When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Hi all, I am about to come into the ownership of a '64 Cutlass F85. I'm inheriting it from my Bro-in-law who passed away recently. He got it from his grandma in CA (original owner) (also have orig window sticker and bill of sale) never been in an accident and was in CA till 96. I knew the car back then but haven't been to see it yet since. It's in the middle of TX and I'm in OR. The interior has been redone but not sure the condition now. Its been sitting for a few years since the motor "blew". The orig 330 was swapped for a 380. Don't know the details on the motor, what happened, or trans. All the molding and emblems had been removed in prep for paint right before the motor went out. Still have the original rims set aside too. It's just been sitting in their yard. I have big plans to bring it back to life and have always loved this car. I'm going to be relying heavily on this forum so you'll be hearing more from me soon. I'm heading to TX in the next few days to prep the car and load it up on a trailer. Wish me luck
I tried to upload some pics but it failed
I wish this forum was on the mobile app "Tapatalk"
Welcome to the site! If you need help posting pictures let us know. What part of Oregon are you in? There's several of us here in Oregon, although most are in the Willamette Valley area. Are you planning to go back to original with the car or just make it a nice driver? John
Cool, the 380? engine does not fall into an Olds production engine size. The hardest thing to find would be wheel well trim. Hope you have yours with the car. Good Luck with the project!
Hey folks, I loaded up the pics to my profile. As for where in OR I am, I'm 30 mi SE of PDX in Clackamas county. As for "380" I think he was saying it was a sbc bored 30 over. I'm not a motorhead so I'm not sure what's going on. I intend to learn everything I can though. I don't know what kind of transmission it has, I think it's a 3 speed. obviously a column shift Auto. Oh and a stall converter in it. I remember it "barking" the tires when it shifted. My plans for it is pretty much original except high performance upgrades i.e. suspension, brakes, motor, trans, rear end etc. It'll be a weekend cruiser and when its worthy take it to shows. I already have like 6 other cars, 3 drivers not to mention the wife's minivan .
On a different note is one of you guys a retired ORANG guy?
I picked up the car this weekend, loaded it up onto a trailer and took it from my sister's to my parents in Dallas where it will sit till I can figure out how to get it up to my place in OR. Shipping Co's want around 1k to ship it.
All in all I would say it's in pretty good shape. The driver's rear window had been down, stuck out the channel for who know's how many years. This caused water to get in and rust a few little holes under the back seat. I fixed the window. It has no brake fluid and thus no brakes. Don't know if it has a hole somewhere and leaked out. The engine is shot, don't know what's up with it yet. There's no coolant, the oil appears to have water or coolant in it. I got all the receipts for it from the past 20 years, the original window sticker and bill of sale. I also got the original wheels/tires/hubcaps. I have what appears to be all of the molding and emblems. some are damaged like the rear wheel well ones, the front fender end ones too.
I look forward to getting to work on her. I would like some recommendations as to parts sources.
Here's some more pics: http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/e...ps3e344048.jpg
I'm with Oldsmaniac and would take the opportunity to go back to an Olds engine. But that's my personal prefrence. I've got extra motors down in Medford and I believe there's a few more Olds guys in the Willamette Valley who could help you too. I think Oldsproject is in Oregon City, he's got some 1965 stuff. Once you get it home I'd encourage you to make a plan on what you want to do with the car, schedule time and money for it. Then make a list of what you want to buy first. Create a parts wanted post here, but also scour Craigslist for as far as you'd be willing to drive for parts. I see a lot of interesting stuff in the Portland/Vancouver area. Then further to the North in the Seattle area. For sheetmetal if you can't find it there Central Oregon, the Bend/Redmond area has some real clean cancer free metal. Or a little further away but Spokane Washington also has that dry environment good for old cars. Looking for parts and building the car is half the fun! I'd encourage you to make a plan and enjoy the adventure
Part of me also wants to go back to an olds 330 but another part of me wants to get a nice "built" sbc to get some great HP. It would also be less expensive to use the items I already have off of the SBC in it.
Anyone know where I can get some of the plastic clips that hold on the molding? If you look closely you can see that the right front fender is missing them. Also I have checked year one and brothers automotive parts for them and no luck for them and the end of front fender "eyebrow" moldings and no luck. I know that as previously stated the fender trims are hard to find. My plan is to make a "get well" list of all the parts needed and what needs to be done. Any advice for a "plan of attack"? I was thinking strip it all down pull the interior, clean up the body, repair the one ding behind the left rear wheel, fix the floor section, get it to paint. While it's apart, rebuild/build the motor, send off the dash to get fixed, aquire all necessary/missing pieces. Then put it all back together.
