76Supreme350

Hey guys. My name is Jeff and I live in the Boston area. I took a look at a 76 Cutlass last week and am now going to go buy it later tonight. Its got a 350, two door, rear vinyl top and only has 71k original miles. The car ran great and doesn't have much body rot and has no frame rot at all. The bad thing about the car is that the bumpers need to be replaced and the vinyl top is pretty much done for and I can tell there is a good amount of rust under there. Also, the drivers side window is leaking somehow and is getting the interior wet so the floors have some surface rust on them. I already got everything I need for a nice full tune up and will be picking it up around 6 today. Also, forgot to mention that the trunk is in excellent shape so I know the bottom of the rear window is not leaking. I'll post some pictures once I get the car.

Thanks!

70 cutlass s

Hi welcome to the site. Sounds like a decent project. If you get a paint job I would take out the windshield and rear glass and so you can due the seal for them to prevent future rust.

76Supreme350

Yea, I plan on doing a real budget for this car because its my daily driver. I have an 80 LeMans thats getting a motor I'm building now. I will do that though when/if I get it painted. I want to keep this car in real good condition because I want it to last.

2blu442

Congrats on your new purchase, and welcome to the worlds of Oldsmobiles!
John

1969w3155

Welcome, I had a '76 and a '77 Supreme years ago, nice cars.

Aron Nance

Welcome to CO, Jeff! Great buy, and good luck on the restoration!

Oldsguy

Welcome to CO!

Doug69Cutlass

I learned to drive in a light blue 76 442 with a 350. I remember it had a lot of get up and go. Go figure that I flunked my first driving test for going over the speed limit. Have fun with your new project, it will be a nice car.

Lady72nRob71

Welcome to the site!
Picking up an Olds is always a fun experience. It sounds like you got a great candidate for restoration. The vinyl top will be the biggest chore but is totally doable. Keep us posted!

76Supreme350

Well, I got the cutlass to my friends house and started doing my big tune up. I got an MSD cap and rotor, replacement coil, plugs, accell wires, pcv, new air cleaner assembly with filter and I removed some vacuum lines and plugged them up. I got some more plugs today to really clean up the vac, stuff and a little bit of new vac lines. The car ran a little odd when I first fired it up. I played with the timing a tiny bit and got it to run a little better but it still ran like it was misfiring. I messed with it for maybe 45 mins and finally one of the start ups it ran fine.

As far as the bad, the last time i took it out for a spin it wouldn't shift into 2nd, but the trans is said to be rebuilt. Also, my friend decided it was a good idea to jack it up on the core support and now my brand new radiator is bowed in the middle...sweet. Pics soon.

jaymann

I've owned a couple 76 Cutlass Supremes. One with a 350 and another with a 455 and t-tops. I miss that car!
As for the tranny try shifting manually from 1st to 2nd and see if that works.
I`d check the vacuum line to the modulator is hooked up. The line is usually near the firewall. It`ll be a metal line up to the back of the engine and with a vacuum line attached to it. It`s an easy one to pop off accidentally when you`re messing with the air cleaner and distributor.

76Supreme350

I believe you hit the nail on the head. I remember taking all the vacuum lines off and capping that one off when I did the others. I just wasn't thinking at the time. Thanks

As for the weird missfiring/engine shake, someone suggested I have bad gas (lol). I probably have some moisture in the gas, so I'm going to grab some Iso-Heet from my work today.

Thanks for all the replies. Pictures to come when I do my brakes in a few days.

1969w3155

If you get your vaccum lines sorted out, that may cure your missing and engine shake.

76Supreme350

Well, I took all the vacuum lines out and plugged everything. I left the vac line on the (cant remember the name) mechanism on the carb that controls the secondaries, the distributor vac advance and the pcv valve. Everything else I plugged. The car should still run fine with those plugged, correct? I did the same on my LeMans and drove it that way for a few months and never had a problem. I just have to fix the vac line for the transmission and it should be fine. If I'm wrong feel free to correct me. Anyone know where I can get an egr block off plate?

cutlassjoe

Welcome to CO! I had a 76 Cutlass Supreme when I was in high school. It was my great aunts car, and I bought it from the estate for $1500.00 when she died. It was white with the blue velour interior, it was sweet! I had it all through high school, and part of college. Because of lack of funds, I could never keep it the way it was supposed too if you know what I mean. She died on the side of I-94 outside Kalamazoo coming home from Western Mich. University. Yes I cried.....Post pics when you can. Sounds like a nice car.