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Hello all,
It's about time I stop reading about everyone else's rebuild and start my own. I have my one and only 1972 Cutlass S that I bought almost 36 years ago. I made it a daily driver for 17 years and put 165K miles on top of the already 100K when I bought it. I kept it in the garage for the remainder of the time; driving it around the block occasionally to keep it running. Although I have never rebuilt a car before, I have some experience fixing this one. I hope to rely on all the expertise on this site to get me through this rebuild.
My goal is to build a car I can drive again on a regular basis and put another 100K-150K miles on it before I die or they take my license. It needs to be reliable and fun to drive. That means I am going to pull the body off the frame and get it cleaned up top to bottom inside and out. I want to keep the original motor and transmission while boosting the power to the rear wheels. I want to stiffen the suspension and improve the stance. I will freshen up the interior with new seat covers, carpet, headliner, steering wheel and sound system. I expect to get this done in <2 years and $50K.
I started this Wednesday and got the front clip off yesterday. I want to pull the motor and transmission this Saturday and have my first question. Where is the best place to bolt onto the motor with the hoist chains? I have seen some literature say the intake manifold or on the heads.
Thanks,
I'll also keep an eye on him, to make sure that he builds it to how he wants to
Originally Posted by 72Pumpkin
...Where is the best place to bolt onto the motor with the hoist chains? I have seen some literature say the intake manifold or on the heads...
I always bolted the eyelets onto the intake manifold. Since you're going to tear the mowderr down anyhow, risking vacuum leaks will no longer matter. When you get your engine back together, it might be a good idea to get a set of permanent eyelets similar to the one circled in the following image:
I think doing as much work as you can yourself and farming out major jobs like body paint and engine you should be able to stay well within your 50k budget.
looks like youve got a decent mostly complete car to start with thats a huge bonus.
[QUOTE=I always bolted the eyelets onto the intake manifold. [/QUOTE]
I like this idea. Much better that those plates that bolt to the carb pad.
You see people do it all the time but I don't like the idea of an engine
hanging from 5/16 bolts.
The front clip was from a 1970 cutlass after an accident in 1998. The passenger fender, hood, and radiator support were from another car I pieced together to get it running again. Since then, I have gotten a hood and radiator support from a 1972.
I like this idea. Much better that those plates that bolt to the carb pad...
Right. You'd cetainly wouldn't want to stretch one of those studs.
If I recall right, these loops were standard items already bolted onto later GM engines from the factory.
If Olds engines only had threaded holes imbossed into them, lift loops could even get self-manufactured to fit
I went with bolting to the intake manifold. I got the motor pulled yesterday. I got hung up on the oil filter for a moment but other than that, it went smooth. I will work on getting the exterior of the body stripped down this week.
I didn’t get as much done as I wanted to this week. Work got in the way and a few other things. When I did get to the car I ran into a roadblock getting the back bumper off. The carriage bolts wouldn’t break loose so after a couple tries with penetrating oil and an impact wrench I resorted to splitting the nuts and bolt with a grinder.
what do you have for an impact that wouldnt bump those off?
I had an older plug in type that was good, but really gave the nick name rattle gun to its operation. I recently picked up a battery powered dewalt impact and that gun is 2x better than the plug in one ( and my old air powered one too). To date i have not had a stuck fastener i cant get off, and it doesnt rattle so much as just spin stuff off.
He probably didn't want to risk those shallow carriage bolts spinning while almost out. Thus, rounding off the bumper's square holes.
Using a torch to heat up the nuts could have discolored the bumper's chrome, also.
Being old fashioned, I've never considered getting a DeWalt. But, from what you've claimed they're capable of, I think I'm sold on getting myself one
I dismantled a large 20+ yr old outdoor wooden play structure that was mostly thru bolts with smooth heads. Every one of them was well rusted and i was able to unfasten everyone of them w the impact and in short order. I tried a couple just using a rachet and socket and the bolt would spin and w the smooth head i couldnt hold the bolt.
