Added another one to the fleet

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Old November 18th, 2009, 07:55 PM
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Added another one to the fleet

Well peoples I bought another wagon. TO be specific I bought another Olds Custom Cruiser. It is a fully loaded 1987 model. It has some body issues. Looks like it was repainted. And that it was hit in the rear mostly on the passenger side with a small creese in the quarter panel and the bumper being pushed in. It will need a new starter and I think I have one. I have yet to go over it thouroughly but it runs so smoothly. It has good acceleration and rides smooth. And all for $600. I hope to have pics tomorrow depending on if it rains.
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Old November 19th, 2009, 09:45 AM
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WOW this thing has everything. When I say fully loaded I mean fully loaded. Tow package(huge hitch that ties to the frame around the tank), auto ride leveling. PDL, PWM, PW, power split bench, full gauges, cruise(didn't tru it yet) A/C(blows ice cold) cornering lamps, Tilt column, Here are some pics.









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Old November 19th, 2009, 10:47 AM
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Looks like it's in great shape overall. Great find and that's an awesome price! Keeping it stock or is this going to be another battle cruiser?
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Old November 19th, 2009, 10:57 AM
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Old November 19th, 2009, 01:14 PM
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Originally Posted by henryk8398
Looks like it's in great shape overall. Great find and that's an awesome price! Keeping it stock or is this going to be another battle cruiser?

It will be a daily driver to use to go to the doc, trips to the junkyard, and long trips. Although it has a tow package so if I ever get to do road coarse track events i can use this as a tow vehicle. How cool would that be a Custom Cruiser towing a Custom Cruiser.
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Old November 19th, 2009, 02:49 PM
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I love it!
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Old November 19th, 2009, 04:57 PM
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Looks great, why not keep this one stock so you can show people the difference between your black one and this one. The woodgrain looks to be in excellent shape, it must have been garaged most of it's life.
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Old November 19th, 2009, 05:01 PM
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Originally Posted by 87customcruiser
Looks great, why not keep this one stock so you can show people the difference between your black one and this one. The woodgrain looks to be in excellent shape, it must have been garaged most of it's life.
Nahhhh, it's got a 307. That's a engine waiting for a replacement specially if you want it to haul anything. They should never have taken big engines out of the big Olds's. Nice looking car though. If it was mine I'd seriously look at upgrading to at least a 350 or 403.
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Old November 19th, 2009, 05:21 PM
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Nice. The onboard air compressor for the air shocks is a nice option. I had to piece together the parts from various junk yard cars. One change I'm making on mine is to use AirLift air bags inside the rear springs instead of air shocks. The shock mounts aren't really designed to take that much load, (I've broken one on a Cutlass with air shocks) whereas the air bags load right to the spring seats.
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Old November 19th, 2009, 05:35 PM
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nice
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Old November 19th, 2009, 05:40 PM
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Nice! Reminds me of the one I had in the early '90s. The pic here is of my '66 442 taken in 1991. See the Custom Cruiser back off on the right?
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Old November 19th, 2009, 05:43 PM
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Originally Posted by joe_padavano
Nice. The onboard air compressor for the air shocks is a nice option. I had to piece together the parts from various junk yard cars. One change I'm making on mine is to use AirLift air bags inside the rear springs instead of air shocks. The shock mounts aren't really designed to take that much load, (I've broken one on a Cutlass with air shocks) whereas the air bags load right to the spring seats.

Ok so how does it work? Do they self level? Or is there a switch?
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Old November 19th, 2009, 09:06 PM
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Score! Very nice wagon! I never saw the third light on the Custom Cruiser. Must've been something they added in the mid 80's. Or perhaps an owner installed option. Anyhow, looks great! I didn't know cornering lights was an option. Whats your hitch rated for? Mine was installed right after the original owners bought the car in Minnesota, by a hitch place up there. 3500LBs.

--Ryan
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Old November 19th, 2009, 09:10 PM
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Cool score-love those wagons! By the way, that air compressor under the hood has a lot of uses-I rigged up a quick disconnect & hose set up & use it to air up the tires, air mattresses, inner tubes, etc. Works great, although a little slow, & the price was right...
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Old November 19th, 2009, 10:10 PM
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Stickman does it again!!!!!!!!
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Old November 20th, 2009, 02:43 AM
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Thumbs up Fleet expansion

Now that's a nice car...great for a winter beater...now if you could just find the correct aluminum wheels
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Old November 20th, 2009, 08:26 AM
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Originally Posted by The Stickman
Ok so how does it work? Do they self level? Or is there a switch?
There's a ride height sensor above the rear axle. The system is designed to only run for the first couple of minutes after you start the car, otherwise the sensor would be running the compressor constantly as the suspension went up and down over bumps.

