Build Thread-85 Cutlass Brougham-New Pics Added!

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

It's been a long time since my last update. I have not really had to use the car until now, so I had sort of left it to sit until times got a bit better and money was less tight. Well, that time is now. I put a new (used) battery in it a few weeks ago to make it yard drivable, but the last few days it has had to be pressed into service once again. Yes, that means it is now revisiting it's former life as a pizza delivery car. So, I had to do some more work to it to make it more road worthy. The front tires were dry rotted and no longer round, so I had to get a pair of used ones to get by. I also had the fan clutch bearings fail in a noisy, but fortunately unspectacular fashion. The thing that surprises me the most is the fuel economy. I haven't actually calculated it (the speedo is a bit off so it is kinda difficult), but if I had to guess I would put it within 10-15% of where my 4 cylinder truck is. It's about a 1:1 ratio of number of deliveries taken vs number of dollars spent on gas per shift, so it is not horrible. It really shouldn't be used for this right now though as the car still has a lot of small bugs to deal with, but I have no choice. The clutch is pretty much shot in the truck, and I won't be able to do anything about it until Monday afternoon. It sucks, but that's what happens when your primary delivery vehicle gives up on December 23rd. Anyhow, after the truck is fixed, the Cutlass will go back into limbo. I need to finish up the AMC and sell it so I can buy a new driver ASAP. I am tired of relying on old cars for my living.

 

[IhaveNoPantsOn]

On the plus side, at least you have a pretty sweet-looking delivery vehicle. I know how you feel about having to rely on old, semi-dependable transportation. I'm just glad my wife has a new car, or else we would never be able to travel very far. Speaking of her car, and in relation to your thread about your quest for a new delivery vehicle; she has an '08 Yaris, and it's a pretty decent car. Much more interior room than you would think for a car of that size. I drive it fairly often, and it's pretty comfortable. I'm 5' 10"ish, and I have lots of leg and head room. It also handles pretty good, too. Would be much more fun if it were a stick, but still not a bad car. Good luck with the Cutty. Hope it doesn't give you too many issues as a delivery vehicle. Merry Christmas (or holiday of your choice).

BTW, looks like you're going to have to change your signature from 'ex-pizza delivery beater'.

 

[Minion1186]

hope the holidays helped with all the comotion you just dealt with.Seeing as though this is a forum and this place is ment to help other people with their problems,i may be able to help you with a few parts,if you'd like them.I have a pair of cutlass disc brakes,slighty used yes but i would trust them,i also have an extra 86 cutlass fan and clutch,no one on here seems to need it so i'm more than willing to give these to you for FREE! I'll even pay the shipping.I hope you get a new car soon,i hate to see that cutlass in delivery action and possibly have you come into even more dangerous situations while driving her.merry christmas

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Thanks for the offer, but I already bought a new fan clutch at Autozone the other day. As for the Cutlass, it was always planned as an alternate delivery car if things got tough. The truck will be fixed early next week. It's just a clutch. I had to wait till Monday before I could get the flywheel cut by a machine shop, which is why I couldn't do it before then. As for the Yaris, it just sucks that I am not going to be ready to buy for another month. I found the fully loaded model brand new in today's paper for $12k. That means I should be able to get a stripper model for a bit less. However, it shows me that the market for them is significantly cheaper than for the other two, probably by as much as $5,000. That kinda makes up my mind a bit further! It may be ugly, yes, but I can overlook ugly for $5k!

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

A week later, and I am STILL using the Cutlass to deliver pizza! I think I put around 500-600 miles on it during it's week as my delivery car. What have I learned from it? Well, it gets 15mpg in the delivery cycle, the suspension has little directional stability and it feels like the rear suspension may need help, it has immense grip around corners, it's rather comfortable to sit in, has a bad vibration at any speed over 55mph, and it has no traction whatsoever, which is greatly compounded by rain. It also smells nice inside and nothing like an old car. More like a new one. This is probably because I stripped out all the old sound deadening and replaced it with new stuff. That old stuff holds water and mold, which are why old cars stink like a damp basement. Also, I would NOT use these front springs again. They are just too stiff and ruin the ride quality. If they were maybe 50-75 psi weaker, it would probably be just right.

As for the truck, Nissan made clutch changes a real PITA. I have the new one in, but the starter is hard to get in, and I have to reattach the engine to the mounts after I tighten the uppermost bolt. It cannot be reached otherwise. Also, the driveshaft hanger bearing is shot, costing me an additional $67 to replace it. The transmission mount is half broken, but the thought of spending the $70 Advance Auto Parts wants for one just pisses me off. It's 2 pieces of metal with a bit of rubber melted between them to hold them together. It is NOT worth $70! So, as the truck is in it's final months of delivery, I will reuse the old one instead, and try to find a cheaper replacement online somewhere. It should be fine in it's new role of utility vehicle as it will rarely be used when I get the new car. All I want it for then is runs to the town dump, Home Depot, IKEA, etc. when I have something to get that will not fit in a small hatchback.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

