BUILD THREAD '78 Cutlass Supreme Lichen Edition

78Delta88 said:

Been a while, but I think GM only made 2. One was 39 inches the other about 43 inches long. I'll have to look into this...

But as John said... TH200, TH2004R and TH700R4 were TV cables. Not kick down cables. Run with TV cable unhooked and you burn out the clutches very quick...

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I may have had my terminology mixed. I understood only that the TV cable is a thing with the pre-computer 4-speed autos, and if I'm going to swap the 200 metric for a 2004R from a 442, then I'm going to need some bracketry to get the TV cable working with the dualjet. After some looking on other forums, I'll likely be able to find something in the aftermarket. I'm still in the decision-making phase.

It's not something I was really itching to do but the opportunity presented itself, so I found the time and money. These 8.5" gbody rear ends are like hens teeth.

Woke up at 3:30 a.m., left the house at 4:00 drove 220 miles in POURING RAIN to Middletown Connecticut, found a 1985 Grand National that should have been scrapped 20 years ago. No floors, absolutely rotten t-top.... the frame was concave where the jack stands went in front of the rear wheels. The rain was still pouring, storm water flowing across the driveway, car parked on an uneven surface. So it took me about 90 minutes to get the car jacked up and stable with some backup cement blocks, wheel chocks, etc... after that I used the Walmart 20volt half inch impact to zip off the four control arm bolts and the shocks. Snipped the e-brake cable with bolt cutters. I took the driveshaft. I left him with a spare 7.5" I had laying around so that he could keep the car a roller. I did not put 7.5 in for him because the rain was too much and because I was way behind schedule. I left the car on my own jack stands with the front wheels chocked... donated equipment instead of risking life and limb. Some people have no sense parking a car on an uneven ground and letting the tires go flat. I was back in South Jersey by 14:00, and spent the day with the kids in the pool (weather improved). Pictures of the car were received by text from the owner days before.

I had to hammer the aluminum drums off with dead blow, then pressure washed it. I'll give it some de-greaser and acid later. It's a 3.42 open differential and there is black RTV indicating someone had opened it in the past. I hope to find the original iron shims in there (i.e. virgin) and reuse it as is for now.

The Grand National had 52,000 on the odometer. This rear should be good for another 50,000 miles.

I didn't know what I was going to do with the Cutlass but now it seems it's going to be a serious car. It's going to need a matching engine for this rear end. That'll be the last thing I do. I still got to get these damn quarter windows installed..

Trading him the 7.5, leaving tools and $900 behind, I walked away with the desirable rear end and drive shaft I should be able to use as is with the 200 metric to keep the car drivable for now. The lower gear means I'm going to eventually need a 2004r if car stays SBO-powered.

Tolls and gas I'm probably in it $1150 and a sore back but at least I didn't drop a random rust bucket on me and die in a driveway up in Connecticut.

I'm super happy with the Landau delete and my first bodywork. There are some imperfections to smooth over, but I can see the finishline.

I've got the quarter window sills and the rear windshield sill primed/painted and will let them sun cure for the remainder of the week. Perhaps Saturday I'll install the rear windshield.

The weather stripping for the '78-80 Cutlass quarter window is just not going to happen, and I was unable to form the Steele rubber products 70-3807-61 "beltline weather stripping" through the 95-degree bend. In its place, I need to cushion the glass against the potmetal trim piece with something like a gasket and not something that will squeeze out like butyl rubber, so I've obtained this 0.0625" x 0.5" thick rubber strip with adhesive backing and I believe it will work well to cushion the glass against the potmetal trim piece. I do have butyl rubber rope/strip for the glass-to-body interface, but will have rubber stripping between the glass and trim. Then, I will skillfully lay a bead of black RTV in the exterior gap to make it weather tight.

When I get this car weather tight I can move on to the more easy mechanical stuff I like to do.

As promised. Only panted the sills. Rest is overspray on primer.

Progress on the 20-foot paint job prior to application of 2x gloss. Used a specialty nozzle for graffiti artists to convert the standard Rustoleum can to more of a "turbo-can". Gives me a four or five inch ribbon. The caps were meant for female cans, so I had to buy an adapter, yada yada... as long as you're not the first there usually is a success path. Keep in mind here the low reaching goal is weatherproof car and not worse than when I acquired it. There has been a lot of wet-sanding between applications. Decided to fully paint the area before putting in the glass (actually I'm chicken about the glass).