'83 Cutlass Cruiser Build Thread
- Thread starter Blake442
- Start date
Time for an update! 
Yesterday (wednesday) afternoon I went and got the Cutlass Cruiser out of storage.
My buddy the SquirrelMaster gave me a ride out to where I store it and brought his battery jumper pack with, since the battery was a tad low after sitting for the past 5 and a half months.
Poured some gas down the carb to fill the bowl up and it started right up. Let it warm up for a little while and put about a 1/2 quart of ATF in it and it made the 25 mile trip back to the house with no issues.
Today I managed to get a little progress made, and I pulled the rear door glass back out so I could replace the dried out window channel rubber with the miraculously nice rubber that I pulled out of the Malibu when I parted it out.
The original channel was dry and brittle, and completely crumbled on the passenger side last summer when I was changing out the vent windows.
I also took this opportunity to clean out the insides of the doors. I used an angled pick to loosen up the dirt and debris that had settled into the groove at the bottom of the door shell, and sucked it all out with the shop-vac. If you don't keep these areas clean, the dirt can eventually block the drains and collect moisture, ultimately rusting out the door from the inside out.
With all that taken care of, I got the rear door panels back on for the final time and it's done for now.
Wish I had the funds for new window felts...
After that, I swapped out the crumbling sunvisors for the again, suprisingly decent ones from my Malibu.
Friday I'm headed to the junkyard and will be meeting up with fellow member here 81cutlass and getting an aluminum hood for the wagon.
I also tried to brainstorm about what to do with my hood hinges, since the correct ones weren't available.
I thought maybe I'd be lucky enough that I'd be able to get a full rotation out of the hood hinge spring and have it go back together but that wasn't the case, so I just removed the spring altogether. I'll drill a hole in the hinge and put a pin or bolt through it to keep the new hood up for now.
Hopefully more progress soon!
Yesterday (wednesday) afternoon I went and got the Cutlass Cruiser out of storage.
My buddy the SquirrelMaster gave me a ride out to where I store it and brought his battery jumper pack with, since the battery was a tad low after sitting for the past 5 and a half months.
Poured some gas down the carb to fill the bowl up and it started right up. Let it warm up for a little while and put about a 1/2 quart of ATF in it and it made the 25 mile trip back to the house with no issues.
Today I managed to get a little progress made, and I pulled the rear door glass back out so I could replace the dried out window channel rubber with the miraculously nice rubber that I pulled out of the Malibu when I parted it out.
The original channel was dry and brittle, and completely crumbled on the passenger side last summer when I was changing out the vent windows.
I also took this opportunity to clean out the insides of the doors. I used an angled pick to loosen up the dirt and debris that had settled into the groove at the bottom of the door shell, and sucked it all out with the shop-vac. If you don't keep these areas clean, the dirt can eventually block the drains and collect moisture, ultimately rusting out the door from the inside out.
With all that taken care of, I got the rear door panels back on for the final time and it's done for now.
Wish I had the funds for new window felts...
After that, I swapped out the crumbling sunvisors for the again, suprisingly decent ones from my Malibu.
Friday I'm headed to the junkyard and will be meeting up with fellow member here 81cutlass and getting an aluminum hood for the wagon.
I also tried to brainstorm about what to do with my hood hinges, since the correct ones weren't available.
I thought maybe I'd be lucky enough that I'd be able to get a full rotation out of the hood hinge spring and have it go back together but that wasn't the case, so I just removed the spring altogether. I'll drill a hole in the hinge and put a pin or bolt through it to keep the new hood up for now.
Hopefully more progress soon!
Time for another update!
Today is a sad day... I sold my '81 Buick Wagon... 😢
Luckily, one of my best friends bought it... You'll see it back on the forum shortly...
Well, in order to help shake off the blues of watching my Buick drive away down the street to it's new home, I decided to tinker with the Cutlass wagon.
I hopped in it, and after a few cranks, it actually fired up by itself, without needing gas poured down the carb.
I let it run for a while and checked things out, then took it for a couple laps around the neighborhood to help console the loss of the other wagon.
Of course, when I got back, I shut it off and it wouldn't start again...
I felt ambitious, so I decided to put on the aluminum hood that I got last week from fellow forum member 81cutlass.
