'83 Cutlass Cruiser Build Thread

[Blake442]

The fuel pump in my Roadmaster died the morning after I got back from my buddies cabin...
It's a miracle it happened at home and not 130 miles north! I'd buy a lotto ticket but I suppose I've used up my luck for the rest of the year! lol
After ordering the parts and debating whether I want to do it myself, I bit the bullet and made an appointment for Monday.
Now firmly in my late 30's with chronic back pain and a fresh shoulder strain, I just don't have any desire to lay on my back in the driveway all weekend...
So I've been daily driving the Cutlass wagon for the last 2 weeks and making up for the lack of use this summer!
I hate the whine coming from the rear but otherwise the car has been running and driving great.
Speedo is 10 mph off around town, 15 mph on the highway... I'll sort that soon...
Once the 'barge is back on the road, I can head out to Willie's place and get cracking on the Century!
Get those miles in while you can!

 

[motorheadmike]

I love all three of them. When we move and build a shop, I need a wagon.

Yes, yes you do.

 

[Blake442]

Well the fuel pump replacement in my Roadmaster turned into a total nightmare and I ended up daily driving the Olds for 7 weeks...
A few squeaks and rattles to attend to but otherwise it ran and drove great. The great weather was a small consolation lol
This car continues to amaze me year after year with its trouble-free performance... *knockonwood*
It's hard to justify upgrading it when it just keeps going! lol
Took it out for a final spin on Monday to run a couple errands and top it off with gas.
Snow and salt arrived today here in MN so cruising season is officially over...
I have an NOS drivers door seal to install and I'm going to try to get the speedo gear sorted out this winter but we'll see...
Hopefully I'll be too busy with the 442...
Stay warm!

 

[Blake442]

Back in August I strained my shoulder and figured I'd be on the mend in a month or two...
Instead it has rapidly gotten worse and I had to bail out on doing the body work on my buddies Wildcat.
So that kinda threw my winter plans into disarray...

So trying to think of tasks that should be a little easier on my body, I ordered up a fresh blower motor to replace the noisy original as well as the sensors I need to finally get my gauges working.
Wish me luck lol

 

[G-Body NY]

Wow!!1 I just finished reading through this whole thread over the past two days. Nice work. I am a body man by trade so I enjoy build threads like this. I am currently restoring a 1991 Ford Mustang SSP former NYSP patrol car. It's 1 of 10 but G-body's have always had a soft spot in my heart. I am hoping to acquire a wagon and/or a four door sedan in the near future and this thread has motivated me to get my Mustang finished. A few questions: Did you notice any "ghosting" from using the panel bond? In other words, do you see the outlines of the patches you glued/bonded in? I notice you used the word "sealer" a lot after your bare metal/filler work. Did you use epoxy sealer? And finally in regards to Slick Sand...I have never used this stuff. Is it like a sprayable glaze filler? Is it compatible with all other brands of primers and top coats which could be sprayed on top of it? How did it sand?

 

[Blake442]

Glad you enjoyed going thru it!
There is some very slight visibility to the roof and hood patches from using the panel bond.
99.5% of folks will never see it, but if you know where to look... they're there...
Yes, I used urethane sealer after finishing my repairs/blocking.
If I had the proper size gun tip for the Slick Sand I might have a different tune to sing, but I wasn't too impressed...
For me it came out dry and just meant extra initial sanding effort. It's compatible with other products and since my roof was so bad it ended up getting buried anyways.

 

[G-Body NY]

Glad you enjoyed going thru it!
There is some very slight visibility to the roof and hood patches from using the panel bond.
99.5% of folks will never see it, but if you know where to look... they're there...
Yes, I used urethane sealer after finishing my repairs/blocking.
If I had the proper size gun tip for the Slick Sand I might have a different tune to sing, but I wasn't too impressed...
For me it came out dry and just meant extra initial sanding effort. It's compatible with other products and since my roof was so bad it ended up getting buried anyways.

I've heard of the ghosting of the patch panels. Probably the only way around it is to lightly tap the area down prior to bonding the patch in and then fill over it covering the whole area.
Thanks for the input on the Slick Sand. I may try it one of these days.

 

[Blake442]

Finally got my hands on a reasonably priced '79 H/O Dual-gate!

Still need the top-plate but the hunt is part of the fun, right?

 

[Blake442]

Fired the car up last weekend and ran some errands to burn up last years gas...
Looking forward to another summer of cruising!

 

[Blake442]

Been out a few times now with the wagon and it hasn't been running quite right... It's due for some maintenance anyways so I'll start chipping away at that soon.

In other news I hit the junkyard Friday and snagged the last two interior pieces I've been missing...

A nice upper seatbelt anchor cover in the correct color... It's actually from a Delta 88, B-bodies use the same piece...




Next score was an ashtray for a center console...



And I also bought a set of console mounting brackets.


There was a car at the yard I was hoping to take some easy measurements from, but somebody cut the floor out of it since I was last there...
More on the console project later, it's kinda far down the to-do list at this point...