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pontiac6ksteawd
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So, as some of you may know... I bought a 1992 Olds Cutlass Supreme S from my Aunts Estate. I bought it cheap enough, I just want to make back what I put into it. I have no intentions of keeping the car, as my back cant take getting in and out of such a low car (5 blown discs). She has 103,911 actual miles on it presently.

This is what it looked like when I picked it up from the driveway, where it hasnt moved in 4-5 years.

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(Thats my son in that next to last pic)

I have since cleaned it up a lot, a full size trash can full of trash and other detritus.

I replaced the battery new (35)

Replaced the primary cooling fan motor new (30)

I ripped out the single din kenwood 4x15w radio. It sounded like ass, and looked worse. I dropped in my radio from storage that I thought someone would have bought, but no one did LOL. So it now has a Pioneer Premier DEH-66DH 1.5 din 4x45w on stock speakers, and sounds so much better. My plan was to put in one of the Pontiac 5 band tape decks I have, but one read LOC on the screen, and I dont have the patience to get it unlocked (suggestions?). And the other worked just fine, but the antenna plug was screwed up, and would not receive any radio stations. (free)

It had a 1/4 tank of 4-5 year old ethanol gas in it. I topped it off with straight no-ethanol gas. Engine idle smoothed out a lot, and she runs great.

Took the front tires/rims off, and dropped them off at my local tire dealer to get some new tires (81)

I sure do miss the sound a of 3.1 like I had in my old TGP and 6000.

It still has a R12 AC system that is dead. So I need to get it converted over to R134a, will make a sale a lot easier. ($?)

Plans at the moment are to get the tires put back on when they get in. Tire dealer didnt carry any tires of this size, and they are barely made any more.

Already has new brake pads, brake calipers, front wheel bearings.I have not taken the back apart to see what it looks like. The parking brake is frozen. Not sure what I am going to be able to do there.

So far I am not into it for as much as I was planning. I was planning on a dead car realisticly. Good for only junk. But after a lot of cranking, she fired. Dead and fried battery on jumper cables did not help. And then as soon as I would touch the brake pedal, or headlights, it would just shut off and die. Made it a pain since I had to have the car out by a certain time because of the Denver Curfew since DA rioters and protesters cant do it peacefully.

Clear coat on the paint is almost non-existent and splotchy, with some 50 Denver Broncos stickers on it. Interior is near perfect. No tears in the seats, hardly any fading (surprisingly), power seat works great, digital dash works perfectly, ashtray has never been used, dashpad is near perfect (nearly because my cousin used thumbtacks to hold on a dash pad cover), Steering wheel is also near perfect (has had a broncos steering wheel cover on it for 25 years), power windows work perfect, spare tire and jack are present and never used. It had factory wheel locks, but those have all been removed, and replaced with standard wheel lugs.

So its sitting in my garage, up on jack stands until the tires get in. I got to find out if any R12 is still in the system, and figure out what to do about that, and get it converted. Once thats done, I think she is going back on the market. With the miles and mechanical condition, I think I should be able to get 12-1500.

The Cutlass is certainly taking more work than the Corsica I also bought. It just needs the Heater Core replaced, rear brakes adjusted (done), new battery (done), and a clean out (done) and vacuum. If it wasnt for my back, I would seriously consider keeping this one. The early 3100 Chevy Corsicas apparently were nearly indestructible, with many reports of them going to well over 300k with little to no work. It rides smooth as better, great power, and shifts well. Replacing that heater core is going to be a bitch thou.

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Very good that you are giving this car some love!  A good cleaning will definitely help it out and it should be a pretty solid car underneath right?  Love this color and the digital dash!

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15 hours ago, jiggity76 said:

Very good that you are giving this car some love!  A good cleaning will definitely help it out and it should be a pretty solid car underneath right?  Love this color and the digital dash!

Oh yea, absolutely rust free. Colorado doesnt use salt, they use sand. Bad for paint, good for frames. I know my aunt lived in colorado for the last 5 years she owned it, and my cousin the 15 years before that was also a colorado resident. Its the 8 years before that are unknown. My grandfather bought it for my cousin back in 2000 from a neighbor of his, so I have to assume it was a colorado car for that time as well.

