My 3rd Car, a FREE 1990 Olds Cutlass Supreme

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

You can’t beat a free car. FWD and unibody are vehicle traits that I like to stay well clear of out of principle, but, again, it’s free. An older friend of mine told me that a friend of hers had this car sitting out in the bayou about an hour and fifteen minutes from New Orleans, and we went to go look at it the other night. It’s very dirty and had some surface rust on the roof, but the interior was immaculate.

I’m assuming it has a 3.1L V6/4T60 transmission. She said it had over 200,000 miles on it when she quit driving it. It supposedly didn’t knock or smoke, and the transmission was shifting fine. She said she quit driving it because she didn’t feel as comfortable in it anymore and got a newer car. She gave it away to a friend, and after a few years, it ended back up under her carport. It’s been sitting since around 2003. It seems pretty basic. The mirrors appear to be power, but it’s got crank windows and manual seats. It’s got a pretty basic digital speedo and gauges, but it’s not the fancy International Series setup with the gauge package and HUD.

I’m going to get it tomorrow with a U-Haul car trailer. I bought a come along to winch it up there with. The tires are flat on the ground so hopefully they take some air, but it needs new ones. I think it takes P195/75R14 so that’s what I’m hoping for so they’ll be cheap. The hood is stuck closed, and I broke the release handle trying to get it open. The fuel in the tank smells old, but I don’t smell varnish. I feel like I need to rebuild the sender with a new pump and rubber. Needs a battery. That’s all for now.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[CorvairGeek]

Awesome! I've got 2 of its 'schoolmarm' sisters, the A bodies in Buick form.

 

[Old77]

Woah! Should be interesting to see what you find as you start digging into it! Those are good cars generally speaking

 

[CorvairGeek]

Those can be T125 3 speeds too with the 3.1 V6.

 

[RetroC10Sport]

@Jiggity76 will be happy to see it being saved though it's basic.

just got this 1988 saved last month, it sat for 10+ years but an International 5 speed. It's now in good hands getting restored.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

Thanks everyone. I hope it doesn’t have a three speed. And I’m assuming it doesn’t have a Quad IV. I’m more certain on the engine, though. The main thing that this car would have is an improvement in fuel economy for a part-time daily so I want the best combo possible. I might also flip it if I get tired of it or let my mom use it since her Suburban is having electrical problems and SES lights these days. I have debated doing Uber and/or Lyft so this might be the one to do that in. That might be a pipe dream, though. I’m hoping I can get it running and driving by this weekend, but that might be a tall order. She did say the only problem she had with it was a brake pedal that got mushier over time so we’ll see if it needs a flush.

 

[RetroC10Sport]

www.w-body.com is a good source for info in the forums on these cars. I'm manicmechanic on there.

 

[CorvairGeek]

It seems it was usually high option cars, and they had badges to warn you it had a Quad IV

 

[RetroC10Sport]

Power mirrors is rather odd for such a base car, not sure when they became standard, I think in the mid 90s.

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

Got the car Wednesday, spent two hours cleaning the grime up on the outside, and got it back to the house about 12:30 a.m. What a day that was loading it on the U-Haul.

After unloading it and parking it, my first order of business was getting the hood open. I did every trick I knew, and nothing seemed to get it. I was just pulling up on the hood yesterday to see if I could access the grille screws to pull that and get behind the hood release, and it just popped open. I think I need a new release cable, and I’ll need a new handle for the inside now.

I changed the oil first thing. I had to do it flat on the ground, which is a pain with that low clearance. It had all the signature ****** Walmart TLE oil change markings: an overtorqued drain plug and an overtorqued Fram oil filter.

I popped a new battery in, and the car came to life (at least electronically). I pulled the fuel pump relay so I could check the maximum amount of stuff without worrying about that just yet. All the interior and exterior lights work, radio works perfectly, idiot lights work, ECM is self testing, etc. Unfortunately, the gauges are not coming on which worries me. I’ll see if it’s a fuse, but I worry that if it is, it’ll just blow again. The turn signals don’t do anything, but I think it’s just the flasher.

The cooling system is full of rust and sediment, which is my biggest worry at this point. I’m going to flush it here in a minute and pray that everything’s okay. I’ve heard bad things about these engines killing intake gaskets, especially with poor coolant maintenance. I’m assuming there’s a bleeder on the cooling system, looks like it on top of the t-stat housing? There’s a warning under there saying I’ll tear up the engine if I fail to follow the proper procedure so that sounds like taking special care to purge all the air out of the system.

