1980 cutlass longterm project

[rebelgtp]

Those look like they should work nice on your car! I have been wondering how the new 18 inch heritage wheels off the new Camaros would look though I think the pattern is slightly different.

For the interior parts I will try and get photos this week of the inside of the two 80s I have. Both are mostly complete and in decent shape and they are both that tan/brown color.

 

[lesbaldridge]

i know everyones all about the big wheels and having the rear tires tucked up under the body these days but im still stuck in the old days with the big'n'little look. back tires sticking out past the body a little and all that good sh*t. lol. the guy who sold them to me had them advertised as 10x12 but i measured them and theyre actually 10" wide, look plenty big to me though so w.t.h. . as far as the interior ieces go, im not worried about color as long as theyre not to beat up. i have already died the entire interior of a mini van so im pretty good at it, and im gonna do all my interior pieces in matching black, even if theyre already black, with maybe a little yellow here and there. i posted a pic of the seats i wanna use on the 1st page of this thread. btw..just in case anyone wonders, im sure we could have some of these discussions through p.m. , but im using this to document the entire build of this bucket, and to me that includes the creative thought process that goes into it, looking for others input, all that good stuff. another question, that john deer blitz black...have you tried spraying it yet ? any idea how it go's down ... looks fairly easy to spray.

 

[rebelgtp]

I have only played with the rattle cans so far just to test to make sure I like the color. Give me another month or two for the weather to warm up and I will give you some more first hand impressions.

From what I have read about it there are a few rules to follow. The first is if the existing paint and body work is decent, just scuff the paint then go for it no need to put down a full coat of primer. If you have any body work areas of course put down primer then paint as normal. Second use the John Deere reducer in an 8 parts paint 1 part reducer mix. There is a hardener available from John Deere as well, when using that its an 8:1:1 ratio. The paint is formulated for air drying. Spray a light tac coat and wait 15 minutes to spray a full wet coat. Then if you do a second coat do so under the 3 hour mark. If it goes past 3 hours wait for a full 36 hours before spraying another coat or you will have issues with the first and second coat reacting with each other. The second full wet coat normally is not needed with this paint but if you have the paint and time you might as well do it. This info is what I have pulled from a couple sources that have painted several vehicles using this paint. Honestly it would be damn hard to choose a less expensive paint method that turns out nice, especially for that satin black look. Oh also if you do a clear coat make sure it is not a gloss coat or you will lose that satin finish.

 

[lesbaldridge]

i picked up some front rims for the cutty today. got a set of 15x6 with the beauty rings for $80. . that means im gonna be running 15x10 custom widened chevy rally's for the rear and the 15x6 up front. i was pretty happy to locate a nice set of the 6" wide rallys, theyre not that easy to find. usually you only come across the 7" or 8" wide rims. the guy has a set of the wide beauty rings for my rear wheels and a complete set of all 4 tall rally center caps he wants an extra $80. for, im gonna grab those next week. that will put me in a grand total of $285. for the whole set. not the deal of a lifetime, but not to shabby.

i also found the transmission i want to get, i guess id better start saving now ... . heres the link, anyone looking for a grand national 200 4r might want to check them out.
http://www.transdepot.net/2004R-Perform ... _p_31.html

 

[lesbaldridge]

finally got most of the extra parts cleaned out of the car, the guy had it stacked full. got the trunk open to, the guy i bought it was helpful enough to lose the door/trunk key for it as well a couple days before i came to pick it up. as you can see its pretty solid, but stripped out. the only interior they left me with was a dashboard and a steering column basically. the rust on the drivers side floor board is a tiny bit of surface rust, it will clean right off with a wirewheel. the car is pretty solid all the way around.

heres a question for any of you cutlass guys out there, if you notice the first picture shows the my wheelwell and the trunk hinge. im very interested in doing a mini or full tub down the road but the hinge is right in my way. i checked, the hinge needs the entire metal box around it to operate, so i cant get anymore clearance there. has anyone tubbed one of these before, and if so how did you get around the trunk hinge ? the only thing i can think of is to relocate them in a few inches, but i dont even know if thats possible and im sure its a real b*tch. any ideas.................???

 

[FE3X CLONE]

We just didn't move them on my car.

You'll need to notch the frame before doing any major wheel well modifications.

I have 17x11" rims on my '87. You can see my rear wheel wells here:

We didn't move them in much at all.

Picture of the frame notch:

But with a 3.5" backspace on a 10" wide rim you definitely won't need wheel tubs. Those things will be at least 1.5" out further than the wheels on my car and mine are right at the fender lip now.

 

[lesbaldridge]

yeah, i figure i wont need to worry about the wheelwells or frame notch just yet, im going to let the 15x10's hang out from the fender wells a little like the oldschool hotrods. but in a year or two im planning on going with some weld dragstars ( probably summits version called fast five ) and those are gonna be more like 14" wide or so. at that point im going to notch the frame and work on the wheelwells. first i want to just get it on the road for a year or so while i collect up more parts and build a killer olds big block for it, then its gonna come off the frame and get a total rebuild/upgrade. the only thing ill be using from this original build as far as motor,transmission rear end and wheels and paint will be the transmission. but thanks for the info and pics , i really appreciate you taking the time to post them and comment on my little money pit

BTW...looks like you flared your quarters. is that fiberglass ?

 

[FE3X CLONE]

Those flares are fiberglass but my friend and I are going to work on trying to make them out of sheet metal and possibly a little larger. I'd like to jump to a 19x12" rim in the future or at least have the option for it.

 

[lesbaldridge]

Those flares are fiberglass but my friend and I are going to work on trying to make them out of sheet metal and possibly a little larger. I'd like to jump to a 19x12" rim in the future or at least have the option for it.

sounds like a fun project. i just noticed your in ohio, what part ? im from ohio, jut north of columbus between delaware and marion. i moved down here to florida in 2001 and got married but getting divorced now. towards the end of this year i planning on coming up to visit for the first time since i left ohio. then im going to spend a year or so on the road. im 37 now and this is the first time since i was 19 i dont have kids fulltime or a wife and im in a financial situation that allows me to have steady income regardless of where im at or what im doing. so i figured what the heck, might as well get out and see the country. ill be coming back to florida at least for a week every month or so to spend time with my daughter and ill be back in ohio regularily as well to see my friends, family and my son ( hes 18 now ) also. id like to get the cutty done by then, at least the first incarnation of it . its gonna get a lot of miles on it so its going to have to be reliable. maybe next year ill be able to post some pics or video of it ripping it up down a long straight away in wyoming or winding its way down the coastal highway in cali. BTW , any of you guys up in ohio need some body or mechanical work done, especially custom metal work and restoration my dad has a small shop that turns out some incredibly high quality work. hes one of those people thats a perectionist and wont settle for anything less. plus his prices are really good. heres a link to his webpage. hes got some links to some youtube videos to , most of it is dedicated to his 69 barracuda coupe but it gives you an idea of his work. mopars are his thing, but i have seen him do awesome work on just about every make of car you can think of. i may try to con him into painting my cutty while im up there next year ..LOL
http://www.melvena.com/

 

[lesbaldridge]

really good site i found that shows i great job of getting around the trunk hinges with a wheel tub on a g-body. also has some great pics of a frame notch. anyone interested in tubbing a g body should check it out. or anyone just interested in a really killer regal build.

http://www.jwracing-fab.com/forum/viewt ... b441af57ce