Blending two '83 Cutlass Cruisers

[83CutlassCruiser]

A few years ago I picked up an '83 Cutlass Cruiser. I had wanted a G body wagon since I was a kid in the '80's, an Olds specifically. My main interest is VW's and I had found a property out of town that had a few hundred vehicles on it, most in poor condition. I had made a deal to purchase all the VW's when I was wandering down a row of cars and I found a Cutlass Cruiser. Many of the cars had been vandalized by kids over the years but this Cruiser was untouched. Both cars on either side were damaged but this one was left alone. It was complete with some body damage (rear gate and RR door) and a bad windshield. I made a deal to trailer it away for $150. I put in a new ignition switch so I could have keys for it. It sat for a winter before I could get to it but I did make sure that it started and ran. Even on 10 year old gas, it did. The car had been traded to the property owner for another car. I cleaned the car up, put new tires, an exhaust system and front calipers on the car and it became my DD winter driver for a couple of years before it developed an engine tick. I thought it was a sticky lifter so added SeaFoam to clean out the engine. The ticking got worse and the car started to backfire. Yup, bad camshaft. I parked the car and started looking for an engine or worse, to part the car out. For months I looked for engines and finally found one but it was surrounded by another '83 Cutlass Cruiser Brougham. That is rare for where I live, I never see G-body wagons anymore. The car didn't run but it was a minor issue so I purchased the car for $350 and after a summer of the cars sitting, I finally found a few days to blend them together. The *new* Cruiser needed a muffler and as it also turned out, a new master cylinder, front pads, rear shoes, drums and cylinders. We swapped off all the good parts from the dead Cruiser, blower motor, front clip and bumper, transmission cooler and other parts and finally, I have a functioning Cutlass Cruiser again!

Once I can post pictures (photobucket is being a PITA right now) I will.

 

[83CutlassCruiser]

The Cruiser with the bad camshaft

Here is the Brougham with woodgrain!

Forgot to mention that I reused the rear shocks but not the fronts as they could not be removed without being damaged. We brought new front shocks. As you can see, the old ones were finished. 2 mintues after being removed, we heard a "pop" and this is the result.

 

[Longroof79]

Welcome aboard!
I like the woodgrain wagon.. good score. You don't come across them too often, and the woodgrain appears to be in nice shape where as many have faded or weather beaten.
What are your ultimate plans for it?

 

[SafariWagon]

I agree the woodgrain wagon is SWEEEEET! Only $350 was a steal. It reminds me of another member- Blake's car only with woodgrain!

 

[Ribbedroof]

Looks like a good start

Shock oil...now there's a smell you won't forget.

 

[83CutlassCruiser]

Thanks! I love the woodgrain. Up here, the salt has really taken a toll on these cars. You still see the 2 and 4 doors on a regular basis but most are in pretty bad shape body wise. I have only seen one other wagon (a Malibu) being driven regularly and 2 other wagons at car shows. These used to be everywhere when I was growing up and I really liked them. My soccer coach had one almost exactly like this one.

My plans for the car are just to drive it right now. I don't have a lot of free cash at the moment and I just wanted to have a reliable winter vehicle. I certainly plan to take care of it. The woodgrain is what saved the body from rotting. It's in pretty good shape with only a few faded patches and scratches here and there. What I will do is troll the local wreckers for seats and things. The back seats are fine but the front is a split and while dirty, it has ciggy burns on them which annoy me. If I can find another split front seat in the same colour, I will grab it or maybe take the one out of the dead Cutlass. Trouble with that one is that it is a full bench. A PO of the Brougham had put a seat warmer in this car so I just may clean the seats and carpeting and call it a day. The smell from the blown shock was just wonderful. I had forgotten what it was like it had been so long. The fun job was cleaning it all up along with the transmission fluid that poured out while changing over the coolers.

More pics.

Front end after the swap. Missing a bit of the woodgrain now but I can change over the missing chrome trim easily.

And the dead Cruiser after stripping it. Luckily I have plenty of room out of town to store it so it will become a parts donor for later on. It still has a new fuel pump, dist cap, rotor, plugs, and wires that I didn't have time to change over. Also, I found out while driving it that if the back window breaks, you are screwed to find a new one. You can get new glass for the Custom Cruisers but not Cutlass Cruisers. I had to find one at a wreckers and drive over an hour to pick it up. Rear doors also.

Funny thing has been that I have had about 5 people come up to me and offer to buy the car (the dead one) as they really wanted it and had been looking for one for a long time.

 

[O. D. Showtime]

It does look like a good starting point.

I was at a local wrecker here the other day and there's a woody Cutlass wagon sitting there...your post made me think about it as it looks very much the same.

 

[83CutlassCruiser]

It does look like a good starting point.

I was at a local wrecker here the other day and there's a woody Cutlass wagon sitting there...your post made me think about it as it looks very much the same.

That's a pretty rare find around here (Calgary). I haven't even seen one at any of the local wreckers for nearly 4 years. I have only seen on other Cruiser wagon with woodgrain and it was over 15 years ago. Many were sold here but not many Broughams.

 

[Longroof79]

Having a donor car is a good thing, especially with parts becoming fewer and farther between. Looks like you'll have a good supply of spares for awhile. Be careful with the mouldings surrounding the woodgrain. Those are like finding "Hens teeth". :wink:
Looks like a decent Cruiser. You certainly got a good deal on both of them.
These cars were pretty common back in the day, but getting harder to find. I'm sure many were scrapped.

 

[83CutlassCruiser]

Thanks. I uncovered a few things that made me go :shock: when we put it up on the hoist. First off, there are two bars that bolt from the front corners to the centre. Both of mine where unbolted from the centre (bolts loosely put back in) and bars moved so they lined up across the front of the car. :? I should have taken a picture but have outlined the same area on the other Cruiser. Anyway, I moved the bars back into place and tightened everything down. I have no idea why someone would do this.

As for the other thing, it was the RR wheel cylinder. The drum was full of fluid and a piece of the cylinder had broken off and was in the drum. What fun! I heard none of this on the 60+ mile trip I took to bring the car back into town where I could work on it. In addition, the MC was bad so I really only had front brakes. Well, I had rear brakes occasionally.