1983 Cutlass

[Shakes the Rat]

Normally when I start a build thread it's a year after I started a project so I thought I'd start this one now, a week after I got my Olds.

I've been searching for a second car for the past year. I sold my 1970 Honda CB450 two weeks ago so I finally had extra money to play with. The Houston area isn't the best place to find used cars because if it's priced right (for a project) then it's rusted out or missing major parts. I searched outside of town and found a 1983 Cutlass in San Antonio. I talked to the seller, who is a car guy, and I felt good about the car. I borrowed a friends trailer, picked up my dad (with his truck), and we set out at 5:30am last Friday morning. At noon, we were on the way back!



The trip back was long. The truck was happy at 55mph so with lunch, the flat on the trailer (the spare was also flat), and hitting rush hour, we didn't get to my house until 6:00pm. But the Olds was home!

 

[Shakes the Rat]

So a little info on the car. It's a 1983 Cutlass Brougham. It has a 3.8 Buick and three speed auto, manual windows and seats, AC (non-op), and never wrecked. The sellers dad parked it 12 years ago when he had a stroke and it hasn't been driven since. I crawled underneath and couldn't find a speck of rust on the floor pans (huge selling point). The odometer says 87000 and I do believe it hasn't rolled over. The only issue I have is the vinyl top did cause a few rust holes to develop around the windows. I'm actually OK with that since I'd rather repair rust there than on the floor.

I wanted to see it run so I picked up some carburetor cleaner, a battery, oil, filter, and radiator flush the night I got it home. I pulled and cleaned the carburetor, changed the oil, and ran a temporary fuel line to a clean fuel source.



I had it running two hours after I got it home. I got a few hours sleep and the next morning I took it for a drive.

 

[MrSony]

Sweet. If you decide to swap the engine, a Buick 350 will 110% swap right in. use a HD waterpump for a grand national 3.8 and you can use all the brackets and accessories. An Olds 350 is also an option as the Olds 307 (exact same as the 350 olds on the outside) were made by the millions and all that stuff swaps over. There is also the belly button Chevy 350. Or, if it runs well, DD it as long as you can with the 3.8. Probably has a TH200c transmission too. Make sure the TV cable is adjusted or it will burn itself up. If it says METRIC on the pan, or has a black teardrop shaped nub on the cable on the carb, its a Metric. Do a full oil change asap these do NOT like dirty oil. Change the coolant too. Normal buying used car stuff. Cat converter is probably plugged. Straight pipe it or get a high flow one. These cars always plugged up the cat. My car only had 84 and you couldn't even see through it.

 

[Shakes the Rat]

This week on my off hours I've cleaned the fuel tank and lines, replaced the sending unit, front control arm bushings, tires, brake pads and shoes, brake fluid and replaced the blinker switch. I was wanting to rebuild the front end but the ball joints and TREs were tight and I'm not sure if I'm going to leave it stock so rather than spend money on something I may replace six months from now, I left them alone. It still needs a tuneup, but it runs great.

I drive 60 miles a day into Houston so this car will take over that job so I can begin some much needed maintenance and repairs to my 1976 F100. I've used this truck as a daily driver for 2.5 years so it needs time off.



I'm keeping the Cutlass stock until I can collect parts for a LSx swap but until then, I will be doing repairs and upgrades as I have time and money.

 

[Shakes the Rat]

Sweet. If you decide to swap the engine, a Buick 350 will 110% swap right in. use a HD waterpump for a grand national 3.8 and you can use all the brackets and accessories. An Olds 350 is also an option as the Olds 307 (exact same as the 350 olds on the outside) were made by the millions and all that stuff swaps over. There is also the belly button Chevy 350. Or, if it runs well, DD it as long as you can with the 3.8. Probably has a TH200c transmission too. Make sure the TV cable is adjusted or it will burn itself up. If it says METRIC on the pan, or has a black teardrop shaped nub on the cable on the carb, its a Metric. Do a full oil change asap these do NOT like dirty oil. Change the coolant too. Normal buying used car stuff. Cat converter is probably plugged. Straight pipe it or get a high flow one. These cars always plugged up the cat. My car only had 84 and you couldn't even see through it.

Already done or planned. The fluids were the first thing changed. The cat seems good but that will be deleted(we only do safety inspections on cars older than 25 years old). It does have a th200c. I'm wanting this to remain a daily driver so I'm really leaning to a LSx swap in the future. For now though the 3.8 runs good and it'll stay there for a while.

 

[O. D. Showtime]

Welcome to the site...looks like a pretty solid car! I'll be watching the progress.

 

[Injectedcutty]

Along with O.D., welcome aboard and it definitely looks like a nice daily for sure!! Beauty of the Southwest cars, little to no rust versus here in KY or further north for that matter where it's hard to find something 15+ years old without significant rust unless garage kept.

 

[MrSony]

Already done or planned. The fluids were the first thing changed. The cat seems good but that will be deleted(we only do safety inspections on cars older than 25 years old). It does have a th200c. I'm wanting this to remain a daily driver so I'm really leaning to a LSx swap in the future. For now though the 3.8 runs good and it'll stay there for a while.

LS engines are great no doubt, but don't knock the 350 Buick until you try it. 😛

 

[565bbchevy]

I'm keeping the Cutlass stock until I can collect parts for a LSx swap but until then, I will be doing repairs and upgrades as I have time and money.

With a name like "Shakes the Rat" I thought this might end up having a big block swapped in.

 

[MrSony]

Sweet rides man. G and a Ford. Any deets on the pickup? I had a'70 Thunderbird sedan with the 7.0 Thunderjet big block. Big valve small chamber D0VE-C heads, 600 holley, MSD 6A box, thing hauled *ss.