Inline Tube - 1970 Cutlass W-31 Restoration - From Start to Finish Part 1&2

Inline Tube 1970 Cutlass W-31 Restoration

We have begun this restoration with a car right here from Lansing, MI - W-31 with lots of special options and extreme W - performance. This car had s super low miles of 23,000 and not a belt clamp or screw has been taken off before we got to it. This is another treasure of information with low miles and all the original equipment.

This car is a white with blue W-31 350cid performance. It is 4 Speed, W-31, with all the go fast items, with all the go fast options. Disc brakes, rally gauges, w-25 hood, dog dish wheels, radio delete.

Every thing is so clean we will have a pretty quick restoration, not a single rust hole and no missing or broken pieces to hunt down - just tear it down and put it back together, with all the factory details. Note the color of the screws and the visible glue and in the door jam the body was painted first then the dash color blue was applied with no tape line - the blue overspray is everywhere. The interior is like brand new we will be reusing the door panels, seats and it will get a good cleaning - Nothing beat the original date coded pieces.

The latch was in the door and painted over and so were the screws. The top of the cowl is black and has the dash blue overspray all over it again. The cowl seal is glued and clipped. and here is the vin on the blue sticker this started in 70.

The firewall seam sealer is just gooped into place and the firewall is clearly flatter black then the heater box. Notice where the fire wall and cowl meet the paint is so thin you can see where it is missed and bare metal. These cars had so little paint, just enough to cover. The inspector stamps are also a great detail - Inline Tube makes all these stamps. The trunk is another area that you can see all the layers of paint and the overspray.

Again this trunk had barley enough to cover, we see bare metal, trunk paint, white overspray but no hard lines or masking lines. You can see right into the back seat the cardboard on this car is facing out but we have also seen it face in with the jute exposed. The package tray also had the jute exposed. the jack is grey and will be an easy restore.

Most of the trunk floor under the trunk matt had no coating you are seeing white body color over spray on the floor. The latch and any item that was exposed exposed once the trunk matt was in place had trunk spatter paint on it. Why no coating under the matt - lazy assembly line workers.

The trunk decals are still in place and somewhat straight compared to many other cars we have seen - that guy must of been a good worker. On the front cowl at the windhield you can see the black cowl was painted, then the white body, then the trim color of the dash. The blue overspray is all over the top of the cowl.

You can see the black dye in the spring perch but the spring was bare phosphate. The rear axle was bare steel, installed in the car and once there was a rolling chassis they went back with the spray gun and shot black paint over all the bare areas staying away from moving parts like the brakes. Under the tank you can see the gas tank pad, and the body plug in the trunk floor still has and ulgy drip of the white seam sealer. The color of the body mount is very bright. The rear spring tags are red and the rear seat belt anchor is zinc put on after by the trim shop. This car was never undercoated and on the floors you can see all the white paint. The gas tank is galvanized and you can see only a hint of rust where the two half's were welded together. The straps are also galvanized. The frame, bumper brackets were black dye but most of it is now gone. between the brackets it is clearly black but so thin it could not of lasted long. The frame and other larger brackets were not painted they were dipped, you can see the streaks and runs in the dye and they all run in one direction. The frames were stood on end and dipped. The body mount is also clearly a green/blue color. There were different sizes and shapes and they were identified by solid colors and strips.

Part 2 - Now it is ready to go back together

7:30 AM This car had plenty of bare steel suspension parts. It was not undercoated and they did not take the black spray gun to this one much. The rear drums were also bare. We have seen on the rally wheels cars where you can see the drum through the wheel the drums are blacked out on the face. The hardware is all plated, most of it was black phosphate, with a little silver and gold.

Springs, center link, more suspension parts all gray phosphate. We took the entire car apart down to every last bolt and sorted it all by color blasted it and had it plated all at once to save some money. Since this car is so low mile we are reusing everything we can . All these parts have date codes and manufacture stamps and if we replace anything all that will be lost.

Even the W-27 rear end is in the best shape we have every seen one. We blasted everything, painted all the pieces with different colors of silver and cast to duplicate the bare metal finish to all the parts. We decided to paint the black on the axle tubes only on the back upper side. We stayed off the center section and you can see it gives a great detail to the rear end seeing the color difference. Also sprayed the backing plates. We put the Inline tube Cables, lines, hoses, and drum stuff on after although from the factory the black paint would be over all the hardware.

The bare frame is now ready to go back together. It took 8 hours and 3 of us to get it to the rolling chassis stage in the last photo. We used lots of Inline tube new under body hardware. the lift also helped us get all around the car in minutes flat.

10:00 am and all the front suspension is on and the rear is in but we had none of the drum brake stuff ready and this really slowed us down. The brake and fuel lines from Inline tube went on in minutes. We colored all the factory clips to match the originals. Making sure you have all the parts ready and planning ahead can save tones of time in the end. These are new backing plates and caliper brackets from inline tube.

