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Back in late 2021, a gentleman from Classic Oldsmobile reached out to me and was considering selling his 1970 Cutlass Supreme Pace Car. After a few months of going back and forth, we were able to strike a deal, and the car is being delivered from Connecticut to Chicago and should hopefully be arriving this afternoon. Ironically, car #79 has its own restoration thread on this site dating back a few years showing the frame off restoration that started around 2011 and finished in the summer of 2013. After a few years of being back on the road, a few mechanical items need some work such as the convertible top, window alignment, front seat foam, front brake repair, and steering pump and box seals. All in all, the car has been well maintained since its restoration, and I'm thankful for the preservation of its previous owner as I look to take it to the next level.
Car #79 is documented in the spreadsheets from April 10, 1970 captured by the Oldsmobile Group Selling Activities Department. This car, along with car #78, were assigned to a gentleman by the name of Bill Armstrong and the Little 500. For those that aren't familiar, the Little 500 is an annual bicycle race at Indiana University (for anyone that has seen the movie Breaking Away from 1978 this is the bike race!). My understanding is that Bill Armstrong, Indiana University Foundation President, and Tony Hulman, owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, were friends and IMS worked with the university to provide pace cars to the bike race (there is a great video on YouTube from the 1969 bike race showing the white and orange Camaro pace cars leading the race).
My understanding of the history around how these cars made it from Lansing to Indianapolis is as follows. The pace cars were delivered to Anderson, Indiana where the Delco-Remy / Guide workers drove the cars over to the track. Car #78 and Car #79 made the drive to Bloomington, Indiana for the bike race and then back to the Speedway for the Indianapolis 500 festivities. I connected with the archives department at Indiana University, and they were able to provide me a few photos from the event. One of the photos shows my car at the bike race as well as an excerpt from their 1970 yearbook.
I'll share more on the history of the car, as best as I know it, along with pictures of how the currently looks today in subsequent posts.
Here is the car at the Little 500 bicycle race at Indiana University. Car #78 is off in the background and it appears there is even another pace car behind that one. The Cutlass Supreme pace cars had a bit more sag since they were lacking the FE2 suspension if I had to guess.
I believe this is from the Indiana University yearbook. Believe it or not, I was able to connect with the young man that is sitting in the drivers seat and he remembered quite a bit about the car and obviously the event.
Group selling records from 1970. The ignition bezel has been swapped so I am doubtful those are the key codes still.
Indiana University Little 500 - 1970.
Car #79 would have been way towards the back of the pack here, I think. I have a diagram of the cars that lists #78 towards the back with a few blank spots.
Last edited by WTHIRTY1; April 19th, 2022 at 02:27 PM.
The history from 1970 to the late 80’s is a bit of a mystery. At some point, the car was repainted green. The original engine was pulled (and saved), and she ended up at a used car lot in Ohio. The car passed hands a few times before ending up in Rochester, NY where it underwent a frame off restoration.
In talking with the body man, ironically a friend of a really good car buddy of mine, the car had some significant rust issues. The floors and trunk were all replaced with fresh metal. The good news is that there isn’t any bondo or filler in the car so I am starting off with a really solid foundation.
Last edited by WTHIRTY1; April 8th, 2022 at 06:07 PM.
Here is how the car sits today. Since the restoration, the car has a little over 13k miles on it. A few bumps and bruises along the way, however, a great starting point to bring a bit of freshness back to the car.
Some of these items are me just being over critical.
Car has a nice stance. Since it wasn’t one of the first 33 festival cars, it shouldn’t technically have the festival decal behind the door. It is kinda cool so I’ll leave it in for a bit until the ‘Little 500’ gold and black letters are ready for the front fenders.
The “wings” at the front aren’t original to the car, however, they appear in several Y74 track cars in random locations without rhyme or reason.
The front seat foam needs to be replaced. I also need to source a button for the drivers bucket. Overall, the interior is nice and needs a cleaning. With the top stuck down for a few years, it needs a deep clean.
Crack or split in the rubber around the door. New VIN tag needed.
The rubber “u” jamb needs to be slit. It kept popping the chrome off the rear side windows. The door panels appear to be original but with new carpet added. Depending how detailed I get, I may just get new carpet so I can cut it the right way.
The rear bumper fit is not great. Not easy to get right but the plan is to put a cutout bumper on anyways. I also sourced a set of flag pole brackets recreated from the original ‘72 Hurst pace car.
The hood latch above the bumper came undone and needs to be fixed. The black inside the hood scoop is also absent and will need to be sprayed.
Not sure what caused these cracks but they also need to be repaired. Any ideas on the cause?
That's a beautiful car and I'd drive the hell out of it the way it is. That crack is the original seam where the quarter attaches to the dutchman panel. I thought I read somewhere those seams were filled at the factory on the convertible, but all my closed Cutlass cars have that seam exposed.
