'83 Cutlass Cruiser Build Thread

[Blake442]

Been a while since I've updated this, but I haven't done a whole lot to the car other than drive it.
I've managed to rack up over 7500 miles on it so far, and all is working well.

Not long after my last post, I got bored and put in the rallye gauge cluster that had been sitting on my shelf forever.
I got all the wiring in the harness switched around and everything works, but there are still some gremlins to get out of it.
The lights for the gauges work when the car is off, but turn the car on, and they go out. Probably need to add an extra ground.
I also got motivated and finally put a headliner in the car. I've been in the process of moving, and subsequently I've been going through and getting rid of a lot of extra parts I had lying around. I figure it'll take up a lot less space in the car than on the shelf. I had the one out of my Malibu I parted last fall, which other than being faded was in pretty good shape, but it was tan. I was just going to put it in as-is, but decided to try and dye it. I used about 3 cans of Dupli-Color brown vinyl dye (#417). Just make sure you let it dry for a few days before you put it in the car. My car still smells... :lol:
It turned out alright, especially considering the time and cost I have into it, but if I was to do it over again, I'd just recover it. Though it sure is nice to not have to listen to the headliner trim in the back rattling... and I've got working dome lights!
I also had the windsheild trim from the Malibu, which was kinda pitted, but dent free and still very bright, so I ditched the faded, oxidized, and hail damaged ones that were on there.
I have some new pictures but haven't had a chance to upload them yet...

 

[85Supreme]

sounds like your car is coming together very nicely!be sure to post those pictures

 

[Possumz]

Do you have any pics of your headers and exhaust that you had done. Love those slots you put on your wagon. 😀

 

[Blake442]

Thanks! They'd be perfect if there was just another 1/4" of backspacing, but for free I'm not gonna complain...

The headers are from DynoMax, I bought them back in '02 when I had a sbc in my 442 for a while...
They fit great, aside from some slight rubbing on the column shifter linkage. I just have to wiggle the shifter a bit to get it back into park... It doesn't really bother me, and I've been too lazy to adjust it...

 

[3XBrownCutty]

Haven't had to do any work other than put on this fancy steering wheel I got from my buddy Lue.
Came of an '83 Cutlass Calais, and it's even the right color. Sorry for the shitty cell phone pic...

Damn. i would kill for that wheel. I can't find brown int. parts anywhere...

 

[Blake442]

Matt, I lucked out with finding that wheel, it pretty much just fell in my lap so to speak... Lue bought the column out of a car at the yard, and didn't need the wheel, and as luck would have it, it was exactly what I needed!

I finally got the transmission fixed in my '96 Caprice last week, unfortunately about a week too late, as snow and ice have already claimed the roads. I'll be waiting until after turkey-day to put the wagon into storage, since more snow, ice, and road salt are expected over the next few days. I just need it to be clear enough to wash the car quick and drive it over to my friends place where I'll store it.

The wagon served me well this year, and I put over 10,000 trouble free miles on it from mid-May thru last week.
Not bad for a car pulled out of a junkyard, with a 35 year old drivetrain...

I still have to upload my pictures of the completed headliner, as well as my rallye gauge swap...

 

[Blake442]

Put the wagon into storage for it's winter nap yesterday in a friends garage spot that I'm renting... 🙁

Top priority in the spring will be a re-build of the front suspension.
Dispite the cars low mileage, all of the rubber bushings are quite dried out from the Texas heat.
Although it still goes down the road nicely, I'll feel better once there are fresh parts underneath it.

After that, it's just a matter of driving and enjoying it until I have the space to take it apart and paint it...
...which might be a while...

 

[Blake442]

Finally got around to uploading some pictures that I had been putting off...

Here you can see the nice steering wheel I got from Lue, and the ralley gauges that I finally installed that originally came out of my '87 Cutlass I parted out back in '03.

The headliner came next. I pulled it out of my '79 Malibu I parted out last fall, and dyed it brown.
Amazingly intact for being 31 years old, other than the hand prints that is.
I guess the lesson is to NOT tell your drunk friends to keep their hands off the headliner... All it does is encourage them!
Now when you touch it, you can see the spots where the dye is rubbing off. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it since it'll have to come back out when I repaint the car anyways.
First section in...

rear section in... And with working dome lights!

And finally the windshield trim I replaced. These pieces also came off the Malibu wagon. The cowl piece is from the 442.

 

[Lue]

Great work Blake!!! The wagon is coming along very nicely.

 

[Blake442]

Sorry, nothing to add...

Just noticed a thing at the bottom of the page that said "bump this topic" that I hadn't seen before and I didn't know what it did... :lol:

All it did was change the date of Lue's post from two months ago to right when I hit the button.