All the brake & fuel lines, parking brake cables, flex hoses, clips, cable hardware, and line tags came from Inline Tube. Body mounts and rubber control arm bushings were also from Inline Tube. Having all the parts detailed and ready to be assembled back on the car made it a fast gratifying day.

1:00 pm and most of the big parts are in place and we are working on some of the smaller details.

2:00 PM The axle is looking great. We painted and reused most of the drum springs but some of the items it was more cost effective to buy them new from inline tube and bolt them on. Some of the small hardware is time consuming to restore, If it is in good shape it must be bead blasted, sorted, sent out to be plated, sorted again, and this takes a few days or you can buy new and bolt it on. We used some new and some old. We bead blasted all the drum springs and went to the local hardware store bought all the colors and painted them up.

The upper ball joint was bolted in with the inline tube special rivets, the new correct end links and sway bar bushings also came from Inline Tube. You can see the new factory correct disc brake hose, mounting bracket and black brake hose clip. All GM cars had black flex hose clips and the tang on the top is the full length. All these detail items came from inline tube. We had the gear box rebuilt ,plated a few pieces, painted it cast and put it back together.

The front of the fuel lines run through the frame and only a little bit sticks through. Inline Tube made the gas hose stampers. We sprayed out some paint on a board stamped in the paint then on the hose and after a few tries we were getting it perfect. This hose is used at the front and back of the car at the fuel pump and the sending unit. Notice the distribution block is cast iron and a rectangular block with a bolt on bracket. We have seen many times the other style brass unit. Both are correct just 2 different manufactures. All the inline tube brake lines are the OEM style with the tin coating and the color coated ends. the different colors are the different sizes so the assembly line worker could not screw it in the wrong hole. The inline tube front parking brake cable is also installed through the frame. the silver bracket is for the reverse lock out on the steering column.

3:00 pm the frame is looking complete and and we are working all cover getting the final pieces back on. The inline tube shocks come painted the flat grey ready to bolt on. The rear spring were phosphate with the upper and lower rear control arms. the rear drum backing plate was shot with black paint staying away from any moving pieces or the brakes. On an original car the black would be over the lines cables, shocks, spring and any other parts that were in the way. The factory line worker was instructed to shoot all the bare metal areas. Sometimes this spray is very heave and other times, like this car it was light. These cars from the factory were a mess, body over spray on everything, black paint sprayed all over the bottom. then came the undercoating , and the interior spray. The paint was thin the cars were never masked off and 40 years ago we never noticed, just drove em.

Lots of the suspension bolts had colors on the ends of the bolts, this must of been for identification and the nuts threaded over the color. Notice the yellow ends on the suspension control arm bolts. The rear end cover bolts are silver. Bolts and hardware was usually the same color as the components it was bolting together so it did not draw your eyes to it or look out of place. Since the rear end cover was silver so were the bolts and on a normal rear end they were grey phosphate. Rear drums were blacked out on rally wheel cars because you could see through the spokes. Hub cap cars and dog dish cars had no spray.

There were plenty of inspection marks all over the car. The motor mounts are marked since they could of gone in 3 different locations, suspension bolts were double checked and marked to prove it. There were also plenty of tags on parts to identify them to the line workers. To plenty of these guys it was just a job - W-machine meant nothing it was just another car coming off the line. Usually anything on the build sheet had an identification code sticker or marking. These were paper tags meant only to last as long as it took the car to get to the dealer. So many of them are replaced by years of rust, dirt and road grime. Tags were on build sheet options like: brake types - disc /drum, springs, shocks, sway bars, fuel lines, axles and much more.

The inline tube brake and fuel lines fit like a glove and we colored all the inline clips to give that factory look. Just like the end fitting all the clips were colored for identification. There were many different clips and the color changed on most of them depending on the size of the fuel line, brake line routings, if the car had a return fuel line or if it was a hardtop or convertible. The tires are original style from Coker. The rims are black both sides and the blue is on the front side only with the over spray going through to the back side through the slots and the edge, again nothing was masked off - time is money and it takes too much time to mask off parts.

4:00pm The final touches are going on. All the inline tube detail stickers are in place the brakes are buttoned up wheels are back on and we are off the lift and a rolling chassis. We are ready to work on some body work - get the engine and trans going

5:00pm the work day is over and the frame is done.

Sources:

Inlinetube - Brake & Fuel Lines, Parking Brake Cables, Hoses, Valves, Brake & Fuel Clips, Disc Brakes

15066 Technology Drive
Shelby Twp, MI 48315
586 532 1338

www.Inlinetube.com

Wings Auto Art - Body, Paint, Assembly

Nyle Wing
Ionia, Michigan 48846
PH (989) 855-2577

www.wingsautoart.com

Palmetto Enterprises - Grey Phosphate Plating

2311 A Old Parker Road
Greenville, SC 29609
PH (864) 246 3836

Strip IT - Media Blasting

36427 Groesbeck Highway
Clinton Township, MI 48035
PH (586) 792-7705

Bob’s Boosters - Slver, Gold, Black Zinc Plating

East Point, MI
PH (586) 774 8883