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Restoration project...


pbender
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So it has been a long time since I posted here.... and Shawn ( @GnatGoSplat) probably thinks I’m crazy for starting this project, but...

Yesterday I rescued my 1993 Cutlass Supreme Convertible from what used to be a lumber yard in Byhalia,OH where it had sat for almost exactly 11 years ( it was parked there in October, 2008 ).

I am in a bit of damage/deterioration determination mode at the moment.  

When she was parked, the motor was partially disassembled, so obviously there is some work to be done under the hood.

The drivers side window was broken at some point, so that will need to be replaced, and at this point I don’t know if any of the interior parts have damage that needs to be repaired or replaced due to the layer of dirt and dust and other debris I still need to clean out of the car.

Getting  her up on the trailer ( and back down again ) was fun... the passenger side rear wheel isn’t spinning.  Surprisingly, all 4 tires took air,  though the drivers side front would only hold it about an hour.  Passenger side front was better.  It took 12 hours before it went flat....

Next task is to look through the pile of parts ( and repair manuals ) I put in the trunk all those years ago... I need it clear so I can see if the top still works....

 

 

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So excited to see another one getting saved!  I just love the red color and like Manic said, looks really solid.  Congrats and I think it's so cool bringing back W-Bodies from the dead.  I saved two W's from definitely getting scrapped and I found them in the same situation as you.  My 91 International sat in the original owner's back yard since 09.  I saved it in Dec of 2015.  I bought my 93 STE last year from the original owner's son.  It's been sitting in his front yard in the CA desert since 2010.  I saved it this past June.  Nothing beats seeing W's on Uhaul trailers, LOL! 

I'm using way too many exclamation points but so excited to see another CS!

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, ManicMechanic said:

Nice save, looks pretty solid for an Ohio car. Fortunately, the door glass is the same as a 1988-94 coupe

Thanks.

This was actually my daily driver from 1998-2002.  I then supplemented her with another car and she did not see much winter road driving.  

She developed a ticking sound which I didn’t really have time to fix.  Long ago I posted an audio file here of the noise she  made.  The license plates on her expired in 2004.

She ended up in the lumber yard because I moved to Louisiana for 7.5 years.  At least in the 11 years she was there, she was mostly under roof.  ( you can actually see the line in the dirt on the hood where rain dripped off the roof edge ).

The door glass is the least of my worries right now.  Once I get her cleaned up, I may drop the top and leave it down most of the time, so I don’t really need the windows much ( not saying I won’t fix it, but there are bigger fish to fry... )

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And in case you are wondering, here is the thread where I discussed the issues the car had before it was partly disassembled:

Now the motor has been siding with both the cam carriers and the intake manifold off of it since 2005 ( there is another thread here: 

 )

At this point, I am not inclined to put the motor back together without rebuilding it.  I think that is the right thing to do for the old girl.

 

I did get the trunk cleared out tonight, and the hood open.  All the parts I removed from the motor were tucked inside the trunk.

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So I spent a little time out in the garage tonight.

I pulled the old crusty battery that has sat in the car all these years and replaced it with a new one ( which was also used to power the winch we pulled it onto the trailer with.  This let me test some electrical components.

All 4 window motors are working.  

 

The motor for the top works, though it is a bit sluggish ( i’m Sure it doesn’t help that there is extra weight in the roof framework, in the form of old mud dauber nests.) I was able to get the top all the way down, though the motor struggles to go back up ( this could be as a result of a partially drained battery.  My old charger bit the dust, so I will need to get another one.  

Of course, having the top down has some advantages.  It is much easier to see the mess that is the interior.  I started the process of vacuuming out debris, tomorrow I should have some upholstery cleaner to work on the seats.

I also took a few more photos to document what I am working with.

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Someone at work asked to see some progress photos.  I’ve been working on cleaning the interior.  It isn’t perfect yet, but it is much better. I am willing to sit in the car now...

 

 

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I think it looks great compared to what it looked like when you got it!  Those seats look in pretty good shape, I don't see any cracks or wear.  This is really a good example of bringing a car back from the dead.  No matter what it looks like or how far gone people might think a car is, you can do wonders by doing some little things that make a big difference.  Hopefully your work will inspire others to not give up on a car just because of how dirty it looks!

It's amazing what some simple cleaning can do for an interior!

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

thats a good looking car...so glad you decided to put some time in to revive it. the interior looked so bad I may have given up. any chance of finding a used engine to drop in there or can that one be easily rebuilt? looking thru craigslists ads there aren't a lot of these for sale anymore...definitely a rare breed. good luck

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  • 6 months later...
On 11/4/2019 at 10:33 AM, kennyb13126 said:

thats a good looking car...so glad you decided to put some time in to revive it. the interior looked so bad I may have given up. any chance of finding a used engine to drop in there or can that one be easily rebuilt? looking thru craigslists ads there aren't a lot of these for sale anymore...definitely a rare breed. good luck

That is a possibility.  The one that is in it has been sitting with the intake and the cam carriers off of it for more than 10 years.  I might be able to rebuild it, but not sure. 

It also has the spark plugs out of it,  and one of the spark plug wholes needs to be re-threaded.  Someone who replaced the spark pugs before I bought the car managed to cross thread that one.

The next goal, now that I've started working on it again, is to make it roll.  It needs new tires all the way around and the passenger side rear brake is stuck, and the caliper is very rusty.  I'll replace at least the rear brakes and the passenger side caliper once I figure out how to get the rear end up on jackstands (I've got the front end up on them now).

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1 hour ago, pbender said:

That is a possibility.  The one that is in it has been sitting with the intake and the cam carriers off of it for more than 10 years.  I might be able to rebuild it, but not sure. 

It also has the spark plugs out of it,  and one of the spark plug wholes needs to be re-threaded.  Someone who replaced the spark pugs before I bought the car managed to cross thread that one.

The next goal, now that I've started working on it again, is to make it roll.  It needs new tires all the way around and the passenger side rear brake is stuck, and the caliper is very rusty.  I'll replace at least the rear brakes and the passenger side caliper once I figure out how to get the rear end up on jackstands (I've got the front end up on them now).

I replied to your jack stand question in the other thread.  Good luck and I look forward to seeing your restoration efforts on this one!

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  • 1 month later...

Now to go through the brakes and get new tires.  
 

passenger side rear brake gets the first inspection.  It almost definitely needs a new caliper.

 

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14 minutes ago, jiggity76 said:

Glad to see your progress!  By the looks of the right rear trailing arm link, it looks to be a solid car.

I’ve owned it for almost 22 years now ( bought it in October 1998 ) and I took pretty good care of it when it was my daily driver.  It did see some winter roads and salt, but was frequently washed soon after the snow melted. 

Actually, most of the time I have owned it, I have at least had a carport to put it in.  Even the 11 years it was in the lumber barn, it was mostly covered by a roof.

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So I was reminded on Facebook of this photo of my Cutlass from 2 years ago today... just to show how far It really has come in those 2 years...  to give you an idea, I was standing in almost the same spot in the 2nd photo I added to the initial post.

 

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15 minutes ago, pbender said:

So I was reminded on Facebook of this photo of my Cutlass from 2 years ago today... just to show how far It really has come in those 2 years...  to give you an idea, I was standing in almost the same spot in the 2nd photo I added to the initial post.

 

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I've said it before...there's nothing like saving a W-body from certain death and you've saved an LQ1 vert!  That's awesome!  It's amazing what a little bit of elbow grease and some love can do for an abandoned and forgotten car.

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