Hello guys and gals! My name is Jansen and I just acquired what I think to be a 71 cutlass. I have very little knowledge on these cars but I'm very knowledgeable with gm Ls engines. I have built several Ls turbocharged trucks and cars. A little history on the car at hand... it was my great grandfathers car and he parked it in his barn in the late 70's and has been there ever since. My goal is to get it out and clean it up and drive it. I have no plans of turning this thing into a hot rod, I want it to be just like it was when it rolled off the showroom floor. The car has no rust or dents and the doors open and close better than the doors on my 00 Yukon! It has the rocket 350 with 2bbl carb. I don't know much about these cars but hope to change that with the help of some of you guys and the search button ha ha. Thanks for the comments in advance and good day to all.
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Welcome, looking at the headlight bezels and grille, that it is a 1972 Cutlass S. Both the VIN and data plate will confirm what year that it is. I believe that 1972 was the first year for those wheel covers.

 

Wow , can't wait to see it out of there, welcome to the forum.

 

Welcome to our site! The poor old girl.... she sure needs a good cleaning, doesn't she? It's so cool that it's been in your family all these years. I'm glad you're saving her.

 

Welcome, I'd also like to see what she looks like after a good bath.

 

She does need a good bath....Boy...that's a lot of poop on her. The inside looks like it needs some good scrubbing too. I'm very happy you are going to get her back on the road.

 

Looks like a solid base to start with. No huge rust holes. Ck the VIN [title, or the plate under the windshield, LH side] and then, under the hood, LH side, up top near the windshield, is the ~2x4" body tag... that will reveal a bit more.

Grilles look 71 Cutlass to me. "S" on the fender after "Cutlass"? Column shift 3-spd.

It may still run. Why was it parked? Does it have an FM radio? You may wish to get a variable voltage supply and slowly bring the wiring up to 13V in order to gently awaken old capacitors in the radio, ignition, and other places. A set of points/ condenser will probably be required to get spark.

Location?

 

Thanks guys. I can't wait to clean it up, the paint still shines under all the dust. It was set up because my great grandfather lost his ability to drive and when he died my grandmother inherited the place and I bought it from her . It does have a radio and I want to say its an am radio but I'm not 100 percent sure. I haven't tried to turn the crank with a wrench yet. I've actually got a 425 super rocket engine I acquired while I was going to school for automotive machinist. I'm located in laurel Mississippi BTW.

 

It is a '72 Cutlass. Rocker trim , S emblem on the fender, blacked out headlight bezels,
'72 rocket emblem on the center stone shield, seat belt warning light in the fuel gauge, '72 steering wheel, '72 grills. My .02

 

Clearly I need to brush up on my 1971-2 detail differences.

The 425 is the best Olds motor you can get.

If the 350 does not turn.... lucky you.

 

Seriously???!!!

 

Now THAT'S a barn find.
Welcome to CO.
Remember it's only original once.
Those 72 350's were alright, and with
a 2 bbl and a tune, maybe 17 mpg?
67 thousand miles, just broke in, sweet.
Do you remember cruising at all with
your Gramps?
Looking forward for your follow-up pics.

 

Never even met him, he passed way before I was born. A lot of the wires under the hood are chewed up, anywhere i might could get a wiring diagram for this thing? I go to crusing the coast every year and im tire of trailering my turbocharged silverado. i figured i would get this thing out, clean it up and enjoy riding around with the family.

 

71 tail lamps have two stacked horizontal rectangles. In 72, Olds added vertical strips in them. You can find factory service manuals on wildaboutcars or buy original hard copies on ebay. The chassis manual will have wiring diagrams.

 

Sign up with Wild About Cars (http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/) and you will find pretty much all of the chassis and wiring documentation you can use. It is free and there is tons of data on that site.

 

Wow, x2 on the BARN find!
Great save, and really cool that it was in your family!cannot wait to see it shined up!

Ted

 

Welcome to CO! Nice to see another one saved, can't wait to see it after a good cleaning.

 

Neat. It's amazing whats still out there in old buildings. Welcome!!

 

awesomely preserved car dude. by the looks of the door panels I'd also wager thats a 72

 

Welcome aboard That is awesome that you are going to save that car and drive it Keep us posted on the progress and especially take lots of pics when you polish her up a bit so we can see her shine

 

Also be absolutely SURE to get any and all documentation pertaining to the car. Window stickers, maintenance receipts, title, dealership info, protect-o-plate, etc...

 

Thanks, cant wait to get it out in the sunlight for the first time in 30+ years. I don't have any paperwork on the car. How hard is it to get this thing registered?

 

It shouldn't be that hard. In GA all we need is the bill of sale, proof of insurance and voila tag and registration will be yours before you leave the tag office.

 

I don't have a bill of sale, the old house is grown up on the woods and the rats probably ate the title years ago.

 

Hey jansen: Welcome to the Classic Oldsmobile Forum. Excellent barn find. Make your great grandfather proud! Don't take on too much at once. Take your time and try not to get in over your head. If you have questions, just ask. That's what we are here for, to help others.

 

Welcome to the site. Can't wait to see it cleaned up.
Did you follow the machine field after going to SAM? I have a cousin in law that went about 15 years ago and has worked for race team after race team and got tired of moving so often and last I heard was in Lubbock working for a machine shop (I'm guessing Sunset Racecraft) but not for sure.

 

I actually strayed away from the automotive machinist and have been a CNC & manual machinist for 8 years now. I specialize in building and repairing any type of hydraulic cylinder, pump, motor and pretty much Amy kind of hydraulic repair and troubleshooting. I also build drive shafts and do a good bit of welding and fabricating. I've built several log manifolds for turbocharged engines. Some might say I'm a jack of all trades. Also a full time father raising a 4yo girl by myself! Ha ha

 

Cool looking forward to see what you do with it. I may pick you brain in the future. I've got a 5.3 waiting to go in a 78 Suburban that I hope to run a single turbo on one day.

 

That would be pretty sweet. Boost is very addictive and is very expensive. Been thru 9 transmissions and 3 rear ends. As long as you do it right and put a tough drive train behind it you'll have many miles of fun.

 

Great find. Photos are great. You do know that car has been breakfast, lunch and dinner for every 4 legged creature for the last 20 years!!You will have many hoses and wires to replace in the engine compartment...but that will be an easy fix. Careful with the interior, I made the mistake of kneeling on the back seat of my car after being in storage for awhile and the seat cracked. Don't get to excited scrubbing the interior...it will be very delicate. This is a great group and they will help all they can....no nasty opinions unless you pimp out your car or put a chevy engine in it, THEN you'll catch crap. Good luck

 

Great looking car, Can't wait to see pictures of it after it's been freed from that barn and cleaned up.