Build Thread-85 Cutlass Brougham-New Pics Added!

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

wow congrats on the drive, I am sure that is very rewarding, I know it has been for us before. Seems like you have gotten everything figured out mostly with what else you need to do, great work, and would love to see what you do with the radio as well, I like mine with it being flush but was just curious what you will do

Initially, I will just be happy to have everything together as one whole unit. The radio may or may not use the cobbled together install kit it has now, I have not decided yet. As with most of these things, the car will stay an ever evolving work in progress limited only by finances, ideas, and my own will to actually do the work. I am actually getting tired of working on it right now, and need to quit soon or I will get burned out. I work on it every day, and it is not cheap (for me, at least) once you add up all the little things it takes to put it together. I am anxious to get it done though, if only because it is one of the three loose ends I need to tie up in my life. The others are the AMC project car and my failing roof.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Today's Progress (or lack thereof): The paint store was closed, so I decided to try and re-hang my exhaust system. I have a set of tail pipe hangers off a Monte SS, and wanted to use them. Unfortunately, I broke off the bolts where the bumper shocks bolt to the frame about 6 inches behind the end of the frame!!! I do not know what I am going to do yet as they are integral to how the brackets mount. Now how the hell do I remove the broken bolt head? Easy out and a drill? disassemble the whole *ss end of the car AGAIN and pull the bumper shocks, then re-seal all the lights to the body? There is no fun or easy answer. I also figured out a way to use a universal mount to hold up the exhaust by the catalytic converter, and have it installed, but not tightened yet. At least when it is done, the tail pipes will hang evenly, and the exhaust should be tucked up closer to the body, giving me more ground clearance. I also plan on more insulation on the floor over the catalytic converter as it gives off a fair amount of heat in that area.

The night before, I took apart the passenger's seat to change a trim piece for the arm rest, and also managed to re-hook the J hooks for the bottom of the seat upholstery. I also installed the bracket for the seat switch, and it fits as though it were supposed to be there. There is a recess for the switch and plug already in the foam, and the bracket holes are pre drilled in the seat bottom. All I had to do is bolt in the bracket using the original screws. I still have yet to install the switch, but am waiting until the seat is in place so I do not break off the delicate joy stick. I also tried to order the 6x9 adapters off E-Bay, but the seller's system would not work, so I guess i will have to try again. If I get them and the dye, I can put the interior together leaving only the visors to be done. They will be farmed out as I do not have the proper machine to do it correctly. I am figuring $25 should cover it, but they can wait until after I fix the steering box issue.

 

[3XBrownCutty]

Sounds like some positive and negative progress :x

I looked for those clips and I unfortunately don't have them. But I do still have those 6x9 adapters, no hangers though...

 

[78mali350]

to get the visors done should be cheap, when i had my headliner redone he just did them for free, so it must not have been to hard

 

[442nAZ]

Re:

Here is even more crap: Seat tracks!

This is the dead single motor unit I removed. Note how rusty the seat bottom is. It sat on the porch for too long. It did not get rained on, but it is so humid here that it did a number on it. I have since ground off the rust and painted it.

Here is the new 3 motor track during testing. Note that each function has it's own motor. Bye bye plastic transmission! Also note the corner of the factory wiring manual and my $1.99 Harbor Freight DVOM.

I have a question is it possible to remove the Seat Tracks from Electric seats and place them on another seat that doesnt have the electric or reclining option? I have been looking for the Electric Bucket seats for a long time now.(Gray)

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Yes it is possible. The tracks bolt right to the seats as the frames are identical. However, you will need to pull the metal switch bracket at the time you pull the tracks and wiring from the donor car. I may make a post about converting a non power passenger's seat to power in the future. I have the pics, I just need to upload and host them.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Today's progress: I got more crap today. I went back to the paint store and they gave me a bit more black and some blue to fix their mixing error. Hopefully, I'll mix it tomorrow and have my dye sprayed on everything so I can finally put it together. I also finished ordering my 6x9 adapters. It was $15 I didn't want to spend, but as I can't find the original wire mounts, I have no other option but to replace them. I didn't do any actual work though, as I overslept and woke up at 4pm. I didn't have enough time to do anything to it before I had to go to work. So, tomorrow, I will be doing the dye, and fixing the exhaust hanging issue if there is enough time. Once the brackets get here, I can put the rest of the seats in, and bolt down the sub box to the trunk floor, thus finishing the majority of the interior. I'll do the tint, and fix the steering issue after that, and then the car will go probably get put aside so I can swap the engine in the AMC and sell it. At this point, I will be happy if I get $1500 for the AMC with the new engine installed and the car running and driving. I will just be happy to have one less headache to deal with. If I am smart I will not replace it with anything, but if I am me, I will start shopping for the Old School Import project I am planning...lol.

 

[mr evil]

Had the same idea for the 'holy sh*t!" handles from the s-10 too. Haven't really looked into it fully yet, but I think it would also be a viable add on. Don't know about you, but I have noticed some of my passengers reaching for 'something' at times :lol:
I'll let you know if I figure out a way, and I know if you find a way first, I'll read it here.

Keep up the good work 8)

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Once again, nothing fits right the first, second, third, etc. time! I started putting the door panels on today after dying the bottoms, adding the lock switches, gluing the edges of the driver's panel, cutting the sound deadener for the screw holes, moving the wiring for the window switch, etc. Now, the holes for the grab strap do not line up with the holes for the screws, so I will be drilling new holes and using them instead. I also found that I need a driver's arm rest because the foam in the one I have has gone AWOL. I have 3 good passenger's arm rests, but no drivers.... The paint shop may have given me more black to mix in to the dye, but it was far from enough to do a quart. I barely got 3/4 of a pint from it. It was enough to do what needed doing, but it is still a bit light for my taste. It is also more purple blue while the stock color is green blue. This is not a big issue though as the new color matches the exterior better than the original. It acts as a bit of a transition between the two colors. I also found that the passenger's window does not shut right because the weatherstripping tracks are not aligned right. This means the rear edge of the window is too far away from the weatherstripping at the corner on the side, but it fits up top. Guess I have to drill a new hole and move it. Hopefully tomorrow I will have both doors done and can start on the exhaust mounting. It's supposed to rain Friday, so I won't be able to do much. If I get enough done though, I will be able to take it to my first cruise night on Saturday. Where I will get passed over for not driving a "real" musclecar, and get to hear snide remarks from the car snobs who do not actually know how to build anything.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I finally have a door together! It has issues... 😢 The lock rod for the lock button on top of the door panel sits too high and will need to be cut down, the interior handle does not return to it's normal position fully after you pull it, and the power lock actuator sometimes fails to fully lock or unlock the door, even though it does actually work. How much of it will I actually fix? Well, I feel the handle issue is because of a nylon busing I used to tighten it up a bit and keep it from rattling. It should loosen up a bit with use, so I will wait to fix it until I actually need to take the panel off. Ditto the motor issue. It should loosen up a bit with use as it has not actually seen regular use for about 10 years. As for the rod, I should take it all apart and bend it so it is shorter, but I will probably just cut it with a cutoff wheel . The driver's door, however, will need to come back apart. The chrome on the woodgrain panel has peeled in one spot, and I have a nicer one that will take it's place. It will also give me the opportunity to figure out why the screws are not lined up with their holes. The thing that sucks is that I used a lot of new panel clips to put it together, and those do not let go without a fight! Anyhow, I will try to mess with it tomorrow, and hope to at least have the interior done by Saturday night if the adapters for the speakers come in.I still have to do the broken bolts with the easy out, and that NEVER goes well for me. I hate those things...