Your Cutlass was sitting just like my old 78 Cutlass Supreme was for 13 years when the previous owner said I could have it just to get it out of their yard last December.
79 cutlass calais "re-restore"
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Great build so far, any work Is progress. I had a pretty bad set back last year so hoping this year will be better. My car sat also for about 10 yrs or so also.
Finally an update. I sold my 355 parts to pay off some fines that were hanging over my head. I pulled my TC back off the road for a major rebuild that'll take me well into next year, between the drivetrain and chassis/body. In the meantime, I'll be dragging the cutlass down here to put a motor in, do some bodywork and get everything working properly again. I sold off my stock 2.3t head off the bird and picked up a motor for my purple people eater. It's a bone stock 350 out of a 76 chevelle laguna. Filthy as all hell externally, but internally she's rock solid and clean. I'm debating on getting some dome tops and staying NA, but I'm not sure yet. I'm picking up a pair of assault racing aluminum heads, to replace my junk stock heads. Hoping I'll be able to grab them next month, but we'll see. I have until then to decide if I want to change pistons or not. I want the motor in and running before Halloween. Only other plans are to reuse my intake, carb, cam and headers from the 305. Should be dragging the car home within the next 3 weeks.
Not sure what's gotten into me over this car, but I've been having a lack of interest in building a strong motor for it. I guess it's partially because small block chevys are boring to me, at this point. I'm probably going to end up porting my heads a little and just throw them back on. Maybe once it's up and running, I'll feel differently about it. I haven't lost interest in the car itself by a long shot. I'm more anxious to make her solid again and straighten up the interior, than I am worried about making horsepower. I'd like to have the car show-worthy again before spring gets here. My biggest problem is going to be the back seat. I'm gonna do an interior color change, but the seat back is trashed anr the only thing I can find locally are the ugly 'pillow top' seats.
Finally got my car home and the 305 out.. turns out my freeze plugs are all fine, it just dropped a valve, shattered the piston, took a chunk out of the head and shattered the cylinder walls. Almost ready to put the new shortblock in, once I'm finished my rack install. Hopefully tonight
what downer car did you get the rack from? I was unaware you could do a rack and pinon swap on these cars? how? I MUST know!!!! can you reuse your old pump and lines? Please provide details
I did the same thing in an S10 I built for a buddy of mine, but the crossmember on the truck sat back further and I built a crossmember for that. I just bent up a coupe pieces of 1/4" I had cut down for 4 link brackets, welded them to the frame and gusseted them for extra stability. I had to cut a couple holes in the.frame for the steering rod and steer tube on the rack to pass through, but I ended up cutting out more than I needed to and just replated it with 1/4". The rack is out of my turbocoupe (basically a mustang rack with different outter tierods. I'm putting a manual rack in that car, so I had this laying around. I have to redrill the spindles for the tie rods to fit, plus run a short tie rod on the driverside, because the rack is offset a little, for the sake of the steering shaft. The gm tierods are tiny in comparison and the new tierods will go through the top, instead of the bottom of the spindle. Just using a step bit to drill them out, then making them the perfect reverse-cone shape with a burr bit and dremel. The gm power steering pump works fine, but works even better with a smaller pulley or an underdrive crank pulley. As far as the lines go, the return line is fine, since it's just a straight hose with a hose clamp, but the feed line needs the end changed. I have to put new lines on the rack, because they're old, bent up and drip a little, so I'll set that up with a flare fitting and use a double flare union to get them hooked up. I get an extra inch of turning radius and a quicker steering ratio. Plus, it beats looking at that ugly steering box and long steering arm. I only had to slightly massage my header to clear the steering rod, but it otherwise clears everything else by a mile.
And much to the dismay of many gm owners, I'm throwing away my 10 bolt in favor of the 8.8 out of my turbocoupe. I've already set it up with wilwood 4 piston calipers, it has a functioning trac-loc center section(factory posi) and 3.55's. I'll probably be starting that tomorrow, since I'm waiting on gaskets and another head.
Great thread been watching. Question as I have a '78 monte 305 4 speed with the weak 10 bolt as well... If you didn't have your Buick to use the 8.8, what would you do? I'm going to be be putting a 383/450hp in mine. Trying to do this relatively inexpensively. Thanks much
Buick? No no lol thunderbird turbocoupe, my long term big hp turbo 4cyl project car. It's a factory disk rear, but factory 4 lug. I converted it to 5lug with sn95 axles when it was still under the bird, so I could run my cobra r's and mark 7 11" rear disks. I have to redrill the axles and rotors to get the 4.75 lug pattern.
If I was going to do anything else, I'd have searched for a 12 bolt or picked up a used gm posi unit and some decent gears for the 10 bolt. I'm not looking to make gobs of hp with the cutlass, just around 350-400 or so. I'm going to be using ported 58cc 305 heads to push my compression up. They're not the best option for heads by a long shot, but I'm out to prove something. I take on challenges people frown upon, like 305 heads on a 350, because I like being different and shutting some people up lol. But if you want a good rear for your money and have welding skills, the 87-88 turbocoupe rear is worth looking for. They're almost as strong as a 9", easy to convert to 5 lug and just as easy to upgrade the rotor size. Of course, that means the front needs help, to be logical. Haven't decided what to do about the front yet, but the stock brakes are going in the scrap pile, for sure. I want wilwood 4 piston calipers all the way around, for looks as well as vastly improved braking
If I was going to do anything else, I'd have searched for a 12 bolt or picked up a used gm posi unit and some decent gears for the 10 bolt. I'm not looking to make gobs of hp with the cutlass, just around 350-400 or so. I'm going to be using ported 58cc 305 heads to push my compression up. They're not the best option for heads by a long shot, but I'm out to prove something. I take on challenges people frown upon, like 305 heads on a 350, because I like being different and shutting some people up lol. But if you want a good rear for your money and have welding skills, the 87-88 turbocoupe rear is worth looking for. They're almost as strong as a 9", easy to convert to 5 lug and just as easy to upgrade the rotor size. Of course, that means the front needs help, to be logical. Haven't decided what to do about the front yet, but the stock brakes are going in the scrap pile, for sure. I want wilwood 4 piston calipers all the way around, for looks as well as vastly improved braking
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