Build Thread-85 Cutlass Brougham-New Pics Added!

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I was amazed the other day when I went to the junkyards and there were very few Chevy powered 80's cars around! All I needed was an add on bracket for cruise control to finish my setup. It was kind of depressing.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Well, now that the Cutlass is pretty far along, and it looks like I will be able to make my other project car salable in the near future, I find myself at the same crossroads I was at before. I need to go to school full time and I just can't do it with a house and all the responsibilities that come along with it. I need to work only 10-15 hours a week if I am to have a chance at this, so I am looking to move back home by the end of the summer. At that point, I will be done with my community college and eligible to transfer to the state university system. I have yet to decide what to do with the house yet as I have not weighed all my possibilities. My best scenario involves renting it to my aunt and cousin and their 4,356,987 cats. I could keep the garage for the Cutlass and my tools that way, and keep the house for the future when it will probably go back up in value. I also could sell it, which means I have to figure out where to store the Cutlass or the truck and which to use for school. It's a 30 mile commute to USF one way, so I probably would use the truck. I just don't like most storage places though. Too many people store flammable materials in them and the possibility of a fire destroying a car I have put so much into scares me. Then there is also the possibility of theft. I had a storage unit broken into once and anything of value was taken. My parents also live in a ultra deed restricted neighborhood where they regulate everything you do down to the color of your front door and how many hours after the garbage men come that your cans must be put away. I doubt that I could do any repairs to the Cutlass or truck there, and let's face it, neither of them is a vehicle you can own without being able to fix them.

I also found out that my last friend left in the state is moving to Maine in 1-3 months. He is going there so that he can live with his dad and go back to college too. Neither of us could make it on our own without an education. I have no real need now for a house as I have no one left to come over. I also have no cable, no internet (I borrow it), no phone, and no money to buy even the normal little things most people can afford right now, so staying in this situation is not a good plan. If I work more, I have no time to finish school with good grades, and I will be stuck here until I die. Eeking out a bare bones "life" is no life at all. I hate working every night, weekend and holiday, but I also have no choice if I want to make enough to "live" on. If I get rid of the house, all I will keep is a bed, clothes, my laptop, a TV, my Xbox 360, my tools and the truck and Cutlass. Nothing else I own matters or is necessary. All I need is a room and a place to park. Unfortunately, the two places to park is the hardest thing to get.

 

[85GPLef41]

In the wise words of Joe Dirt " keep on keeping on" lol jk but serious man keep your head up and work on it. Everything happens for a reason!!

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Well, if I can get it all settled a month or so before the fall semester, I am thinking I really need to take an epic road trip to clear my mind before I embark on the next phase in my journey. I would want to take the Cutlass for it though as it would be the most fun. I would go visit my friends up north for a few weeks and enjoy life for the first time in a very long time. I am not really seeing this as a negative. I am so exhausted from all the stress from the last several years, that finally getting a break from it will be a welcome relief.

 

[85GPLef41]

yeah i feel you but after not having a decent vacation in about lets say.....FOREVER, I really need to take take time to stop and smell the roses here really soon. ha maybe this year!

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Today's update: Rebuilt the door hinge and cut one door for the Regal Concert Sound II speakers I had. I plan on using the housings from the Regal, but with new speakers. I don't like how thin I made the door in one spot, but that is what the speaker required. Why the doors don't have the provisions already I don't know. It seems odd to me that the door shells were a different stamping just for a speaker option, but it seems they were. After all, Regal and Cutlass doors are identical stampings and interchange with one another, so if it wasn't on these doors, it wasn't on a Regal's either.

 

[86CutlassUCF]

usf boooooooo jk, well not really. i hate usf but thats besides the point. but just keep on hanging in there. this site would not be the same with out your thread. which im pretty sure is the longest and most intersting on here.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

usf boooooooo jk, well not really. i hate usf but thats besides the point. but just keep on hanging in there. this site would not be the same with out your thread. which im pretty sure is the longest and most intersting on here.

Well... USF= free room and board, and only 30 miles from my parent's house. Some consider it a Community College University, and I like that. It's also my only viable option. If I had more options, I would probably want to go to MIT, but... my family is not wealthy and my grades in High School were far from stellar. BTW, what is so bad about USF, besides being a breeding ground for Islamic terrorists? As for UCF, my little sister was just accepted there and is starting in the fall. I am a very protective big brother though so don't make me come up there! It also means you will be seeing my car on your campus, so if you see it feel free to say hi.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Almost forgot today's episode in the continuing saga of the Cutlass: I installed the driver's side trim by using one half broken trim clip per side on the rear trim combined with one whole clip per side. I put the whole ones at the rear and the broken ones up front. I figured that the front of the trim is also held in place with the trim screw that holds the wheel arch trim, so it had more support than the back does. So far, they seem solid. Neither front fender has any trim yet though, and that is because of the impending disassembly of the front clip for detailing and the cruise control wiring install.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Late Night Update: Just because it is going on 2am doesn't mean someone with insomnia isn't fixing stuff! I started to recondition my super-rare 1988 G body 3 motor power seat track. Yes, it is the one without the failure-prone plastic transmission-and the only year it was made. This one is far from perfect, but being as it is the only one I could find, I had to buy it. The feet were full of surface rust, so I took out my die grinder with a wire wheel and knocked off all the rust I could. I then sprayed them with semi-gloss Rustoleum black paint and called it a night. I need to replace one of the bolts holding the front feet to the tracks as it was broken off when I got it. Happily, I tested all of the functions manually, and they all seem to work. Next up, I will have to sort out the wiring mess as someone had swapped this track on another car before, and cut all the wires to the switch, then spliced them back together with the stupid crimp connectors. So, I either need to source another harness or solder and heat shrink the wires on this one. After I get the wiring sorted, I will have to put the track in the car and test it to make sure it all works before actually bolting it to the seat.