81 Cutlass build thread
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Well I typed up a nice update, and the post dint go through, argh!!! :evil: Anyways,.....
I got the cutlass back from the body shop today. Got expensive and could have bought a nice cat back exhaust with the money instead but in the long run it wont matter. Ill just get to drive around with a primered up quarter until I get the car painted next spring. Ive settled on the color, just a reshoot in 1 stage dark jadestone metallic. Its the stock color, and its nice, so why mess with it. Ive had people tell me "it will look awesome in black" and "that green is ugly" but I dont care. I like it. People dont know how much work it takes to do black right, and how much work it is to do reshoot a car anyways. Besides a firebird rear wing, Ive got pretty much everything for it. Got a fender, my turbo hood bump, and a header pannel. Dont want to mess around fixing the one that on up. Its cracked and is missing mounting tabs.
Could have done the quarter my myself but it was creased, had a high spot, and I have no idea what I would be doing.
Got the rear window fixed too. It was leaking from the top drivers side. Turns out that was leaking but the bottom right side and all the way up was loose. So the window was only sealed up like 50%. That will stop some rust hopefully.
Painted up a set of blackout headlight bezels too. Messed up one set trying too but they were junk anyways. SEM trim black is some pretty stinky toxic stuff, but works great. 3 coats and 10 minutes cleaning then up and I think they look great.
Kinda accomplising the "wannabe T type" theme. Why? Because I wanted a nice T type to begin with.
Got cold air now too!
Im done spending money on it for a while hopefully. Its nice enough now for a while, although that 2.41 rear raito and my stupid clacky lifter are creaping into my mind again.
I got the cutlass back from the body shop today. Got expensive and could have bought a nice cat back exhaust with the money instead but in the long run it wont matter. Ill just get to drive around with a primered up quarter until I get the car painted next spring. Ive settled on the color, just a reshoot in 1 stage dark jadestone metallic. Its the stock color, and its nice, so why mess with it. Ive had people tell me "it will look awesome in black" and "that green is ugly" but I dont care. I like it. People dont know how much work it takes to do black right, and how much work it is to do reshoot a car anyways. Besides a firebird rear wing, Ive got pretty much everything for it. Got a fender, my turbo hood bump, and a header pannel. Dont want to mess around fixing the one that on up. Its cracked and is missing mounting tabs.
Could have done the quarter my myself but it was creased, had a high spot, and I have no idea what I would be doing.
Got the rear window fixed too. It was leaking from the top drivers side. Turns out that was leaking but the bottom right side and all the way up was loose. So the window was only sealed up like 50%. That will stop some rust hopefully. Painted up a set of blackout headlight bezels too. Messed up one set trying too but they were junk anyways. SEM trim black is some pretty stinky toxic stuff, but works great. 3 coats and 10 minutes cleaning then up and I think they look great.
Kinda accomplising the "wannabe T type" theme. Why? Because I wanted a nice T type to begin with.
Got cold air now too!
Im done spending money on it for a while hopefully. Its nice enough now for a while, although that 2.41 rear raito and my stupid clacky lifter are creaping into my mind again.
So over the last few months as a DD the cutlass is doing pretty good. Needs weatherstripping as it howls a bit driving and needs a real exhaust, instead of the flowmaster and a downturn. Sounds good, but shakes the interior a lot at 1500 RPM driving around town, and at 2400 on the road my center console rattles.
Turns out my radiator is leaking or something. It goes through coolant a bit. Check it every few hundred miles, but it isnt a huge deal. It keeps the engine at 180 all the time except when the AC is on. It was 85 yesterday and the water was 200, most its ever been. Shut the car off, tried to start it 5 minutes later and it wouldn't turn over. Tried again and started right up. Thought the nuetral saftey switch is going out. Drove 10 minutes, shut it off, and tried to start it 15 minutes later, would turn over. Let it sit 2 hours, fired right up at 150 degrees. Combo of 200 engine temp, and bad starter heat soak Im guessing. Dont have a heat shield for the starter so its understandable.
Guess its time for a better radiator, and a heat sheild. The radiator was sitting in the back of the car when I got it, and leaked when I tipped it upside down in the middle but put it in anyways. Was just going to run it temporarilly. Cars been running for a year so im not complaining. I knew it was bad, and it was free.
Turns out my radiator is leaking or something. It goes through coolant a bit. Check it every few hundred miles, but it isnt a huge deal. It keeps the engine at 180 all the time except when the AC is on. It was 85 yesterday and the water was 200, most its ever been. Shut the car off, tried to start it 5 minutes later and it wouldn't turn over. Tried again and started right up. Thought the nuetral saftey switch is going out. Drove 10 minutes, shut it off, and tried to start it 15 minutes later, would turn over. Let it sit 2 hours, fired right up at 150 degrees. Combo of 200 engine temp, and bad starter heat soak Im guessing. Dont have a heat shield for the starter so its understandable.