FINALLY stopped delivering pizza with the Cutlass as of today! The total cost of doing the clutch in the truck is not pretty though, as it cost me $500-600 when I factored in the extra gas the Cutlass used, the repairs to make the Cutlass less of a death trap and somewhat usable, cost of parts, and cost of machine shop labor to replace the wasted hanger bearing in the truck's 2 piece driveshaft. I estimate that the Cutlass used $10 more per day in fuel costs than the truck, due to both the loss of economy, and it's thirst for premium gas. As for the truck, it is on it's last legs as a pizza car. The steering box is wasted and leaks, the transmission had silver gear oil in it from all the metal as well as puking several large chunks of the center support bearing when I changed the oil, it needs tires, and it has just shy of 337,000 miles on an engine that has been revved to 7,000 rpm 20x a day for 12 years. I could fix it all, but then again it would be a lot of hassle and expense and who knows how long it would last? Hopefully, I will be able to get a new, ugly Toyota Yaris as a daily driver in a few months. Then, the truck will live on in semi-retirement as a utility vehicle to help me fix up my house or fetch parts for whatever projects await me in the future. I need stability in my life right now, and the old truck is no longer capable of delivering that. Then again, neither is the Cutlass for reasons outlined before. So, the Cutlass and truck will live out the rest of their years in a place of honor as my retired delivery vehicles and projects. I hope they never again need to be daily drivers though, as I really can't afford the chaos they bring when they fail.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Today was a sad day. My truck is finally unable to deliver any more. The transmission that has been failing for so long, has finally gotten to the point that I can no longer drive it. The metal on metal scraping sound inside it leads me to believe the bearings are finally about to give out completely, and driving it further would only lead to a tow truck bill I can ill afford to pay. I do not have the money to fix it, and the transmission is only one of several problems plaguing it right now ( 4 bald tires, a cracked windshield, a hugely expensive trans mount, an alignment, a steering box, and a starter are a few of the others.). So, the Cutlass is now my only usable car. It too has it's share of issues, but I hope it will not be needed for delivery work for too long. I was really hoping to have been ready to buy my new car before this happened, but it sadly is not the case. So, for my own survival, it must now be used as a pizza deliver car until I can buy the Yaris in about 2 months. That is, if I am able to refinance my mortgage in the next few weeks first. It's the only way I can afford to live through the hard times ahead as it will substantially lower my payment.

What does the Cutlass need? Well, the biggest problems are rear suspension bushings, an electrical short, and plug wires. The most expensive issue is that it needs a new transmission, but I had planned to swap to a T-5 all along and had not considered it a big deal. Now though, if it goes, I will have no choice but to scavenge another TH 200 4R to keep it going.

As for the final fate of the truck, that is very up in the air. I may resurrect it some time in the future if I can find parts cheap enough. However, what is clear right now is that for the immediate future, it will not be driven as I would rather spend the repair money on a down payment on something more practical for my job. That will help with the stability I so desperately need in this time of economic uncertainty.

 

[Blake442]

Time to shake the cobb webs out of it!

340K is pretty impressive out of your little truck... were you able to sell the AMC yet?

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I haven't been able to work on the AMC for the last few months. I have been fixing up my house instead. The house had fallen into a state of disrepair, and needed the porch roof, paint, some landscaping, new screens, concrete work around the pool, minor drywall work, removal of a broken shower stem pipe from the wall, etc. The Cutlass was put together as a backup to the truck, and because it was causing a lot of clutter in the house. I have since sold off a lot of the excess parts I used to have and used the money to fund the house repairs. The whole project is so that I can try to refinance the house to a lower interest rate while it still has enough value and the rates are low enough to do it. I am probably going to start the mortgage process tomorrow. Once that is done, it should fix my ratios so that I can finance a new car as well. However, because the house has been the priority all along, I was only working on the AMC until I had the money saved up to fix the porch roof, which was done 2 weeks ago. I have almost finished painting, and am hoping to have the house in good enough shape to get the appraisal I need by the time the appraiser is sent out to evaluate it. Once that is done and I get the loan, I am going to stop working on the house for a while and go back to the AMC so I can sell it. However, I may end up pulling cash out of the mortgage for home repairs, and will instead loan myself that money for a down payment on a new car, then replace the money once I sell off the car and get my tax refund back. The new windows, insulation and refrigerator I was going to buy can wait a few months but the new car can't. It is all this huge balancing act I am doing to try and come out ahead in the end. When I am done, my house should be much nicer, more energy efficient, and cheaper to run on a month to month basis by around $250. This should help me weather the hard times a little better when I am not really making anything. Plus, a friend of mine should be moving in at the end of the summer and paying me $300 in rent. I figure I will put some of that into home improvements and some of it into paying off the new car at a far more rapid rate. That should give me an even bigger cushion every month if I succeed in paying it off quickly as the new car should use $100-150 a month less in fuel costs.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Bought my first new part for the Cutlass in a while today. I ordered a set of MSD plug wires with 6 90 degree boots and to straight boots for a cost of $92! :shock: I didn't really have it to spend, but needed to do it nonetheless. The car is running very poorly because the wires are past their prime and only transmit spark intermittently (as verified with the timing light). I am hoping the car will idle properly after I get them installed tomorrow, and that should allow me to tune it properly as well. After that, it will be on to the rear suspension rebuild so that the car is not so scary to drive. I also need to replace the catalytic converter as it has burned down and now rattles constantly, but it is not absolutely necessary right now as it is more of an annoyance than anything else. I need a new gas tank with the $150 the cat would cost before I can afford to deal with the cat. The transmission is also failing, and i am hoping it holds out until I can retire the car from service once again in the next 2 months.