1970 Olds Cutlass S Rat Rod Style

Well, I got the two step start setup. I still have a vibration but it is much less than before, at lower rpm, under throttle. I also opened the throttle plates up more and it actually increased the idle, especially helped when cold. It seemed to help the tune, less lean spikes. For some reason the wipers sh*t the bed, power there. I pissed around forever getting the passenger front signal working. It had filled with water before. I pulled out the contacts with pliers, used dielectric grease, changed the bulb and sealed the housing with RTV.

Got my 4L80E cover, only the main piece, seller said both. Of course, I had to modify the cover, interfered with the starter. I am picking up thin aluminum to cover the rest of the front where the flexplate is. I used the cut pieces and JB Weld to cover the hole, will let it sit overnight.

I had to remove the passenger side structure, it was making contact as well as tap thr bolt holes. The thin aluminum is almost to thin, crinkles up, I may double it up. I measured, cut and installed with 3/8" stainless bolts, washers and lock nuts.

So many hours spent and not a lot accomplished. So I started the day by marrying Cutlassefi's tune to my 4L80E. Of course the Holley files are poorly labeled. I tried the default and another, one has shift tables, the other did not. Both did a weird in and out of gear. So that marriage ended in divorce. I then installed the 4/0 gauge, made in USA lifetime crimp Spartan 4 foot battery cables, a steal at $80 shipped. The negative was just long enough to attach to the back of the block. The positive was the same length as factory. We'll the lug was so big it grounded out and pretty sure it fried my battery disconnect. Ground down the lug, should be good. I also found my 3 year old valve cover grommets are falling apart.

I went on the Holley EFI forum. I tried the AT trans tune, only had first this time. I then used the NT tune, trans works as it should now. Will see how it works this week.

Surprised the battery disconnect still works. Unfortunately when I the oil yet again, it didn't start! The fuel pump wasn't running found the battery ground was tight and came disconnected. Still no fuel pump, could jump it. Replaced the Mr.Gasket 5 pin relay. Still no, injectors aren't turning on, so it may be the Holley relay. I need to check for power, ordered two more just in case. I just want to drive my car!

bracketchev1221 said:

Unfortunately this seems to be the side of EFI you don't see on TV. When they work they are great, when they don't there is no easy fix and its hours of headache. I've seen more than a few people just finally give up and put a carburetor back on the car because they just CANNOT get it to work.

Click to expand...

Yes, a custom Qjet built by me and a Progression small cap electronic timing control distributor would have passed for stock and ran better for about $3500 less! I could have put the money into milled Procomp heads with a roller cam and had 100 more Horsepower and Torque! I am wondering if it is the cheap transducer reading 10 pounds low fuel pressure and or the big 48 pound injectors not playing nice? Either way, very disappointing for the money invested.

Well, I have been driving the car daily. I played around with adjusting the primary throttle blade opening on the Speedmaster throttle body. Too much, hot idle climbs too high and too little and cold idle is like 500 rpm. Mark's tune is massively better than the awful stock tune but it still likes to usually stall once and flash lean for at least the first block or so of driving. Then it runs pretty nice. I do notice a vibration around town, thought it was timing related. Mark's tune pulls part throttle timing as it heats up, which is good. I do wish it had a couple more degrees full throttle, around 32 WOT. I put it in the screen mode that shows what gear I am in, getting into 4th gear at 30+ mph around town! So yeah, the motor is lugging for sure. I went with Holley's stock 4L80E shift graphs. I could tweak for a later 4th gear shift. But I think putting in the 3.08 and modified ferd 8.8 Yukon posi is the way to go. Add more launch fun and just bring the rpm high enough to stay in 3rd around town. Currently around 1700 rpm at 60 mph. It will still be just under 2000 rpm at 60 mph. I bought a complete master overhaul for the 8.5" Type differential with new axles seals and new Chinese bearings just for the new retainers. JD Race tries the factory axle bearings, no replacements are as good. I bought another factory chassis service manual, mine went missing. Taking it tomorrow to my Daughter's garage, 2.5 car vs my 1 car garage. I also have my press there, will need it. Visit this week and start the overhaul next weekend. I also ordered a W27 reproduction aluminum differential cover. They are on back order for the Olds 12 bolt cover at most places. Plenty of 10 bolt a d 12 bolt type C available. The only other cover available is the very expensive US made LPW girdle cover, talking over $400 Canadian shipped, if there are any in stock. Parrs Place has them, ordered one $175 shipped. Supposedly a US made vs Taiwan made reproduction. I want bling with this $1500 gear and posi upgrade. It does add a half quart of gear oil and looks cool. I have seen the raised rear lettering portion polished and looks fantastic, I will do the same. I will also paint the center section aluminum and the axles black like a real aluminum center section W27 rear. I got 3 liters 85W140 free from work due to a damaged jug. Our gear oil is supposed to be limited slip friendly but I have CRC additive, I will add to make sure there is no chatter. We know a 2.78 to 3.08 open to posi upgrade will actually add performance and with a .75 OD and lock up torque converter, very leisurely at any highway speed. The only option I plan on adding is the 5" Holley Sniper/Terminator display mounted over my factory speedometer. The 3.5" actually has mph speedometer built in but is tiny, as is the tach feature. The 5" has much better sized and multiple options with an actual GPS antenna. Otherwise no more money spent on this pit. I am wondering if my cheap $20 vs $200 transducer for the fuel pressure, oil and fuel both read around 10 pounds lowers than mechanical gauges. I wonder if it is part if my cold driving issues, along with too big of fuel injectors. I went to big talking 48 pounds with dreams for the future. Maybe the big injectors are less precise and low speeds? I also either have a noisy serpentine belt setup, found my pulley bolts loose and a replaced a failing idler pulley. I am pulling valve covers to make sure there are no loose rockers. I have the oil a bunch of times and filters in between oil changes, looked better the last couple of times. There was some minor glitter in this last Wix filter, may just be left over. I have used VR1 10W30 with a liter or two of the VR1 20W50. Oil pressure is 80 cold and at lowest 35 on the mechanical gauge at idle. I switched to A Premium Chinese made oil filters. I know, saw no difference in oil pressure, maybe slightly more if anything. They are well made and half the price of the Wix. I tired of paying $20 a filter up here. I couldn't get the B39 Baldwin through work, warehouse no longer stocks that number. The B9 we have on the shelf, won't filt with my headers, a bummer. We have the B34 and B2 on shelf, only the B34 will fit on my Dakota as well. Thought we'll they probably have the B39 available, nope.

There is no excessive play on the rocker arms. Tiny bit on 3 sets. The flipped them around and they were better. It seems to work on non adjustable factory rocker arms. I also found this, I can't believe it did run worse than it did. Fixing it didn't change how I runs on cold start.

Broke off right at the cap, weird. All the rest of the wires look fine. Either ready to drop it off at my Daughter's place.