Guess its time for a better radiator, and a heat sheild. The radiator was sitting in the back of the car when I got it, and leaked when I tipped it upside down in the middle but put it in anyways. Was just going to run it temporarilly. Cars been running for a year so im not complaining. I knew it was bad, and it was free.
Got my new exhaust on. Pypes 2.5" cat back with racepros. And its the side exit version, the way a Olds should be. Went in easy, no cutting, just cut the muffler mounts shorter, welded up my cat delete pipe, and tightened a few bolts. Ceritainly could have fabbed up a single 3", but the duals are a little nicer looking, and it was easy. Just a little on the expensive. Had a single flowmaster with a downturn on it for the last year, and it worked but it was kinda loud, rattled the center console, and stunk when you opened the passenger door when the engine was running. Its a lot quieter at idle, the electric fans are almost louder. Quiet at road speed, which is what I wanted. Id suggest it if you want a dual cat back setup thats cheepish compared to mostly everything else out there. Nice part is that it sits way up in the driveshaft hump and you cant even see the exhaust from the side.
Looked at my rear control arm bushings, and yep they need to be replaced. Cracked quite a bit. And wow, they are soft. I can see why the rear seems so loose when Im on gravel and spin the tires or go over a bump while giving it a bit of throttle. However, new weatherstripping, and getting my clacky lifter fixed is higher up the list.
Got the fenders and core support on the Grey cutlass too. Getting it ready to go into hibernation for a year or 2 until the green car can get complete.
Looked at my rear control arm bushings, and yep they need to be replaced. Cracked quite a bit. And wow, they are soft. I can see why the rear seems so loose when Im on gravel and spin the tires or go over a bump while giving it a bit of throttle. However, new weatherstripping, and getting my clacky lifter fixed is higher up the list.
Got the fenders and core support on the Grey cutlass too. Getting it ready to go into hibernation for a year or 2 until the green car can get complete.
Ehh, its sorta fast. Theres no tech info really so turbo upgrades are hard, and the intake is junk. The 2.41 puts the engine way out of power range, so it wont spool up until it hits 20 MPH, but it pulls hard from 30 up. Id love a 200R4 but thats another $700 dumped, and need new weatherstripping and get my new cam way more.
So getting back to how fast it is. From everything Ive read it should run a high 14. Which isnt anything to brag about, but it will get better. Havnt really tried to milk much performance out of it. Havnt touched the wastegate. Eventual plan is 84/85 headers, ported heads, something a little over a stock GN cam, get the intake ported, put the 87 GN inducer wheel I have in the 80 housing, a 200R4, 3.42's, and an alky kit.
Looking back, there was a guy that had a 87 SFI motor in town out of his WE4 he sold for cheep, to put in his 6.0L turbo'd truck block in. Could have got the thing for free if I promised it would live on. Needed rings and gaskets but otherwise it was fine. If I would have known that I would have known that I would have had a SFI motor that ran 11's in my car now instead of dealing with this thing but as the saying goes "hindsight is 20/20"
Its faster than a stock HO 305 or 307.
So getting back to how fast it is. From everything Ive read it should run a high 14. Which isnt anything to brag about, but it will get better. Havnt really tried to milk much performance out of it. Havnt touched the wastegate. Eventual plan is 84/85 headers, ported heads, something a little over a stock GN cam, get the intake ported, put the 87 GN inducer wheel I have in the 80 housing, a 200R4, 3.42's, and an alky kit.
Looking back, there was a guy that had a 87 SFI motor in town out of his WE4 he sold for cheep, to put in his 6.0L turbo'd truck block in. Could have got the thing for free if I promised it would live on. Needed rings and gaskets but otherwise it was fine. If I would have known that I would have known that I would have had a SFI motor that ran 11's in my car now instead of dealing with this thing but as the saying goes "hindsight is 20/20"
Its faster than a stock HO 305 or 307.
yeah, hopefully gears will make a world of change. that along with the "new" turbo i would think it would spool correctly and give you at least a little low end pull. At least its quicker than the 307 though 8)
I would like it just because of the turbo, its different. 8) which is why i want a GN
I would like it just because of the turbo, its different. 8) which is why i want a GN
Yeah, it is different which is why I like it. Had a guy with a turbo'd 86 nissan 3something ZX that is legitamitly fast (not a ricer) that said the engine was the wierdest thing he ever saw. I wanted a nice 86/87 T type to begin with, but found this cutlass afforably, and was looking for an engine and found the engine 2 miles away from me. Had everything, AC pump brackets, trans, mounts ect. Didnt want a Chev 350, didnt have the time or money to re piece together my 455, and overall Im happy with how this has turned out.
i actualy like how the pin stripe curves around n up the the 1/4 window is it just me or is that the first time any one saw a pin stripe like that....im guessing its just me
you're cutlass is coming along great
you're cutlass is coming along great
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