Drove a wagon -- quesitons

[Wants_a_wagon]

I drove a 81 Cutlass wagon today with a '72 Pontiac 350 (originally had the 301, so they went the Pontiac route). He's asking $2,000

Here are the strong and weak points as saw them.

pros
*engine swap already done
*TH 350 (although I'd prefer an 200R4)
*reminds me strongly of my first car.
*goes and stops fine
*electric windows appear to work okay
*bench seat in the front (I love that)
*the frame looks really good (like 5 years old and never driven in the snow good).
*no rust in the rear wheel wells (this is a particular weak spot I have noticed)
*paint is pretty good

cons
*Engine not an Olds
*needs upholstery job in short order
*needs a headliner and dome light
*the engine bogs at WOT pretty badly (I think it's probably still got the 2.21 rear gears)
*kind of rattle-ish (I think the frame-body pads are shot)
*The windshield needs to be replaced
*The A/C pump was set aside, and is now either missing, or the bracket is, or both (he said he would look). Getting the air in working order is a must for the family and the missus in particular.
*The engine smells like it is running really rich, which is no big deal, but that coupled with the bogging probably means tuning the carb jets/checking the timing, which I have never done. The carb is a newish Edelbrock.
*The little dash clock and radio are both shot (ehh, so what)
*Most of the weatherstripping needs to be replaced.
*Needs the new rear end ratio and posi.
*Some of the brightwork trim pieces such as the quarter window trim looks to be borderline. This stuff may polish out, but I am not sure.
*the doors seem heavier than I remember them, which I attribute to early power window mechanisms. being so heavy. Speaking of, I am not that confident about working on those.
*The front driver's door hinge was pretty bad, which wasn't a problem on 4 door models as I recall.
*really minimal rust (here in PA, that's a positive -- there are a couple of small wrinkles in the paint at the bottom of one rear quarter, a couple of brown spots at the bottom of a door)

Discussion
1. Let's assume that I take the seats to be recovered in vinyl or maybe fabric like they have now (think family with little kids). How much do you think the bench and the wagon seats are going to run me?
2. What's the availability of replacement headliners? This one needs a Navy-ish color. How much?
3. Air conditioning. Has anybody brought one of these systems back from the dead? The last G body I had was kept in working order. The one prior, I was told I could spend $3,000 and still not have a working system. How about conversion to R134a? Has anybody done that?
4. Let's assume that I have to replace all weatherstripping. What is that going to run me? I have read here that there are some weatherstripping items that are no longer available. Can those be replaced?
5. If for some reason I didn't want to title this as an antique, it would have to pass emissions. Is just adding a Cat going to do that?
6. Have any of you installed an aftermarket cruise control system, or perhaps retrofitted a factory one from the junkyard? What's the experience with this?

If any of you have points you'd like to advise me about, relative to weak points, or areas to be on the lookout for, please let me know.

Thanks.

 

[87GP]

Any upholstery shop can do the headliner. I was quoted $145 by one shop and $180 by another for my 87 GP with a dark blue headliner. A wagon is a bit longer so say maybe $300-$400?
Weatherstrip is the same for 4 door Malibu I think. Should be easier to find looking under Malibu 78 and up.
Dixie monte carlo has seat kits for 4 door cars. I think there may be enough material on the rear cover to fit a wagon. I think the back of your seats are carpet or maybe a metal cover? Ask them before you order. The kit is under $400. The patterns would be for Malibu or Monte Carlo though and not look like Olds in appearence.
Body mounts should be easy to find. Again malibu or el camino should fit wagon. Only problem with body mounts is sometimes a retaining nut breaks loose and you need to cut open the floor to access it.
Windshield no big deal maybe $200 installed new.
AC should not cost anywhere near $3000 and NOT work!. I'm assuming the only thing missing is the compressor and brackets? A compressor should be around $200. The bracket, search ebay, can't be more than $50 with shipping. What else could you need? An evaporator? A condenser? A receiver/dryer? Even all that would only be about another $600. Conversion to R134a is easy enough. Evacuate the system. Pull a vacuum, replace the receiver/dryer, add R134a fittings and retrofit labels and charge system with a little less than 3 lbs of refrigerant and add an oil charge.
The door hinge probably only needs a pin and bushings. Can't be more than $10. You can find a nice hinge on ebay I'm sure for any G body 78-88. 2 door might be the same.
Catalytic convertor won't solve the rich problem but would get rid of that older car exhaust oder. Are you sure that isn't what you're smelling? If it's running rich with the new convertor you could damage the convertor and it won't pass emissions. You might be able to turn the idle down and lean out the mixture screws just for the test.

 

[Blake442]

The tops of the rear doors are different between the 4-doors and wagons, but luckily weather stripping for wagon doors is readily available. Steele Rubber Products and others have them. The seals for the rear gate are not available. Lots of people use the seals from the 90's chrysler vans for the main opening. For the seal across the top of the tail gate you're boned.

You can buy the material and headliners are pretty easy to recover, you just need to be very careful taking the old board out so you don't break it. If you're not confident with doing it yourself, just go to a few shops and get some estimates in your area.

 

[outsider_27]

Haven't done it yet, but I kept the complete cruise control system from my old 77 Cutlass along with the Olds 350/TH350 that was in it before I scrapped the body. I will be installing this into my 79 after the engine/trans swap. If you go to the salvage yard to get a cruise system, make sure you get the complete system, including vacuum lines, wiring, and the brake light/cruise interupt switch on the brake pedal. You won't have to cut any of the wires off, they should pull through the firewall into the engine compartment. I did have an advantage knowing the system worked when pulled out though. I also had an aftermaket installed on my 93 S-10 when I bought it new. That system's servo crapped after 6 years, and it was stored and only driven short distances without using the cruise for a little over 3 years.

 

[79BuWagon]

Wants a wagon

You mentioned a new ratio and posi for the rear . From what ive learned in here so far you would be wasting time and money on the 7.5 rear if thats what you have . An upgrade to an 8.5 is the way to go if ....you can find one . They only came in a select few G-bodys . I havent tried the salvage yards yet but so far the swap meets and craigslist have turned up zilch . Hope this helps .

 

[maliburacinfreak]

local trim shop just did the headliner in my wagon for $150. thats with them removing and reinstalling it too.

 

[Evan11]

got to junkyard and get air cond stuff esp if you can find one that was switched to r134$60-80. Get rear end out of 82-87 s10 3.42 with posi $125 Just go junkyard hunting bud for all those little things.