johnrossjdr

Hello,

Have been doing a ton of searching and have found this site to be extremely helpful so far with a ton of good looking cars.

Recently purchased a 72 Cutlass Supreme from some kid that ripped out the 350 and put in a 455.

I still have not even figured out what type of transmission it has other than auto and appears to be a 3 speed. Feels kinda funny not knowing what I even bought!

Anyway, I see the vinyl corner moldings for sale all over the place, but that doesn't seem to be the only piece, it seems like I need another long metal piece that goes along the deck between the glass and trunk. Am I crazy?

What is not helping is that all the cutlass supremes i have seen in person, they took off the vynl due to rust concerns. I love the look so am bringing it back on my project car.

Have to say this is my first project where I do not feel the need to keep it stock and restore it since I am fairly certain nothing in the engine bay is stock.

Well help out this newbie idiot please!! Anyone who has nice clear pictures of the actual vinyl properly installed on a 72 would be nice also.

Added picture of it being towed home after purchase. You can tell a kid owned it with that paint and rim combo but i have to admit, I kinda like it! Picture is very misleading though, paint is pitted and basically destroyed up close. Engine runs strong and interior is passable for now.

Thanks,
John

oldspackrat

There should be a long piece that goes from one side to the other for the vinyl top. I have several in stock, along with a back window if you need one. I'm in Indianapolis & can ship.

11971four4two

HI
Hope you are having fun with your cutlass
I took a few pics of the top on my supreme



The transmissions are fairly easy to figure
TH350 square shaped pan with rear corner at an angle
cable kickdown on the gas pedal
TH400 more "kidney" shaped pan with rounded corners
Electric kickdown switch on gas pedal

johnrossjdr

You folks are fast! Thank you!

Picture is great, so really it is a 5 piece thing I need, 2 molding corners, two short straight shots and one long below the glass.

Oldspackrat, not sure how to PM you but will give it a shot. If you dont get one in a few minutes I am messing it up somehow.

11971four4two

The trim for the back window is 4 pieces
2 across the bottom with corners and 2 upper with sweeping arched shape


the trim at the bottom of the vinyl top is indeed 5 pieces

johnrossjdr

I mean for the vinyl portion, not the window itself. Was able to find the window items in the "pile" in the trunk!

That equal five pieces? I am actually basing that number purely from your pictures as they are the best ones I have seen of what I am trying to figure out! Guess it is not the sexy picture you send to friends of the back part of the vinyl, so a little rarer.

11971four4two

Hey No problem

sorry I do not have extra of those parts
but , I have the car if you want / need more pictures let me know

oldspackrat
scott
phone
317*727#7041

johnrossjdr

Will be sanding my butt off here for a few more weeks, then will be time to paint and put the vinyl on.

Thank you very much for the pics and for being so willing to help out a rookie!

If anyone has a source for the 5 pieces, I am interested for sure.

joe_padavano

And since a picture is worth at thousand words...

johnrossjdr

Nice! Stuck at work for another hour but will be flying home and checking it out tonight for sure, thank you!

johnrossjdr

Well that was cool, got two of the three trim pieces I need from a CO.com member, appreciate that! Still need one last piece of vinyl top trim and will be good!

Looks like I have the TH400 transmission, so from what I have read, that is a positive, supposedly slightly better than the TH350 as far as durability.

So I guess I got a decent deal after all as this is the setup I probably would have moved to anyway. Of course I have already spent what I paid for the car on all the work I have done so far, labor of loves do that to me.

I live in a nicer area and it has become the interest of the street, as to why I am doing this and seems a lot of guys want to bring their kids over to look at it. Wasnt expecting that for my little old 72 Cutlass that is 7 different colors and with bondo all over it!

