SnakeBit

my son is 14 and I wanted to teach him the basics of car repair. I attend car shows with my 96 Cobra Mustang and although he has gone for very brief periods of time and loves Mustangs, the TV show, Supernatural, got his attention and he wanted a 67 Impala to build to duplicate the car in the show. Months of me looking at cars, trying to discover another vehicle he liked and a friend stumbled onto this car on e-bay. I showed it to him and he loved it, so what will be a Black Cutlass Supreme is now in the making. He wants chrome wheels and some upgrades to some modern stuff, while keeping the original look of the car. At least, on the driver's side, the upper and lower control arms are shot, the car needs a tune up badly, the fuel pump quit as I drove the car to the house from the drop off point. The interior is almost perfect as far as the dash is concerned, seats are ok, tires are new, little rust around the front quarters down at the rocker, one dent in the back right quarter panel. everything else is solid.

So here are some pics of the car when I received it off of the trailer, then in my driveway, then with him in the driver's seat for the first time. This ia a child who has never driven a car, had no idea what or where the brake pedal was, had no idea how to open the door other than to tug on the door handle, knows nothing of tools, the difference between SAE and Metric, I mean the list goes on and on so this is truly a project of learning and love. I want to have memories for him and with him that I never had with my DAD.

Here we go:

100_1621_zpsed08f25d.jpg

100_1622_zps8845872b.jpg



100_1624_zpsd4d9ed32.jpg

100_1626_zps86556140.jpg

100_1627_zps20aa3c5c.jpg

100_1628_zps0e118511.jpg

100_1623_zpse3ff8ac1.jpg

Fuel pump got changed yesterday and two cans of Gunk (which wasn't enough but it was a start) and a new positive battery cable.

100_1636_zps50f433ed.jpg

100_1631_zps28bdeaa9.jpg

100_1633_zps1b2da7da.jpg
100_1638_zpsc6c4e0ec.jpg

slantflat

Wow this car is getting around. Looks like a good start to an excellent project.

You didn't opt for the ugly custom wheels the guy wanted loads extra for?

SnakeBit

No, my son didn't like them. He really did not want that much more anyway, but since he didn't like them, got the steel wheels.

Rocket331

It may not be "Baby", but it is awesome!

I'm 50 and my dad is 80. We still enjoy working on cars together. He started me young. I got to hand him wrenches when I was little and was tinkering on a '55 88 sedan when I was about 14.

SnakeBit

that is very cool. hope that later, we can keep doing this together as well, but the age spread is a lot more.

oldcutlass

Looks like a solid start, keep us posted on your progress.

gearheads78

Looks like a great car to start with and its great you and your son can work together on it. Keep us informed of the progress.

SnakeBit

will do guys and thank you for the comments and encouragement.

BILL DEMMER

welcome snakebit & son! save the sedans! lol
my dad and i resurrected a barn find '67 town sedan, i named it ernie after the 425 was dropped-in(hint hint).


bill

SnakeBit

Thanx!!!!

so can anyone tell me, do we have a Holiday or a Town sedan. When I looked up Holiday, it seems they were 2 dr cars, but maybe not. I don't know what makes each one what they are...Holiday or Town. Any information would be much appreciated.

slantflat

Holiday is used on the hardtop, and Town is used on the post model. So you've got a Town Sedan. Congratulations!

I have a 70 Town Sedan, and oddly enough I like it better than the Holiday Sedan.

I really like this car, Snakebit. I wish I would have bought it when it was in Gainesville.

SnakeBit

Thank you for the information!! So we have a Town Sedan!!!

To my knowledge, this car was in Macon prior to the seller acquiring it. Do you know this car?

Allan R

Just extra to this. Yes it's a Town Sedan but it looks more like just a plain Cutlass Town Sedan, NOT a Cutlass Supreme Town Sedan. The CS had different lower trim, a CS on the sail (C Pillar) and all 4 tail lights were red with backup lights in the lower bumper next to the tag. It looked like this:



The plain Cutlass looks similar but also has the back up lights on under the brake/tail lights as in this stock image.

SnakeBit

AAAhaaa!! Thanx!!! Gotcha, so it is not a supreme since ours looks like that bottom one. more of a base sedan then. fine with me, I like the less is more approach!!! Thanx again!!!!

