79 Cutlass Calais Build

[1979Calais]

I got this eninge from my brother in law, but I only want the block. If anyone want parts off it let me know.

 

[78 salon]

Nice looking car. I will be looking forward to seeing more of this. Being its a Calais if you ever come across another set of grills be sure to hold on to them. Its good to keep "crash" parts like that around, just in case. They are hard to come by. Luckily I was able to buy a complete 79 H/O(same grill as calais) header panel with the grills in them.

Thanks,
When I first started looking for part, this guy that has been selling olds parts told me that my car is the hardest to find parts for. I got another set of them, because I have a broken bracket. I am also about to buy another set off Ebay.

Try finding parts for a salon. 🙂 I was going to ask, why not put an Olds engine in it, but then I saw you have a 305 in it now.
As far as the interior goes, I've got the same color interior(that light blue) and the vinyl panels have faded out to grey on mine also. Theer's a guy on e-pay the sells leather/vinyl dyes in aerosol. He has 1 the looks pretty close to my original, I might give it a try. Good luck on the build.

 

[1979Calais]

Yes it came with the 305. Ya my interior is faded, trying to find out what corlor and which parts to paint that color. If your car parts are harder to find than mys parts, I don't want to find out. I am still trying to find 2 parts.

 

[1979Calais]

This is all I got done, due to I don't have the space I was going to use and I have been remodling my bathroom.

 

[1979Calais]

Would it be cheaper to buy an engine or just build one myself?

 

[DRIVEN]

Depends on how custom/radical you want to go. In my opinion, the GM crate engines are tough to beat. All NEW parts, a documented power rating, plus a warranty. There's a million ways to build a SBC. You often can't duplicate a crate motor for the cost from GM.

 

[1979Calais]

I am trying to get about 400hp out of it. Aslo if it would be cheaper to just buy one, where is a good place/site to buy from?

 

[DRIVEN]

HP costs money. Pace has a pretty big selection.
http://paceperformance.com/c-142522-eng ... gines.html
Summit, JEGS, Speedway, etc. all have reputable crate motors with good warranties. If there's a local engine builder, I'd check with them too. I would advise against something like an ebay engine from a builder you've never heard of. It may be fine but on the off chance you do have any issues it could turn into a nightmare getting it set straight. You have a better chance with either a large national supplier or someone local to you.

 

[1979Calais]

HP costs money. Pace has a pretty big selection.


You right about that. I have the same 305 that came with the car, but it has been rebuit and bored 30 over with stock cam. It runs pretty fast, but I do not know how much HP it has. I am really just trying to get a little more than what it has now.

 

[1979Calais]

If I buy the following enigine, what can I do to make it have more Horsepower or is 290hp enough. This engine stuff is giving me an headace!!


http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/results.cf ... r=19244450