I carefully popped the old hood off (not as easy by yourself) and got the new one on and adjusted.
I had to do a couple modifications to make it work, but both were extremely simple to do.
First, I removed the springs from my hood hinges, since the higher spring tension of the steel hood springs would easily damage the relatively delicate aluminum hood. I used a large vise-grip to slowly release the spring, and ended up with this.
I'll either make a prop rod, drill a hole in the hinge for a lock pin, or grab a set of correct aluminum hood hinges...
For now I have a broom handle that I used to use to keep the back glass of my Malibu wagon open.
Next, I had to cut the hood bumpers in half, as they were not allowing the hood to fall into the opening.
And that was all it took. Here's the finished product...
Today is a sad day... I sold my '81 Buick Wagon... 😢
Luckily, one of my best friends bought it...
You'll see it back on the forum shortly...Well, in order to help shake off the blues of watching my Buick drive away down the street to it's new home, I decided to tinker with the Cutlass wagon.
I hopped in it, and after a few cranks, it actually fired up by itself, without needing gas poured down the carb.
I let it run for a while and checked things out, then took it for a couple laps around the neighborhood to help console the loss of the other wagon.
Of course, when I got back, I shut it off and it wouldn't start again...
I felt ambitious, so I decided to put on the aluminum hood that I got last week from fellow forum member 81cutlass.
I carefully popped the old hood off (not as easy by yourself) and got the new one on and adjusted.
I had to do a couple modifications to make it work, but both were extremely simple to do.
First, I removed the springs from my hood hinges, since the higher spring tension of the steel hood springs would easily damage the relatively delicate aluminum hood. I used a large vise-grip to slowly release the spring, and ended up with this.
I'll either make a prop rod, drill a hole in the hinge for a lock pin, or grab a set of correct aluminum hood hinges...
For now I have a broom handle that I used to use to keep the back glass of my Malibu wagon open.
Next, I had to cut the hood bumpers in half, as they were not allowing the hood to fall into the opening.
And that was all it took. Here's the finished product...
Nice to see the hood is on the car and not sitting in my garage now. Actually matches OK. Now seeing all these wagons I want one. :x That Grand Lemans sitting at rohners is growing on me. Nice enough to drive too. Maybe when my Cutlass gets finished Ill go there again and see if it grows on me more.
Well, it turns out I'm not getting screwed by taxes this year like I thought I was going to, so I've got a little bit of money in my pocket and decided to treat myself to some stuff for the wagon!
I just ordered up new weather-stripping for the front and rear doors from Metro-Molded thru www.rockauto.com.
They said it will take a couple days to ship, so I'll have to wait a bit before I can get them on the car and report how they fit.
Stay tuned...
I just ordered up new weather-stripping for the front and rear doors from Metro-Molded thru www.rockauto.com.
They said it will take a couple days to ship, so I'll have to wait a bit before I can get them on the car and report how they fit.
Stay tuned...
The new weatherstripping showed up at my house today!
I thought to myself, "wow, that was quick"...
Then I realized that Metro-Molded is located about 25 miles away from me in North Minneapolis... :lol:
Didn't get a chance to put them on, but they look nice. We'll see how they fit tomorrow when I get them on the car.
I thought to myself, "wow, that was quick"...
Then I realized that Metro-Molded is located about 25 miles away from me in North Minneapolis... :lol:
Didn't get a chance to put them on, but they look nice. We'll see how they fit tomorrow when I get them on the car.
Well, I got half of them on the car today!
I did the driver side front and rear doors, and I'm very pleased with the results.
I'm curious to see how well they "train" themselves over the next week or so, but so far they fit nicely, and I'd definately recommend the Metro Molded seals for all of you guys that have been on the fence about deciding on a brand to buy.
I'll post some pictures later of how they look and a couple pointers for putting them in.
Hopefully I'll have a chance to get the other two on tomorrow.
I did the driver side front and rear doors, and I'm very pleased with the results.
I'm curious to see how well they "train" themselves over the next week or so, but so far they fit nicely, and I'd definately recommend the Metro Molded seals for all of you guys that have been on the fence about deciding on a brand to buy.
I'll post some pictures later of how they look and a couple pointers for putting them in.
Hopefully I'll have a chance to get the other two on tomorrow.
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