NorCalSS

Hey Fellas! Just wanted to introduce myself here.

Names Joe and Ive been searching for 70-72 Cutlass for a while now. Finally found one with potential and am going to look at it today. If things go well you will be seeing me a lot more on the forums. The last Classic car Ive had was a 69 Buick Riviera which I sold and ever since I did I have been trying to get back into old muscle.

I searched the forum and found a VIN decoder sheet that I can take with me when I look at the car to give me the basics.

One problem is the current owner had the keys either stolen from a break in to his garage or they are lost. I now have to find a way to start this gentlemans car without keys and without any damage to his car. Im going to call around to find a new lock cylinder and try and replace it so I can get it started. Im going to search<<< the site for directions on replacing the cylinder.

Sorry for the story. Great site and I hope to learn and contribute as much as possible.

I currently own a:
1995 Impala SS
1994 Caprice
1998 Blazer

Joe.

oldcutlass

Welcome and good luck with your search!

2blu442

Welcome to the site Joe! What part of Northern California are you in? We have a few members in NorCal so if you need some local help it may be available. John

NorCalSS

Thanks for the welcome guys. Im located in the Sacramento area.

gearheads78

Welcome to the site.

1ATony

welcome to the site Joe

cutlassjoe

From one Joe to another welcome, and good luck!

Oldsguy

Welcome to CO Joe, and good luck with the car.

citcapp

Hope everything works out always good to add another Olds nut to the crowd

68Verts

Welcome to CO Joe, from one newbie to another !

NorCalSS

Thanks again for the welcome fellas. I went and checked out the car and like it :-). Dash is perfect, seats are 80 out of 100 in condition, paint is good condition it can use a buff and wax, body is straight except for a crease in the drivers front fender and a dent in the same area by the headlight. Top is new condition, headliner is new, only missing a couple badges and the "M" in Oldsmobile.

I changed the ignition cylinder hooked up a battery and turned it over. Fired right up after a couple pumps with little smoke coming out the exhaust due to it not being started in a few months. Idled EXCELENT with no miss.

Its a California car, born and raised here so there is almost no rust.

Negatives.
1. dent and crease on drivers side fender.
2. no keys so I couldnt open trunk to inspect.
3. couldnt drive it YET due to brakes not working properly.
4. couple badges missing and 1 letter from the trunk area.

I didnt have the tools to mess with the brakes so i asked the owner to look into it if possible and if he can get the brakes working then consider it sold. I explained to him that my wife is another hurdle I have to jump and if I come home with a car that I had to tow instead of drive I will not hear the end of it,lol. The car is 1 1/2 hours away from me so I cant just go over to mess with the brakes.

cutlassgal

I'm not a fella, but welcome to our site Joe! Can't wait to see pics!!

Tedd Thompson

Joe, I'm also a northern Cal. guy, glad to have another upper state member on the board. Some glove box keys are the same as trunk keys and if your glove box isn't locked most any locksmith can either get the number off it or build a new key from scratch. This may not pertain on the new type cars that you drive, any expertise I may have, if any, is in 50 era cars so this info may be bogus for your car....Tedd

455man

I'm working on getting keys for my car. I took the glovebox to a locksmith. He said it only has 4 cuts instead of the 6 that's needed for the trunk. I had to pull a door lock out to have a key made for that and maybe it will work in ignition? Still in the process so not sure if the guy knows what he's talking about or not. Taking out the trunk lock this weekend. Going through the back seat.

NorCalSS

Thanks again for the welcomes.

Keep me posted 455man. I think i have to go that route too.

I probably going to pick up the car this weekend as soon as the bank releases my funds.

I dont think going through the back seat with socket extensions will work in my case due to some sort of speaker box in there. Ill be able to get a better look once its in my garage.

And of course once I get it home and most importantly cleaned up I will post some pics for everyone. Its a little rough but i didnt want to buy someone elses dream. I wanted to put MY touch on it . Im buying it as a project for me and my Son.

Also its been a while but I know I dont have to get a smog on it being 1975 and older but do I need to smog it when i transfer the reg and title to my name?

2blu442

Another idea to get into the trunk. I believe for the 1970-72 you can drop the rear bumper and see the two screws that hold the lock clip. Use an offset phillips screwdriver to remove the screws, drop the clip then gently pull the lock straight out. After than you can insert a screwdriver in and open the release. I know I did that on a car once and believe it was one of these years of Cutlass.
John

455man

Well I did not get the trunk lock out. Very small holes behind the seat. Talked to another locksmith who verified that the glovebox does not have enough cuts to make a key for the trunk. He also discovered i had a Ford latch in my glovebox? I'll be replacing that He said to get the car running and bring it in so he could get the trunck lock out. He said he could do it easily without damaging anything. Now i'm hoping the door lock will fit the ignition. It should unless its not the original. Just in case I started tearing apart the steering wheel. Got everything torn down and it still would not come out. So i took a pic of it and the locksmith showed me the clip to press in and then it should come out. One of the locksmith employees has a 73 Cutlass so he knows his stuff.

NorCalSS

Thanks for the tip! I dropped the bumper, pulled the lock shim thing and the lock came out and I was able to put a flathead into the hole and open the trunk.

I picked up the Cutlass on Saturday. I have a few pics for you but keep in mind it is dirty and has been sitting for the better part of a year. It ran great on my 1 1/2 hour drive home. Engine sounded and ran strong with zero miss and the tranny shifted great. I had 2 issues on my drive home.

1. I had some wheel hop at around 55-60 MPH. Im gonna chalk it up to old unbalanced tires. Going to replace them and go from there.

2. did not hold a charge and had to drive home in the rain with just battery power. I made it most of the way home and had about 30 min left and the wipers started to stick up due to no juice. I turned the headlights off which diverted the extra juice to the wipers and ran the rest of the way home that way.

The trunk has some surface rust inside on the floor. The speaker box and trunk kit kept it moist down there with no light and air passing through it. Easy fix. Going to clean it and seal it soon. Thats pretty much it on the bad rust.

The interior and paint/body needs some work and have seen better days BUT thats why I picked it up, as a project!. Its been repainted so the jambs, trunk, under hood does not match but its going to get some body work and a full repaint anyways

Now for the pics. She is dirty but will get a FULL wash inside and out + interior and carpet cleaned this weekend. Then im going to tear into the engine bay and clean up and repair/replace any wiring that looks "iffy".









Dont mind the Joe Dirt gas pedal its being removed and replaced.