Differential in place, looks A1 - but maybe more like A2 - the caliper at 10 o'clock is not optimal. Would have been better at 9 or 8 o'clock for clearance.
1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham
- Thread starter gdouaire
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- 4-door build thread cutlass
Differential in place, looks A1 - but maybe more like A2 - the caliper at 10 o'clock is not optimal. Would have been better at 9 or 8 o'clock for clearance.
I don't think so, but will have to test to be 100% sure - depends on how much travel there is.
Everything connected, even the parking brake cables...
Next step routing these custom cables up front & connecting them to the front pedal cable via "some contraption".
Had to reverse the park brake gizmos from the top of the calipers to the bottom. Pretty easy to do, just swap both brackets180 degrees and now the clearance between the brake and the frame is A1. Involved some welding. Because I am using custom park brake cables, won't matter much. Will just look weird...
Conclusion: never locate the rear caliper at 2 O'Clock (L), more like 3 or even 4.
Conclusion: never locate the rear caliper at 2 O'Clock (L), more like 3 or even 4.
First drive: the brakes are still a bit mushy (will need to re-bleed ). The change from the 2.42 to 3.73 differential is somewhat noticeable, but that engine is such a slug...
fresh rims, new tires... new center caps are a side-effect! Found 3 NOS in perfect shape.
sooooo.... there have been many changes on that car:
- new tires
- new tires on rim, re-balanced, etc.
- new differential core
- new differential ratio ( 2.43 to 3.73 ), this thing is also limited slip
- new rear links + bushings
- from rear brake drums to rear calipers
Driving the car to evaluate all these changes is a challenge. Too many changes. Impressions:
- The rear brake lines still have air in them. Have adjusted the rear prop valve to get more rear bias, I get a mushier pedal. will need to re-re-re-bleed this. Several hard stops show lukewarm caliper on rear driver side, but not on the rear passenger side. Not working yet.
- For the first time ever, looking at the speedometer, the speed indicated is accurate. the 200-4R (and the speedo gears that installed in it) came from a Monte Carlo SS, so the new 3.73 is a match 🙂 This is good!
- There's a definite whine, coming from "somewhere", as the car speed up over 60 km/h. The whine is there only when I press the accelerator pedal. Likely a differential whine. Will need to run a bit more on the highway. Not impossible that the diff I bought several years ago was... not setup correctly!
- Once everything was set, I cleaned the whitewall, turns out one out on four tire looks bad, see picture below. Not gonna protest much, but.... thought this would clean up as I removed the blue dye.
- new tires
- new tires on rim, re-balanced, etc.
- new differential core
- new differential ratio ( 2.43 to 3.73 ), this thing is also limited slip
- new rear links + bushings
- from rear brake drums to rear calipers
Driving the car to evaluate all these changes is a challenge. Too many changes. Impressions:
- The rear brake lines still have air in them. Have adjusted the rear prop valve to get more rear bias, I get a mushier pedal. will need to re-re-re-bleed this. Several hard stops show lukewarm caliper on rear driver side, but not on the rear passenger side. Not working yet.
- For the first time ever, looking at the speedometer, the speed indicated is accurate. the 200-4R (and the speedo gears that installed in it) came from a Monte Carlo SS, so the new 3.73 is a match 🙂 This is good!
- There's a definite whine, coming from "somewhere", as the car speed up over 60 km/h. The whine is there only when I press the accelerator pedal. Likely a differential whine. Will need to run a bit more on the highway. Not impossible that the diff I bought several years ago was... not setup correctly!
- Once everything was set, I cleaned the whitewall, turns out one out on four tire looks bad, see picture below. Not gonna protest much, but.... thought this would clean up as I removed the blue dye.
Riding and fine-tuning the car. One front caliper is misbehaving, again... but nothing else to report 🙂
Next step: front suspension party!
Next step: front suspension party!
