Greetings from mid-Missouri! I've been reading the site for a couple of months, just joined a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to everyone for sharing the wealth of knowledge and "professional opinions" on our beloved G-bodies!
I'm sorry this post is so long, but my G-body love is deep...
My first car was an 80 Olds Cutlass Brougham I got in 1994. I lost her two years later when a guy in a mid-80's Camaro turned in front of me -- his car stopped halfway through my engine bay.
Six months later, I purchased an 87 Olds Cutlass Brougham. A close friend of mine had left his house keys in his car at the transmission shop, so I let him borrow my car to go get them. He was a great driver before that day...while adjusting the stereo, he rear-ended a cab. Which hit a truck. Which hit a small car. Which hit another small car.
A short while and long search after that, I bought an 88 Monte Carlo LS. The Navy transferred me from Chicago to San Diego, and gave me a bonus check...which ended up paying for rims and hydraulics instead of much-needed engine repairs. Stupid me! The juice was great fun, but I wouldn't dare do that to another car of mine. You see, just after getting my car juiced, the Navy transferred me again...to Jacksonville, Florida! My tilt column needed repair before I left SoCal. My transmission gave out 3 hours into the trip, costing me two days in a hotel plus repair costs. She overheated right in the middle of Death Valley. But I drove that damned hopping car cross-country, stopping every 5 hours for gas and/or on-the-fly engine repairs. I chewed through 6 sets of tires, and even had to leave the car in my hometown (Cape Girardeau, MO) for engine repairs while I flew to Jacksonville. Once I got the car there, the salty ocean air ate my hydraulic cylinders and my rims. I bought a 95 Cougar and sold the Monte to a sleazy used car lot for $500. That's roughly $6000 less than what I had put into it in less than a year. Like I said, I won't be doing that again!
A few G-body-less years went by, then I bought an 85 Monte POS on the cheap...she lasted a few years, but by the time I locked up the tired 4.3, I had a baby on the way and was in the mood for a reliable daily. I gave the Monte to my cousin (whose 82 Monte is a meeeannnn 8th-mile drag machine) in hopes he could find a better use for it than the junkyard. I forgot about the car until 2 years later, when he called to let me know they pulled the Monte "out of the weeds" and had been working on it at a feverish pace. I listened in on a special conference call as that POS beat an 80 Malibu Wagon for the TV show "Pinks."
Fast forward a couple more years...couple more kids...got tired of the so-called "technical wizardry" that was my 02 Grand Prix GT. My wife let me (!) buy a 79 Cutlass for $600. It has the same maroon paint, same white vinyl top, and same ugly some-variation-of-maroon interior as my first car. The radio won't work, two tires keep going flat, there's rust I know about and rust I don't know about......well, now....it has potential!
I've forgotten just about all I knew of G-bodies in the last few years, and I know nothing about body work, but I can't wait for warmer weather so I can get to work on this thing. No hydraulics, no Camaro in the engine bay...I'm thinking a clean, reliable resto-mod. It's a $600 car, there's room for improvement everywhere!
Once again, thanks to all for making this site what it is: an online asylum for those of us crazy enough to care about such "obsolete" cars. Long live the G-Bodies!
I'm sorry this post is so long, but my G-body love is deep...
My first car was an 80 Olds Cutlass Brougham I got in 1994. I lost her two years later when a guy in a mid-80's Camaro turned in front of me -- his car stopped halfway through my engine bay.
Six months later, I purchased an 87 Olds Cutlass Brougham. A close friend of mine had left his house keys in his car at the transmission shop, so I let him borrow my car to go get them. He was a great driver before that day...while adjusting the stereo, he rear-ended a cab. Which hit a truck. Which hit a small car. Which hit another small car.
A short while and long search after that, I bought an 88 Monte Carlo LS. The Navy transferred me from Chicago to San Diego, and gave me a bonus check...which ended up paying for rims and hydraulics instead of much-needed engine repairs. Stupid me! The juice was great fun, but I wouldn't dare do that to another car of mine. You see, just after getting my car juiced, the Navy transferred me again...to Jacksonville, Florida! My tilt column needed repair before I left SoCal. My transmission gave out 3 hours into the trip, costing me two days in a hotel plus repair costs. She overheated right in the middle of Death Valley. But I drove that damned hopping car cross-country, stopping every 5 hours for gas and/or on-the-fly engine repairs. I chewed through 6 sets of tires, and even had to leave the car in my hometown (Cape Girardeau, MO) for engine repairs while I flew to Jacksonville. Once I got the car there, the salty ocean air ate my hydraulic cylinders and my rims. I bought a 95 Cougar and sold the Monte to a sleazy used car lot for $500. That's roughly $6000 less than what I had put into it in less than a year. Like I said, I won't be doing that again!
A few G-body-less years went by, then I bought an 85 Monte POS on the cheap...she lasted a few years, but by the time I locked up the tired 4.3, I had a baby on the way and was in the mood for a reliable daily. I gave the Monte to my cousin (whose 82 Monte is a meeeannnn 8th-mile drag machine) in hopes he could find a better use for it than the junkyard. I forgot about the car until 2 years later, when he called to let me know they pulled the Monte "out of the weeds" and had been working on it at a feverish pace. I listened in on a special conference call as that POS beat an 80 Malibu Wagon for the TV show "Pinks."
Fast forward a couple more years...couple more kids...got tired of the so-called "technical wizardry" that was my 02 Grand Prix GT. My wife let me (!) buy a 79 Cutlass for $600. It has the same maroon paint, same white vinyl top, and same ugly some-variation-of-maroon interior as my first car. The radio won't work, two tires keep going flat, there's rust I know about and rust I don't know about......well, now....it has potential!
I've forgotten just about all I knew of G-bodies in the last few years, and I know nothing about body work, but I can't wait for warmer weather so I can get to work on this thing. No hydraulics, no Camaro in the engine bay...I'm thinking a clean, reliable resto-mod. It's a $600 car, there's room for improvement everywhere!
Once again, thanks to all for making this site what it is: an online asylum for those of us crazy enough to care about such "obsolete" cars. Long live the G-Bodies!
