Build Thread-85 Cutlass Brougham-New Pics Added!

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I finally got some of the interior in today! I made my headliner (not a great job, but it saved me money doing it myself), finished the sound deadening, and installed : the headliner, rear quarter plastics, and rear parcel shelf. I start classes tomorrow at 8:30am, so no late night stuff tonight. Tomorrow I will either sleep until work when I get home, or spend the afternoon tuning my neighbor's 73 Camaro. If I have time left, I will try to seal up the hood release cable and put in the carpeting. After that, the seat belts and driver's seat will be going in.

 

[86Cutlass383SR]

You are getting so close...

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I will post my notes on headliners here for all the world to see. If I am wrong, someone correct me please. First off, be sure to get two cans of the 3M General Trim Adhesive. Wal Mart sells it in the automotive section. Second, the headliner itself will take up the better part of 2 yards of material. Third, do it on a table. You really can't do it right on the ground (like I did). As for technique, fold the cloth in half on the board before gluing it. Use 2 coats of glue on both the headliner material and the shell. Gradually unfold it as you press it down from the center out to the sides. Also, watch for folds!! The material loves to fold back on itself doing it this way, and since it is covered in contact cement, it will stick to itself!!! I got most of my folds out, but missed one small one. Probably a better way would be to put sticks down across the board, flop the material down on top of them, and remove the sticks as you press down the material. This is similar to how you laminate a countertop (it too uses contact cement), and will probably work better than what I did. I should probably post all the new pics I took, but I am feeling too lazy right now to do it. I'll do a placeholder post to go back and edit later on when I upload the photos.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

* Placeholder for headliner article*

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Today's boring update: I installed 5 trim pieces ( A pillar trim, headliner door trim and one B pillar trim) and fixed the up function on the passenger's side power windows. It was a curious problem, too.

The window would go down with the passenger's switch, but not up. However, it would go in both directions with the master switch on the driver's door. I tried 3 switches on the passenger's door, but the same thing happened. That is when I pulled out my trusty factory manual and got to reading. It turns out that the natural position of the blue and dark brown wires leading to the motor is always ground. To power it in one direction or another, one becomes a power wire and the other stays ground. It is also series wired through the passenger's side switch from the driver's side. However, for some reason the dark brown was not getting a ground when put in the up position. Positive, yes, but no ground. So, what was the solution you ask? Well, I figured that the driver's window was pulling another ground path to go to the switch when placed in the up position that was not available to the passenger's switch. This is why the master switch would work in both directions, but the passenger's only one. So the solution, oddly, was to replace the master switch. And what do ya know? It works! Now I have all 3 window switches doing what some GM engineer from the 70's intended. The master switch it turns out is the key to some faults with the passenger's side switch.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

2am update: Pulled the wiper motor and smushed down the caulk on the hood release cable. It's sealed now, but I will probably seal it permanently with some weatherstripping sealant. I may also source another cable as the one I have has a fair amount of overspray on it and the interior handle looks like crap. I also put the driver's seat track on the seat, but am not sure if it will have to come back apart. I am missing a trim panel that covers up the top of the track mechanics, and it may make it look unfinished. Lastly, I made a template from a Concert Sound II lower door panel so I can cut the proper hole in my blue lower door panels. That will be done in a day or two. I will have to do at least one more junkyard run to finish off the interior, but I am pretty broke right now. I should just stop where I am, but I also want to get finished. I am tired of this stuff taking up all this space and mental energy.

I started class today, and I am already overwhelmed by Calc II. I am debating if I will continue the engineering degree for my education, or just take some classes so I can get a quick degree and move on with my life. I don't think I can take several more years of this lifestyle. Plus, I really need the money right now, and the constant ups and downs are making me a nervous wreck. It is doubtful my truck will last me through another 3-5 years of school, and I do not have the money to buy another good car to destroy delivering pizza. Plus, if the truck dies right now, my only real alternative is to deliver in my Cutlass again, and I swore I would never do that. It's too old, too big and too inefficient to use for that sort of work.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I am dropping Calc tomorrow. I am too stressed out and exhausted to add anything else to my list of things to do right now, and I just want to finish up what I have in front of me. I just don't think I could concentrate on such an obtuse subject for long enough to pull a good grade out of it. I am already unable to sleep because I am so worried about money and my problems with my house that I can't afford to fix. Adding another thing on the pile would drive me over the edge! So, I hope to have the Cutlass and the roof finished by the end of this year so I can concentrate on school next semester.

As for the Cutlass, I keep picking at it, and it keeps coming together. Today I cut one of my lower door panels for the CSII grilles, and cleaned both of the lowers with some more Simple Green. I was able to scrub the large black grease marks out of the carpet and make them look pretty good. However, although they are not sun faded, both have some scratches in them so I am thinking about buying some vinyl dye to restore them to the right color. At least this pair already had the lock switch and remote mirror holes in them, so that is one less thing I have to do to use them in this car. I also got my speaker baffles in the mail today, and installed them on the front speakers. They are now well sealed and pushing on the baffles actually moves the speaker!

Depending on how work goes tonight, I will be going tomorrow to buy a nicer hood release cable and the parts to finish the dual power seat install with the carpet. I also need the rear seat belt buckles as I let water accumulate in the floor where they were and they got ruined by rust. If all that goes well, I guess I will have to figure out what to do about the rear speakers. I probably have the wire retainers somewhere ( I already have the adapters mounted to the speakers), I just have to mount an expedition to find them! All that will be left of the interior is to install my good shifter stalk and new shift know (column), tint the windows, and get the cruise control to work. I still gotta find a 1.5 in hole saw to cut the hole and then add the engine bracket to get it installed. Oh, and I still need one door lock rod for the lock button. I seem to have lost that one somehow... Then again, I need to figure out why the tach seems to be reading high. I wonder if I failed to switch the shorting adapter from V6 to V8?

 

[86Cutlass383SR]

That pic needs to be your new avatar. Looks awesome! Nice job.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I want to use it for my avatar, but I forgot how to shrink it down. I have to play with my editing software to do it, but I have been too busy.

As for today's junkyarding adventure, I got a hood release cable, door light switched that may or may not be the right size, my missing lock rod, door lock pulls, the seat wiring to finish my power passenger's seat, and a power seat switch. I also found a big puddle inside the car-again, but I hope to fix it by sealing the new hood release cable to the hole properly. The seat switch was 3x as expensive as the one I bought last week. I went to 3 junkyards-two of which I was hoping would have my parts so I could avoid the counter ******* at the third. Some people who work these yards see ever single part of a part as an excuse to charge more money. The heavily tatooed and pierced circus freak at this one is one of those *ssh*les. (Not intended as a slur against carnies.) Sorry, but I do not think that a crusty seat switch on a 88 Ciera is worth a third of the $60 they probably paid for the heap it came from. I swear, sometimes I think owning a self serve yard is almost a license to print money. Some of them are decent and reasonable, but it seems to be more and more rare.

 

[78mali350]

that is the exact reason why I have been afraid to go to the self serve yards around here because I don't want to get my stuff and have them be like oh that will be 200.00 or some crazy stuff like that, congrats on the progress made and smart choice of switching degrees, if it's just so much to handle I am sure someone with knowledge like yours a different degree should be much easier. what are you thinking of pursuing? once again though congrats on the car progress