Took the 72 Cutlass for the first spin yesterday. It runs like crap , exhaust sounds like a junker , and the car floats on the road .Sounds like Sanford and sons truck and is embarrassing , LOL
any ideas on the drifting , everything seems tight in the suspension
it just feels like it is floating or something is not right.

and I am in the market for some good mufflers and 2 1/2 " pipe.

 

Loose tie rod ends, center link, steering box, or rag joint. It sounds like your car has typical problems related to it's age and probably the previous owner neglected. I would recommend you check your steering, as suggested, and brakes first. Safety is paramount. After that, look at suspension, exhaust, tune up, etc.

 

bad tires or wheel alignment will cause floating as well.
Sounds like you need some exhaust work and a tune up also.
The good thing is that it moves under its own power!

 

If the car moves and stops you are half way there!

You can buy a rag joint at the auto parts store for about $10. You should also lube the steering components. When you inspect the ball joints and tie rods check them for wear. They probably need to be replaced.

 

I agree with the steering box replacement. when I put mine on the road for the first time it floated pretty bad, I bought an oem replacement box from autozone and it made ALL the difference..

 

Mine "floats" too. No resting while driving, the car must be driven.

All the front end components have been replaced (ball joints, shocks, tie rod ends, etc) They play is in the steering box. Got my sights on the Grand Cherokee upgrade, just haven't gotton around to it yet.

Man it's hot...

 

.....Man it's hot...

Send it my way! It's cool here today. We're supposed to hit 90 maybe on Saturday with a chance of thunder storms, of course. I wish it would just get hot, without the friggin humidity!

 

Come to TX where you can have the heat AND humidity! I will gladly trade you places for the season.
Its been 97-99 for a while already with heat indexes of 102+. That is our "copy and paste" forcast for the next week, too. Weathermen down here have it easy in summer. WAIT - it is not even 'summer' yet!!!!



It's too hot lately to even change Lady's oil. I heard you are supposed to do it while engine is 'cold'...
Only down south do you have a such thing as instant sun-tea...

 

Thanks , I have new tires and balanced
I am going to take it in for alignment and before they do it I am going to have them tell me what is all worn on the front end. But it seems like everything is tight , no wheel wobble or anything like that. It does seem like the power steering works to good , it feels like it is on some crazy ball bearings , steers real freely with 1 finger on the wheel.
It is hotter than a pistol here in MN to , I always like a good T- Storm I hope we get some.

 

How old are you guys?
The suspensions were set up soft for comfort and they had almost neutral steering, like driving on a cloud, little road feel or steering wheel feedback, nothing like newer cars at all. Ever do the Nascar video games?, about the same feel steering. If the car wanders around and the suspension components are good it probably is the steering box if the car has any miles. With radials you have to set something different than the factory specs to get it to track straighter, toe-in maybe? in another thread here.
I'm taking mine in to my paint guy to be aligned, he was suppsosed to when he had the car but had no old type caster-camber shims left, old timer body guys forget a lot.
I got a box of 50 brand new ones, the car drives fine now but the steering wheel isn't straight and it bugs me.
It needs a roll bar, the rear rolls on turns and the frame is so stiff it makes it push like a dump truck, have had a few "I know you can, I think you can?!" butt clench moments, walk funny when you get out of the car.

 

Sounds normal for the year. The more power assist the better the factory thought back then, so even the weakest of elderly people can turn a 5000lb monster into a tight parking space with one finger.
Of course their lack of judgement often got the worst of them though...

 

My car is so comfortable that sometimes I fall asleep behind the wheel when I use the cruise control.

 

Olds64 , dont fall asleep , that car could take out a shopping mall. LOL

 

I am 43 , and I do not remember my 72 Cutlass back in 83 driving like this. Then again I totaled that when the gas pedal stuck to the floor .
If I remember correctly I jumped a bridge and hit a snow bank and tree going sideways. Cops made me pay for the public tree. Gez nothing has changed we are still paying for tree huggers.

 

PS my steering wheel is crooked to Blue Vista , as soon as my wife drives the car she will tell me how I should do things correctly the first time , ARRRGGGGG

 

I think you just gave the reason why it isn't handling well...

 

Read and digest BlueVista's input. I drove these cars "back in the day." One of Olds' selling points was how easily they steered! I'm 79 years old and when I got "Blue Belle" it was like the old days! All over the road......

The problem with the steering is most likely the front end has been aligned to factory specs.

IE: Caster: (Minus) -1/2 deg. to (Minus) -1-1/2 deg.
...Camber: (Minus) -1/4 deg. to (Plus) +1/2 deg.
.....Toe In: 1/8 in. to 3/16 in.

Get an older front-end man and have him set the caster to (Plus) +2 to +3 deg. By setting the caster to Positive, you move the upper ball-joint BEHIND the lower ball joint which makes the car harder to steer and eliminates "wander." Front end guys will argue with you but trust me, the car will not "wander" even if your front end is worn. Changing Caster has no effect on tire wear. If the front-end is shot, however, nothing except new parts will do. Hope you don't need a drag-link!
Keep us posted with your project. This is the best place to come for help. There are a lot of guys and gals who have had many problems solved! I've been helped many times in my sort time on CO.

--Don

 

I might be wanting to buy a few of your 50 shims!

--Don

 

I took my '67 Delta 88 Custom Holiday Coupe up to 115 mph last week and it was floating a bit. I believe I need to check these things out as well!

 

 

And if your rear control arm bushings are worn it will steer from the back depending on the road surface uneveness...It will also wander if there is snow on the road...