New owner of a 86 Cutlass. Need some advise....

[Lazarus]

Hi just bought my 86 Cutlass. Like to get your opinions on where to begin. First off I am in the Pittsburgh area. Checked the car with a fine tooth comb. No rust in the frame, rockers inner/outer, wheel wells inner /outer , door bottoms, landau roof trim, floors.

Literally looks new under it. Also It has the cross-member swap for the dual exhaust which is new 2 1/2 stainless motor back. 307 sounds beastly 2 pumps in 29 degree weather she fired instantly. However is puking antifreeze next to the dipstick looks like a intake gasket? I'm hoping not something catastrophic. It does not have reverse. Then the back window is busted out. I was given the replacement. The vinyl top is done. My question is does the back window glue in or has a rubber gasket? Will the Landau trim fit the rear windows after removing the old top. Then how ugly is it removed. lol Any general advise on bringing it back from the dead is appreciated. I have built 4 datsun Z cars over the years. Totally clueless on domestics and what to look for. Not sure if I even have standard sockets in my garage. Only Paid $900.00 so I couldn't of done bad?

 

[Garrett1982]

Welcome to the site. I'm a little south of you in Uniontown. These cars are metric so no need to worry about sockets. You will need new trim for the back window if you are getting rid of the top. Not sure on the back window. Look on craigslist for our area, a guy I have dealt with before advertises on there, having 20 g-bodies in Mt. Pleasant. Has a big selection of parts.

 

[olds307 and 403]

Intake gasket is common, more than likely it. Unfortunately it will be the swirl port if it is the original motor, no powerhouse. What trans? Not sure on the rear window, you should be to tell if is glue or has a seal.

 

[Lazarus]

I'm in Monongahela. Anyway I'm a bit freaked out on the coolant leak. Never seen a car gush fluid like that. I'm towing it home tomorrow. The antifreeze is not in the oil so luckily the pan is keeping it out. The trans I have no idea yet. Most likely its the 200r4. My step father restores corvette's and 60's Firebirds. He has his own parts network. So I might get a decent junkyard replacement trans for a case of beer. Not really looking for a super performance vehicle. More of a Saturday night special that can hold its own. The back window he is loaning me the trim tools . can't tell yet since the top is also glued in there.

 

[Garrett1982]

I'm in Monongahela. Anyway I'm a bit freaked out on the coolant leak. Never seen a car gush fluid like that. I'm towing it home tomorrow. The antifreeze is not in the oil so luckily the pan is keeping it out. The trans I have no idea yet. Most likely its the 200r4. My step father restores corvette's and 60's Firebirds. He has his own parts network. So I might get a decent junkyard replacement trans for a case of beer. Not really looking for a super performance vehicle. More of a Saturday night special that can hold its own. The back window he is loaning me the trim tools . can't tell yet since the top is also glued in there.

My dad lives on Ginger Hill and my brother lives in Charleroi. Very familiar with the area. If it is a 200 4r it is probably worth fixing/rebuilding. The guy in Mt. Pleasant will have any trim pieces you will need. I bought a door and a fender off of him. Most of the junkyards around have crushed these cars.

 

[olds307 and 403]

Then it will need a minimum of 3.73 gears to stand a chance against anything. The 85-up swirl port 307 is a terrible performer, earlier ones were decent for their day. GM only got 200 HP with ram air, shorty headers, better y pipe and the HO roller cam/valve springs. Unfortunately that version never saw the light of day, only the 170 hp version did. Tiny ports and less than 8 to 1 compression made it weak. I would also throw in a 2000+ stall converter when you swap the trans.

 

[403Olds]

Hi. I'm just a couple hours west of you. The intake leak should be an easy fix, typically it's just the gaskets. If you get to where you want to tackle removing the vinyl roof, I've got the windows and trim to make it look right.

 

[Lazarus]

Thanks for the info. Right now I would like to get it up and legal. The body is cherry except for a spot or two. Minor under the trim. Got a guy to paint it for a few hundred bucks. + cost of paint. So before any serious building occurs I'd like to have it painted and the odds and ends fixed. I do have access to a 71 400 with turbo400 trans. Only thing wrong was the date code for the 68 firebird.

 

[88hurstolds]

If it's next to the trans dip stick it's the intake gasket, it's the most common place for these to leak in that area due to the aluminum intake mating with an iron head.
If it's not then it might be the heater valve or a freeze plug on the head in that same spot... but most likely it's the intake gasket.

 

[olds307 and 403]

The Pontiac 400 will make it much more fun.