This morning was all about making room at the garage for the cars so I could get the pace car under the LEDs and see what I have. I had to take the other two cars out, put the casters on the lift, and move the lift back a bit to fit the car in.
For a driver, this is pretty clean. I need to examine further but I think that’s a reproduction core support.
The brake booster appears to have a leak. A few interesting wires and connectors, too. I would like to send the booster and MC out for a rebuild and replating.
Not sure why there aren’t any connectors to the bottom of the horn relay but again I’m not at AC guy so maybe that’s something different.
The short inner fender bolts have to be swapped for the correct ones. I think I have a spare set of plug wires.
Ideally, it may be easiest to just pull the engine and detail, clean up the engine bay, and drop it back in. I have the factory power steering pump ready to go after the rebuild.
Very cool. I love the history that you have been able to figure out too. Looks like it is in great hands. Thank you so much for all the details and detailed pictures. I look forward to learning more about it. 👍
That crack is the original seam where the quarter attaches to the dutchman panel. I thought I read somewhere those seams were filled at the factory on the convertible
That’s what I recall as well. From the discussions I’ve read over the years that cracking is common.
Nice car and I am sure we will all learn a lot about it and pace cars in general along the way. I knew you missed us.
Thanks, guys. Truthfully, I did miss this forum a bit. It has been enjoyable seeing my tips and tricks implemented throughout a bunch of the projects on here, and I am hoping to share more. On this car, since convertibles are so foreign to me, I’ll be asking a lot of questions.
The brake lights are unfortunately stuck on. I poked my head under the dash and all I could see were the under dash AC vents. I hate AC cars for a multitude of reasons and now I have one more reason. I need to take down the plastic duct work by the switch and see what the issue is as pulling up on the brake pedal arm didn’t work.
The brake lights are unfortunately stuck on. I poked my head under the dash and all I could see were the under dash AC vents. I hate AC cars for a multitude of reasons and now I have one more reason. I need to take down the plastic duct work by the switch and see what the issue is as pulling up on the brake pedal arm didn’t work.
Looked at the brake switch last night and it was aligned to the pedal arm. The switch itself needed a few turns inward so the arm could depress the tip of the switch. The hardest part was reaching the plug to undo it so I could make additional turns on the switch without twisting the wires. Brake lights are now working.
Last night was my first real opportunity to dive in to the car a bit deeper. Overall, the car is clean. For a frame off, it has some really great detail but has about 10 years of wear and tear and about 13k miles. A lot of little areas have flash rust so I attribute that to lack of oiling and probably driving in the rain and excessive car washing. I know it sounds crazy, but I never take a hose or wash my Classic cars for this very reason. [insert comments from the idiot that says the cars were meant to be driven blah blah]
A few more observations.
The OAI base is original. Need to get the correct decal from Chris.
The snorkel end is a joke. Gotta wonder how stuff like that even happens.
Original adapter is long gone. GM resto piece is nice but this has the 455 seal.
I think this is the correct number for the 55A alternator but it’s shot. Might look for a better date code as a late 69 doesn’t work for a March 1970 car.
The harness is new but it has already been cut to accommodate the new alternator. Likely going to replace it.
Missing the rubber on the trunk latch. The stainless screws have a little rust.
These appear to be either original or NOS pins.
An original radiator tag but positioned incorrectly.
7040250 appears to be correct, I think. I need to brush up on the codes for a ‘70 350 with AC.
Secondary hood latch is loose.
Need to pull the latch. The plating is incorrect and the hood is not closing right.
Here is how the car sits today. Since the restoration, the car has a little over 13k miles on it. A few bumps and bruises along the way, however, a great starting point to bring a bit of freshness back to the car.
Not sure what caused these cracks but they also need to be repaired. Any ideas on the cause?
More than likely the body shop ground the lead filler out of there. I did that once, ONCE! My blue car cracked before it ever hit the road after doing it over, I think it was picking it up on a 4 point lift. Convertibles can really get some sag when picked up that way with no roof tying things together. What I learned from that is to weld that seam solid on A & F bodies . On your convertible it gets finished smooth, on a sedan, etc cut in a faux seam. No cracking, no rust, no nuthin. My car still sports it’s cracked seams 25 years later, I still swear if something happens requiring paint back there, I’ll fix em, otherwise they just remain, dormant and ignored.
….
Last edited by bccan; April 15th, 2022 at 04:06 PM.
I located a pair of flag poles that the seller promoted as being fabricated from one of the original sets off the 1972 Hurst. I want to drive this car around in local parades, and the flags just seem like an appropriate detail to have for a pace car.