Right after that i dismantled a 40yr old motorcycle that was poorly stored. I broke 1 fastener and the rest came apart w no drama.
You have a great start. Remember to tag everything, just in case it turns into a long project. And record everything with pics for future reference. I used to know where every nut and bolt went. But with age comes forgetfulness!! Great job!!
I have a craftsman 1/2” air driven. Not a ratchet but bulky gun style. Works great on busting wheel lugs and the sort but as Killian said, I was starting to spin the carriage bolt and didn’t want to Waller out the slot they fit into.
I like the idea of an electric one. I will check out the DeWalt the next time I am at the store.
I have an air powered impact too. I dont know how to describe it but the dewalt feels different when its working. The plug in impact and the air powered impact both feel similar and im not surprised the bolt spun. With the dewalt tho it seems to work different ( may be its just in my head idk) but when dismantling that outdoor play structure iwas sure i would just be spinning the bolts, but none did. It was so effective that i took the structure apart fast enough that my wife thought i had knocked off early for the day!
One thing to consider about the battery operated tools...look at the entire tool line and make your choice that way. By far the biggest expense is the battery, so stick with one brand. Milwaukee, Makita and Dewalt are all decent, my preference has always been Milwaukee...still haven't seen a 1/2" battery impact that will out do my 1/2" Matco pneumatic impact.
I think I will have the exterior stripped down this weekend. So my next step is to start working on the interior. I was thinking it would be nice to have the front and rear windows out to make it easy to get to the dash and back panels. I think the front window is just a matter of a loosening up the glue and lifting it out. It is already cracked so I am not worried about breaking it but how does the back window come out? The same technique? How do you store that back window for a year or so?
Good luck with the build. Just a tip for when you go to put the engine back in - there should be a lift hook on the front left side of the intake manifold. This is a metal loop that was installed/used by the factory and bolts through the intake manifold. Maybe your engine had been rebuilt or worked on and this was missing. Also, each cylinder head has accessory bolt holes at the front and rear. These are typically used (with Grade 8 hardware) to mount the lifting chain.
I got everything off of the firewall from the outside. I will pull the wire harness through when I start on the interior this weekend. Tomorrow I have the glass coming to take the windshield and rear window out. I figured it is safer for a pro to do it than me and a neighbor trying to loosen the glue and finagle it out on our own.
Back Window Removal : I just took mine out ('70 Cutlass Supreme) a few weeks ago by myself. I assume you've removed the trim already.
I bought one of those right angle glass removal knives ($20). At first it didn't do too well but I sharpened the "blade" and that improved it a tad. Also, I found that heating the blade with a heat gun helped in inserting it into the butyl/glue and aided in the cutting action. I sharpened and heated several times. Be ultra careful with the edges as any nick could start a crack.
Oh, try to get the knife to ride next to the body and not the glass itself.
Strangely, the rear glass is more expensive than the windshield.
It's a slow nerve wracking procedure for sure. I somehow managed to get my back glass out without breaking it but, it wasn't like I wasn't trying. After it was loose I started to lift it out and it fell into the package tray and if that wasn't enough as I was carrying it to be stored I whacked it into the vise. The windshield,,,, not so lucky. The knife slipped and caught the edge and the ominous crack appeared.
For storage, I cut cardboard and Christmas wrapped it and put it where nothing can get to it.
I'll be following your build with great interest. BOL!
Back in the day I worked at a Chevy dealership. I was the guy that replaced glass. One trick we used was piano wire and two vicegrips. Use a sawing action back and forth and it would cut the butyl or what ever it is.. Been a long time!!
The 90* knife was used when the glass didn't need to be saved!
Hope that helps.
Dick
I've used Comm. wire from the National Guard in a similar fashion to remove windows. Instead of vice grips I used 2 thick pieces of dowel and wrapped the wire around.
