The '74 Cutlass

My Grandfather had been an Oldsmobile man for a long time. When I was around 13 years old or so he gave me his 1968 four door Cutlass Supreme Hard Top after he had purchased a 1973 four door Cutlass Supreme. He had crashed the '68 and it was in pretty bad mechanical shape to boot. I took the car apart and used the money I earned from cutting grass and shoveling snow to buy a Chilton's Repair manual and gaskets so I could put it back together. While I learned all a kid could learn about a car, I also learned that not all cars will make it back on the road again. The frame was bent and it just wouldn't make sense to persue making the car road worthy. It had served a wonderfull purpose in it's being an instrument of knowledge. Unfortunately space was kind of tight and it was decided that the '68 would go to Daddio's Junk Yard in Seymour, Ct. as it's final resting place. I still miss that car. Long before I ever had my license, I would sit in that car an pretend to drive, taking imaginary trips of hundreds of miles. The open road out infront of me, without ever leaving the driveway.

I wanted a restorable two door Oldsmobile (preferably as '68 Cutlass) but just couldn't find what I wanted. As a result, I took a few year diversion to old Chevy's which were cheap and plentiful. I kept my eyes out though for an Oldsmobile to restore.

I really liked the style of the '73 Cutlass my Grandfather had. After I moved to Georgia and got myself established I focused my search on the '73 through '77 years. It just so happened that a friend of mine that I grew up with in Connecticut who had moved to Georgia several years before me had a '74 Cutlass Supreme.

I borrowed this car from my friend while I was in Georgia job hunting in 1981just prior to moving here. In 1982, I bought the car. I rebuilt the engine for the first time in 1983 and painted the car in 1984. The car had developed several water leaks due to bad door seals. Also a leak around the rear window caused extensive rust underneath the vinal around the window and in the trunk. The interior which was in pretty bad shape when I bought the car continued to worsen in condition. On top of the declining body condition, a valve had burned and the head cracked. The car finally reached a point where it just sat for years before I was able to slowly get going on it again.

As mentioned on the bizarre setbacks page, the engine was not running all that well after the rebuild. There was what seemed to be uncurable backfiring throught the carburator. Compression tests revealed that the compression was low, inconsistant, and in some cases zero. By shimming up the rocker pedistals with washers, as an Olds doesn't have adjustable lifters, I was able to get the car running. The washers I put under the pedistals were .050 an hence there was quite a bit of lifter/valve clacking, but it was running and I could be on my way to Lansing! It seems that over the years so much had been shaved off the heads from valve jobs that now the pushrods were effectively too long.

It turns out there were more serious problems deep down in the motor. It seems the machine shop that I first used when I rebuilt the motor, did not bore the motor enough. The motor always ran very hot, and I couldn't trace the problem to anything in the cooling system. It also developed a knock that sounded like a lifter but couldn't be traced to anything in the valve train. To solve the mystery, meant to pull the motor. With the clearances so tight the skirts of all the pistons were scored, and one of them had actually collapsed and that was the knocking sound. All the rod bearings were also execessively worn, which must have been caused by the pistons dragging in the bores.

Everything was corrected by finish honing the engine to provide .002 skirt clearance for .030 pistons. New pistons were put in, and the crank was turned to provide for .002 clearance. It previously had .003 and oil pressure was low.

I meticulously checked lifter preload, and set it to .030 - .040 with the thin washer shims. The original carburator had become warped, apparantly from all the overheating. It would cause the secondary air valve to hang and there was an internal vacuum leak through the shafts for the butterfly valves. I opted to put on a QJ I had rebuilt from a '77 Cutlass. This is actually a better designed carb, and I'm very pleased with it's performance.

The vinal seats on a '74 Cutlass have a very intricate heat stitched pattern on them. Needless to say, in the condition were in, they were something most people would have thrown out. I shopped around locally and found someone who could have the original pattern traced with a laser and then computer stitched to look like the original. I'm happy to say that the patterns turned out perfect and quite frankly look better than the originals.

The dashboard was in pretty bad shape. Although it was supposed to be GM Cranberry in color, most of it had curled up and bleached out to white. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't done the work myself, but: I took the dash out, cleaned it over and over, prepped it, and used SEM NAPA Red Vinal Paint on it and it looks like new.

While scouring the junk yards I came across an analog clock and an AM/FM 8 Track GM Factory Stereo that I installed to boost the options on the car. With the new carpet, seats, rear package tray, radio, clock, speakers and seats, the interior was looking pretty good, but not yet complete. Several of the plastic interior panels had become very brittle. To remedy this, I used the interior pieces I had been salvaging over the years from the junk yards. All of them were different colors, so a bit of vinal paint (NAPA Red and Phantom White), and the interior looks great. The brand new windshield complete with tinting and built in antenna, makes the view from the inside to the outside look great.

The new vinal top really finishes the car out. Since this "Levant" type grain is no longer used, I had to do some serious searching to find what I needed. The search took me through many phone calls and internet searches finally to Portland Oregon where I located NOS Cranberry Vinal. It was just installed and really completes the picture. There are still a few more things to do, such having it pinstriped with the original cross over pin striping that crosses over the roof rather than following the lines from front to rear. Also, I'd like to duplicate the original body side molding, but as of yet I haven't found anything close. If you have the molding, send me mail and let me know. For now though the car is pretty much finished.

The car was built right here at the Doraville Georgia Assembly Plant, and purchased new in Buford Georgia at what was once known as Timberlake Turner Olds. Here's some photos shot at the Doraville Assembly Plant:


The '74 at GM Doraville, Ga	With my son	With my wife

Reborn!