So I bought 72 Cutlass Supreme convertible and have the protecto plate and all paper work. 2 owners before me, 92K miles, original interior which is mint and 1 re-paint original color. Which parts, as I am repairing, need to be "original." It needs a radiator. Do I need to find a good radiator from a 72 cutlass or can I buy a new one? Where is the line between keeping it original and just replacing parts that need replacing.

I do plan on re-painting it a new color or adding the 442 hood stripes. I know this is away from it's originality.

 

You may be able to find a good original radiator from the same year Cutlass and have it recored. The GM radiators had the "Harrison" stamping on one of the tanks. Any replacement you get won't look much like the original. A lot of the replacements are like new cars; plastic and aluminum.

So if you are going to change the original color, why are you worried about an original radiator? I would seriously consider getting full aluminum unit. They outperform the originals. I have a Rodney Red in my pontiac and it runs nice and cool. Not cheap, but worth it!

 

I would just have my radiator recored. A good radiator shop should be able to build a fantastic radiator that will cool better than original. Call the truck shops (heavy duty) around your area and ask the service department which radiator shop they use for repairs. All of them probably use the same shop.

Aluminum cools well, but if they leak most shops will not repair them.

What I was told by a vehicle appraiser is if the engine is a numbers matching engine try to keep the paint color and interior the original color. His opinion was that while it may or may not lessen the appraised value to change colors, it greatly reduces your market of people interested in your car if you decide to sell. Example: ten people are interested in a numbers matching car, two might not care that it's the wrong color.

It may do ok in local shows if it looks nice, but in big shows it won't have a chance.

If you plan to keep it and just enjoy driving it none of that matters. Make it how you want it. Just one guys opinion.

Chris

 

re-core the radiator, or if you do buy a new one save that one (If its original) The 72 repo radiators are much closer to original than most of the 70s. In 1970 the radiator fill tube was almost parallel to the ground 71 and later they were at almost 45 degrees. I hear there is a good repo out there but have yet to see one.

My thought is that although a repaint is expensive it can be repainted again and again, but its not so easy to find original parts. So hang onto all the parts you can but most importantly enjoy it.

An option with painting is you can always choose a different color from the same year. if the car is blue and you want it red pick a red Olds color from 72 - I do agree with getawaycar but this is a safe way to change colors

 

Doesn't sound like you're making this into a show car, so it's basically whatever goes. As others have pointed out, save what you take out. Your cowl tag will show anyone who knows about cars that the car color has been changed.

What are your plans for the car? If it's a daily driver 'Don't worry bout it'.

 

One of your questions was, "Which parts need to be original?" It all depends upon what you want in the end. For me, I wanted a car that had parts with the correct part numbers stamped or cast into them, and with date codes that complemented the build date of the car. I started out with the original engine block, heads, valve covers, intake manifold, exhaust manifolds and transmission. I had to find a distributor, a coil, a carburetor, an alternator, and a water pump to have all the components on the engine the way I wanted them. My radiator was completely shot - someone had apparently used it to walk on from time to time and it was a mess. But my new radiator has the original tanks on it - it's as close as I could get without finding another somewhere. I went with the original looke wherever I could throughout the car, with a few upgrades (radials instead of nylon cord, rally pac instead of idiot lights and a blank pod, safety sentinel instead of the standard speedometer, and AM-FM with a rear speaker instead of AM with front speaker). All of my upgrades are such that, if I ever wanted to change them back to original, it's unbolt the upgrades and bolt in the originals (along with a few wiring and sender changes).

Just my two cents worth. Everyone has their own idea of what they want their car to be, so follow your your own mind in what you want your car to be in the end!

Randy C.

 

Thank you all. My plans are to just drive it with the 3 kids here in AZ. The color is baroque "gold" but my wife calls it S*#t brown which is why she is not mentioned above. I want to go to nordic blue. I have no intention with shows but live a 9-iron from Barrett Jackson and will certainly cruise around. I think I will do the color change and work to keep the mechanics as close as possible.

The car is numbers matching and I have the protecto plate, warranty book,owners manual and a "AUTHORIZED SELLING DEALER PLATE IMPRINT" from Griffith Oldsmobile, Inc in Kansas City where I bought it. It was originally bought on 12-15-71. Pwr Windows, Pwr Steering, Pwr Brakes, Original working Stereo, Pwr Top and Pwr Front Seat.

Vin is: 3J67K2M125579 if anyone can pull meaning out of it.

Any AZ owners who can suggest a shop for repairs would be appreciated. Thanks again! If you're in AZ ping me.

 

Your VIN decodes as follows
3 = Oldsmobile Division
J = Cutlass Supreme
67 = Convertible
K = Engine (L34) 350 4bbl
2 = 1972 Model year ( they only use the last digit of the year )
M = Built in Lansing Michigan
125579 = Plant sequential build number. This number and the sales date indicate about 1/2 way through the production year.

Post your cowl tag information and we can decode the rest of the info for you. Enjoy your ride. Close to Scottsdale? Beauty, drive around with the top down all day (except for rain).

 

IMHO unless it is a very desirable car like a 442 changes in color and performance will only add to the value of the vehicle. I my case, I picked up a 71 Cutlass Supreme Convertible with Bittersweet (brown) paint and a saddle interior. Numbers matching or not, I wont break any sales records with that color combination.

I have painted mine Cyber Grey Metallic and will be going with a white top and white interior, beefed up the 350 and added 3.42 gears and a posi unit.

In your case (the radiator) I would take the least expensive option. I know it is getting harder to find companies that recore radiators. If you can pickup a rebuilt radiator for less than a recore, that is the route I would take. Just make sure that the one you select has the same or greater cooling capacity so you dont have any problems on those hot summer days.

It's all about what you like with a little consideration for investment recovery when and if you sell it.

Enjoy!

 

Rad shops won't re-core? Wow. Guess it's getting more and more like the sheet metal process: don't repair it - replace it.

Fortunately, up here there are still plenty of shops that will re-core for a reasonable price.

I had to look up 'Cyber Grey Metallic"


Your car in this color with a white roof and interior would look awesome!

The only downside that I'm aware of about this shade of coloring is that it tends to be less noticed by other drivers. (blends into roadway color, or is hard to see in low light conditions). Don't know what insurance companies are saying now, but in the past they used to actually up the ante on cars this color due to the high number that were involved in collisions.

 

I am sure you can find a shop that will do it, just in my neck of the woods a lot of them have closed up. It has become a disposable world I guess.

Thats the color... I think it was originally available on the 2009 Corvette but it was the 2010 Camaro that brought it to my attention. I am hoping that the chrome, something Olsmobiles have plenty of, will help keep it from "blending in".
Hopefully soon, as I get a little more of it put together, I will change out the picture in my signature to something a little more pleasing to the eye.

 

@ DSoloman- Thank you, those are my thoughts with a non-442 and brown.
@AlanR- May I ask the thickness of the black stripe on the side of your car? I want to do a white one over Viking Blue-Thank you.

Where do I find the "cowl tag?"

 

There are actually 2 stripes. One is thinner and runs directly over top of the wider bottom one.

My 72 body assembly manual doesn't have the exact numbers so I'm using a quote from one of our members who took direct measurements already
It's under the hood. Look on the (horizontal surface directly in front of where the VIN is. There should be a small metal plate usually painted black (held in place by 2 gooped over rivets). Should look something like this:
2008_0314MILLER0002.jpg?t=1306518741

 

@AllanR

Thank you. My email is refitz (@) ***.net

 

Cowl Tag info-

ST72 34267LAN256872

TR 977 577 A
OA A 65

Any info would be great. Thank you!

