How much centrifigul advance does your new distributor have and wnen is it all in by? If you don't know, you would be wise to have your mechanic friend find out for you.
307 to 403 Olds swap...info please?
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I'm sitting here flabbergasted. Neil just called. He's had the car two days, and in those two days has it almost all sorted out. I'm really amazed...it's all in getting someone that knows what they are doing!!
Engine Work:
- Installed the new aftermarket distributor, set the correct timing
- Adjusted the new Edelbrock carb
- Found a vaccum hose that was leaking, replaced, idles smooth now.
- Found coolant leaks at the t-stat housing and lower hose. Fixed.
- Put a notch in the Edelbrock intake manifold and made up a new rod for the cruise control from the diaphram to the carb.
Electrical Work:
- He cut the ECM harness off and totally removed it from under the hood. Says it's great to SEE the engine.
- Pulled rest of ECM harness out through the firewall and removed ECM altogether from the under dash kick panel. Welcome to 1971 again!
- Ran new power line from stock dashboard ECM wiring through the firewall grommit for the electric choke
- Removed the circuit board out of the 'remote lamp driver' and now the Check Engine light is out.
- Jumped the wires under the dash on the ECM wiring to ground the a/c compressor
- Did the wire mod for the cruise control so it reads the speedo speed sensor again
He said the car runs great now. Hahahaha! Starts easy, good idle, good power. Wow! I can't wait to drive it! Said he hit the cruise control at 45mph and it came right one and held fine...that's NEVER worked!! Hahaha!
He gave me a great price for all that work too. Worth every penny!
He DID say I need to put a Monte SS/442/Grand National rear in the car, as the current 2.56 or 2.73 rear is silly. He says I HAVE to replace that single exhaust. Haha, I know, as time and money allows that WILL be done. He thinks the older aftermarket cat may be clogged. With the exhaust and rear he said it'll be quick. For now, he said I'll like it a lot better regardless.
He also said the a/c compressor is coming on now, but is cycling. Car is still R-12, and he's not set up for that, so will take it to my a/c friend to top it off. I didn't discharge it when we did the motor swap, just layed it to the side. I'm sure it's just a tad low. I'm just tickled it's coming on now!
Car is going to Ricky at Aamco Transmissions next for the TCI overdrive mod for the 200R4. That'll be in two weeks. For now I'm going to just use 3rd gear to get the car home, and planning to do a big clean-up and detail under the hood. Pics soon.
I WILL be sending Neil business. Just can't say enough about his work and his speed!
Getting excited now. 😀
-Mike
I'm sitting here flabbergasted. Neil just called. He's had the car two days, and in those two days has it almost all sorted out. I'm really amazed...it's all in getting someone that knows what they are doing!!
Engine Work:
- Installed the new aftermarket distributor, set the correct timing
- Adjusted the new Edelbrock carb
- Found a vaccum hose that was leaking, replaced, idles smooth now.
- Found coolant leaks at the t-stat housing and lower hose. Fixed.
- Put a notch in the Edelbrock intake manifold and made up a new rod for the cruise control from the diaphram to the carb.
Electrical Work:
- He cut the ECM harness off and totally removed it from under the hood. Says it's great to SEE the engine.
- Pulled rest of ECM harness out through the firewall and removed ECM altogether from the under dash kick panel. Welcome to 1971 again!
- Ran new power line from stock dashboard ECM wiring through the firewall grommit for the electric choke
- Removed the circuit board out of the 'remote lamp driver' and now the Check Engine light is out.
- Jumped the wires under the dash on the ECM wiring to ground the a/c compressor
- Did the wire mod for the cruise control so it reads the speedo speed sensor again
He said the car runs great now. Hahahaha! Starts easy, good idle, good power. Wow! I can't wait to drive it! Said he hit the cruise control at 45mph and it came right one and held fine...that's NEVER worked!! Hahaha!
He gave me a great price for all that work too. Worth every penny!
He DID say I need to put a Monte SS/442/Grand National rear in the car, as the current 2.56 or 2.73 rear is silly. He says I HAVE to replace that single exhaust. Haha, I know, as time and money allows that WILL be done. He thinks the older aftermarket cat may be clogged. With the exhaust and rear he said it'll be quick. For now, he said I'll like it a lot better regardless.
He also said the a/c compressor is coming on now, but is cycling. Car is still R-12, and he's not set up for that, so will take it to my a/c friend to top it off. I didn't discharge it when we did the motor swap, just layed it to the side. I'm sure it's just a tad low. I'm just tickled it's coming on now!
