1970 Oldsmobile 442ish Cutlass

[Der Bugmeister]

Thanks, Lou.  I've been looking at a couple other cars with the same setup so feeling better about it all now.

Looking good, you`ll be glad you pulled that tank and cleaned it all up around there, it would bug you if you didn`t.

Absolutely!  I really do hate leaving areas untreated and susceptible to further corrosion, rot and/or failure if I can avoid it.

I've mostly decided not to separate body from frame as I'm more than a little concerned with the appearance of the various body mount bolts.  I really don't want to shear any off or break the caged nuts loose.  I can't get to the backsides of them without drilling holes or cutting access openings.  Hell, I couldn't get one of the mid body rubber plugs out of the way lol.  I'm still toying with the idea of drilling holes above the bolts so I can let them stew in penetrating oil before I give them a try...I don't know.

In the meantime, I found my lower ball joint dust covers are in bad shape so I'm going to have to take the control arms apart.  We'll see how far down that particular rabbit hole I go.  It's just money, right? 

All in all, it's progress.  I'll be picking up a whole bunch of parts later this week and already starting the new shopping list...growing by the hour!

[goodfellow]

Looking great Clay. That Olds will turn some heads when it's done.

[Der Bugmeister]

Looking great Clay. That Olds will turn some heads when it's done.

Thanks, Ray!  I'm looking forward to that day but every step lately seems to be delaying that time more and more.  What started as a low budget upgrade by swapping in parts I had on hand has turned into a frame off, big budget rebuild here. 

Having found removing the spindles to be unavoidable, I'm taking the opportunity to replace all the front suspension bushings.  I debated things like tubular control arms and coil overs but the price tag on anything that would actually provide an improvement really doesn't match the kind of driving I'll be doing.  So I'll be sandblasting and painting parts for a clean and tidy appearance.  I may upgrade the sway bar and springs but haven't made that decision yet.

Having reached a point where the entire suspension will be new, the only old bushings remaining were the body mounts.  I gritted my teeth and committed to taking the body off the frame despite some misgivings.  I seem to have got lucky with the body bolts - there are six of them (unless I missed a pair somewhere) and all but one came out.  The front two by the firewall were the easiest because the inside nut/threads are visible and I've been spraying penetrating oil on them.  Moving to the back, the first one I tried broke the cage nut loose.  I solved that with my sawzall but I was pretty nervous about the next three...all of which came out without drama.  I'll have to cut an access hole in the trunk to deal with the spun nut.

My Milwaukee tools are sure helping get the job done.  It's nice not having to listen to the compressor or dealing with air hoses and extension cords!

Next up will be figuring out how to lift the body, build a support carriage for it that will allow me to work underneath then tackle all this extra work I've just unleashed!

[Der Bugmeister]

..and this is the kind of thing that always irritates me.  You spend all the time to make the topside/outside look great but you don't go that extra mile to protect the nooks and crannies that aren't immediately visible.  This car has been painted twice.  The second repaint wasn't to help with resell although no idea about the first one.  How hard would it have been to get into these areas?  The condition of the rear valance between the fuel tank and the bumper is part of why I decided to move ahead with separating the body and frame.

Another reason was peeling off chunks of thick undercoat from the front area of the frame and finding surface rust under them.  I'm sure there are plenty more areas like that and no better time or way to address them.  I haven't decided whether to get the frame blasted or just hand clean it.  I'm not building a show car, but I do want to be able to take pride in it's overall appearance!

I have other decisions to make regarding parts and upgrades while I'm at this point, but budgetary pressures mean I have to be careful/conservative in choosing what will work versus what I'd really like to have!  I still have a big engine build bill ahead of me, and only a ballpark idea of what that will be.  In the meantime I have a couple more cars to be sold, and tons of parts...so a few good days will make all the difference there :-)

[ron350]

 Does that last picture show a rare rear window defroster?

[Der Bugmeister]

Does that last picture show a rare rear window defroster?

Sure does!  I had another '70 with one as well, I should take a look in my parts car to see if it's got one.  My '71 has a factory rear window defrost grid.  Might be more common up here in the Great White North.

[Der Bugmeister]

Got some more parts back from blast/paint, setup a date with the sandblaster for my frame then picked up all my new parts orders.  Getting a mountain of parts and just itching to stop the de-construction and turn to bolting stuff together at last!

Seems like the pile of boxes should be a lot bigger considering how much their contents cost!!!

Bucket seat brackets, black windlace (painting the headliner black and replacing all the white/dirty windlace), manual transmission hump, console conversion saddle, interior hardware kit, several hardware kits for the fenders, inner fenders, hood, control arms, core support, grills etc (yes, I could have spent the time cleaning and reusing the old ones but this way I have all the fasteners I should need), brackets and hold down pins for the OAI hood, W27 rear end cover (these make the car go faster, right?)

[Der Bugmeister]

Big block battery tray, new battery cables, new engine wiring harness and front light harness, shiny alternator and power steering reservoir, AEM AFR gauge, carpet, door sill plates, steel brake lines, Hurst Line Loc, combination valve...

Still waiting on the BeCool radiator/cooling module, Hydratech brake booster and, of course, my heads.  I'm going to blame all this extra work and expense on the guy supplying my heads because he's giving me too much time!

Already starting the new shopping list...1/2" braided fuel line and fittings, body mount set, whatever bushings I still need, shocks, maybe springs.  And debating just getting a new gas tank and sway bars while I'm bleeding money anyways.

Friday afternoon I'll be picking up the rest of a batch of parts I bought last year.  The guy bought someone else's half done project car and decided to change direction by going LS and tubular suspension.  The stock control arms and some other pieces had already been cleaned and painted or powder coated and installed on the car but are now off and available.  I'm assuming the control arms are going to have nice new bushings already done which will save me a bit of time and a few sheckles.
 

[Der Bugmeister]

Body came off the frame today, frame is now pretty much stripped and ready to go off for blasting and painting.  Discovered that the body mount nut I thought had a broken cage was actually rotted body metal that I'll have to deal with.  Probably a good thing to discover it now if it was that far gone.

[jabberwoki]

Yikes.

[goodfellow]

Perfect time to address that rot on the entire frame. Good luck!!

[Der Bugmeister]

The frame is actually good, sending it off for sandblast and paint this week.  The underside of the car is good too but I'm debating what to do with it.  Lots of thick, hard undercoat in most areas.  A few areas where that undercoat is mush due to ATF or something sprayed on it, but that stuff is coming off easily with a putty knife, and some areas where the undercoating didn't reach just need brushing then POR15 or similar to protect them.  Metal is all good.  My goal is to have it look half decent and remain solid.  Not a show car.

The only real issue is that rear body mount area on the body (left side rear of trunk).  As luck would have it, I saved that area from a parts car a few years ago so it should be a fairly straightforward patch.

...and Jabber...yep, you summed it up pretty darned succinctly