I've used Comm. wire from the National Guard in a similar fashion to remove windows. Instead of vice grips I used 2 thick pieces of dowel and wrapped the wire around.
Yes! I have seen the piano wire trick but it was so long ago I forgot until you guys reminded me. Thanks.
I only worked on the car a little over the past 10 days. It has been too cold and I have had a few other things to get done around the house. I did manage to get the front seat out, door panels and the glass. I also built a rack to hold the glass. It will be <0 F for the next few days and then warm up next weekend. I plan to hit it hard then and get the interior completely out. I did manage to find $1 in change so far. Two quarters, one dated 1967 and the other 1972.
The last two weeks have been excruciating between getting my taxes done and dismantling the interior. I got the back seats, rear panels, package tray and headliner out. Today I spent the day slowly picking apart everything under and around the dash. The heater core and ventilation is out and I started on the steering column and got stuck. I am not sure if I disconnected the correct coupling. I think loosened the intermediate coupling and it should pull out from there but when I look at the service manual it talks about the two bolts at the flexible couple down by the steering box. Does it matter?
I am calling this the intermediate coupling. Or should I go all the way down to the coupling by the gear box?
Looking at the Product Information Manual, there are clear instructions that the steering column should be connected/disconnected at the rag joint near the gear box. So I will bolt up at the intermediate and disconnect the rag joint.
Just a few surprises once all the paint came off. First, the hood I paid $200 for that I picked passing by a junkyard up off of I-35 in north Texas had some serious bondo on the front nose. I looks like it is going to take more work that we want so I am going to buy a new fiberglass hood instead of saving it. Second, the rust on the driver side upper quarter panel near the roof seam was much more than I remember. Back in 95' I paid a friend couple hundred bucks to take the vinyl top off and repair. I thought it was only a couple spots about 2" in diameter. I have been looking for a full quarter panel but have yet to find one online. Any ideas? Third, the wrinkles on the lower quarter on the passenger side. That was done before I bought it in 85' and I was too naive to run a magnet around the car to know where all the bondo was. It probably wouldn't have mattered anyway because I was only 19 and so hyped up to buy the car and started cruising. It doesn't matter today because I need to get rid of all the rust around the wheel well.
I got the body off of the frame a couple weeks ago and onto the rotisserie. It took a little patience to get it balanced but it works great.
I'm getting close to this point in my build and I find this upcoming task rather daunting.
Care to elaborate on the mounting and balancing the body to the rotisserie?
Car looks really good!
I have been working on getting the frame stripped down for the past month. I plan to get it blasted and powder coated. However, I have been struggling with getting the lower control arms off of the front and back. It seems that the bolts that pass through the bushings have seized onto the bushing and won't push out. I have tried heating them up and then pounding the bolt with a sledge hammer but that hasn't worked. In fact I started to bed the frame on the upper bracket in the rear. So now I am thinking about getting a reciprocating saw and try to cut the bushing between the arm and the frame.
I think the idea of a reciprocating saw (sawzall) is a sound method. It looks like you have the room. I personally would try to cut just the bolt if possible, then the control arm should drop out.
I'd be sure to get several quality blades.
Could maybe a screw type ball joint press be adapted? Not sure if the throat is big enough to go over the frame though.
BOL, K. Lee
Last edited by klleetrucking; May 16th, 2021 at 06:23 PM.
Reason: spelling
I apologize for the long pause in posting updates. I did get the control arms free by using a reciprocating saw. It took 11 blades and most of the day. I was sore for a few days after wards but got them out. Bolts seized inside control arm bushings.
The frame is completely stripped and ready for blast and powder coating. That big box to the left is a quarter panel. That was a challenge in getting those due shipping delays.
January 10th, 2021, 09:07 PM
I always bolted the eyelets onto the intake manifold. Since you're going to tear the mowderr down anyhow, risking vacuum leaks will no longer matter. When you get your engine back together, it might be a good idea to get a set of permanent eyelets similar to the one circled in the following image:
