Custom Cruisers

I know exactly what you mean, man. I grew up in a Ford family, so we've had maybe 8 fords and 1 mercury in my life. It wasn't until my dad died that my brother convinced my mom to buy a Saab which was the first non-Ford to touch our driveway. The car itself is pretty reliable, but it was NOT made for Yooper winters. There was maybe 8 inches in the driveway, not too much for up here, but when we backed out of the garage the bumper RIPPED off. Freakin ridiculous. So i decided to get something reliable, has lots of cargo room, good clearance, and rear-wheel drive (RWD is actually easier to control in snow than FWD if you know what you're doing). At first I was looking at some LTD wagons and a couple '90s caprice wagons, but none of them 'did' it for me. So i test drove this '89 Custom Cruiser and just immediately fell in love with it. I've got an '87 now too. But know i'm starting to regret that decision, because finding parts for these tings is a nightmare. I love Oldsmobiles, but there just isn't any parts up here.

 

And yes, I am aware that i'm a spaz when it comes to writing.

 

Welcome, bass!
Where from in da UP?
My wife's family came from Jacobsville.

 

Welcome!

Hey Bass, to the forum.

I've got a Custom Cruiser as well, but it's a '79 with a 350. Parts are still significantly more difficult to get than for the Chevy and Ford guys, but they're out there. You can get a lot of power from a Rocket motor, just not the 307... Like the others have already said, your best bet would be to start saving up some dough, and keep on the lookout for a bigger Olds motor to build up and drop in it. I've got a line on a 350 block and the performance parts to put it together with, but I would imagine that shipping the thing up there would cost you more than what the present owner is asking for it.

 

Wow..that "hard to find parts comment" is freaking me out a bit. I'm a handy sort, for a girl , ( just replaced the Idle Air Control valve on the elderly Civic...runs fine now, 'cept for the wiper motor quit last week, and a muffler pipe broke 2 days ago...lol .) ...so I'm hoping there are solutions ...I'm sure you guys deal with that all the time tho... :confused:

 

Don't get too freaked, lorkav. It all depends on what you are looking for. While it is true that parts for the GM 80's box wagons are gettting harder to find it doesn't necessarily mean impossible.

 

jmt455: I'm over by Negaunee. Isn't Jacobsville by portage lake?
Pete: Doesn't make much of a difference, I'm broke as of now. But there's always 350's, mostly chevys, floatin around up here. I'd rather find something around here rather than shipping.
lorkav: I don't mean to be sexist, but the only other woman doing her own repairs I know of is my mother, and she grew up on a farm. But anyways, that's awesome. (by the way, i'm a terrible mechanic)

 

Parts

Thanks SilverFox..I needed the encouragement. Took the new vehicle around to the places I go for things. Found out the Air pump hose was missing ENTIRELY ( bought hunk-o-tubing - 3/4,some anti-sieze and two clamps, took 5 min. to fix) and the PVC boot-thing was totally just OFF. ugh. No wonder it was so sluggish running hills on the PA turnpike. sheesh. Still needs a good physical and check up yet. small dings and missing moulding area worrisome. We'll see. Over-all super clean. Photos to follow. Drove whole way from CT and didn't see but one teeny wagon. He nodded as he went by in approval. haha

 

Hey Bass, thanks for the compliment. Used to assist Dad when I was little, but didn't do much till lots later when I got " economic" and found I could do lots of stuff w/ manual and diagrams and some regular tools. Very empowering !! Saved TONS of money I figure. Plus...I just SHOULD know how to do some of this. Plain survival tactics. Esp. running solo and all. Can't just " leave it" for a guy to do all the time. But.. that's me.

 

Well...not going to lie to you...the 307 engine in that car is a good engine but it is no hot rod. They are pretty much sluggish engines but you will get used to it. And what you did will help as well as keeping it maintained and driving it. Just don't expect to burn rubber with it. Again...it IS a good engine and should last you a long time.

 

ahhh

Cool, That is very nice to hear. It's ok...I have the S2000 for hot rod-ness !!

 

I'm having trouble with the whole "parts are hard to find" concept. The chassis and suspension for the 1977-1990 B-body wagons are IDENTICAL. In fact, the 1991-96 B-body wagon chassis and suspension are the same as on the 77-90 cars. Mechanical parts for these cars grow on trees.

As far as the bodies are concerned, from the firewall back, the 1980-1990 B-body wagons use the same sheet metal across all divisions. The Custom Cruiser doors, quarters, tailgate, and rear bumper are the same as the Chevy parts. Same for the glass. The hood, header panel, and front bumper are the same as on the RWD Olds B-body and C-body sedans from 1980-85. Only the front fenders are unique to the Custom Cruiser and these are getting tough to find.

Parts for the Olds motors are also very easy to find, and contrary to popular opinion, parts of comparable quality are NOT appreciably more expensive than for the SBC. Yes, you can get cheap Chinesium "white box" parts for the Chebby motor, but for comparable brand name parts, the costs are similar.

 

B-body wagons may be easy to find where you are, but i've only seen maybe 6 or 7 around here, and I own 2 of them. The parts are the same way. the only way I can get most of what I need is by ordering them through a scrapyard network.