Hello all, I recently picked up a 1971 Olds Cutlass Supreme last week. This thing is all original with 114,000 miles on it. I had a 72 Cutlass Supreme back in Highschool but Minnesota winters being what they are took its toll on the car to the point it was not worth fixing.

I am excited to work on the car with my 13 year old son that thinks its his car. It does have some front end damage so I am trying to find a fender and front bumper for the car but am finding it tough to find the parts so I hope to get some ideas.

I am also very torn of what to do with the car as I said it is completely factory right down the the single exhaust. I am wondering how far I should go when making any changes like dual exhaust, wheels and trying to get some more HP out of the motor because it is a little weak at this point.

Thanks for the help in advance.

 

Thats a great looking car from that angle. Looks like we can barely see the bump in the passenger fender. Hopefully its not going to be too difficult to replace. Since its a Cutlass Supreme, you aren't going to have a negative impact adding things like dual exhaust in my opinion. Make changes as you want! Good luck and congrats.

 

Welcome to the site. That is a pretty car. Hopefully the damage won't be too hard to fix. IMHO, do what you want to the car. A car is only original once, and for every Oldsmobile that is long past.

 

Welcome. Suggest you purchase the factory service manuals. Even if you are not doing the work yourself, they are indispensable. Start looking for them on E-bay.
As far as the engine, do you have any previous service records? I would look into doing a compression and leak down test to assess current health of engine before doing other engine add ons. At that mileage, I would also be wondering about the timing chain and gears, along with the usual tune up items.

 

I do have all the papers for the car and from what I can tell the tranny has been overhauled and a new radiator and that is about it. I think it still has the orginal shocks because it is like driving a boat...

 

Welcome to the site. Father and son projects are cool with participation. Parts for your car should be plentiful on this site. Posting a list in the parts wanted section should yield you some joy. Good luck

 

Welcome. With over 100K miles, one of the things I'd be most worried about is the timing chain. Olds used a cam gear with nylon teeth for reduced noise. Unfortunately, by 80,000 miles these plastic teeth start to wear down and come apart. I usually replace mine between 80K and 100K as a preventative maintenance item. Good luck with the car.

 

Welcome to the site D. Despite the damage, its a good looking car and great place to start your plans. Like the suggestions already, determine the engines health at this stage before you do too much else.

 

Welcome to C.O.! It's your car, do with what you will. IMO I would keep it stock , just add some nice sounding exhaust and maybe some raised whites to the super stock II's. If it helps you here is my 70 with the same mods.




Pat

 

Nice car. Parts are not hard to find on here. Make a list and post in the parts wanted section.

 

Thanks for all the great information its given me some where to start..

Thanks again.

Dave

 

Nice car. I just bought a 72 cutlass. Previous owners added buckets, 4 bbl , headers dual exhaust and modified the guage cluster. It's not a collectible cutlass that those things hurt the value , so i would just change what you like to make it yours