 

Your cowl tag provides the following:
ST72 = 1972 model year
3 = Oldsmobile division of GM
4267 = Cutlass model line - Cutlass Supreme Convertible
LAN = Assembly plant - Lansing Michigan
256872 = Plant sequential number

TR 977 = White Moroccean naughahyde
577 ?? Should only be 2 numbers here probably 57 = Baroque Gold
A = White convertible top

OA?? Should be a number and a letter (going by your sequential number, your car should have been built around Dec 71 or Jan 72) check the digit again. The A means it was built in the first week of the unknown month.

A65 = Notchback bench seat (center armrest)

 

Awesome, thanks. The car was bought on 12/15/71 from the dealer so that last part makes sense. Everything else matches up to what I bought-great.

 

Everyone keeps asking me horse power and rear. Is my research correct that HP is 180? I have no idea on rear.

I keep telling everyone if this is a muscle car, it is the weakest muscle. I did not buy it for that, so whatever. We are enjoying the hell out of it.

 

If you have the original 350 engine and it's a 4bbl you have the L34 with 180hp. If it's a 2bbl it's the L34 with 160hp.

If you want to find out your rear axle ratio, you can try hunting on the rear axle for a rusted out set of letters that will tell you what it is, or you can do something much easier.

Jack up both rear wheels (both must be off the ground). You will need a helper for the next part. Put a white grease mark on the driveshaft where you can see it. Mark the tire with a with the white grease marker so you have a reference line there too. Have your helper slowly turn the rear tire 10 full revolutions. You count how many times the white mark on the driveshaft revolves. This will give you an accurate count of your gears. It is also very accurate. eg: if you counted 27 and a bit, you have 2:73 gears. If you count 29 and a bit, then it's 2:93 gears and so on. Just remember, the helper has to do 10 full revs from a set point. Take it nice and easy so it's easy to count.

I'm guessing that if you have a car without a lot of go, it could be several things. Worn engine, carb not adjusted, tuning, worn trans (slipping) or low gearing - probably 2:56 for highway economy. There's lots of reasons why a car doesn't 'perform'. As a stock car, your CS probably did the 1/4 mile in a blistering 14 to 15+ seconds. To have a performance car, you would need the W30. That was performance.

Hope that helps. Give it a try and post back your gear ration. My car came from the factory with 2:73 but it's being changed out. I haven't decided whether it will have 3:23's or 3:42s. I have both ring and pinion sets ready to go into a new posi carrier later this year.

 

So it would look something like this when done:

VikingBlue72Cutlass.jpg


I love the Viking Blue. Definitely an upgrade from brown in my opinion. I wouldn't bother with the side stripes, the pinstripe on the fender and the bumper strips on the side are enough to break the lines in my opinion. I think the hood stripes look nice on that style hood.

 

Wow, I guess I never really realized how depowered the engines were by '72. My 68 350 4bbl was rated at 310hp. On the other hand, I now feel better about the 170hp 307 in my '87 442.

 

Yes, you should. The normal 307 was only around 145 hp. Relied heavily on the 200R4 to get around.

 

I was reading this and could not believe it. My 72 Cutlass convertible was sold by Griffith Oldsmobile in KC on 12/29/71. I am also the third owner. It was whatever that Golden Brown color was. I have the original invoice and protecto plate. These cars were probably on the lot at the same time. I have had mine for 18 years and it had been repainted by the last owner. It is time for a repaint again. What are the odds of these two cars both surviving and then the current owners being on the same board? Slim at best. My VIN is 3J67K2N145279

I would not worry about painting the car. Brown is an ugly color and you will never enjoy your car like you should as long as it is brown. Sounds like your wife will like it better if it is repainted and that is important. Enjoy your car.

 

What a coincidence!! You realize that now you guys are engaged....IMO Baroque Gold isn't really an ugly color, it just needs to be kept really clean and polished.

By similar coincidence I was surfing ebay about a year ago and a lady was selling a package of 1972 Cutlass owner manual, protecto plate, warranty and plastic sleeve for a car her family had trashed years ago. The protecto plate was for a 1972 Cutlass S built out of Lansing on April 10, 1972 - 3 days after mine. Since I don't have one, I bought the package to represent the card that mine would have come with. We all seem to live in a 'connected' world.