Will be getting it panted by a real paint shop on Monday. Purchased all my stuff from thecoatingstore after reading up on them. Might be a horrible choice or it will be brilliant. Got the oxystik epoxy primer, colorseal red primer, and BC crimson crush metallic with a HS clear. We will see how this plays out over time, as short term they seem to be legit, but no one really knows long term...why do I torture myself these ways?

johnrossjdr

Well it was dropped off for paint on Monday, they said it will take 1-2 months. That was part of the "deal" with them, no time rush but I will be picky AF.

So for anyone wondering, epoxy, red colorseal primer, basecoat and HS clear coat was around $650 after taxes/fees/shipping. Went with Urekem stuff from thecoatingstore.com. Color will be Crimson Crush metallic. Color seemed a little less crazy than most of what they offered which suits my style. We will see how it comes out, I am very nervous.

Due to the amazing amount of dents, the plan is to lay down epoxy and then skim coat it with filler. I know that is a questionable practice but given the amount of grinder marks and other issues with wavy panels all around, it made sense to take this tact here. Then will apply the red primer, base coat and clears as normal.

I made a little album as well if anyone wants to see more pictures. Will keep adding as I can, but doubt much will be added until paint is sprayed. Plan on waiting out the full 30 day cure time from manufacturer and then adding back the trim/moldings. Will see where I am at and what else I may need to do. A lot of the trim was shabby so sure some will need swapping out.

Only new thing trim wise is I see what the prior owner did for the vinyl top trim, they seem to have crafted their own trim pieces, so I will be able to at least use that temp until I find the third piece of trim I need for the rear deck portion.

Wiring while working fine, looks like hell, appears when someone put in an alarm they really butchered it up. Might be one of those things i let be until it causes an issue then replace the entire wiring harness.

So much work, so much fun!

RetroRanger

looks good youve done a lot of work already interested in seeing the paint when complete

johnrossjdr

So what have I learned so far? Pick your shop carefully. So far I have been called in to the shop twice due to "issues".

First time - they had the worng car and dragged me down to see a window broken on another car...w/e things happen, no real harm other than wasting my time to check out the other cars broken window

2nd time - way more concerning, they call me and tell me the primer is bubbling and it must be bad paint...so again I head down. He shows me where it is bubbling and proceeds to tell me what thye actually did, which was not what was agreed upon.

Instead of laying down the epoxy first on the metal, they decided to just skim coat it first and then try to epoxy it. Thats when it bubbled. Told them they are not following the plan and that if they are doing it that way then just go straight to the colorseal primer as metal is no longer in play with the skim coat. They apologized and are moving forward with that plan. Will know by Friday how it worked out. Very annoying and not helping my nerves at all with this!!!

On plus side the body work did look well done and they did a great job evening up the gaps which was not part of the deal but he felt bad for the dragging me down for the other window thing.

So hey, I went with the best deal that didn't seem like a scummy shop, but at this point, wish i just went into with best shop mentality and sucked it up on the additional cost. Hoping this does not become compounded by the choice to use the cheaper paint option also. Guess i wont really know on the cheaper paint until a few years go by, but just giving you my current state thoughts! Maybe when I see the final product it will all just be a funny little story that turned out well. Fingers still crossed, now including toes!

johnrossjdr

Ok, so still have a few things to iron out (they somehow "forgot" to put the side mirror back on, cut the power to my power door locks and my hood pull is missing, which they say they will take care of asap) but the initial paint is done.

No cut n buff or anything yet, it will just sit for 30 days as I slowly add back what I had removed for the paint job.

Most of these pics are from the painters crummy phone in the shop itself, when I put a few days in, to add back some more parts like bumpers and stuff, will take some nicer ones.https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...es/biggrin.gif

Only about 5k more things to do before done, next major event beyond the assembly of some things removed for paint, will be getting the vinyl top put on! https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...s/rolleyes.gif

I am happy with the paint, Urekem, bondo, and a so so shop can pump out decent results I suppose. Time will tell of course, but for today, I like what I am seeing. I got what I paid for, it is not a show car by any stretch but should be a good looking DD. If you hunt for flaws, you will find them though!