1972 Cutlass Build

[shaolin.138]

Been lurking around this forum for years learning and gaining inspiration. Well... the time has come to take on my own project. I've had the car for about 2 years and have done some mild engine freshening (new aluminum intake and carb, new ignition, gaskets, alternator, etc.). Now I have decided to make this a solid driver with a pro-touring tilt. My goal is reliability and all around capability without breaking the bank. Nothing exotic, just things that make it sinister and badass!

Here she is when I got her:

The paint is a solid 10 footer... and then you get up close and see the horribly sprayed clearcoat with cracks everywhere. Body and paint will have to wait. First are working gauges, disc brakes for the front, wheels and tires and some custom lighting I am cooking up. More to follow!

[Big Dawg]

Looks real nice even from 10 feet.....the red with the black works nicely together.

I have 69 442 and have tackled everything except the exterior.

Nice to see another olds on here!

[shaolin.138]

Thanks for the kind words! It's been sitting mostly dormant for a while as I worked out some engine issues. Now that it runs pretty well I am working on the projects I've been planning for a while. Just did some custom Speedhut gauges that I'll get some pictures of and show off. Also just custom made some LED taillights with the modern "glow" ring that looks so cool on a lot of the newer rides out there. One of a kind custom! Disc brake conversion this weekend... but leaving the rear drums on... they don't do a ton of braking anyway. Also putting in the AGR variable ratio box when I do the brakes, so I'll report back on that since I know many people have asked about it before.

[deejai35]

Very nice! I like the black with red. Always great to see another Cutlass. Is that a small block? I couldn't zoom in much.

[csouth]

Getting is running right is a good start. It's more fun when you can drive and work on it vs having it in your garage for years like me...lol Good luck with the updates.

[shaolin.138]

I hear you about it sitting in the garage. Mine was in there for 2 years. My wife (it's really HER car) jokes that it costs us a grand every time I start it.

The engine is a 455 with edelbrock aluminum intake and carb and some no name jungle gym headers.

Here's the custom LED tails lights if anyone is interested. Could be replicated on a similar year cutlass or maybe some other makes/models. I'll do a write up if anyone is interested.

[65Skylark]

Can you take a pic of the taillight internals? I'd like to do something similar with 65 Skylark taillights

[csouth]

Those turned out nice. I have a set of the Digi-tails.

[shaolin.138]

Unfortunately I don't have any pics of when I put them together, and the lights are actually houses semi-permanently inside the lens portion and not the actual headlight bucket. I utilized a set of new "glow" trailer LED tail/stop/turn lights and cut, plastic welded, etc. to make them fit. Wiring was a simple matter of splicing into existing tail wires and grounding on the bucket itself. Really was very simple, but I have to stress that these lights fit PERFECTLY into the lens housing for this year Cutlass. A 1/4" off and it wouldn't have worked without major modification to the lend or bucket or both. I did have to drill and hammer out the inside of the lower buckets to make room for the wiring. The upper fit without mods.

The difference is night and day, no pun intended. In the pictures above the passenger side is original and fully lit. That shows the output difference. This was midday sun. At night they are super cool looking. They do require an LED capable flasher or you won't get turn signals.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I am going to do a similar mod to the front parking lights next.

[shaolin.138]

I have a question for you experts out there... how can I improve the gaps/fit of the rear bumper? You can see above how poorly it fits. Thanks!