New here, Searching for my G-Body!

[way_out_there]

Heres a real nice looking Hurst Olds Cutlass which I believe is owned by one of our members here,88hurstolds.
IMO,this is one of the prettier looking Cutlass's that I have seen.
It may give you some ideas on the direction that you may want to take when you build your own.
Guy

Wow,

Very nice! That car does incorporate a few of the things I like. The hood really jumps out, it reminds of a 1970, one of the vehicles I would like to emulate if you will. I assume that was custom made? The only stamped hood I have seen available thus far is the Chevy style forced induction hood from Goodmark.

 

[way_out_there]

Around here the Cutlass is very common for some reason with Regal's and GP's almost non existed and I see a lot of clean ones for sale on CL.
The main problem is another thing that is also common is that 90+ percent of them have a stupid vinyl top on them.

You nailed it! Yes, I am searching for a hardtop, modifying a landau roofed car would be a second choice. Not sure if I would ever get the right look going that way however...

 

[GuysMonteSS]

Wow,

Very nice! That car does incorporate a few of the things I like. The hood really jumps out, it reminds of a 1970, one of the vehicles I would like to emulate if you will. I assume that was custom made? The only stamped hood I have seen available thus far is the Chevy style forced induction hood from Goodmark.

Not sure about the hood,but if I were to build a “G Body” Cutlass,it would look like that one.
Guy

 

[RegalBegal]

Welcome aboard. Good luck with your search.

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

Almost every G body is going to have a rusted out passenger side number 2 body mount due to the poorly designed HVAC rain drain. Regardless of being northern or southern.

Other issue to look out for is that POs just love to cut up and butcher the wiring in these cars. So lookout for messy wiring and other forms of Jerry rigging.

 

[rogue_ryder]

I hope you find a good basis!

I picked up an '85 442 after searching far and wide for clean cars (I really wanted to find a 78-80 442/HO or Calais because I like the look of the Abodies better and they don't need emissions here in CO) . When my search first began I wanted to build up a Supreme because there's a TON out there and they're pretty cheap. After searching and searching it seemed like a decent Supreme was going to be $3500-$4500 but I'd still be stuck with a car without A) Console, B) Buckets, C)Rally Pack cluster, and D) a 7.5" Rear End plus they almost all were Vinyl/Carriage tops (A-C were a MUST for me and the Vinyl top is hideous IMO so I'd need to do the delete on that which ain't cheap nor easy). The cost of a console, bucket seats, rally pack and an 8.5" was going to set me back at least a couple grand alone! not to mention the time to find the parts and go get them (The cost of the parts and a clean car would've been more than just buying a 442 in the first place and if I were to have a clone paint job done that would've been another grand for a low end job that I would've had a ton of time into with prep work). And if you want to do a Hurst car, just buy one because you'll spend more to build a clone (last complete lightning rod set up I saw was $800).

If I were you I'd only search out Calais and Salons if you want to do a 4-4-2 clone. Depending on what you're going to do with the motor you may be fine with a 7.5 rear end. I did find a couple of really decent Calais/Salons, even a T-Top car in California for under $5,000 asking.

I eventually found mine down in Texas. It was a little over my original budget BUT it was a fair deal (I paid 27% under the original asking price for my car so don't be afraid to haggle).

(My car, but not my property)