radio. Ductwork for heater/AC is mostly removed and vacuum hoses are dangling. Glovebox is missing. Some random holes cut in various places of the dash. I don't really know what the objective was but I doubt it was achieved.
It's a really solid body/frame. Rust is minimal and mostly surface. Some body filler was used here and there prior to the paint job, but a magnet will stick all around, just gets weaker attraction in some places. If I'm not mistaken, it looks like they filled in the mounting holes for a number of trim pieces. Oh well, not going for a show car anyway.
Since I'm a safety first kind of guy, the priority project for now is installing the seat belts. (Yeah, previous owner didn't even notice they were missing. ) I got two large boxes of original parts. All the belts were present and accounted for in there (including shoulder belts), but the bolts for mounting them were not. I've already received replacements from Summit and just need to find the time to get them in.
Project number 2 will be figuring out why the BRAKE light is on. Has something to do with the proportioning valve. I removed the sensor wire from the valve and the light went out. Also eliminated Parking Brake switch as a potential problem. Brakes seem solid. Master cylinder is full. Can't find any leaks at this time. Front disc, rear drums. I believe the previous owner replaced the power booster. I wonder if an improper bleed of the system would cause the valve to signal a problem? Clogged line? Something else? Diagnosis sounds like a weekend project I think.
Anyway, that's all for now. I hope I haven't bored the hell out of all of you.
The car sat in the back of a body shop for a long time with the windows open, so everything is covered in a superfine layer of sanding dust. I wiped off all of the upholstery inside already, but the engine compartment is going to take me a while.
A couple of things I forgot to mention. Car has MSD ignition, which you can kind of see behind the air filter. Also, the shifter is a "slap-shifter" which is kind of a bizarre thing to me. I've driven manuals and automatics, but nothing like that before. Seems simple enough, but will take a little getting used to.
This car has obviously been torn apart and put back together, so look for missing fasteners, half-fast installations, etc. Since it has a bench seat originally, the shifter has been added. A photo would help. I see an aftermarket replacement brake booster. Also note that the master cylinder is leaking out the back. Nice open face alternator. The Chevy red engine paint is an indication that the engine has been out before. Of course all the A/C hardware is missing. Wiring is an absolute mess. Trans cooler lines are incorrectly bent replacements.
Yes, the seller openly admitted the trans cooling lines were run incorrectly by his own doing. Definitely on the list.
The wiring is definitely in need of some work. I've already found a couple of disconnected grounds and other things like that.
I did notice the master cylinder leak in the photo and figured that could be contributing to my brake light issue. That will be rectified for sure. Maybe a full overhaul is in order.
I did find at least one missing fastener, inside the passenger side door, where the fender meets the main body. Need to figure out where to get another one, and what it's called for that matter.
I did notice the master cylinder leak in the photo and figured that could be contributing to my brake light issue. That will be rectified for sure. Maybe a full overhaul is in order.
The big question is, was this a factory disk brake car or a conversion (that's a disk brake M/C)? I've seen too many conversions that were done incorrectly with missing parts, no combo valve, etc.
The big question is, was this a factory disk brake car or a conversion (that's a disk brake M/C)? I've seen too many conversions that were done incorrectly with missing parts, no combo valve, etc.
Don't know if it's factory, but the master cylinder appears to be correct for a power disk/drum setup, two chambers, one smaller than the other. There is a combo valve in the appropriate place according to the service manual.
Don't know if it's factory, but the master cylinder appears to be correct for a power disk/drum setup, two chambers, one smaller than the other. There is a combo valve in the appropriate place according to the service manual.
OK, I just couldn't tell that from the photos posted. My sensitivity is from a parts car I have that has a disc brake M/C installed on a drum brake car. The aftermarket booster just raises a question.
OK, I just couldn't tell that from the photos posted. My sensitivity is from a parts car I have that has a disc brake M/C installed on a drum brake car. The aftermarket booster just raises a question.
And a legitimate question at that. Brakes are not something I want to be done poorly. I appreciate all the feedback.
I've been researching cars and watching craigslist and ebay since about February of this year. I was trying to find the right combination of mechanical soundness, aesthetics, safety, and budget friendliness. After a number of moments of indecision and half-hearted looks at various project cars, I finally found something in October that spoke to me: a 1971 Cutlass-S. I am not by any means a car guru, but my family has always been mechanically inclined. My dad used to do a lot of basic repair/service on the family cars. I personally drove a 1988 Dodge Dakota from 1998-2013 and did a lot of basic repair work myself, so I am pretty familiar with the hassles of keeping an aging rust bucket on the road. This car is far from a rust bucket, but definitely needs some work. I don't have any plans of showing the car or doing a full restoration by any means. I just want to keep it mechanically sound, clean, and safe to use as a fun driver. I've already done a lot of reading on the forums here and I can tell there's a lot of experienced and knowledgeable people here, so I'm hoping to soak up a little bit of that knowledge. I've already acquired an original service manual in good shape from eBay as well as several other related books. 
) I got two large boxes of original parts. All the belts were present and accounted for in there (including shoulder belts), but the bolts for mounting them were not. I've already received replacements from Summit and just need to find the time to get them in. 