Wanting to upgrade handling and brakes as well. Also I've posted more pics of it to include interior pics in my profile.
What a great looking project! Look for an Olds 350. I've seen them on CL around Portland and Seattle for about $500 in the past.
If you do some research on the forums, you will not hear good things about Brothers. Year one is mostly over priced. Supercars Unlimited is in Beaverton. http://www.supercarsunlimited.com/
Fusick's http://www.fusickautomotiveproducts.com/ is the best place to get reproduction parts for Oldsmobiles. Their prices and shipping are a little more than some of the budget places, but their parts quality is better.
Part of me also wants to go back to an olds 330 but another part of me wants to get a nice "built" sbc to get some great HP. It would also be less expensive to use the items I already have off of the SBC in it.
Anyone know where I can get some of the plastic clips that hold on the molding? If you look closely you can see that the right front fender is missing them. Also I have checked year one and brothers automotive parts for them and no luck for them and the end of front fender "eyebrow" moldings and no luck. I know that as previously stated the fender trims are hard to find. My plan is to make a "get well" list of all the parts needed and what needs to be done. Any advice for a "plan of attack"? I was thinking strip it all down pull the interior, clean up the body, repair the one ding behind the left rear wheel, fix the floor section, get it to paint. While it's apart, rebuild/build the motor, send off the dash to get fixed, aquire all necessary/missing pieces. Then put it all back together.
Wanting to upgrade handling and brakes as well. Also I've posted more pics of it to include interior pics in my profile.
thanks again
Mike
Me personally I look at that motor and say what would I reuse from this motor and it would be nothing........Looks like its all pitted worn and crappy.......The machine work for a Olds SB is the exact same as a SBC......Hence machine work is machine work the price is the same.....Now lets see......You might be able to reuse the carb......Those headers are junk on it now........Iam betting you can find a used sbo intake and headers to fit that right on this site for cheap...................
I am located in Iowa but I have a friend with a complete 403 ready to drop in for $400.....Comes with a aluminum intake all you need is a set of headers and a carb..............you can re-power this the way it was supposed to be or not that is up to you........
I would also like to get it back to being Olds powered for the sake of keeping it all olds. It would be awesome to stuff a big block 400 in it. (hmm what would be shipping to OR from IA for a 400...?) I have thought it as a 442 clone.
As for reusing parts I am thinking the carb cleaned up and rebuilt (Edelbrock performer) the intake (Edelbrock performer), HEI dizzy. I think if the headers were blasted and ceramic coated they would be good to go (may be cheaper to just buy new not sure yet). Prob reuse the trans too.
I am in need of the L shaped molding at the front of the fenders as well as ta bunch of molding clips. I have seen some but not sure which will work.
If your going to build something anyway I've got a few engines to choose from down in Medford Oregon. You could stop on your way through if you've got a way to fit it on your truck/trailer.
The car isn't coming back with me actually this time. I'm flying back to OR and it will sit on a trailer at my parents place in the Dallas area till I figure out how to get it up there. I will keep it in mind though. I need to research the cost of my options
Looks like a great project, thanks for posting pictures. I'm sure you've already noticed that there's a lot of good helpful people here on this site to offer advice on your resto.
I got the car shipped up here to Oregon last week. I already opened up the engine and its a total loss. the block isn't even a good core. Looks like a valve spring broke, the piston hit the valve, broke it off and took out the piston, totally destroying the piston and punching a hole in the cylinder wall.
I have all the receipts and it says "350 olds" but I think its a chevy 350. I am not positive on how to tell the difference when looking at it. It has a edelbrock performer intake, GM heads. I have no reason to think it has anything other than the original trans.
I am thinking of putting/rebuilding an olds 330 for it. It all comes down to $$. There are still quite a few items that I want to try and locate to restore it, namely trim pieces.
Now to make a list, access what needs to be done. I think I need to start a build thread. I will post a link on here to continue for those interested. I appreciate all your input.
Thanks
Glad you got the car to you too bad about the motor
If you can grab one from John I think he has several to choose from
Chevy bell housings are different then olds Buick Pontiac so if its a Chevy motor then trans would not be original take a few pics and many will chime into help identifie
Last edited by oldstata; August 5th, 2013 at 06:30 AM.
I have all the receipts and it says "350 olds" but I think its a chevy 350. I am not positive on how to tell the difference when looking at it. It has a edelbrock performer intake, GM heads. I have no reason to think it has anything other than the original trans.
A small block Chevy has four bolts per valve cover. An Olds has ten. Also, a Chevy won't bolt to the original trans without an adapter plate.
