Build Thread-85 Cutlass Brougham-New Pics Added!

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Re: Re:

Arriving at the booth

so you painted your fenders and header panel, then masked them off and shot the rest of the car....I was thinking of doing the same, Im just goin to shoot single stage frost beige, I decided on just a repaint of the factory color....

The header panel in that shot was my broken one. I ended up using a different one, but left that one on there for the drive to the booth. Also, the fenders were barely bolted on in that pic and I removed them prior to painting, and installed them with the broken header for the drive home.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

The trucks is now fixed and I am $1200 poorer (in cash and added debt). I had a reputable local shop rebuild the transmission for $700, got a set of 70k mile tires at Sam's Club for $325 out the door, and the new windshield was done today for $187. The A/C has developed some issues now, so that is on the list of things to fix as is the leaky steering box and a new timing set for the 344k mile engine. Still, I now consider it good enough to venture more than 5-10 miles from home, so at least I am out of that prison.

What will I do with my new found freedom you ask? Well, not much for now. I am planning a trip to the junkyards next week to pick up a set of serviceable upper control arms for the rear suspension of the Cutlass. Between those, a new gas tank and some time spent fixing the wiring fault, the Cutlass should be pretty much a usable car in the next month or so. At least then if the truck dies again, I do have a fully functional car to fall back on instead of a hurriedly cobbled together project car. When you drive for a living, if you have no car you have no job and I need the Cutlass as an extra layer of protection against that sort of thing.

Once that is done, I will be rushing to finish and sell my little AMC so that I can get the cash and space I desperately need. I need a welder, and Harbor Freight occasionally has a flux core wire feed welder for $109, so I am going to try and score one of those. Why not a MIG? Well, for what I am doing it simply is not needed. I kinda have to do the car stuff on the cheap right now so I can keep as much money as possible liquid.

As for other stuff, I got my new old refrigerator today. This one is from 2003 while my old one was from 1979. It needs some of the shelves fixed, but I should be able to find the pieces for less than $100. I got it for free when my mom's friend did the appliance cash for clunkers thing. I let them have my old one and I got her old one. I am hoping it uses less energy than mine did. At least it is not rusty like my old one was.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

It's been a long time since my last post, but then it has been a very long, hot summer too. Sadly, the Cutlass now refuses to start, and I really don't want to work on it right now. It's been 93-97 degrees out with 90% humidity almost every day for the last 3 months. I can barely go outside to mow my lawn let alone work on a project car. I also completely lost the A/C in my pizza delivery truck at the beginning of the summer, and the heat is just exhausting to work in. Sadly, it's the evaporator core and compressor and it is not easily nor cheaply serviced. I have decided to tough it out until the end of summer and then buy a brand new economy car to act as a daily driver. It's not the cheapest solution, but in the long run it adds the most stability and lets me do more than just work on cars with my time. I am also on the fence right now about possibly selling off my Cutlass in the next few months. It's a cool car, but maintaining it is expensive. If I let it sit for long, I will have to redo it again, and I simply do not have it in me to go through all that again. It would probably be more logical to sell it and use the proceeds to pay off a new car quickly rather than sitting on it and letting it all decay to crap again. I can buy another project when things get better.

 

[breeaad]

Sorry to hear about the AC in the truck. That makes pizza delivery in Florida uncomfortable to say the least!!!! Obviously I would advise against selling the Olds, but some times you have to do things you may regret later in order to make things work now. My 442 hasn't been started in years. A little work and I could get 4-5K for it, which would pay off some credit card debt and make the monthly finances a little easier. I have considered it seriously several times, but every time something in me tells me I will regret it later. So it still sits in the garage until I have the money to get it on the road.

 

[Regal8601]

How's the Cutlass and your truck coming along? Did you decide to keep it or sell it and buy a new car?

 

[custom442]

Brougham,
if theres one thing I was tought about anything with my car it's don't sell it. I know yours is different, this was my first car and I have tons of cash in it. But every person whose talked to me about my car... every one, has said they either wished they still had their g body or had one now. Just stash it in the garage and cut insurance on it until you can afford to mess with it. I did that for a year or so a while back. But I'm sure you already handled whatever was needed to be done.

 

[Coveted]

you still post here bud? whatever happened with this car. I remember following this entire thread.

 

[jrm81bu]

you still post here bud? whatever happened with this car. I remember following this entire thread.

Sadly, he hasn't been on in quite awhile.

 

[axisg]

anybody ever hear what happened to this guy ?? Seems he just dropped off the face of the earth.

 

[Doober]

Last seen Oct 2010... yeah it's been a while.