Finn5033

That is really cool, I hope to do the same thing with my kids someday. I guess the first step would be to convince the wife to have one. I'm not old yet but not getting any younger either

slantflat

I saw this car on ebay in Gainesville, GA, a couple months ago. I emailed with the seller a couple times but since Gainesville is a couple hours from me I never was able to make it up there to look at it. The car was on ebay a couple times, fast forward to it being on ebay in Alabama. That's all I know about it. It didn't run when it was in Gainesville.

I'm a 70 fan for the most part but have really taken to the 67s. I look forward to see what you do to this one.

Troys Toy 70

Ok, this one is just for your son. My first car, you will have to excuse the old photo, but it was ....ahem....30 yrs ago

By the way that 330 did just fine for what it was, and for the record it did beat a 67 or 68 Mustang back in the day. It may had something to do with him breaking traction, and by the time he caught, that little 330 was in her power band. Of course, this was on a fully sanctioned NHRA 1/4 mile after proper inspection, training, and all safty gear intact.

Anyway, it was a really good first car! Its the one, I learned to turn wrenches on. Looking forward to what you guys do with it.

SnakeBit

Thanx!!! yeah, my wife actually was all for it...I was pleasantly surprised...she liked the idea of us doing something together, getting him away from the video games, and lastly, her Dad was a Mr. Fixit kind of guy as I am and she wants him to learn how to do stuff. It's all good.

SnakeBit

Wow, thanx for the picture...can't tell exactly but looks like it may have been the same blue the vert was I drove when I was in high school. My Dad bought it new (dating myself here....)

good for you on the NHRA sanctioned course...thought it might have been down in Mexico or just computer generated.....lol!!!

Thank you for the kind words!!!

As I indicated earlier, car will be black, probably with Keystone Classics on it. Already had a couple of low lifes come by looking...ordered some hood locks for it which should be here any day. Got barrel keyed ones that have a black carbon fiber coating on them, figured on a black car would blend right in and look pretty good. also have plans for some other little eletronic goodies. I put a Gentex mirror in my Cobra that has the compass and temp in it..he wants one in this car too. Windshield is cracked, wos when it gets replaced, will get the button to glue to the windshield, remove the mirror in side and mount the Gentex. got some other ideas too.

sammy

Very cool....as others have said, nice to have a father/son project......I have a 14 yr old also.......all he wants to do is drive them. I will get him turning a wrench soon....I hope. Good luck and keep us posted on your adventure!


Ted

SnakeBit

have another question, are there any sound clips of these cars with different exhaust setups..we will dual it out and was thinking possibly on going old school, Hush Thrush mufflers, if not maybe Flows.. would love the hear what others have done.

SnakeBit

yep, get him to do it. I figure the more time and sweat they have invested, the more they will take care of it and drive it as though they value it. I know I didn't do that back then.

SnakeBit

Interesting, thanx for the info, it ran when I got it, but barely. the fuel pump cured that, now the tune up is needed as it is not firing on all cylinders. points, plugs, wires, cap and rotor are next.

Troys Toy 70

The color was Auquamarine. I was technically the 3rd owner. However, it was passed from Grandad to Grandson, So I counted it as a 2nd owner. I think black will be really nice looking. That is how I got the 67, a kid at my high school had a tripple black 67 442 convertible. Man, that was a sharp car and I was hooked. Still not sure how my parents talked me into a 4 door. My next door neighbor had a 72 Cutlass, the front one on my banner, and we took his SSII wheels off of his one day, and put them on mine. It looked good. Wheels and tires make a difference.

As for the "NHRA track", that came later with the blue and white car in the banner. Dad and mom was probably right.

Allan R

If you want a truly authentic sound to the car no one makes a better sounding exhaust (as well as best fitting) than Gardner. They have some sound clips on their site. The closest I could find was the 66 442. Here's Gardner's site: http://www.gardnerexhaust.com/soundclips.html

67Olds442X2

Car looks good, have fun doing it with your son. My son took auto refinishing in high school but never got into cars at all.

SnakeBit

thanx!!!!

SnakeBit

too bad, hopefully he still uses his skills when he can for himself, family or friends.

SnakeBit

noticed that the "idiot" light on the dash says "Gen"...do these cars have generators or althernators. thanx.

OLD SKL 69

Cool project and looks like a great starting point. I think my 67 Impala I had also had an idiot light that said "GEN" but these cars all have alternators.

SnakeBit

ok, cool thanx!!!!!!!!!!!!