The install was really straight forward. I removed both upper bumper bolts to the bracket (one at a time), placed the flag bracket around the lower lip of the bumper, and pulled up on the bracket to align the bolt back in to the bumper. The bracket does not slide when installed thanks to the bottom edge of the bumper.
In my opinion, despite what others may think they know, these look identical to the original brackets from pace car #1 and #2 with the exception of maybe a pin to hold the flag pole in the tube towards the bottom. See below.
Lastly, if anyone has a source for custom flags or flag poles please let me know!
Hi, Linda.
Disregard these horrendous tailpipes!
The image below is from the 1970 Magic Circle. The gentleman in the pace car is Harlan Fengler who was the Chief Steward of the Indy 500.
I thought maybe there was a pin at the bottom but after zooming in it appears to be the reflection from the lower bumper bolt behind the bracket.
Last edited by WTHIRTY1; April 18th, 2022 at 12:00 PM.
The power top won’t go up on the pace car. I knew this before I bought the car which played in to the price. The previous owner said the red fluid drained out, and I can see the mess it left behind in the back seat area. My understanding is the top has been in the down position for at least 3+ years.
How do I figure out what caused the leak? It’s hard to see any cracks in the plastic lines. The fluid definitely isn’t in the lines anymore? The fittings all equally look dirty. Looking for any advice on triage. Should I hit the switch and see if I can locate the leak?
I also learned the back seat is original as our the rear door panels and windlace. I suspect the front door panels may be original, too.
To me that looks like the typical leak at the cylinder shaft seals. For troubleshooting, clean everything, fill the reservoir, operate the switch so the top attempts to go up and down, and look where the fluid is leaking. Again, I suspect leaky shaft seals based on your pictures.
To me that looks like the typical leak at the cylinder shaft seals. For troubleshooting, clean everything, fill the reservoir, operate the switch so the top attempts to go up and down, and look where the fluid is leaking. Again, I suspect leaky shaft seals based on your pictures.
I will give that a try. Since I’m new to ragtops, where does one actually fill the fluid? I’ll get my service manual out in the morning. If it’s the shaft seals, I assume they need to come out and be rebuilt?
The manual has the filling info. There is a rubber plug on the side of the reservoir.
As for the cylinders, they are a tube with the top crimped, so rebuilding would be difficult if not impossible, and if even possible would definitely take specialized equipment. New cylinders are around $120 from various sources. Hydro Electric is one that comes to mind.
Another thing to be aware of is the plastic fittings on OEM cylinders are easily stripped when connecting hydraulic lines so be aware. You will also need to bleed the system of air with a line and container of fluid. I believe the procedure may be in the Fisher manual?
Last edited by scrappie; April 20th, 2022 at 02:59 AM.
Congrats on the new project
Tip always park a convertible with the top up do not leave down for long periods of time I/e months or years they may leak
Alain red W-31
One thing I found with my top cylinders was that the connections on the sides of the cylinder were barely finger tight (same leaking everywhere like you're seeing). While they still should be rebuilt during my restoration, simply tightening the fittings was enough to get the top working well again and stopped the ridiculous leaking I was seeing. How they got so loose, I don't know.
One thing I found with my top cylinders was that the connections on the sides of the cylinder were barely finger tight (same leaking everywhere like you're seeing). While they still should be rebuilt during my restoration, simply tightening the fittings was enough to get the top working well again and stopped the ridiculous leaking I was seeing. How they got so loose, I don't know.
Probably because the required torque on those plastic fittings is so little?
Ordered two new cylinders from Tamraz along with new hoses. The owner that restored the car confirmed that the parts were indeed the originals to the car.
I think the most challenging part is going to be cleaning the mess the fluid left behind.
First, I want to comment how much easier it is to work on a convertible than the hardtop. With the high bay LED lights in the garage, it makes working, and actually seeing what I am doing, so much better!
I decided to replace the carpet. 13k miles of dust and dirt need to go. Besides, I want to do the cuts the right way, and this carpet is configured for the seats to go over it.
Tonight, I ended up removing the front belts which weren’t even tightened nor were the correct bolts used. I need to check my notes but I thought the longer bolts were used on the two inboard bolts. Anyone remember? Also, the plastic cover for the inboard belts did t have the tiny snap like on my 31.
The sill plates came out next. They’re nice repops and even have fake “bumps” on the Fisher Body tags to replicate the rivets. These plates are dinged to high hell so I will likely get replacements. In this “restoration” reproduction parts are king.
I removed the screws for the console but didn’t have the nut drivers at the new garage so I only made it so far. It looks like the shifter may have been spray bombed with a chrome paint, too.
Still waiting on the new top cylinders and hoses, too.
The tags are not great but I’m going to leave them.
Last night consisted of finishing the removal of the console, shifter, kick plate under the pedals, and carpet.
