Topic: The Cutlass

[Clark Kent]

I've had my 95 Cutlass supreme for 5 years now; got it when I first went into the active army.  These days the cutlass is hirting a bit.  Rust bubbles are starting to form on the side, a large one has already broken open on the passenger side door.  Also, the driver's seat is pretty well worn down, and needs to be either replaced or reupholstered. Still runs really realy well though.
In any event, she's all paid off and I rely on her very heavily, but I'm beginning to accept that her days are numbered.  Just the same, though, I've become very attached to my cutlass, and don't want to see it go the way  of the dodo.  When I was in the army it was one of the few things I had, and often served as my bed when the military was not living up to it's part of the deal on the three squares and a roof over my head type of thing, or when my barracks roomate brought some skank in at 1 am and was banging the crap outta her.  I've logged 100,000 miles on it now.
In any event, does anyone in here have any affordable options of fixing the old gal up to pristine condition, or am I pretty much fubar and need to start thinking of dumping her?

[kmelew]

I was in a similar situation to yours a few years.  I had an '85 Nissan 300ZX 2+2--a really beautiful car!  Despite having nearly 130,000 miles on it, I never really had too many mechanical problems with it.  However Nissans of that era were notorious for being rustbuckets.  It got to the point where the rear wheel wells were bubbling and would soon rust out.  I asked myself, "Do I really want to spend a couple of grand restoring a car with 130,000 miles on it, or should I put the money towards a new car?"  In the end I traded the Z towards my present car.

Needless to say, I miss my Z-car and hope to buy a '90's-style Z someday!

[Just plain old Punisher]

Thought you were talking about the sword for a second lol.

[Brush Wolf]

Clark, with only 100,000 on it there should be quite a bit of life left in the engine and drive train, at least 50,000 if not more. with the massive amounts of road salt that they use in the Twin Cities area trying to cherry out the body on an older car that is used in daily service is pretty much a waste of time unless you can do the body work and paint yourself. I would see about getting the drivers seat reupholstered and just run your old warhorse until it is finally time to put her down.

[Jack Morris]

Being an ex auto tech, I have to agree with the wolf. Northern states where there is a higher concentration of salt due to climate or winter roads coated with salt KILLS the body of a car.

Do you have a V6 or 305 or 350 V8? All engines are affordable, and can be a do it yourselfer WHEN you have the money and time, but from what I understood your finances are limited and you are in school. If you REALLY love that car, store it in the garage and ride the bus or buy a el cheapo used import until you can start afford restoration. As for the rust on body? Later on you can go to a more southern state and maybe find the body part you need in a salvage yard, then cut out the cancerous rust body part and get the good part welded on and grinded down smooth to be primed and painted. They also have metal filler now instead of the crap bondo which was industry standard. A lot of progress has been made with undercoatings, primers, and paints in the last decade, hence warranties being extended longer than the old days.

Just my 2 cents.

[Clark Kent]

Actually, she's got 169,000 on her now- I bought her used, four years old.  I've seen alot of cutlasses on the road as old or older and in fine shape still, the rust on mine seems a bit unique.  After I brought it into an autobody shop last winter I think I know the reason.  When I bought the Cutlass I asked for any info on whether the body had been redone, intending to buy it regardless.  Just the same, I was told "no, nothing has been doen to this car."
last winter, though, the body man was talking to me and pointed out that the ENTIRE passenger side had been redone and replaced once before,a nd someone skimped on the paint job, and that is why it's rusting out.  At this point, the passenger side door and rear fender are the only parts that will need replacement.  Rust bubbles have just started to poke up on the rear fender.
The salt thing really irritates me.  I've heard that there are salt alternatives that work just as well and don't have the nasty side effects of rust, but MN refuses to use them.  I've also heard that North Dakota uses some sort of alternative, and therefore many vehicles up that way have little to no rust.  If this is true, and ND can afford it, then why the hell can't MN?
Buses in MN are difficult to come by, except there is a small showing of them now for commuters who go into the cities everymorning, which I am not.  I have two options: drive my car, or bike in to school 21 miles.  I suppose I could get a snowmobile for the winter, except all the towns around me, in their infinite wisdom, have outlawed ATV and snowmobile use within their limits.  Oh yeah, I could also walk.  Public transportation around here is next to non existant.  They've made some improvements over the last few years, but an actual mass transit system is decades away.  That's one of the reasons why the minneapolis/St Paul area ranks up there with the worst moetropolitan areas as far as bumper to bumper traffic, despite the significantly lower population of our metro area.

[Clark Kent]

Thought you were talking about the sword for a second lol.

Haha, sorry about that.

[Clark Kent]

Well, looks like the thermostat is in need of replacement as well.  I was wondering why I had a dramatic increase in gas mileage until I noticed todayt that the engine temp is roughly 10 degrees below normal.  I know it's just a matter of time before I have to take it out and replace it, but will it do any damage if I leave it in for a while longer and take advatage of the change in gas mileage?
I say this because I saw the same change last time the thermostat went out the gas mileage went up as well, so I assume they are related.