Small change…

Well I decided to make a change in plans for the Cutlass.  I decided to change out my rims.  I started looking around at cars and trucks that had the black rim with the chrome lip and they all look good but it seemed that after looking longer I noticed that the cars (pro touring and such) I like and the styles that they all had were the full chrome rim.  I still love the black look but growing up i always wanted to see the cutlass in chrome.  So I went to W&W tire here in Edmond, and asked for some prices on the Torq-Thrust Type M Chrome Rim….. After hitting a bump (a salesman with no knowledge of his product)  we hung up with him, did some research, and called back with a part number.  The NEW salesman found the rim immediately!  I got the price for a set of 4, and I said “send’em”.

*Brief Pause*….”I LOVE LOCAL SHOPS”…….the ones with dirty floors, wore out couches, old magazines, tires all over the showroom floor, old outdated posters, everyone is kin to each other somehow, the phones are dirty, the soda machine with shop stickers all over it, vending machine that’s missing half it’s product and is filled with stuff that you dont see anymore, customers walk all through the car bays, and every person working there will ask you 5 times if they can help you with anything……….ahhh good stuff.  I’ll take that over shiny showroom floors anyday!

*Brief Flashback*    Looking online at Black Torq Thrust v.s Chrome ones the price has always and I mean EVERY site has shown that the chrome is $75, $100, $150 MORE than the Black’s!  So that was another deterant for me not to get chrome.

*back to the story at hand*  Well whenever I got the price for the chrome they ended up being CHEAPER by $15 bucks per wheel!  Doesn’t make sense but that God is just providing a blessing for me and my family.  Thats all there is to it.  Being smart, taking my time, doing research has paid off!  Even the tires I got ended up being cheaper significantly!

I was at Sears buying some goodies and after I bought my stuff I went to the tire section to just look at styles and ratios.  Well a tire caught my Eye.  Sumitomo HTR+.  The lady priced me $200 a piece for the rear and $175 for the front’s.  Well thats about $850 with tax and all just for wheels!  Well W&W priced me roughly $400 for ALL 4 new tires…..

Well here’s the new rim that is heading this way right now from Houston and will be here in a couple of days!

Oh man……….good stuff.

Lowering the Olds

Well I am in the process of purchasing my Tires and Wheels.  After thought I will be lowering the Cutlass about 1 1/2 inches for that stance I am looking for.  Right now the car is about 26 1/2 inches from the ground to the top of the fender, so that will obvious be somewhere around the 25″ range when I am finished with it.

Here are some pictures (below) with a SIMILAR idea for what I am going to be doing.  Some of these cars are more extreme than I am going for and some are milder than what I see in my head.   Most of pro touring looks have 18″ to 20″ rims while having 9″-10″ width which I feel is a little extreme for me.  I will be riding on 17X8’s with 225/50/17 in the front and 255/45/17 in the rear.  For a somewhat “stock” look while having the black rims will also be a modern look to whats already on there.  The stock rim is 90% black anyways so going with the Torq Thrust Black’s will be a good look.

The idea of lowering the car will not hinder performace but only enhance performance, A tighter yet not so bouncy feeling while taking dips and mounds.  A lower tighter feel will help in cornering, stopping and take off response as well.

This latter part of next week i’ll be working on everything….so look for updates soon.  finally some steps in the right direction!

Wheels and tires….

As I am figuring out stance, tires, springs, and wheels I have come across some varying opinions.  Some businesses will tell me a certain tire/wheel combo will not fit and others are saying it will fit.  I am currently working on Offset, wheels and tire height, lowering the car or not and also overall tire circumference.  Each of these are very important to take into consideration when figuring out overall stance.

After lots of looks and changes I think i found the stance and wheels I want to go with…..

I am going to lower the car 1 1/2 to 2 inches by using the Eibach Pro-Kit.  The wheels I have decided to go with are the Torq Thrust MB’s.  The M is the style of Torq thrust and the B stands for Black.  If you really look there are tons of Torq thrust variations, which is understandable since they were the rim that started it all back in the 70’s.

Currently I have 225/70/14’s and will be stepping up to 17″ rims.  Something along the lines of 225/45/17 in the front and 255+/40/17’s in the rear.  The tires that I really like and it is already on the Mazda6 are Nexen N3000 tires.  I believe I’ll have the clearance all around to fit these tire without having to roll the fenders or do any big suspension changes.  Today I will be going to my tire guy to work on all these things….so we’ll see how it goes!

Whats this all about?

Okay everyone…..I have tossed various ideas back and forth and I want to go ahead and do it.  I am now starting a blog strictly dedicated to the restoration of a 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Convertible.  My parents purchased the car quite some time ago from my cousin Travis.  Dad and I worked together on it from time to time and did what we could to restore it.  It never was a focal point to restore but was always a dream of mine to own it and take it to the vision i have had in my head.

This car has some history for Sheena and I.  We had our first date in that car.  We actually drove off in it on our wedding day!  Actually our 5 year anniversary is coming up soon and we’ll OWN it by then!

The Point of this blog is to help allow you to follow the process of my vision for the cutlass to come to fruition.  I’ll be asking quiestions and opinions but most of the time just letting you in the process of restoration.

Hope for those reading this blog I hope to help you with resources as you restore your cutlass and for those following for sheer curiosity I hope you enjoy the progress of my vision.