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Just in case anyone has been wondering what our '76 Cutlass Salon looks like, I finally got the opportunity this past weekend to take some nice photos near the New Bern, NC waterfront while attending an Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) meet there. Here she is:
I miss mine. It was brown though and no T-tops. The main issue I had was the recliner mechanism not holding the seat back up very well. Anything like that with yours?
I'm no photographer, but I shot it at the "golden hour" during the evening and tried to find a nice setting. I wish it had not turned out with a pole "growing" out of the roof in one photo and one growing out of the trunk in another, but it was parked in the large cul-de-sac at the waterfront end of Craven St. in New Bern and this was the best I could do without blocking all traffic.
Randy, I have never had a bit of trouble with our reclining seats; the seat backs are very secure in any position. If your car was built earlier than ours (February '76 IIRC), perhaps it was a design defect they ironed-out during production but they never issued a recall for it . . ?
Very nice! Back in late 80's my future wife had almost identical Olds but with a vinyl top.
Fire Thorn red, right? Hers had what she always called circus tent interior.
Love it.
Randy, I have never had a bit of trouble with our reclining seats; the seat backs are very secure in any position. If your car was built earlier than ours (February '76 IIRC), perhaps it was a design defect they ironed-out during production but they never issued a recall for it . . ?Jeff
Well It could have just been a bad mechanism on my drivers seat....who knows. It was 26 years ago after all when the car was totaled.
Cool, B964! You probably couldn't get that interior pattern with the bucket seats in the Salon --- otherwise, the 18-year-old girl who ordered our car would probably have specified it!
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Randy, sorry to hear that your car got totaled . . . even if it was long ago.
Very nice Jeff, I was waiting for some pics haha. Thanks for posting. Always liked the T-roof cars. I like the 76-77 models as well enjoy the nice smooth ride.
Thanks, Eric. I think that the Colonnade Oldsmobiles are greatly under-appreciated.
Jeff
I have to agree with you on that. Although I'm seeing more and more popping up.
I hope they soon get the recognition they deserve for a nice family cruiser.
B964, Firethorn Red, yes indeed.
I'd like to see a pic of what that "circus tent" interior looked like!
Jeff
I had a Firethorn Red 77 C/S with the same interior as yours. Man, its very comfortable. Except I had a vinyl roof that popped open on me on the highway doing 65 mph. Someone told me that my parachute popped open on top of my car. Its a good thing a had a roll of duct tape in the trunk to tape it back down.
Beautiful car, Jeff!! I just love the Salons,especially the clean lines of the '76s. My girlfriend, Cheryl has a nice '76 that I did a bunch of work on back in '09. It's an awesome cruiser!!! Here's a couple of pics of hers.
Wow, Cheryl's is like the twin to ours in white --- beautiful! I notice that it has power door locks (ours doesn't) . . . and what's the red do-hickey on the top center of the dash? Ours doesn't have that, either.
Wow, Cheryl's is like the twin to ours in white --- beautiful! I notice that it has power door locks (ours doesn't) . . . and what's the red do-hickey on the top center of the dash? Ours doesn't have that, either.
Jeff, That housing on the dash is for the seat belt warning lamp. It's only used if the car has the rally-pac gauges. I guess there just wasn't room in the housing for another bulb plus the 3 gauges. '72 was the first year it was used. Cheryl's owned the car since the early 80s. It's nicely optioned with pretty much everything but cruise-control & the big-block.It only has around 46k on it. I added the 4 spoke wheel,gauge package & dual-gate for her. It had never been apart & it was leaking fluids everywhere so while I was at it fixing all the shot gaskets & seals back in '09, I added the Edelbrock intake, true dual exhaust system with the '73-4 dual-hump x-member,a shift kit & upgraded the lazy 2.41 open rear with a 3.08 posi. It runs great,it,s a blast to drive!! I wish it had the t-tops like yours,they can be a PIA but they're a neat option.
Jeff, The dual hump x-member bolted right in. I also bought a nice pair of earlier 350 exhaust manifolds(I think they were off a '71) & used the cross-over block-off plate on the pass manifold like the factory did. The pass manifold starting in '75 was made for catalytic converters,it should be replaced with the older pre-cat type. I had our local muffler shop make me a set of the '73-4 2 1/4" front pipes. The guy did an amazing job on the pipes,he couldn't legally have the car in his shop since the cat-con was long gone(it had a "test" pipe on it)remember those?? He told me he had specs for exhausts back to the '30s! He bent the pipes up without having the car & they fit perfectly!
excellent thanks for the help . i do remember test pipes .mine no longer has the cat either .but at the moment single exhaust .im on the look out for a 73`74 duel hump now .i gotta get this 455 breathing!
Glad I could help Jeff. If you're not going to use headers just get a repop set of the good "W-Z" manifolds. Olds used them up to '74 on the big blocks with duals.
August 15th, 2016, 08:16 PM
