My 1978 Olds Cutlass Supreme
 

I had this car my senior year of high school. My older brothers helped build the engine, trans and body and paint. 350 Chevy, turbo 350, 2" true dual exhaust. Had it painted black and silver like a Hurst /Olds. Has a tan interior, car had cream colored exterior. I sold it to a friend in the fall of 89 so I could by the 69 GTO I have now. My friend traded it to one of my brothers for a 74 Camaro. My brother sold it to a veterinarian who gave it to his son. He drove it up to 2000 and then it sat in their yard for thirteen years until now. The father stopped at my house last Sunday and said I could have it, his son wasn't interested in it and they are moving next spring. So a friend and I went and drug it out of the yard Wednesday. Engine turns over by hand, body is showing body work from when it was originally done and covered with moss, interior needs a very good cleaning as in mice, some of the wiring has been chewed up from critters.

Not a bad looking car, At least he did not bang it all up.

I love those cars. I had a '78 with a V6 in it. That car was dependable as heck and got excellent mileage considering the way I used to drive.

My relatives all drove that model - I remember it well.

So......a LOT of people have given that car hell? ;)

My sister totaled one back in the mid 80's. Had a 305 Chebbie that had a top speed of about 85, and it wasn't as fast as a 78 (or maybe it was a 79) H/O with a 307 Olds that I beat with my 68 Chevelle back in 84. They are nice cars though. Congrats on getting your old high school car back.

I had one of those back in the late eighties. Brown with a white top. It was a great car and one in series of olds that I owned in those years. Great car. Super comfortable ride and nice power from what I think it had which was a 305.

Must be cool to have your first car back? Great story.

I've had my share of Oldsmobiles, '70 442, a '77 and '88 Cutlass, and a H/O. All were pretty good cars. Add some stiffer suspension pieces and a faster box and it will make a huge difference over what you have now.

I had one or two 78-80 models. always liked them, figured someday people would finally see the potential they had

Presuming the car didn't get water pooling in the trunk or floor, it sure doesn't look that bad considering the age and neglect. Might just clean up decently and get it running after fixing the critter situation and drive it as-is ;-)

Actually it's not my first car, it's my 3rd, but the nicest and was relatively quick, has a mild cam and the turbo 350 had shift kit that my brother made up from a magazine article. This was a 305 4 barrel with a metric turbo 250 trans, previous owners son beat the crap out of it and spun every rod bearing. The plan is to clean it up , fix the wiring and get it running. It is cool that I got it back, I regretted selling it back then.

Congrats on getting it back!!!! It is always nice to locate one of your old cars, and to get it back is a rare thing indeed!!!!! It definatly looks salavagable, as us northerners know most cars of that age are long gone to rust.

Thanks, after I sold this to my friend he had a new head liner and carpet installed, put a performer intake, roller tip rockers and headers on, replaced the rear frame rails and bumper, installed a 2.73 limited slip rear. My brother had the seats recovered in cloth. If I remember right it ran mid to high 14s. For now it's going to sit until spring or summer.

Looks like its clean. :)

sweet..my first car (which i still own) was a 1982 cutlass...dk grey with the silver interior..dad wouldnt let me get a V8 car, so i settled for the old 3.8 v-sick..lol..she is in storage awaiting a V8 and finishing in the future....along with a few other cars...i do love those G bodies....i think the 81 thru 87 cutlass and the regal were the best looking of the g bodies.

Since the engine is toast, it's a good candidate for a Pontiac engine at this point.:)

I had a 78 back in high school too, man that thing was a tank, it couldn't be killed. I hit a deer going 65 mph, broadsided it right between the headlights, and drove it home. Another time I slid off the road and went backward down a 15 ft embankment at 50 mph and wedged it between the hill and the fence at the bottom. Tow truck pulled it out and I drove it home. I had to change the left side spool in the rear end that got bent and then it was good to go. About a year latter, I had to change the banana shaped radiator that the deer left behind.

The engine that had spun bearings was the original 305, it currently has a 350. Switching to a Pontiac would depend on if the 350 is still good. I do have 77 400 4 barrel out of a Firebird
and a turbo 350 that's all rebuilt. Here's a picture of what I towed it home with. 81 C20

My dad bought an 80 with a 455 olds back in the mid/late 80s. The engine was knocking so he rebuilt a pontiac 350 out of his 75 firebird parts car. It had wire spoke hubcaps for that sleeper look I guess, we installed pontiac rallys. He gave the olds 455 to a guy who built it up and installed it into a lemans. lol

Figured since it was 25 degrees and sunny out I would try to get it running today. Put a battery in and had a charger hooked up, cranked it over until it had oil pressure, poured a few drops of gas, what little dribbled out of my gas can and hit the key and it fired but didn't run for lack of fuel. Went to a gas station and got a gallon of gas, filled the float bowl, cranked over and fired and ran for a minute but was missing. Discovered three plug wires where completely split in two. I was surprised it started so quick after sitting for 13 years. Need to put some gas in the tank as I seen the gas gauge was on empty.

Great story as to how it came back around to you.

Agreed. Love that story.

