Grandpa Car: 1979 Cutlass Thread

[DRIVEN]

New larger wheel installed. It's only 1" larger but makes quite a bit of difference to me. I also did a tie rod end adjustment to center the wheel and adjusted the play out of the steering box.

My center caps finally came in. Well, more accurately they'd be called spinners or knock-offs.

They were listed as NOS and when I opened the box they were packed in newspaper dated 1985. Been on the shelf awhile, I guess.

These weren't exactly the same as the set I had initially tried to order. I had to grind the outside of all four just a bit to get them to fit the center register of the wheels.

Then, on the front two, I needed to relieve just a bit to clear the hub of the rotors.

Since these towers were slightly shorter (shallower) than the original set I wanted, I had a clearance problem with the front dust caps. I ended up just removing them and ran a bead of RTV around the threads of the knockoffs to keep the grease off the wheels and the dirt and water out of the bearings. I think they make the wheels look wider/deeper. Feedback, both positive and negative, is welcome. Here's the finished product...

 

[martin.ca]

Looking great, but I still haven't found any steering wheels that look as good as the factory sport wheels.

 

[DRIVEN]

I agree completely and especially love the look of the first one. I looked for a good example of one for a couple years but they were either waaay overpriced or just not very nice condition. All together (wheel, hub, horn button) it cost me less than $85. The plan is to eventually get the Grant leather wrapped so it looks a little more like it belongs. They feel good in your hand but the black foam looks cheap. Another option I strongly considered was a C3 Corvette wheel:

 

[martin.ca]

That '79 wheel's currently up and asking $150 for it on the 'bay. Just saying.

PS; those spinners look good on those wheels.

 

[DRIVEN]

Where was that thing when I was shopping? Oh well. Zero bids. Maybe it'll relist for less.

 

[DRIVEN]

Kinda crappy picture but I got my aux transmission cooler installed.

If you go back a few pages you'll see a mention of a mystery dent on the driver's fender. Not sure how it got there but it was about the size of a baseball and went through two subtle body lines on the crown of the fender. I tried for 3 months to get an appointment with the paintless dent removal guy. Finally got together with him yesterday. Such an impressive skill. Took him about 20-25 minutes to make it disappear. Check out the before and after:




Today's gonna be a clean and detail day. Headed to Pendleton tomorrow at 4am for a show. Probably be a 500 mile day.

 

[Chopper]

Man that dent looks great. Impressive even more being on that body line. Enjoy the show!

 

[DRIVEN]

Dent? What dent? 😀

 

[pontiacgp]

have a great time at the show and like always we're looking forward to some pictures... 😀

 

[DRIVEN]

Mission accomplished. Same exact spot as last year. My dad's '68, me, and my buddy Jerod's '38 Chevy.

Pretty typical main street USA, small town show stuff. Probably about 80 cars total. Some other cool stuff:




This is a cool one. It actually used to belong to Jerod. It's a '77 Impala with a 250 straight-six and his dad bought it new. Must be pretty rare because whenever he would try to buy parts for it the counter guys would always say there's no such thing as a 6 in an Impala. While we were in school he rebuilt the TH350 and then the engine. It got a cam and an earlier head along with dual carbs and a header. It used to be a truer silver and had Corvette ralley wheels. A few years later, Jerod ran onto some money issues and needed some quick cash so he sold it to an acquaintance. That guy spent a pile of money on it. The paint is beautiful (and expensive) and much of the interior is from a late model Mercedes. Lots of trick suspension and brake parts. He kept the 6 though which to me was always the coolest part.

On the way out of town I passed an early iron show. I wish I had time to stop and check it out. Old tractors and other farm equipment.

And a few shots of the trip home:


Big-*ss tree farm in the middle of the desert. Hundreds of acres of hybrids designed to grow fast and be turned in to paper. Plant, grow, harvest, repeat.

Overall, a good trip. Left home at 4am and was home before 8pm. Got 20mpg and no breakdowns. I think the rearend is developing a grumble. Might have been the road surface though. Not sure yet.