Well it’s been a long time since I posted anything here and I now realize how ignorant I was in my knowledge of Oldsmobile’s and engines haha. I’ve since sold my house/property and had a house built. Unfortunately I have no shop or space to build one to be able to work on my projects. Thst doesn’t stop me just makes it more difficult. I have sanded the car down to it’s original paint and bare metal in spots. It had over 10 layers of resprays. I’ve taken classes at the community college to learn automotive paint and body work and painted my first car start to finish. So I could apply these skills to the Olds. Wow that was a lot of work and time to do it right but patience and perseverance paid off. It came out great. A 92 Corrado that I completely rebuilt ground up and painted myself a deep burgundy pearl (original color). I picked up a pretty much complete 330 from CL. Pulled the heads tho and found surface rust on one of the cylinder walls. Not sure what I would need to do to get it going. When pricing a rebuild I came to the conclusion that if I needed to rebuild it that the cost of rebuilding a 330 wouldn’t be much different than rebuilding a 455, so I made the trip dwn S to John and got a 455 off him. That was a whole road trip fiasco that’s a story for another time (thanks John for going out of your way to help me). Was great meeting John, talking cars and seeing his projects.
So here we are, a 330 and a 455 now to decide which direction to go and dive into the money pit that is a car rebuild. In the mean time I just try to do what I can that doesn’t cost a lot but rather just takes time. Thanks to all that proved info and support. I will be adding pics to my profile of the progress.
Pulled out the old engine yesterday. Going to clean up the engine bay and paint it. Ideas on paint and color? I believe original was black. Thinking of cleaning everything up and going with POR-15 for its durability.
As for engine because of cost I think I’ll put the 330 in it so I can get it driveable first. This will help motivate me to keep going and continue.
I painted the gas tank with silver POR-15 and the tank straps with black POR. Got the old engine out (it was a destroyed sbc 350) Original tank painted with silver POR-15 Current state
I worry that I’m getting in over my head. Going down a rabbit hole of how far or how much I want to do. Concerned I won’t b able to get everything lined up again when I put it back together. I feel challenged as I’m doing and undertaking so much that I have no experience with or anyone local I know who does. I’m also always working by myself. Thinking of taking the whole front end off, the other fender and the front. Going through all of
that and painting the inner fender liners at that time
Hello,
If you are going to put an Olds engine back, it is NOT going to bolt up to that trans.
If you want to put headers on the Olds small block Olds, not going to happen. There is no headers for the Olds in a '64 Olds frame.
Now if you want to use a early 65 to 67 400, 425, 455 , yes headers, big block Olds headers will fit.
Good luck
So I dove in headfirst and am forcing myself to keep on it even when the weather turns. Ive taken the whole front end off and sand blasted a lot of parts, then painted them with POR 15. I’ve pulled the dash and started restoring it. After the pic of the front end I’ve also taken the upper and lower A arms off, removed the wiring harness (going to replace it). Removed everything from the fire wall to include wiper motor. Pulled the TH350 trans that was in it because it was a SBC patterned bell housing. Only thing left on the front end is the steering components and brake system, still entirely entact.
The plan is to remove entire steering system, replace parts that are worn, paint with POR 15, replace gear box with close ratio one. Upgrade to disc brakes at least up front. Go with a 200r4 trans. Refresh and install a 330 I have sitting on a stand. This would be a less expensive route initially. Long term would be to rebuild a 455 I also have and swap that in later. Replace sections of the floor pan and the trunk for minor spots. Next summer I hope to take the body off and clean up and POR the whole frame. Replace body mounts. Put it all back together and on the road. Get the whole car at least one color prob going to be an epoxy black primer for a little while.
Here are some pics so far. I’ll post more pics of painted parts when I take them.
Ive learned so much about these cars and in looking back feel completely foolish about my lack of knowledge. It’s all part of the journey. I just don’t want to do something wrong I can’t undo. Much more has been done since this pic The body plate in case anyone is curious
Pulled the dash Front fender liners before and after POR 15 Before and after sand blast Before and after sand blast Before and after sand blast Before and after sand blast Parts about to be painted with POR 15
Greeting! Although I am the red headed step child here, I have a project thats very similar to this. Mine is a 1964 Buick skylark special, that came from gramma with a V6 and a 3 on the tree. That was last Christmas, and as of June she was sporting a built 455 (465 - .040" pistons) and a Super T-10 4 speed. Ive gotta run right now. Im hauling my 36 foot boat in the morning and the Criks' a risin'. Bill
December 18th, 2012, 10:13 PM
I have big plans to bring it back to life and have always loved this car. I'm going to be relying heavily on this forum so you'll be hearing more from me soon. I'm heading to TX in the next few days to prep the car and load it up on a trailer. Wish me luck