The neutral safety switch is disconnected at the white plastic piece. I’m wondering if the transporters did this not understanding how the shifter mechanics worked.
The shifter will be disassembled and cleaned / detailed. The lower metal portion that screws to the floor has been painted so I will strip the paint in a vat of Evaporust.
Final activity will be to remove the front and rear door panels. I’m hoping my interior guy can stretch the original vinyl to cover a few cracks. If anyone has factory black vinyl material from SMS, I’d be interested in a few feet!
NSS switch arm is disconnected.
The carpet slit explains why the carpet is bunched up on the sides.
Really looking forward to cutting the new carpet to snake the console harness properly.
Some of the rubber material under the shifter and came up when I removed the shifter. The underpayment appears to be glued to the pans.
Need to get this all back together by May 13th. Felt really good to get back to removing hardware and tagging it!
You are correct about the core support being replaced, original one had to much rust/rot...was easier to just replace it !
Joe! What’s up, buddy? It still blows my mind how rotted this car was. I want to say it had been off the road since the late 80’s so it must have loved a rough first few years.
How you doing ? Yeah like I had said when we first talked, this car was rusted out pretty good, I see you must have looked at my Prefect finish F/B page and then posted a few pic's of the cars floors being replaced, cause my customer never posted any pictures of the metal work on here...wanted everyone to thing in was a solid car ! LOL
How you doing ? Yeah like I had said when we first talked, this car was rusted out pretty good, I see you must have looked at my Prefect finish F/B page and then posted a few pic's of the cars floors being replaced, cause my customer never posted any pictures of the metal work on here...wanted everyone to thing in was a solid car ! LOL
I believe in transparency—especially around the original state of the car. I actually felt better after seeing your pictures because then I knew nothing was hidden with filler, paint, etc. It’s all metal and that is comforting for something 52+ years old.
I ordered new cylinders and hoses for the power top through Tamraz. They use a company called Hypac Inc. for their products which is a Kentucky based company specializing in hydraulics.
The cylinders look nice. Quality appears to be good, and the hoses (and likely the cylinders) are US made.
This will be a new endeavor for me so I am looking for advice on bleeding the hydraulics.
Last edited by WTHIRTY1; April 28th, 2022 at 01:59 PM.
This afternoon I started removing the cylinders in the pace car. I undid the lower fitting on the RH side and let it drain on to a rag. No red fluid. Instead, it appeared to be what looks and smells like motor oil. Because of that, I pulled the pump as well.
The factory hoses were a little brittle. The fittings were surprisingly all tight. Regardless, new hoses, cylinders, and now pump are going in.
I manually pulled the top up. I think it has been in the down position for several years. The previous owner thinks it has been down since March of 2018. If the sun would ever shine in Chicago, I'd push the car outside to soften the vinyl a bit.
Someone had asked how I took the picture at this angle. No, it's not a drone; my garage has a lofted area to it.
Last edited by WTHIRTY1; May 2nd, 2022 at 07:44 AM.
New pump ordered today. A close friend recommended the pump from Ames and said that's what his shop uses on their restorations.
I ended up ordering new ACC black carpeting as well. For those looking for carpet, make sure you shop around! I gave my business to Tamraz for the carpet. Their price was lower than everyone else AND they they'll ship it for free. The supplier I have used in the past was $16.31 cents more expensive for the carpet PLUS they wanted $39.25 for shipping. I'm pretty sure most of the suppliers are having the carpets drop shipped to the consumer, anyways.
I started on the tear down of the factory automatic shifter and neutral safety switch today. Not sure if the switch should have come apart the at it did, but I I was able to slide it off the black plastic.
Looks like someone opted to spray paint the hardware where it should have been re-plated. Looks as though some bare metal parts also received paint. I’m trying to strip the paint right now, and I will oil the bare metal when I reassemble.
As for the NSS, is anyone familiar with getting this back together properly?
One final note. The new pump arrived for the top today. Ames Pontiac apparently sources their pumps from Convertible Top Specialists out of Florida. A friend who I trust suggested hooking everything up, priming the pump, and then run a hose from a jug of trans fluid in to the pump, actuate the pump with the switch, and keep doing it until air is out of the lines. Thoughts?
Painted TR bolts. Ugh.
Looks like whoever rebuilt this shifter previously put the spacer on the incorrect side. My understanding is that it goes on the right side.
Kinda messy. Need to get the grease out.
Assuming this is the rubber plug to fill the fluid.
Beautiful car and story. You wouldn't happen to have a link to the 69 video would you? My buddy is a huge 69 Pace Car fan and I wanted to show him the video but my searches keep coming up empty.
April 8th, 2022, 07:31 AM
Congrats on the new project 
