1978 Cutlass Calais

[lightemup2]

Hey guys,

I'm new to the forum, and thought i would tell you a little about my G-Body.. its a 1978 cutlass calais, that i picked up for $1200, about 2 years ago.. I'm 17 years old, and before i found the cutlass i was on a mission to find myself a car to work on, a project car, i looked at a 85 Monte Carlo SS, with a huge dent in the passenger's door, transmition was gone, and the interior need some TLC. Next car i looked at was a 75 Monte Carlo, needed floors, trunk was rotted out, and it didn't run. also looked at a 74 grand prix. had no motor or transmition, and needed quite a bit of work done to it,.. these cars that i looked at were no more then $2,000. that's the amount of $$ i was gunna spend on my first car, so then i found the 78 cutlass, sitting in some guys back yard..i knocked on his door, and asked him if this car was for sale.. he said yes it was, but haven't advertised it yet.. i asked him how much, he said $1500.. but it had a lost title.. he tried to find it, but couldn't find it. so we filed for a lost title, and once we finally got it, the guy said he would sell it to me for $1200 cuz of the lost title.. I was happy with the car, i figured it was a stock cutlass, that just needed a little fixing up, the car has been off the road sense 1986.. This is what the car had in it when i got it.. The guy put in a 1968 350 rocket bored 30 over, an over size cam .435 lift, #5 heads redone, new radiator, new alternator, new distributor, new hooker headers, rebuilt th350 transmition, with shift kit, and 2200 stall converter , the motor and transmition have 0 miles on them, has new shocks and springs (front and rear) new breaks, new rotors, new front end, new rear end with 3:42 posi, new fuel tank, new drive shaft, new break lines, new transmition lines, new fuel lines, and so much more, from the motor, to the tires them self, are all new.. i was very happy with the car, i just started to work on the car, the body and frame is soled, there were 3 small rot spots on the car, that i cut out and welded in new peaces, (i go to a trade school studying metal fabrication.. and learned mechanics and auto body on my own), i had to change out the heater core, and water pump recently went.. i just ordered the carpet for it, i'm doing a mix match interior, i'm keeping the tan interior, but also mixing it with black, i think it would look pretty nice, eventually going to paint the car a dark gunmetal type gray.. If anyone has any ideas for the car please share! i will think about and may consider your ideas into the car!.. here are some pics of it, tell me what you think.

Here is the rot, that is now fixed

Thanks for looking! tell me what you think!

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Looks like a good solid buy. One thing I would caution you to do is treat the back side of the rust repairs first with paint and then with some of that waxy stuff that is used as rust proofing. Any time you weld in a repair, it burns off the paint and such from the opposite side. This will allow rust to form again in that spot, especially at the weld seam. I would also check the frame behind the rear wheels as that is a common rust out spot and can really ruin your day. You may also want to try to find the water leak source that rotted the floors in the first place. I would guess it is the heater box coupled with one or more of the small pass throughs for wires, cables, etc. that exist in the firewall. To seal them, try some strip caulk.

To clean up your seat belts and steering wheel, try Simple Green. Use it with a small finger nail brush on the seat belts, and with a cloth on the steering wheel and anywhere else that the plastic is dirty. Once you are done, flush the area with water. If the parts are out of the car, I usually just use the hose. Also, there are reproduction seat covers available for those seats if you decide to go that route.

 

[lightemup2]

yea after i did the welding i did hit it with paint, then put under coat on it, that should be good enough for it not to rust again right?. and i'll take a look to see if its rotting threw.. and i'm interested in those reproduction seat covers you were talking about.. is there a site for them?.. and that simple green you were talking about, is it the same as back to black? cuz i have some of that.. or is that stuff u mentioned better?

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Simple Green is a degreaser that is environmentally sound, non toxic and is sold in grocery stores, Wal Mart and parts stores. Nothing beats it, and I have never had it harm any surface I used it on. I have used it on velour seats that people had wiped their greasy hands on and had them come out like new. As for the covers, try Year One, but there is probably a better site that I don't know of. I am sure someone who knows more about them will post it. For rust, the sad thing is that you can do it all correctly and it will still come back. It's just the nature of the game. I just found new rust today and I did all the right things when I repaired the rust. BTW, the paint job on my car was finished in March and I hadn't even finished putting the car back together yet. My car has the dreaded roof rot, and the next time I paint it in a few years I will probably bite the bullet and replace the whole roof.

 

[lightemup2]

oh ok cool, yea i'll try some of that stuff, pick some up this weekend..i'll try looking around for the seat covers,.. the rot and rust game sucks., so the rot on your roof is that bad u have to replace the roof huh?.. good luck with that, hope that works out well.... and thanks for all the advice and info!

 

[Blake442]

Not only can a leaky heater box seal subject the passenger floor to rot, but more often than not, it's junk getting caught inbetween the floor and the catalytic converter heat sheild.

Looks like you're making some good progress... Keep up the good work!

 

[Carsten]

Nice car !!!

Same as mine . My VIN says it is a 79 , but who knows why ? Keep on and grab some ideas from other cars on here !
Greets from germany , Carsten

 

[shotgun]

Just a word of caution. Make sure you remove the plugs and soak the cylinder with PB blaster a few times before starting a engine that has been sitting. Also reprime the oiling system. Somewhere on here I posted my "procedure" for doing this. Do a search.

Ideas, I am kinda partial to two-tone. :lol:

 

[outsider_27]

Mine is two tone, like the previous post, just different colors. I was gonna suggest those colors like that too!

 

[lightemup2]

I was actually thinking about doing a two tone, somewhere down the road, but as of right now, i'm just gonna get a cheep paint job done cuz my job don't pay enough! lol.. but i'm still in high school, hopefully get a better job down the road, or even work 2... so i can get a better paintjob and everything

Thanks everyone for the feedback!!! 8)