BUILD THREAD Bobrobs 86 Cutlass

[Bobrob]

Is it a build or a fix it up?

Your choice but I figured I'd start a thread to document all the stuff I'm doing to this old gal.

Here's what I started with:

Pretty much a plain Jane 86 Brougham with a ratty vinyl roof, faded and rough (to the touch) paint and a pretty decent interior with non-functioning power windows and an R12 A/C system that was converted (according to a sticker under the hood) to 134A:, no tail lights and a power antenna that doesn't work.

I replaced both window motors and associated switches, the headlight switch, which fixed the no taillights issue, and believe it or not, I pulled a vacuum on the AC and it held just fine. After evacuating and putting 2 lbs of 134a in the system, I have A/C, though after about 45 minutes, the compressor started complaining a bit, so I may need to change it out. But first, I decided to work on the appearance:

Vinyl top and associated hardware gone.

Sanding and trim removal in progress:

Fortunately, most of the rust I found was limited to the surface with only 3 spots having rusted through, which were pretty easy fixes.

I have the paint on the way from Eastwood, going with the single stage Meteor Grey Metallic. It's been almost 40 years since I painted a car, but how hard can it be?

Stay tuned, I plan to paint it next Thursday the 15th or so.

 

[Houston78]

Sweet, I like to think that painting is like riding a bike...she looks good and I can't wait to see her painted! Keep us posted and welcome to the forum!

 

[mclellan83]

Welcome, looking forward to seeing you get some color on her

 

[Hurricane77]

Looks like a very decent specimen. No rust under the old vinyl? Assuming the floors etc are pretty good too.

 

[Bobrob]

Looks like a very decent specimen. No rust under the old vinyl? Assuming the floors etc are pretty good too.

Not a speck of rust under the vinyl, I'm happy to report.

Floors and trunk are solid. The only holes I found were under the filler panel between the trunk lid and rear window. There was some very minor surface rust under the lower door/rocker trim but that's about it. I had one small dent behind the drivers door to fix and that's about it.

As of now, I have the whole car sanded to 320 and will probably take it to400, then 600 early next week, and plan to paint on Thursday the 15th.

Also, I noticed a small coolant leak which seems to be coming from above the starter. ...YAY. Freeze plug I'm guessing.

 

[rfpowerdude]

Yep, expansion/freeze plug! Probably from the cylinder head one in the rear.

 

[69hurstolds]

Orrrrrrr........my money is on the rear corner intake gasket where aluminum intake meets the head. Common leak points, unfortunately.

 

[Bobrob]

Ok... after a false start with a crappy paint gun, I had to sand and respray with a much better result:

Perfect? Hardly but I'm not too disappointed. It has some orange peel and it's not factory fresh, but for $200 worth of Eastwoods most economical and a couple of afternoons at hard labor, it's presentable.