CalBear

Hey new guy here, my names marc. Started taking some auto classes and wanted an older car that would be easier to work on so i just bought this 72 cutlass bout a week ago. Wondering if i paid too much. its got a rebuilt 350 with 60k on it and interior has no headliner, dash has small crack, ill put up more pics as soon as i can. Id appreciate any opinion.

alek72us

Welcome to classic olds. is ur car a 72 or a 70 because it has a 70 front clip and 70 sports mirriors? good looking car though what did u pay for it?

kjr442

Welcome, How much did you pay? She looks real good!

2blu442

Welcome to the site! What part of California are you in? As mentioned by all4442 it looks like some of the body panels are from a 1970. It is possible to swap the nose of a 1970 onto a 1971-72 and visa versa. But you might want to double check to see if it's a 1972 or 1970. John

CalBear

yea sorry i forgot the dude i bought it from told me its got a 70 front clip

CalBear

im located in san francisco and i paid 3400 for it.

CalBear

all4442 and 2blu442 thanks, my pink matches vin on dash and says its a 72, how else could i check? i did find what looks like a vin just sitting in the ashtry by the prev owner but he couldnt be that dumb right?

2blu442

Man, I hope he didn't switch the vin tag

I do like the 1970 nose so as long as your OK with it there's no problem keeping it that way. The 1970 sport mirrors are a one year style and hard to come by. It's cool that you've got those too.

It's hard for me to put a price on a car without really crawling over it. If your happy with it, enjoy driving it and don't think about if it was a good deal or not.

Please post more pictures when you have time. We all enjoy seeing other peoples rides! John

CalBear

Yea i dont know about the vin, but thanks for the info i appreciate it.

64Rocket

Welcome, looks like a great car. As long as it rides and drives great, go with it. You just need to make sure all your vin numbers match. The data plate on the firewall and the vin number through windshield on the dash. The extra one could be from the doner car for the front clip. If your happy and you have a clean title, time to get her on the road.
Gene

Oldsguy

Welcome to CO.

CalBear

thanks, yea the titles clean and it drives good other than a problem im having with the belt snapping and the replacements not wanting to stay on. thats a good point about the vin maybe being from the donor car

allyolds68

Sounds like you have the wrong pulleys and/or water pump. A very common problem with olds engines

CalBear

Is there an easy way to check that?

455man

I went through a period of throwing belts. I think i had a little oil on the belt and it slipped. So i tightened it. Threw the belt. That kept happening til I laid off the muscle.

CalBear

What do you mean by laying off the muscle?

455man

I had a pry bar stretching the belt in one hand while tightening the bolt in the other. I was using too much muscle when tightening the belt. Make sure you are not over tightening the belt.

CalBear

Oh ok ill try that, thanks.

alek72us

Can u get us more pics. rear and engine bay. alot of people preferred 1970. just like mine it is a 70 but i'm making it a 72.

2blu442

On the belt issue, do a visual on the pullys to see if they all line up correctly. There are different pullys that if mixed and mismatched can make the belts not line up. There's also a couple spacers on the power steering pump that if missing could cause the pully to be crooked and be hard on belts. John

CalBear

64Rocket

It is only a guess, but I think you have the long pump and the upper pulley does not line up with the crank pulley. At least it sort of looks that way from the pic.
Anyway you can get any better pic's.

Gene

svnt442

If you have the 70 pulleys on that car with the 71/72 pump they will not line up. It just so happens I have a water pump and crank pulley for a 71 engine that I don't need.

CalBear

Thanks guys for the help, i had lined the belt up wrong, it was late when my belt snapped and i replaced it in the dark. How it is pictured above has been working so far no problem. Can anyone tell what year my car is for certain? Here are a couple more pics:

CalBear

Here they are:

AZ442

What are the first #'s of the vin and data plate above the brake booster. 70 442 rear bumper and 70 sport mirrors

CalBear

the first 5 are 3f87h, are you positive about the rear? my front clip is a 70 as well.

455man

I'll agree with AZ442 about the rear bumper. Not sure about the mirrors.

Need the 6th digit. That tells the year.

CalBear

Sixth digit is 2.

455man

That means '72. Looks like someone put some '70 parts on it though.

2blu442

Well... there's a lot of 1970 stuff on this car. I hope someone didn't swap the vin tags on it. There is a vin number stamped in the motor block. To find it check the photos on this thread

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...s-engines.html

Then the transmission will have a vin stamped in it, photos of that location are in this thread:

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-original.html

The 1970 rear end is a "type O" which has a round inspection cover on the back with 12 bolts holding it on. The 1972 should have a corporate 8.5 inch which will have 10 bolts holding the cover on and there should be a notch in the cover at the 3:00 and 9:00 positions. The interior of the 1970 should have woodgrain appliques that have a birdseye pattern to them, rounded grain. The 1971 and 72 have a straight grain to the pattern. Now all of these things can be changed, but if you find everything matching the 1970 that would raise the question in my mind as to what year is it really. Also... the extra vin tag you found. If the engine and transmission vin numbers match that, there would be another thing to raise questions. John

CalBear

Thanks 2blue442 thats really helpful. As soon as i got the time im going to check that.

svnt442

Get a good picture of the cowl tag. It's located on the drivers side under the hood above the firewall.