1982 Cutlass cruiser build

liquidh8 · Jan 14, 2016

Jared, welcome! That is a nice looking wagon exterior wise. You may be able to score a 4 door header and just have it paint matched. I agree the grills and such are a pain for 4 door/wagons to locate. I'd put a want up and maybe someone has something?

84cutlass4dr · Nov 25, 2016

Jrwalker said:
Hey guys, names jared, so here's the story. A year or two ago I saw a malibu wagon sitting at the park, I fell in love with the g body look. Mid deployment of this last year I bought my 82 wagon off eBay site unseen from upstate new york. I bought it in September and just returned home in december. That being said I've spent the last month going over the whole wagon, there is rot, though not as bad as I expected, will have to replace one floor board, other than that just rust in typical places.

The wagon has a 350/350 combo motor runs strong, definitely on the rich side, brakes are terrible more on that later, and the Trans leaks fluid like a siv. The previous owner took the stock front end off and slapped on, rather badly a 88 euro front end. Tracking down grills and bezels for that has been a nightmare, and finding a 4 door cutlass to rob parts from has been challenging. I'm in need of a new plastics for my steering column, and rear door panels, if anyone has a lead on that. I'm at an odd point I'm getting ready to move down to Florida here in the coming months, and want to have her semi road worthy.

So things I need if anyone has them wiring diagrams, for just about everything windshield wipers, and headlights. Or if someone can suggest a shop manual I can pick up.

Still working on the posting photos but there will be plenty in the future.

Hey Jared, I'm not sure if you found the items you are looking for to put your wagon back to original, but I do have all (header panel, headlight buckets, 1982 correct grille, both fenders and bumper). pm me if interested. Will give reasonable price on all if interested. But due to not wanting to risk damage through freight, would rather local pick up if possible. Bumper is a bit pitted, but can be rechromed. header panel and grille are not perfect, but correct for 1982. The fenders are in pretty good shape. I don't currently have a pic of the exact grille for sale, but I'll include one of my car because that is also the bumper you would get. Like I said, not sure if you found everything already or not. I'm new hear, just stumbled across your post and know exactly how difficult it is to find these parts and wanted to help. It took me over a year to find the correct oil pan for the 20 bolt 3.8 lol. So let me know.

Mike

Longroof79 · Nov 25, 2016

Mike,
Hopefully, he'll see your response. You may want to send him a PM. He obviously hasn't been on here in almost a year. By sending him a PM, he'll get a notification in his e-mail.
Looks like nice parts, too.

Where are you located?

84cutlass4dr · Nov 25, 2016

Longroof79 said:
Mike,
Hopefully, he'll see your response. You may want to send him a PM. He obviously hasn't been on here in almost a year. By sending him a PM, he'll get a notification in his e-mail.
Looks like nice parts, too.

Where are you located?

OK thanks Long roof, new here so still learning the ropes lol

I'm from Wisconsin.

Jrwalker · Feb 20, 2018

Hey sorry gentlemen with the way life goes between a move across country and everything else the project has gotten put on hold multiple times. Back on track now.

Long story short I blew a brake line while moving, car made it about 200 miles from Virginia toward Florida before brakes started giving me trouble and I had to end up trailering the car.

Since then it got put in the garage on cribs, i pulled the 350 out, then the original 350 trans came out, and as it sits right now.

Swapping it over to an 5.3/4l80e combo. Still collecting parts as always. Longroof I appreciate the input. I was able to locate a front clip off a 4dr cutlass that matched the original front end for $200 and a Saturday spent on the side of the road pulling it off. That's a story for another time.

In the what seems to be never ending complications the car got rear ended, broke the glass out, bent up the wing, and got the tailgate pretty good.

I was able to get a piece of glass out of a 82 Malibu, still trying to decide on a course of action for the gate. I believe the tailgate off of a Malibu station wagon will work, hoping for some confirmation on that.

Next hurdle right now is cleaning up the frame a bit and the hunt for doors and such continues.

I appreciate the support gentlemen and I will attempt to keep you all updated as to the progress. The eventual plan for the car is to be a street car with a large single turbo (78/75) for those interested.

I recently acquired a disc brake rear end out of a 2001 mustang, an 8.8 with some adjustable control arms and a little ingenuity it should install right in. I believe this will allow me to run a mustang 15x10 rim with a 29x11.5 tire in the back.

If anyone has a lead on a tailgate within 200 miles of Pensacola let me know, otherwise I'll pull the trigger on one out of Kansas and eat the cost of freight. Finding one of these cutlass wagons for parts has been challenging.

I'll also be doing portions of the floor pan here soon. Hopefully and what I believe is I can order the front portion of a regular gbody floor pan and cut what I need out of that.

liquidh8 · Feb 20, 2018

Man, the hit sucks! The wagon tailgates are all the same. The glass, roofskin, tailgate and rear bumper are all the same.

Jrwalker · Feb 20, 2018

liquidh8 said:
Man, the hit sucks! The wagon tailgates are all the same. The glass, roofskin, tailgate and rear bumper are all the same.

Thank you sir! Guess I'll be ordering the first one I come across then. I'm hoping the roof can be fixed, and if anyone has some non wing hinges laying around that would be awesome.

Longroof79 · Feb 21, 2018

Welcome back, Jared.
Sorry to hear (and see), that your car suffered some collision damage. As Jim pointed out, the rear tailgate, hatch glass, bumper, are interchangeable.
I hope the person's insurance company was able to cover some of the costs. I know dealing with those scoundrels sucks.
I hope things are moving ahead. It's nice to see that an LS and 4L80 are replacing the current engine and trans. Good luck finding the parts needed. The floor pans are all the same. Keep us up to date on your progress....I'll be following for sure.

I had a good tailgate from an '82-'83 Malibu wagon that I ended up giving to my friend with an '82 Cutlass Cruiser.
He also has an 8.8 disc brake rear that's going in as well.

I wish I could tell you that I have a lead on these parts, but nothing at this time. I would try car-part.com. You may be able to score something locally.

Jrwalker · Feb 21, 2018

Actually scored a tail gate this morning out of Kansas so I'll be looking for that next week.

The ls swap is pretty straight forward, it's been done so many times over that with a little research it's possible! Thanks for the support gentlemen!

Longroof79 · Feb 22, 2018

Jrwalker said:
Actually scored a tail gate this morning out of Kansas so I'll be looking for that next week.

The ls swap is pretty straight forward, it's been done so many times over that with a little research it's possible! Thanks for the support gentlemen!

That's good news. Shipping is the killer, no doubt.

You're right about the LS swaps. They've become so commonplace these days, that the bugs have been worked out putting them into G-body cars, etc....plus more and more aftermarket parts to facilitate a clean, straight forward swap.

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