TimTaylor751647545500 Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 My '69 Cutlass which I've affectionately nicknamed, Ruby Sue will soon be finding her way out of her dark dungeon (storage unit) into the garage in my new place that I closed on today. Pics to come of the new casa. A bit of history on this car...it's originally a Cutlass S and is from Akron. The original frame was in rough shape 25 years ago when we restored the car and my buddy who owned the car then, opted to patch a few areas on the frame, but it’s just not a good piece. I lucked out yesterday. Found a clean frame about 45 minutes from me and picked it up. Quick history is that the guy who I got the frame from...his parents bought the car brand new in 1971. The car spent its entire life in Florida so everything is super solid on it. There’s actually factory blue paint still present. There's actually a piece of excess welding wire still attached in one of the corners. This is definitely like nothing you’d find in Ohio. There’s only one area of concern which should be an easy fix; the rear cross member is a little tweaked. Regardless, I’m still floored by me only paying $200!!! I’m looking at the HPI boxing kit already as this came from a hardtop car and mine is a convertible. Needless to say, I'm quite excited to get into the new house as well as devoting more time and energy to getting the car back into the condition that she deserves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeitgeist57 Posted March 24, 2020 Report Share Posted March 24, 2020 Love it! Any pics of the car before it goes under the knife? I remember when I had a ‘67 Jeepster Commando when I lived in FL. I didn’t latch down the hood properly and it flew off one night while I was doing engine work. Dented it all to shit. This was pre-CL and FBM, so I went on forums thinking “where the hell am I going to find a hood for this thing?” Turns out a guy not half-an-hour from me had one that fit perfectly. Love FL car guys...there’s a parts car somewhere nearby! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Cranium Posted March 24, 2020 Report Share Posted March 24, 2020 (edited) A friend of mine once built a large electrolysis tank with plastic sheeting, tarps, and pallets so he could clean the rust off a car frame. If you're looking for a way to clean that up before you use it that might be an idea. Edited March 24, 2020 by Richard Cranium Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimTaylor751647545500 Posted March 24, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2020 Love it! Any pics of the car before it goes under the knife? I remember when I had a ‘67 Jeepster Commando when I lived in FL. I didn’t latch down the hood properly and it flew off one night while I was doing engine work. Dented it all to shit. This was pre-CL and FBM, so I went on forums thinking “where the hell am I going to find a hood for this thing?” Turns out a guy not half-an-hour from me had one that fit perfectly. Love FL car guys...there’s a parts car somewhere nearby! Here’s a few when we got it down before going into storage. With weekly swap meets going on and tons of guys with parts just "laying around", you can pretty much find anything and most of it's in decent shape. I saw a '67 GT350 blue & white mustang just sitting in some dude's yard next to his barn. Who knows how long it's been sitting there, but it's pretty common to see that kinda stuff down here. There's a '71 W-30 442 just down the road at a body shop just collecting dust. It's definitely been sitting for a while. Now I just need to find a good 425/455 core. Already scored a clutch pedal assembly for the conversion, so now I'm researching T-56 setups mounted behind BBO's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimTaylor751647545500 Posted March 24, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2020 A couple more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimTaylor751647545500 Posted March 24, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2020 A friend of mine once built a large electrolysis tank with plastic sheeting, tarps, and pallets so he could clean the rust off a bar car frame. If you're looking for a way to clean that up before you use it that might be an idea. There are a lot of car clubs down here, one that I’ve applied to just awaiting approval, so I’m hoping someone has a contact for media blasting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeto67 Posted March 24, 2020 Report Share Posted March 24, 2020 Why the HPI kit over some of the other ones out there? There was a kit that hot rod garage used on their 1965 lemans (season 5 ep 51). I can't remember the name of it right now but it looked robust, maybe someone with an MOTD account will chime in with the brand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimTaylor751647545500 Posted March 24, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2020 I have been following the work that the guys at protouringtexas.com do and have been really impressed. I messaged the owner about my goals and he referred me to HPI. I've also seen some good things posted about them on classicoldsmobile.com and some install vids on youtube. Seems like a quality piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeitgeist57 Posted March 24, 2020 Report Share Posted March 24, 2020 Why the HPI kit over some of the other ones out there? There was a kit that hot rod garage used on their 1965 lemans (season 5 ep 51). I can't remember the name of it right now but it looked robust, maybe someone with an MOTD account will chime in with the brand. Just pulled it up. It's HPI...company is in Canada. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeto67 Posted March 24, 2020 Report Share Posted March 24, 2020 This is the other one I have been looking at for when I get around to redoing my GTO https://www.speedtechperformance.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=398/category_id=76/mode=prod/prd398.htm still the HPI one is stocked by summit. Either way, post pics of boxing the frame. It looks like it will be a fun project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckeye1647545503 Posted March 25, 2020 Report Share Posted March 25, 2020 Love me some 68/72 Cutlass! Going to be following this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis Nice Posted March 25, 2020 Report Share Posted March 25, 2020 Great platform. Can't wait to see it done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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