Double Cutlass Build Thread

[supkylesup]

Alright guys ive been on here long enough i think its time to start a build thread.
This one will be for both of my cutlass's.
First off as some of you may know i wrecked my 84' cutlass about a month ago.
After insurance companys playing games with me for too long ive decided ill just fix the 84' myself.
I recently bought an 85' cutlass for $500 bucks that im going to use for parts.
So far all i have done is begin disassembling the 85'.
Ill be taking plenty of pictures along the way.
Since both cars don't have a deadline and i work everyday this build could take a while.

The Plan For The 85'
Strip the 85' of everything i wan't to put in the 84'.
Right now the parts i want off of it include: Whole header panel, both fenders, power locks, power windows, rally pac, the 7.5 with 3.23's and the engine.
Im sure the parts list will build as i find things that i want from it.
But the rest of what i dont pull im considering selling to you guys so i can maybe make some of the money i paid for it back.

The Plan for the 84'
Yank the 231 v6 out but leave the TH350.
Rebuild the 69' 327, leave the 2 speed powerglide in the 85 and drop the 327 in front of the TH350.
Get the frame pulled back out from where i wrecked it.
Paint and put the header panel and fenders on it.
Take the ganny pack out of the dash and put the rally pack in.
Take the doors apart put the power windows and locks in.


So here are the pictures of the progress so far and ill keep you guys updated as i go.
The 85'

The 84' as it sits.

And the progress

Some opinions on my build would be greatly appreciated.
Am i going in the right direction with all of this?
Does anyone know if the 69' 327 will bolt up to the TH350?
Do you think the 327 + TH350 + the 3.23's will be a good match?

 

[Peter]

your plans for the 84 look pretty good and very acheivable although converting to power doors and windows seems a little like pointless work to me but it is your car

looking forward to seeing your work

 

[supkylesup]

Ya know im still slightly undecided on weither to do the power windows.
I know ill for sure do power locks but the power windows are starting to seem pointless and problematic.
Pros:
Its cool
Its conveinient

Cons:
They stop working at some point.
They don't seal right.

Anyone have anymore t0 add to that?
Im trying to decide weither i want to go through the trouble or not.

 

[JBreu]

Kyle,
First of all that was a great score on the donor car......Looks pretty nice I must say. No issues with that 327 bolting up to your Th-350. You will have a decent set up with everything there..I would say throw in some 3.73 gears at some point. And if it wer'e me, keep the manual windows/locks...JMO though. Good luck with it and I'll be watching 8)

 

[supkylesup]

well its been awhile since ive updated my thread so here a little update
Been busy stripping the 85' for parts and selling them to my fellow GBF members
but today i put in 14 hours of non-stop work on the car.
got the engine all stripped down to bare esentials.
then started on my hood heres the plan for that i bought a hurst repro hood scoop a while back from someone on here and ive been wanting to do something with it for awhile so i decided since i have the extra hood from the 85' id try making it a fully funtional hood scoop so the work began

got it all measured out made the cut 1 1/2 inches smaller on the sides and 2 1/2 inches smaller on the front for mounting purposes

started pealing back the cut piece (no turning back now)

Finally got it all off and cut all the bracing (NOTE: i will do some rebracing/renforcing under there so don't worry)

Also here is a picture of the engine so far got it all stripped down and the plan is to pull it next friday(im pretty excited)

Thanks for checking in out guys ill have more updates for ya soon

 

[upandaway84]

Ya know im still slightly undecided on weither to do the power windows.
I know ill for sure do power locks but the power windows are starting to seem pointless and problematic.
Pros:
Its cool
Its conveinient

Cons:
They stop working at some point.
They don't seal right.

Anyone have anymore t0 add to that?
Im trying to decide weither i want to go through the trouble or not.

I would personally wait get the all of the major things done and go from there. Let the idea sit on the brain for a while and see what happens.

 

[supkylesup]

Hey guys sorry for the wait but i have a little update for ya.
Been working on the car here an there just kind of tinkering but heres what ive done.

Got the hood scoop mounted and its all ready for paint.
Took the header panel and passenger side fender off the 84.
Installed the electric trunk popper i got from my parts car.
Got everything i needed off the parts car and ready for paint.
Going this saturday to have the frame pulled and repaired.
Also dropping off the header and fender for paint.

aslo ive updated the plan slightly
right now the 327 is still in the parts car im waiting for more money to roll in to go buy a cherry picker.
but the paln is to have the header and fenders painted the same old man tan as the 84
put the header and fender on and leave the 231 v6 in for now.
do a full rebuild on the 327
then once the engine is all ready to go drop it in and repaint the entire car.
Havent decided on a color yet but ive got a couple in mind

now for everyones favorite part
the pictures:
pulled the heads off the engine today to get the block closer to being ready for the machine shop

i actually had a question that someone might be able to answer
so i was pulling the heads rockers and pushrods
well i was looking at the push rods and there are 9 of them that are completely different from the others
2 of them are on passenger side and 7 are on drivers side of the engine i was wondering if anyone could explain maybe why someone would put different push rods in different areas of the engine i was thinking maybe a couple were bent but why buy different ones
heres a picture of the difference

and the pics continue
btw this is my first engine tear down and actually the first time ive seen a cylinder wall in person lol

does anyone know if these are aftermaker pistons?
im thinking they are due to the valve reliefs but not sure

i think she was starving for water what do you think lol

couple burn valves but not too bad for a 69 block with stock heads

and for the electric trunk popper

 

[81cutlass]

The different push rods look like replacements. I have 15 GM pushrods with the balls on the ends and one sealed power one with out the ball. Probably bent or lost some of the pushrods at one time and they got replaced. As long as they are the same length there isnt any worry.

 

[adam6640]

Looks Good ! If you end up wanting to sell the power locks I would be interested, I am looking for the whole thing, wiring switches rods clips etc.
thanks Mike

580-743-0297

 

[dogsht]

You said you would like to make the hood functional. You can look in my pics to see how I did it for some ideas. Engine gets no hot under hood heat only good as it get outside air. I have even driven in the rain and checked the filter to find it dry. Also I think the 3.23 is generally the ideal gear for a performance street car and a three speed. At least if you do more with it than just run the local stop lights.