Shifting Gears

I have come to a cross roads in my life and change is in the air, that or I'm just going through an early mid-life crisis. Nothing mechanical stays the same with me, although I recently shattered all personal records by managing to keep my '72 Cutlass for over 10 years. That's huge for me. It's like the equivalent of Charlie Sheen being married for 3 years. The Cutlass, recently dubbed "Project H2Olds", was in need of a major overhaul. My daily driver for many of those 10 years, it had seen better days. I was in the early stages of planning the restoration, trying to decide what direction to go with my Olds, when just like that, a solution presented itself. Before you could throw a rod through the side of a block I was heading in a new direction.





Money talks, B.S. walks. That's a phrase I have heard many times. It especially applies to cars, where a lot of folks just like to B.S. In the past I have had numerous offers on my Cutlass, usually in the form of a business card or note left on the windshield. A few times I had actually contacted the person and decided to call their bluff. It always ended up being B.S. In person inquires where the bozo actually follows you is a little more rare, and a little daunting. Nothing like scaring off a potential buyer by greeting them with a Walking Tall stick. Hey, it's either that or do my best Billy Jack impersonation!





By now you are probably wondering what this new direction is. It's sort of a two part direction, like a fork in the road. I'll tell you about the left turn later, because right now I'm going to reveal what the "right" turn was. The new direction I was heading in was... the bank! That's right, I sold my '72 Cutlass. Project H2Olds is now in the hands of a happy new owner. Truth be told, I am feeling the effects of this bad economy just like everyone else, so when someone thrusts five large in your face you tend to make up your mind real quick. So much for the B.S.





As the '72 drives off into the sunset I am already contemplating what to buy next. Most of the money is already spoken for but I will have a little left over to fund my next project, which was found on that left turn that I mentioned earlier. Stay tuned to see what a little money and a lot of B.S. can buy.

Hell Freezes Over!

No, this is not a blog about the Eagles album from 1994. Nor is it about Van Halen reuniting with front man Sammy Hagar or GM changing it's mind about axing Pontiac. It is about the fact that my '72 Cutlass, Number 1, actually made it into a magazine! No, it was not Classic Car Trader either!

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Here is the photo the magazine used, complete with their official moniker.
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Grab the August issue of Popular Hot Rodding and check it out. I bought like a hundred copies. Just kidding, I only bought fifty. You know, that reminds me of the movie Splash when Freddie Bauer (John Candy) buys a zillion copies of Penthouse because his letter got printed in it. Real movie buffs will connect the hammer in the above photo with Splash also. Remember when Allen Bauer (Tom Hanks) is in the motor boat with Fat Jack (Al Chesney)? The engine dies suddenly and Hank's character starts to panic. Fat Jack tells him "Don't worry, I'm a mechanic, I can fix anything" and picks up this hammer and starts beating the crap out of the engine. I laughed so hard the first time I saw that I think I missed the next five minutes of the movie!

So what's next with Number 1? Progress is slow not only because of the lack of funds, but also because it is my daily driver. Any work has to be completed over the weekend. Add in a "honey do" list, other vehicle maintenance, home repairs, yard work, eating and sleeping, and... I think you get the idea. Shoot, I'm still trying to put on the ram air hood I bought for it over 2 years ago! I did manage to put the old grills back in. It had been so long I was trying to remember why I removed them in the first place. Then I remembered that I took them out to install a custom transmission oil cooler. (look closely, it's a refrigerator condenser coil) Talk about lazy, I never put them back in. I guess it took seeing the car in a magazine without the grills to get me to reinstall them. Considering most of the plastic mounting tabs were broke off, this was no easy task. I had to get really high tech and use zip ties. I owe Number 1 some body work, so I think that has to be next on the agenda. Now if only hell will freeze over again...

It Lives! Olds Cutlass Raised From the Dead

So I got my '72 Cutlass, Number 1, running great after quite a bit of work. Funny thing about cars that sit for long periods of time - they tend to fall apart. This is the case with Number one's interior, the front seat to be exact. After pulling off my custom seat covers (T-shirts) the seat looked as though a gang of squirrels had rumbled on it.

See, what did I tell you. Amazingly, the back seat only has one tear in it. Maybe my squirrel theory is not that far off...

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This is beyond covering with a seat cover so I had to come up with a temporary solution. The seat frame is in excellent condition as well as the springs, plus it is a split bench with the not-so-common fold down armrest in the middle, so I definitely want to keep it for the car. While I can't afford to get it re-covered right now, it can't stay in the car either. I came up with the idea of putting in some bucket seats on a temporary basis, but got sticker shock when I started pricing '72 era bucket seats. The prices were outragous! What the heck, are the seat frames made of gold or something? I was almost set to buy a pair of those racing type seats you see in all the imports (yea, I know) when I came across a deal too good to pass up.

I found a set of bucket seats advertised on craigslist for a paltry $40 dollars. The ad said they were out of a Mazda RX7 and in very good condition. Hmmm, sounded like it might be worth a look. When I got there I discovered they were non-electric, leather covered, and felt good to sit in. Sold! Even though these came with the tracks, the Japanese must assemble their cars vertically, because the bolt holes in the tracks were all facing horizontal. I'll show them! That's what good old American angle iron is made for, even though the piece I used was probably made in China.

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This is what I had to do to bolt the Mazda seats

in. Yeah, I know their burgandy, but they are also temporary. They bolted right to the original holes with my custom angle brackets, if you can believe that!

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Here is the burgandy bun rester all bolted in. One down, one more to go. These seats should fill in nicely until the original split bench seat is ready to re-install.

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After my bargin basement seats are installed and years of dust vacuumed up, the interior should be driver quality. Up next, it will be time to address the exterior. I'm not a big fan of primer, and I love patina, so stay tuned to see what I come up with to make Number 1 look a little more presentable and less like a rusting oil tanker.