After a long wait (a couple of years at least), I'm closing the deal and becoming the fourth owner of a '71 Cutlass S. Hoping to have the car in my garage sometime next week, and I'll grab a bunch of photos to share then.

Original 350 Rocket, TH350 trans, quadrajet, dual exhaust, 14" Ralleys, factory radio, tic toc tack, and a few other goodies. Original paint as well and some minor rust in the rear quarters.

Car has been sitting for a few years (inside, fortunately), so first task is going to be a good brake servicing and replacing the battery tray. Second biggie is a top end rebuild which will be my first foray into a V8. I've got years of experiencing wrenching on aircooled VWs, so this will be a bit of a learning experience!

Yes, yes...I know...pictures... As soon as I can!

Oh yeah...car is on Vancouver Island but I'm living out east in Ottawa for a few more months so progress will be sporadic.

 

Welcome, yes pictures. You'll find the Olds is a an easy car to work on.

 

Welcome to CO from a former islander

 

welcome, sounds like a great car, sorry to hear your in ottawa, LOL, the island awaits,

 

Stan stole my line

 

We do what we gotta do...

On the bright side, I'll be on the island for a few days next week and will be bringing the car home, just up the road from you stan.

 

Welcome to CO from another 71 Cutlass owner.

 

Then shouldn't your username more appropriately be "IV Cutty?"

 

Hehehehe :-)

Got the car home tonight, parked in the driveway until I move it to the back shop in the morning. No photos til daylight!

It runs and drives but doesn't stop so good...first order of business will be the brakes.

 

Not perfect, but a solid, complete car with a lot of potential. My sister-in-law was the third owner, and bought the car in 1989. She drove it for quite a while (and has tons of cool stories involving the car, including the fender damage my brother did early in their friendship. Surprised he survived!) It's been stored in dry conditions for the past 10 years or so, and fired right up after about 5 years of being ignored.

Original paint except for the hood, and I have the replacement parts to repair the minor front end damage. Haven't verified it, but told that its numbers matching as well. Olds 350 Rocket, quadrajet, dual exhaust, brake booster, TH350 trans, column shift.

Interior isn't bad, door panels need cleaning and perhaps some other refreshing, dash looks great, original radio, tic toc tach. Front bench needs new upholstery as well.

Brakes, top end and some elbow grease will have this car looking good for the next cruising season.

 

Some more photos. I think the colour is "Bittersweet"?

 

I mentioned before that my background was in aircooled VW's. Well...here comes the Oldsmobile Invasion! :-)

 

Good looking project! It's nice to start out with a solid car. Keep the info and pictures coming!

 

i like the way the vinyl top meets the body, nice line, cant tell from the pics , are you in sooke? or comox area?

 

The white is factory paint, no vinyl! I agree that it follows a nice line, too.

I'm in Duncan as well, just off Lakes.

 

Hey, nice ride! I like the 68-72 models.

Before I got my Olds, all I really ever worked on were ACVW's. Guess I still am working with 'em since I did that Volks-Air compressor conversion this summer. Going from a bug to a V8 powered Olds is definitely a big change. Looks like you're enjoying it!

Good thing that car was kept dry, cause holy hell, they don't call it the wet coast for nothin. Glad to see another Olds guy not too far away.

 

painted roof even better, cant wait to have a look at it, im on the other side of tracks, out in sahtlam.

 

Yeah, I've seen the nastiness that old vinyl roofs can hide. The paint gives the look but not the headache!

I'm not sure if I would have seen your car at any of the local shows over the years, but also looking forward to seeing it, looks great in the photos.

I'm flying back to Ottawa in the morning and won't be back until near Christmas, but will stay in touch. Gives me some time to research and plan the wrenching for the spring!

 

Nice car, especially since it's survived so long up here in Canada! It has the usual rust issues from what I can see, but looks good for the most part. Bittersweet interior is one of the colors that wasn't widely produced, but is available from Legendary if you run into any problems.

Looks like someone installed 1/2 of the U21 rallye pac (tic toc tac) so you just need the other side where the fuel gage sits now. You also have a rather rare electric rear defog on glass rear window if that trim plate on the heater is original. The steering wheel is not from this car, nor was it offered in 1971 in that style. You'll have a fun project on your hands when you start working on it. Power drum brakes all around?

re: two tone paint. The 2 tone option was offered instead of vinyl, but the trim that separates the paint line is the same trim used for vinyl roofs. Check your cowl tag, the PNT code should read 62 11

 

Thanks for the input, Allan. The winters here on Vancouver Island aren't as harsh as the interior, and we're mostly spared the salt spray in my area so the cars have a higher survival rate. That '57 Beetle in my photo has next to no rust on it, and has been an island car since new.

The interior is white, presumably also original from what I can tell. I'm not sure when the tac was added but good to know I should watch out for the rest of it. What would sit in the fuel gauge area in the U21 pac?

The original steering wheel is stashed away and will be coming to me eventually apparently. My understanding is that the current steering wheel was a common GM wheel used in a variety of models including 'vettes and Chevelles of the era.

The rear window has the defrost grid, but no idea if it works. I'll have to keep my fingers crossed for now!

The PNT code is "62 A". I haven't broken down any of the VIN etc yet. Is there a handy guide for deciphering the cowl tag info and VIN?

Door tag build date of 6/71, VIN 336871Z12XXXX

 

Ah, it's just the exterior that's painted Bittersweet. If the interior is white, it's normal to have black carpet, dash and steering column.

If the rear defog on glass is working, when you flip the switch on, the light in the middle should be lit. There's no self timer on these old cars like the new ones. If it's not working, it could be 1. The switch, 2. relay (on engine firewall), 3. fuse in wiring (engine firewall side), or 4. break in the continuity of the grid.

Guess what? Your car originally came with a white vinyl roof. Someone took it off and painted the roof white. "A" is the factory code for white vinyl roof.

Your VIN is exciting - because you have a car that may still have it's build sheet!! The factory that built your car is well known for leaving the build sheet taped to the top of the gas tank... How's that for incentive to find it?

3 - Oldsmobile
3687 - body style V8 Cutlass S Holiday coupe
1 - model year (1971)
Z -Freemont CA production.
12XXXX - production sequence at Freemont. All Olds A body assembly lines started production numbers at 100001, so I'm guessing yours was produced close to the end of 71 production. Look at the cowl tag. There should be a number letter code close to the bottom of the left side cowl rivet. The first set of numbers is the month of production, the letter is the sequence of weeks. A-1st, B-second etc. The Build sheet will show the exact date your car was scheduled to be assembled at the Freemont Fisher Body works plant before it was shipped to the assembly line for final assembly. Since this car was intended for the Canadian market, you can also get info from the GM Heritage Center about it in the meantime.

 

Yep, black carpet (what's left of it), dash and column. Finding out if the defog and other miscellaneous electrics work properly will have to wait until December now, but thanks for the troubleshooting tips.

Interesting about the roof...I'll have to hit up my sister in law to see if she has any more knowledge about that. She did say she's got some of the buildsheets, not sure if they're the ones from the gastank or not - something else for me to look into later.

Apparently the first owner was the dealership owner's wife, but no idea if that might explain any of the modifications.

What type/colour of primer would the factory have used on the car?

The lower left code is O6D...4th week of June?

 

1. Chances are she has broadcast cards, not buildsheets. There is only one build sheet for the car and it's one of the last things to go in, like the gas tank. That's why I think it's still up there. Freemont cars are notorious for having them there. If the car hasn't been apart or had the tank out, I'd wager a 95% chance of finding it there. The broadcast cards are for other minor components of installation at Fisher. They have Card 1, Card 2, and Card 3 depending on what options the car had. They will also have information about the build date and body number.

2. It was not uncommon for dealers to customize an order after it arrived on their lot. The roof may have been changed by the dealer or second owner before your S.I.L. got it. If you want to go back to original it's an easy fix.

3. As far as I know they used EDP primer.

4. 06D is fourth week of June, which makes this one of the late ones to the dance floor for 71. Typically the Factory changeovers to the new 72 models started in late July or early August. Freemont didn't kick out a huge number of these cars, but still had a significant contribution to 71 totals. That matches up nicely with your VIN.

Do you still have any of the original documents for the car? Protecto Plate, Owners manual, Bill of sale, window sticker? That would be a real nice addition to its provenance.

 

Hopefully I'll get whatever documents she has in December. I guess they're all stashed in a box, and there are more pressing issues for her at the moment. At this point I'd say the gas tank is gonna come out ;-) She mentioned the build sheets but that could be the broadcast cards for all I know, and also has the original owner's manual. No mention of anything else, but we'll see in a couple months.

No idea at this point what I'll do with the roof. I don't mind it painted like this, and there's a ton of higher priority work to be done before that decision needs to be considered. Would that EDP primer have been reddish, or another colour? Trying to figure out if there's been more bodywork on the car than originally thought.

I'm looking forward to seeing the actual build date. So far it sounds like it could be within a week or two of my 9th birthday!

 

EDP is black. I agree with your assessment dealing with the safety issues first. Cosmetics is always secondary.
BTW, Nice avatar!

 

Hmmmm...seems to be a lot of red primer on various panels, so likely not as much original paint as I thought. Not the end of the world though!

I can't take credit for the avatar (found it on the web), but liked it. Figured it was time to "dress up" a little here. Taking off the coat and staying a while as it were ;-)

 

The only way you're going to find how many patches or paintovers is to actually start sanding. For now, that's not a priority or agenda issue. Where are you seeing the primer? Is it in the door jamb areas or wheel openings? Maybe on some trim parts? If so that's a 100% confirmation that it's been resprayed. The car wouldn't have those errors from the factory.

 

The important thing it that a magnet sticks to it.

 

It's showing through assorted nicks and scratches on flat door and panel surfaces. I'm not going to sweat it for now, the car is still good and solid. Some elbow grease and minor patching will keep it presentable until I can consider painting.

Planning on driving and enjoying the car for a while before doing an extensive restoration on it.

 

Best plan in the world! These are fantastic riding cars and have (IMO) one of the best profiles of many cars of the era, not to mention it will scoot quite nicely. On the island I can't think of a better cruise than opening all 4 windows and hitting the Pacific Marine Scenic Route.

Anyway, try to enjoy Ottawa till you get home! Oh, and while you're down there be sure to kick a few political butts for us westerners!