I grew up around Lansing, MI. Oldsmobiles were built there, and those cars were EVERYWHERE. One of my HS girlfriends drove one. I was utterly destroyed in one of my first street races by a 442 ('70 W30 'vert - ya, shoulda known better!). I have a soft spot for Oldsmobiles as a result.

Keep us up to date on what you do to it!

That's way cool that you got it back, congrats! It looks to be in amazingly good condition considering how long it sat out in the open. Hard to believe it's not rusted beyond repair.

Definitely change the oil before running it any more!

I'd buy my '75 Nova back if I could find it. My guess is it's gone to it's grave as the guy who bought it was giving it to his kid.

This guy has some good projects and demonstrational videos with 78-80 Cutlass.

Here's a factory 4-speed car he aquired.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VR1BF_Xh_w

Beware of shaky cam sickness though. I can't watch more than one or two of his vids in a sitting.:o

Here in the Dallas area, if you park a 78 Cutlass in any public parking
area without an armed guard standing beside it, the car will be gone to Mexico when you
come back out to get in it. The most stolen car in Texas ever. If you parked one of them
in your yard around here, it would be gone in less than 24 hours.

Thanks for the videos, that 4 speed cars interior is the same as mine with the mouse crap all over. It's still sitting on the trailer with my truck hooked to it and my 85 K5 Blazer in front of both.

Here is an update on this car. Gutted interior and trashed everything but the dash and door panels. Plan is to put a 6 point roll bar the 455 out of my 69 GTO, turbo 350 trans, a different rear depending on what I find and make drag car out of it, Floor pans ended up being rustier then they first looked. Going to lighten it up some. Removed the door crash bars, maybe mini tub and some other bracing.

Door crash bars removed.

I had one with a 5 speed in it years ago. It was triple green.

Here in North Texas, the 78 -86 G bodies are the car of choice for the minority
population. Rather than buy them, they usually break the steering column and steal them
when they want one. You can't park one of those cars outside at night without an armed
guard standing next to it around here or it won't be there come daybreak. My son's 87 Monte Carlo got
stolen three separate times from totally different locations, the third time the Police never found it.

I would get one for baiting the thieves with a about a half dozen rattlers turned loose in the interior for night time roaming, if that was the case.
Maybe rid the world of a lowlife, and make them think twice about breaking into a car at night.

Tub it. Meet in the middle tires.

Needs a Chevy 406, even in mild tune....er uh well we all know how well a Pontiac 400 performs :D

Now you're talkin'!!!

They are great cars and getting away from that design in 1988 was what sent Olds on it's long decline. Olds sold 350,000 to 400,000 a year for many years. Rebuild what ya got and repaint it. I like the design thats on it now.

Good story. Welcome home. Sounds like you'll have some fun with it.

Jim

Thanks, I'm leaving the exterior the way it is for now with maybe some touch up. Then repair rust and repaint the same colors some other time.

Welded the doors back up after removing the crash bars. Put new hinge pins and bushings on the drivers side. Had to weld the sheet metal were the door striker is on the driver side, plus a new door striker. Hung and aligned the doors, now they shut nice. Bought seats from the salvage yard out of a 98 Pontiac Sunbird/Sunfire. Bolted right in with the Cutlass seat tracks and spacers. Made a heater block off plate yesterday and loaded on my trailer today to take and have a 6 point roll bar installed.

Had several buddies that had these '78-80 Cutlass' back in the day. I love G Bodies. They are great platforms to build a fun car. One of my buddies still has his W30 manual trans '78 or '79 Cutlass. I haven't seen it in years, but he has it stored away somewhere. He's been dabbling in Mopars lately.

Cool story - I wish I could get my '78 manual trans Grand Prix back, but I sold the shell to a dirt track racer and saw photos after it was converted to run on dirt, but never saw the aftermath. I still have the title and the steering column/pedals/bell housing from it.

I always thought Olds made the nicest G Body. I really like the '83 Hurst & latest 442s with flush lights.

I delivered many of those 78 Olds out of St. Therese, PQ. Good year for them.. actually they were all good up to the last of the rear wheel drives made. Same for the Grand Prix that came out of the same plant.

Picked it up from having the 6 point roll bar installed on Saturday, painted it today.

Installed a 455, turbo 350, PTC 10" converter. Headers are Headmen from a 67 GTO, Lemans, Tempest 1 3/4" primaries and 3" collectors. Bought six 1 3/4" U bends and four foot stick of 3" pipe to reroute seven out of the eight tubes and extend the collectors. Have $200 and about 15 hours into the headers

Fun isn't it.
It's really not that bad once you get started, At least for me.
It looks intimindating untill ya get going on them.

GT.

Your right, once the first tube was routed to and spot welded to the collector the rest fell into place.

New front tires should be here tomorrow. Still have to get a 5 point harness and install it. Need to make a battery hold down and fix the accelerator pump. Also need to fix the rust in the rear quarters.

Took the car to Tri State Raceway in Earlville, Iowa last Saturday. First test run found the weak link in the 7.5 rear. Heated the tires, staged the car and loaded the converter to 2000 rpm, lights came down and nothing. I did break the beams as my friend told me I cut a 047 light. I was told by a track official that a u- joint broke but I didn't hear any thing banging around. Turned out the two small pinion gears let go in the rear. Time for a Ford 9".