OldSoldier

Hi everyone! My name is Matt and I'm a new oldsmobile owner. I bought a really rough 71 cutlass supreme convertible off of Ebay on Saturday.



My grandfather always drove Oldsmobiles and I love the look of the 70-72 convertibles and the price was right on this one (and I got approval from the missus) so I bought it. I now own all three BOP type vehicles (wife DD is 09 Enclave, my DD is 09 G8 GT, and now this).

I've been into old cars since being a kid and do currently own a 68 Chevelle. But I want to try my hand at a project and figured this would be the hardest one possible but still doable since many parts are being reproduced now. Don't let the picture fool you, it is pretty rusty and most panels will need work. The floor pans aren't even there in front of the rear seat area!

That said, anyone know of any vert frames in the DFW area? I haven't climbed under the car too thoroughly yet but I know the frame needs work. I think it sat in a field for a long time. Have a great one! I'll start a build thread once I've actually begun work on it but that will be several months away and I need to get a bonded title started on it before I do anything else since I'm in Texas and we're a title state but I don't have a title.

MDchanic

Looks like you've got your work cut out for you.

Welcome to Classic Olds!

- Eric

kevin.horton

Welcome. Lots of good, knowledgeable people here. Makes working on these things a lot easier.

oldcutlass

Welcome from another in the DFW area. Congrats on your purchase, craigslist is a good place to look for your parts locally, also ask around at the local car shows, you'll be surprised at whats floating around in the area. We also have a lot of members in the area.

Enter your name in the map link below.

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...obile-map.html

OldSoldier

Thanks everyone. I added myself to the map. I'm already scouring CL for parts and have found two already.

tru-blue 442

Welcome to CO for another Texan.
Good luck with the project.

JPMDaddy

welcome from Richardson, newbie to Cutlass myself....

texxas

That car is old enough that you don't need a bonded title, as long as it is not stolen. I used International Title Service out of Las Vegas.
http://www.its-titles.com/index.html
I had the paper work in hand to take the Dallas County Tax office with in about 10 days and there was no problem getting a Texas title. They don't list the prices on the web site any more it says to call or fax for a quote. I paid about $275 the first time I used them and around $350 two years ago.
Also welcome to the site from another Dallas, Texas member.

OldSoldier

Thanks for the head's up about the title. I am going to try following the state directions for obtaining a title myself. It is only $15 I think. The trade-off with a title surety is time vs money so I may change my tune if I get busy. Either way I will share my experience for future Olds generations making their cars drivable!

OLD SKL 69

Welcome to CO! Glad to hear you were able to find a frame already. Keep us updated with your project.

oldsman72

Welcome to the site Matt! Good luck with your Olds project. If you're looking for parts and can't find locally, I recommend putting a thread in the "Parts Wanted" section of this site. I've had a lot of success with it.
I look forward to seeing your progress.

'68 SS Chevelle huh??....Got a picture of that sucker??

OldSoldier

OLD SKL 69, whoops I meant I found two parts I need, not two frames. Still on the lookout for one of those. Sometimes my brain gets ahead of my fingers and I don't make complete sense.

oldsman72, here's a photo of my Chevelle. I have owned it since 1995 but haven't driven it since 2002. It deteriorated over the course of my ownership because it spent two winters outside (one in New York/Michigan, and the other in Missouri) so I pulled it off the road until I could afford to fix it up. I gave it to a shop in April 2008 and they still aren't done with it. It has been a pretty awful experience but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and the car is beautiful now.

I'm having trouble with imageshack right now but I can post more later if you'd like to see some. I took these pictures on May 23rd.

oldsman72

That's real nice man!! Love the color combo. That a real SS396 car, with A/C? I love Chevelles, or really any GM A-body. I had a shot at a '68 about 15 years ago (SS396 car but had a 427 in it, 4-speed, white & black, wanted $9k for it) but I dropped the ball and missed out. That 1 still hurts.
Good luck with both of your projects!

OldSoldier

Thanks. The color is the original color, Grotto Blue, and it was an SS factory AC car but the shop owner talked me into a Vintage AC system. I wish he'd have just refurbished the stock unit but that's water under the bridge at this point. He's beaten me down so hard I'm just ready for it back. He feels bad about having it for so long and thinks he'll do nice things for me like adding the wheel well moldings at his cost, but they weren't stock on 68s so I told him to take them off. Of course that means he has to fill the holes he drilled in my freshly painted wells. On and on for years like this. It is a big reason I challenged myself with this new Oldsmobile: I will have a shop in about three weeks (movin' on up) and want to try to get a car done myself in less time than my professional shop. I think I can do it. It has been 1,552 days in his care so far!

oldsman72

WOW...1,552 (but who's counting? ) / 365 = UGH! That's torture. Car looks good to this point. I just hope that the finishing and detail work go smoothly. Something tells me you're not too optimistic.

You're opening your own shop?!? I'm jealous. Lots of luck with that!

OldSoldier

No, I mean I will have my own work space. I sent it (chevelle) out to be done for me because I didn't have any tools or room to do it in my own garage. Soon I'll have more space where I can disassemble a car. I still did what I could on the chevelle (most of the interior work including plastic repair and paint, steering column refurbishing and upholstery) but now I'll be able to do body work as well.

oldsman72

You'll have a space with your tools available so you can even THINK of restoring a car??.....I'm still incredibly jealous! I've got a 1 car garage and a 1 car driveway that are occupied by my kids' stuff and my wife's Acadia, respectively. I can only dream of my own work area some day therefore I'll live vicariously through others, such as yourself

Keep us posted on the cars (and your shop).