Car is going to Ricky at Aamco Transmissions next for the TCI overdrive mod for the 200R4. That'll be in two weeks. For now I'm going to just use 3rd gear to get the car home, and planning to do a big clean-up and detail under the hood. Pics soon.
I WILL be sending Neil business. Just can't say enough about his work and his speed!
Getting excited now. 😀
-Mike
Well it's payday and I was supposed to pick up my Cutlass from Neil this morning, but as usual, had an issue. Neil said he went to start it up this morning to pull it out of the shop, and he heard a pop that sounded like a fuse blowing in the dash, and the blower stopped working. Doh!
He checked the fuse block and all the fuses are good. Now he's pulling out the radio and climate control head to see if something back there burned up.
It never fails! Hope he sorts it out today....I was hoping to take it to the cruise-in tomorrow night. Been over a year since I've had it at the cruise-in.
-Mike
He checked the fuse block and all the fuses are good. Now he's pulling out the radio and climate control head to see if something back there burned up.
It never fails! Hope he sorts it out today....I was hoping to take it to the cruise-in tomorrow night. Been over a year since I've had it at the cruise-in.
-Mike
Just had a HOT (96-degrees here today) but happy drive in my Cutlass! IT IS ALIVE again....only took....well...a year.... :|
Pics below....please understand I've not so much as wiped off the air cleaner yet. Will be cleaning and detailing under the hood this weekend...but after a year, figured it was time for pics!
So here we go. Neil gave me a good walk-through of what he did. ECM and wiring are in a pile in the trunk. You can SEE the engine under the hood now!
It runs, idles and drives GREAT. Much more power than the 307. Still not a monster, but the single exhaust and rear gearing suck. Will fix those soon!
He showed me the old distributor...and it was shot. Weights stuck. My fault, tried to go with used parts. New distritutor is in. Timing is set at 12 and advances to around 28. No ping, no hesitation. Starts easy, even hot.
Cruise control arm modded and and mounted to new carb. Wiring modded to work without the computer. Works like new. Set cruise at 70mph....holds fine!
Check engine light is out FOREVER!
A/C wiring fixed, and blower works again. Had a short in the blower switch, that's fixed too. Compressor is cycling...needs a charge, still R12. Will charge shortly. Does cool, but not COLD like it needs to be. Wiring done, and I can do the rest!
He also re-gapped the spark plugs. I put new 71 Olds 350 plugs in, gapped to the '71 specs I found, and he said they needed a bigger gap with the electronic ignition.
Lastly he tightened up the thermostat housing....I didn't have it tight and it was seeping, and replaced the lower radiator hose, which had a pinhole in it. I missed that as well.
Only a couple of outstanding issues (beyond how dirty the engine bay still is). I still have to order a lockup kit for the 200R4 transmission, so driving home I had to keep it in 3rd gear, and the other issue is it ran a bit hot going down the road. Averaged 220-240, and I know I have a 195 thermostat in it, and it has a new water pump. With the 307 it never went up to even halfway on the gauge. Was too hot to check the coolant when I got home. I hope it's just not topped off. Will check tonight.
Here's some pics!
On the road again!
Nasty old 307
Plan A. 350 installed....trying to keep the 307's carburetor, ECM computer, wiring, hoses and smog stuff. Ran like garbage, could not see the engine for all the hoses and crap. FAIL!!! Yanked it all off.
Plan B. 1971 Rocket 350 installed, NO computer/hose mess anymore, new Edelbrock carb and vaccum distributor. You can now SEE the new engine!
Old '88 307 at idle, in gear. No oil pressure
New 71 350, Oil pressure at idle in gear
Old 88 307 oil pressure while driving
New 71 350, Oil pressure while driving 😀
Next pics will be after underhood cleanup and detailing.
-Mike
Pics below....please understand I've not so much as wiped off the air cleaner yet. Will be cleaning and detailing under the hood this weekend...but after a year, figured it was time for pics!
So here we go. Neil gave me a good walk-through of what he did. ECM and wiring are in a pile in the trunk. You can SEE the engine under the hood now!
It runs, idles and drives GREAT. Much more power than the 307. Still not a monster, but the single exhaust and rear gearing suck. Will fix those soon!
He showed me the old distributor...and it was shot. Weights stuck. My fault, tried to go with used parts. New distritutor is in. Timing is set at 12 and advances to around 28. No ping, no hesitation. Starts easy, even hot.