Last thing on my pre-start list is the fuel situation. The tank is bone dry so I’m going to try putting a few gallons of gas in it and see what happens. My brother suggested pulling the line at the fuel rail and seeing if I could purge the junk out of the line if there was any. I don’t know if that’s a good idea because of the pressure, though. Thoughts?

Oh, I thought the hood light was cool. It’s called a porta-light, and you can pull it out and shine it where you need it. There’s a crank to retract the wire back into the housing, and an on/off switch so you can leave the hood open and shut it off.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[CorvairGeek]

When it was redisigned to the 3100 (roller lifters, head changes, etc), the intake gaskets get worse. I don't believe these were inherently as bad. The oil pump drive shaft o-ring (formerly the distributor shaft) is a problem on both 3.1 and 3100.
I have a bleeder on the thermostat side and on the water pump side of my 3100. The hood height was so low, in some bodies, the radiator cap is no longer the high point of the cooling system. I crack them open numerous times bleeding off air bubbles.
Glad to see you found a 4T60. Ones that started as rental cars almost always had the 3 speed, as it was an expensive option.

 

[78C10BigTen]

Got the car Wednesday, spent two hours cleaning the grime up on the outside, and got it back to the house about 12:30 a.m. What a day that was loading it on the U-Haul.

After unloading it and parking it, my first order of business was getting the hood open. I did every trick I knew, and nothing seemed to get it. I was just pulling up on the hood yesterday to see if I could access the grille screws to pull that and get behind the hood release, and it just popped open. I think I need a new release cable, and I’ll need a new handle for the inside now.

I changed the oil first thing. I had to do it flat on the ground, which is a pain with that low clearance. It had all the signature ****** Walmart TLE oil change markings: an overtorqued drain plug and an overtorqued Fram oil filter.

I popped a new battery in, and the car came to life (at least electronically). I pulled the fuel pump relay so I could check the maximum amount of stuff without worrying about that just yet. All the interior and exterior lights work, radio works perfectly, idiot lights work, ECM is self testing, etc. Unfortunately, the gauges are not coming on which worries me. I’ll see if it’s a fuse, but I worry that if it is, it’ll just blow again. The turn signals don’t do anything, but I think it’s just the flasher.

The cooling system is full of rust and sediment, which is my biggest worry at this point. I’m going to flush it here in a minute and pray that everything’s okay. I’ve heard bad things about these engines killing intake gaskets, especially with poor coolant maintenance. I’m assuming there’s a bleeder on the cooling system, looks like it on top of the t-stat housing? There’s a warning under there saying I’ll tear up the engine if I fail to follow the proper procedure so that sounds like taking special care to purge all the air out of the system.

Last thing on my pre-start list is the fuel situation. The tank is bone dry so I’m going to try putting a few gallons of gas in it and see what happens. My brother suggested pulling the line at the fuel rail and seeing if I could purge the junk out of the line if there was any. I don’t know if that’s a good idea because of the pressure, though. Thoughts?

Oh, I thought the hood light was cool. It’s called a porta-light, and you can pull it out and shine it where you need it. There’s a crank to retract the wire back into the housing, and an on/off switch so you can leave the hood open and shut it off.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

My 94 burban had that kind of light

 

[CorvairGeek]

My 94 burban had that kind of light

I was thinking that looked a lot like the one with my GMT400 ECM harness crap.

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

When it was redisigned to the 3100 (roller lifters, head changes, etc), the intake gaskets get worse. I don't believe these were inherently as bad. The oil pump drive shaft o-ring (formerly the distributor shaft) is a problem on both 3.1 and 3100.
I have a bleeder on the thermostat side and on the water pump side of my 3100. The hood height was so low, in some bodies, the radiator cap is no longer the high point of the cooling system. I crack them open numerous times bleeding off air bubbles.
Glad to see you found a 4T60. Ones that started as rental cars almost always had the 3 speed, as it was an expensive option.

That makes me feel a bunch better. I backflushed the cooling system, and the discharge wasn’t horrible, but I feel like it should have been stronger and more junk should have come out. Maybe running it will help agitate it, and I can even add some of that flush stuff to it. I see the thermostat bleeder, but I can’t make one out on the water pump. I’ll look again, though. I’m going to put some gas in and try it.

 

[CorvairGeek]

That makes me feel a bunch better. I backflushed the cooling system, and the discharge wasn’t horrible, but I feel like it should have been stronger and more junk should have come out. Maybe running it will help agitate it, and I can even add some of that flush stuff to it. I see the thermostat bleeder, but I can’t make one out on the water pump. I’ll look again, though. I’m going to put some gas in and try it.

I don't see the bleeder above the WP in your pictures either. It's amazing to me all the variations in these, even in the same years, especially between the various chassis.