Originally Posted by yzzerdd
Score! Very nice wagon! I never saw the third light on the Custom Cruiser. Must've been something they added in the mid 80's. Or perhaps an owner installed option.
The CHMSL (center high mounted stop light) was federally required on all cars built after Jan 1, 1985.
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Old November 21st, 2009, 11:04 AM
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Originally Posted by joe_padavano
Nice. The onboard air compressor for the air shocks is a nice option. I had to piece together the parts from various junk yard cars. One change I'm making on mine is to use AirLift air bags inside the rear springs instead of air shocks. The shock mounts aren't really designed to take that much load, (I've broken one on a Cutlass with air shocks) whereas the air bags load right to the spring seats.

Let me know how that works out. It sounds like a worthwhile change.
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Old November 21st, 2009, 11:11 AM
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Originally Posted by yzzerd
.Score! Very nice wagon! I never saw the third light on the Custom Cruiser. Must've been something they added in the mid 80's. Or perhaps an owner installed option. Anyhow, looks great! I didn't know cornering lights was an option. Whats your hitch rated for? Mine was installed right after the original owners bought the car in Minnesota, by a hitch place up there. 3500LBs.

--Ryan

Yea this things has more options than I ever thought it would But all them are factory installed options per the RPO codes. Not sure what the hitch is rated for. I will have to look in the car manual.

Last edited by The Stickman; November 21st, 2009 at 11:15 AM.
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Old November 21st, 2009, 11:17 AM
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Originally Posted by Yellowstatue
Now that's a nice car...great for a winter beater...now if you could just find the correct aluminum wheels

It will probably get my old red wheels as I can't use them on my black Custom Cruiser once I install the big brakes.
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Old November 22nd, 2009, 03:13 PM
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Well here are some more pics. Some of you wanted more pics of the dash and controls. There is also something I found that I don't know what it is. It is on the headliner back by the rear light. It faces forward and looks to have 2 little lights in it. What could this be?






One other cool thing is the passenger side of the front seat reclines. BTW I got a better look at the tow hitch. It not only fastens to the frame around the tank but also to the cross member behind the bumper. Not to the bumper like I thought.

Last edited by The Stickman; November 22nd, 2009 at 03:20 PM.
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Old November 22nd, 2009, 04:15 PM
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Originally Posted by The Stickman
What could this be?
That, my friend, is a very cool feature! It is fiber optics to your rear lights!! You can look in your rearview mirror and tell if your taillights are working! Nothing electrical to malfunction there.
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Old November 22nd, 2009, 08:35 PM
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Originally Posted by wmachine
That, my friend, is a very cool feature! It is fiber optics to your rear lights!! You can look in your rearview mirror and tell if your taillights are working! Nothing electrical to malfunction there.

I have never seen them light up so I guess it doesn't work.
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Old November 23rd, 2009, 06:33 AM
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Good looking car
These are pefect family cars, its space for everything and they are great cars to drive, they just float down the road.
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Old November 23rd, 2009, 08:34 PM
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The red "lights" above your tailgate window are not lights-they are fibre optic strands, and they transmit light-it is usually pretty dim-you'd probably never see it in the daytime. Verify your taillights and rear turn signal/brake lights work first. if they do, at night, start the car and turn on the parking lights only. You should see these two items glowing a dim red. Then hit the brakes, and they should brighten a bit. Let off the brakes and try the turn signals. All this really is is a fancy way of checking your light bulbs from inside the car. The little lamp indicators on the forward fender edges do the same thing, and they're a bit easier to see, usually.
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Old November 23rd, 2009, 08:41 PM
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Nice find for a great price. Looks like it does not need much. Another good one saved from the cash for clunkers program.
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Old November 24th, 2009, 06:03 AM
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Looks great. Nice having the gauge package.
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Old November 24th, 2009, 08:58 PM
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Originally Posted by The Stickman
Well here are some more pics. Some of you wanted more pics of the dash and controls. There is also something I found that I don't know what it is. It is on the headliner back by the rear light. It faces forward and looks to have 2 little lights in it. What could this be?



One other cool thing is the passenger side of the front seat reclines. BTW I got a better look at the tow hitch. It not only fastens to the frame around the tank but also to the cross member behind the bumper. Not to the bumper like I thought.
The gage package is the equivalent to the rally pac. I had this also in my 83. Works really nice and way better than idiot lights. Most of the higher end cars with the 60/40 split had the optional reclining passenger seat. What would be rare is if it had the reclining driver seat.

Originally Posted by wmachine
That, my friend, is a very cool feature! It is fiber optics to your rear lights!! You can look in your rearview mirror and tell if your taillights are working! Nothing electrical to malfunction there.
Exactly. You also have them on the front of the car in the pods mounted to the front fender. I had these on my 1983 Regency Brougham. The ones on the fender will light up as yellow (park) white (headlight) and blue (highbeams). Like Kurt says, if you trace the wiring harness to the headlights, you'll see an additional insert by the socket that is a fibre optic cable. I loved them, I always knew when the headlights, tailights and brake lights were working. Check the brake lights/signals? watch the little lights - they will be brighter than when it's just a running light because you're getting both filaments.
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