Cruise control arm modded and and mounted to new carb. Wiring modded to work without the computer. Works like new. Set cruise at 70mph....holds fine!
Check engine light is out FOREVER!
A/C wiring fixed, and blower works again. Had a short in the blower switch, that's fixed too. Compressor is cycling...needs a charge, still R12. Will charge shortly. Does cool, but not COLD like it needs to be. Wiring done, and I can do the rest!
He also re-gapped the spark plugs. I put new 71 Olds 350 plugs in, gapped to the '71 specs I found, and he said they needed a bigger gap with the electronic ignition.
Lastly he tightened up the thermostat housing....I didn't have it tight and it was seeping, and replaced the lower radiator hose, which had a pinhole in it. I missed that as well.
Only a couple of outstanding issues (beyond how dirty the engine bay still is). I still have to order a lockup kit for the 200R4 transmission, so driving home I had to keep it in 3rd gear, and the other issue is it ran a bit hot going down the road. Averaged 220-240, and I know I have a 195 thermostat in it, and it has a new water pump. With the 307 it never went up to even halfway on the gauge. Was too hot to check the coolant when I got home. I hope it's just not topped off. Will check tonight.
Here's some pics!
On the road again!
Nasty old 307
Plan A. 350 installed....trying to keep the 307's carburetor, ECM computer, wiring, hoses and smog stuff. Ran like garbage, could not see the engine for all the hoses and crap. FAIL!!! Yanked it all off.
Plan B. 1971 Rocket 350 installed, NO computer/hose mess anymore, new Edelbrock carb and vaccum distributor. You can now SEE the new engine!
Old '88 307 at idle, in gear. No oil pressure
New 71 350, Oil pressure at idle in gear
Old 88 307 oil pressure while driving
New 71 350, Oil pressure while driving 😀
Next pics will be after underhood cleanup and detailing.
-Mike
Car looks great, but 28* total timing? That's WAY too low. You should be at about 36* total all in by about 3000.
Put your base timing at 20 ( which what the stock Olds engines were set to ) and that would put your total to were it should be. Are you running ported or manifold vacuum?
Put your base timing at 20 ( which what the stock Olds engines were set to ) and that would put your total to were it should be. Are you running ported or manifold vacuum?
DoubleV said:
Good tip on the timing, though it seems to run well now. Will check that. Vacuum is coming from the left port when looking at the Edelbrock carb from the front. Right port on the carb is capped off.
It still has the stock 307 single exhaust....only mod was 403 manifolds. It's so quiet you almost can't hear it running. I also think the cat converter may be a little plugged. Will fix that soon.
That said, I just got back from the friday night fireworks at the Dell Diamond ballpark. Dad showed up, and we took my 3yr old. Took the t-tops off the Cutlass and parked way at the back of the parking lot, right on the edge of the field where they shoot them. Got a great show through the t-tops!! Man I missed this car!
That said, the idle is still a little low...feels almost like it's going to stall when stopped in traffic waiting to get out after the show. Never did stall, but felt close. Also, I checked the coolant and it wasn't low. Tonight it never got up above about 210 on the gauge....but it is nighttime.
Dad was impressed with it. I got on it just a bit coming back and it sure has more power than it did.
Still have some tweaking to do but I'm tickled it's back on the road!
-Mike
DoubleV said:
I agree that 36 degrees total is what you should be aiming for, but I think 20 degrees initial is quite a bit higher than the factory set it. Which motors got this? I'm seeing more like 8-12 initial from the factory, 20 degrees @ 1,100 RPM in a couple cases. 16 degrees initial was about the highest I was able to go before hot starts became a problem. I was very happy with the Crane recurve kit using the lightest springs, that brought me right up to 35-36 total with 15 initial.
81X11 said:
To me, that sounds very much like the symtoms of retarded timing. Advancing the timing will make the idle stronger ( just check with a vacuum gauge ) and will make the engine run cooler too.
Intagration, yes the factory timing was 20 @ 1100 RPM's, but at 1100 RPM's, I don't think you're into the centrifigul advance yet because the stock timing curves are so lazy, but either way 81X11 needs more initial and definetly alot more total. Car should run tons better in all respects.
81X11, I don't know Edelbrock carbs, so i don't know if you're running ported or manifold vacuum, but it's easy to tell. Just pull the line off and see if it's sucking at idle. If it is then it's manifold vacuum.
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