1970 Olds Cutlass S Rat Rod Style

[olds307 and 403]

Well, I went to the machine shop, the bad, I didn't come home with my 358 short block. The good, it is all assembled but the bill wasn't done and they had to do a couple of final checks. There were some issues with the crank now fixed. Apparently I mixed up a couple of pistons and rod orientation and a couple of rings all fixed. He suggested I send the rest of the parts for them to degree the cam and make sure geometry is spot on. Of course he showed me their dyno room and they have Olds V8's dyno headers. It is about $900 for a dyno session. Decisions to make.

 

[olds307 and 403]

This Accel DFI EFi distributor arrived, just need lines, pump and a Terminator to complete the EFI. I will be calling the machine shop for the final short block cost later this week.

 

[olds307 and 403]

Well the short block in the Challenger's trunk, $2250 later. Supposedly emailing the clearances...

 

[olds307 and 403]

My Wife guessed 3 grand, I was hoping for around a grand. About half way between as it ended up. From my rough measurements, it looks like the pistons are .002 to .003" in the hole, basically a finger nail. If accurate, I need 66cc chambers with the Felpro and 65cc with the thicker Mr Gasket to be at 9.5 to 1. Those Mahle 3436 VC, Victor as mentioned, head gaskets are bigger than my 4.100" bore. Couldn't find a balancer bolt but it turns over very easy with just the balancer by hand. I will get a torque wrench on it to see how little drag the 1mm ring pack has.

 

[olds307 and 403]

lost one center cap, went with a different longer style for the 15"×10" rims.

 

[olds307 and 403]

I got the TH350 out and drained. Got a new torque converter and tail shaft seal with bushing. I also have the big Transgo shift kit to install. Also have a 2000 to 2200 stall converter. It will be the back up trans till the TKX 5 speed. I also cleaned and painted the master cylinder and booster with VHT Black Engine Metallic.

 

[olds307 and 403]

So I put a Transgo 1-2 shift kit in this TH350 with red pressure regulator spring and the dual feed plate. I added the white and yellow governor springs and new cover O ring. I changed torque converter seal. That took way too long and will leave the tail shaft bushing and seal for another time. Another issue is the modulator valve diaphragm is shot. It was sucking ATF into the motor no doubt, it was losing fluid. This trans was shifting soft. Fair bit of clutch material when I first dropped the pan. Not much this time but some metal on the magnetic drain plug. Hopefully this will just be an incase the 2004R dies transmission.

 

[olds307 and 403]

Motor on the mounts, passenger header and trans is basically in place. I filled the Napa 1258 oil filter with Lucas 30W break in oil. The Canton 6 qt pan is even with the crossmember, pretty ideal.

 

[olds307 and 403]

My Davies Craig hose adapter and screw in sensor arrived. Also my free crossover plugs arrived from skyhigh, thanks Dave!

 

[olds307 and 403]

Dumped the break in oil in the crankcase. The temp sensor plug and drain plug still has minor seepage on the Canton pan. I got the drivers header in place and the motor mount cross bolts in and tight. I also got some minor body work started.