On the upside, got the title today, and the Corsica is a 94 and not a 93. Not sure if that helps the value any thou.

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1 hour ago, pontiac6ksteawd said:

Oh yea, absolutely rust free. Colorado doesnt use salt, they use sand. Bad for paint, good for frames. I know my aunt lived in colorado for the last 5 years she owned it, and my cousin the 15 years before that was also a colorado resident. Its the 8 years before that are unknown. My grandfather bought it for my cousin back in 2000 from a neighbor of his, so I have to assume it was a colorado car for that time as well.

On the upside, got the title today, and the Corsica is a 94 and not a 93. Not sure if that helps the value any thou.

That's what I thought.  All the cars that come out of your area always seem to have pristine bodies/frames.

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Got the tires back yesterday and installed. 

Checked the AC system, and its currently holding -0- charge. Going to buy some retrofit adapters, and get them bolted on, take it to work, and get the system charged up.I am hoping all is well there. WTF were the GM engineers thinking putting the AC charge ports in that location? Better than the TGP, but only just.

Got a couple of the stickers off. Scared to removed some, they seem to have melted into the remaining clear coat.

Next up (tonight), take the car to get some air put in the rear tires, and then out for a short drive. Get it back to the garage, and pull the rear tires off, clear the scale off the rear brake rotors, and check parking brake operation.

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Tires on, rear brakes are new and operational, including parking brake.

Just need to do the windshield and AC now, and she is done!

Took the Corsica out to get some gas last night, need to dilute down the 5 year old ethanol gas thats in it, to make it reliably driveable. My grandfather had a locking gas cap on it, no idea why (it was always garage kept), and since it had not been operated in 5 years, it was a bit frozen! Need to order the heater core, and get it to work to recharge the AC. Tires come next week. Found an incredible deal on some Michelin Defender T+H, new, for 35 a piece. Normally they are 116 a piece. Love my Michelins...

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  • 2 weeks later...

AC retrofit on both the Corsica and Cutlass worked like a charm. Compressor on the Corsica is a bit noisy. May vac it back down, and put in some fresh oil.

Think the Corsica may need a new fuel filter. Its very hard to start after sitting overnight. Replaced a vacuum line, so now the transmission drives like it should, cruise control now works, and the vents operate like they should. Quite a peppy little car. New tires installed. Road vibration is gone, but as typical with high dollar Michelins, road noise is very present now. Heater core is installed, and the engineer that designed that needs to be shot! Drives fairly well except the hard starting, and slight chug it has when cold. Not bad for a 27 year old car. 83k miles, thats 3100 miles a year since new.

Cutlass now only needs a Windshield to be complete. Rotors, pads, wheel bearings, calipers, struts, all new. That 3.1 NA is very eager to get it down the road, getting up to speed or beyond without even realizing it. She runs great for a 29 year old car. 104k miles, thats 3600 miles a year since new.

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1 hour ago, pontiac6ksteawd said:

AC retrofit on both the Corsica and Cutlass worked like a charm. Compressor on the Corsica is a bit noisy. May vac it back down, and put in some fresh oil.

Think the Corsica may need a new fuel filter. Its very hard to start after sitting overnight. Replaced a vacuum line, so now the transmission drives like it should, cruise control now works, and the vents operate like they should. Quite a peppy little car. New tires installed. Road vibration is gone, but as typical with high dollar Michelins, road noise is very present now. Heater core is installed, and the engineer that designed that needs to be shot! Drives fairly well except the hard starting, and slight chug it has when cold. Not bad for a 27 year old car. 83k miles, thats 3100 miles a year since new.

Cutlass now only needs a Windshield to be complete. Rotors, pads, wheel bearings, calipers, struts, all new. That 3.1 NA is very eager to get it down the road, getting up to speed or beyond without even realizing it. She runs great for a 29 year old car. 104k miles, thats 3600 miles a year since new.

I was pleasantly surprised how peppy my 96 CS sedan is with the 3.1.  I was told they're adequate but it gets up to speed nicely I think.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well, the Cutlass is gone. Sold it last night for 1500. Put quite a bit of money in it, but all is good.

Now to just sell the Corsica...

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