SnakeBit

started to install the hood locks to increase the security.....radiator support is too far forward for the locks we got to fit flush. the front of the hood starts to curve down at that point so got to get some metal strapping to make a bracket to attach the hood lock stud to.

in the meantine, picked up some spark plugs and show my son how to gap them. out of 8 he did 6 of them. Took him awhile as he would open the gap too much, the close it too much, then open it too much and so on. now he knows the joys of gapping plugs. his response was..."that's not hard, but it is annoying.." next up, install them along with some other tuneup stuff.

Allan R

He must be pretty strong to overwork that gap. He needs to learn to 'feel' the gauge and resistance. Too much overbending can cause metal fatigue and that's not good in an area that's always close to heat.

SnakeBit

very true, hopefully, it did not do any of that, he was only off each time going from .032 to like .028 then back to the .032 so there was very little movement. he was trying to be exact and get the .30.

SnakeBit

in the meantime, I am focusing on obtaining parts to fix my Cobra (which is my only means of transportation and my daily driver)....the rare leaking head gaskets, not blown, leaking at the front corners out of the car. getting everything new installed, which I cannot do in my driveway. most of the parts finished coming today. waiting on the cams and then in a couple of weeks, it will go under the knife.

Allan R

Ahhh, I was getting a different impression. Good to know you're watching him like a hawk. Those skills will come in handy for him later on. I know too many peeps who buy plugs and don't even check the gap - just throw em in the car and call it tuned. Sad.

Did you teach him how to read the plugs when they came out?

SnakeBit

you are so right!!! that was one of the first things I told him...not to rely on the plugs being gapped properly from the box and how so many do rely on it being accurate for their application. I did stand right there as he did them.

As to reading the plugs, we have not removed them yet, I explained that it would take less time to install them if they were already gapped when we start. I will show him if the plugs in the car are readable enough. I do have the ones left from when I did my Cobra that last time and so was planning on either using the Cutlass plugs or the Cobra's or both as I show him what to look for. This all takes a lot more time this way, but, it is why I did this to begin with...truly to be a "class" in cars. he is enjoying it and really paying attention.

I picked up some wire markers today so when we do the plug wires, we can mark them. I am also going to get aome ACCEL universal wires so we can put the ends on, cut them to length, etc. so he has a knowledge and feel for that. then the cap, rotor, points, etc.

Allan R

Very cool. Make sure you help him understand there's a service life to things like rotors, caps and wires. One thing you might want to consider for just the heck of it is going to the boneyard and spending some time just wrenching on those cars for the experience. Also a great way to pull plugs and see what story they tell about the car's health or mtce. Carry on, sounds like you and your son will share a lot of enjoyable hours working on this project. Wish my son was interested that way, but he's more into computer applications. He could prolly teach me more about computers than I could teach him about cars. sigh....

SnakeBit

I agree with that too.....plan on going to the junkyard to find stuff we can use...he may want bucket seats and a console or any other ways he wants to modify or enhance the car so will definitely making a trip there.

he also wants to start going to "old car" car shows, to not only see them but to get ideas.

I was the one who suggested this idea and he went along with it, primarily, because he likes the car in Supernatural and that is what he originally wanted. I told him to do that we would have to do it, i.e, find one and make it happen. I tried to find a 67 4 dr Impala, but did not have much luck. then we we found this car, he decided he likes it even better. I think if it had not been for the tv show, he too would be doing computer stuff in stead of getting his hands greasy. I am just glad to get him out of the house and away from the computer and video games and then to build some memories together.

Thanx for all the suggestions!!!

SnakeBit

took my son out and we installed new plugs and plug wires today. got a set of ACCEL universal plug wires. wanted to show him how they are put together so he had a beter understanding of them. he removed and installed 5 of the 8 plugs and made up most of the wire sets. he had never used a socket and ratchet before so we took the gapped plugs and got them in with the new wires. he was happy with himself!!! what a great day!!!!!!!!!!

100_1652_zps4befbab8.jpg

100_1653_zpsca6c9f4e.jpg

100_1651_zps3ae5af5e.jpg

starting to get a bit of color under the hood!!

we started it up and ran much better. still needs cap, rotor, points and condensor. I thought about doing it all at once and decided against it. did not want to overload with too much information at once and also wanted him to see how to switch the wires to a new cap once everything was already in place.

also noticed, for the first time, no brake pedal. checked the master cylinder, back was empty. filled it up, but still has air on the line or something is open somewhere (must be for it to be empty) so we have to track that down, but that is another day. little at a time so he keeps his interest and does not feel overwhelmed with too much info at once.