Hello all, I've just purchased my first Oldsmobile Cutlass, and a rare one at that. I've seen a few things on the boards by searching, but I got an 87 Olds Cutlass GT - incredibly clean and original. The car has ~25K original miles on it and a beautiful maroon interior in excellent condition. They only made some 287 or so of these cars. I plan on leaving it mainly stock, but I do want to upgrade it so it is not a complete dog. I understand the rear gearing is not optimal. I'd be looking to swap out to maybe 3.23 so it's still good on the highway because I want it to be a nice cruiser. Any opinions on those gears for all around cruising and driving? Again, this will not be a race car. Are headers and dual exhaust worth it? I have one last ace up my sleeve and that is an aftermarket efi system with a large open element air cleaner I'd like to install. Thoughts on improvement of power with those mods? I don't particularly want to go inside the engine being so original, but are there good cams for more lower end performance? - Just curious about this. Thanks!
Excited Newbie
- Thread starter waldo786
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Welcome aboard!
Sounds like a nice find. Could you post some pics of the car? I'm sure many of us would like to see what it looks like.
With a car of such low miles, I would keep the exhaust original until it was time to replace it due to wear. I could understand replacing the rear end gears for a little more zip. You would also have to replace speedometer gears to compensate for speedo error.
Sounds like a nice find. Could you post some pics of the car? I'm sure many of us would like to see what it looks like.
With a car of such low miles, I would keep the exhaust original until it was time to replace it due to wear. I could understand replacing the rear end gears for a little more zip. You would also have to replace speedometer gears to compensate for speedo error.
welcome to the forum and I don't want to rain on your party but you may want to read about the GT version..
https://gbodyforum.com/threads/1988-cutlass-gt-was-that-car-factory-produced.7663/
https://gbodyforum.com/threads/1988-cutlass-gt-was-that-car-factory-produced.7663/
Welcome! I am happy to hear of some one new to g body's so excited. Most of these cars were dogs from the factory. You have a later year so performance is a little better. Cam headers and simple add on do not make much more power with out more compression and better heads. Gears you will definitely notice more get up and go. If it was me I would drive it like it is till I get bored with it. Then pull the engine set it aside. Build a engine that has more compression and better heads! If you ever decide to sell it put original engine back in it. I worn you you get building and it gets additive! And expensive! Good luck.
Since I had never heard of a Cutlass GT I looked into it and I also read that post earlier but did not want to mention it thinking he might just change the title to just "Newbie" but regardless it still sounds like a nice car and hopefully the Excitement part lasts a long time like it has for many of us.
The GT was a dealer graphics and exterior bolt on scoop and spoiler, that were not factory W40 parts, for 1988 Cutlasses by Tops and Trends out of NC. You may want to check the VIN on that car.
There was one on eBay last week that said '87 and the guy claimed it was the dealerships prototype with a granny steering wheel, is this the car? The regular ones had a sport steering wheel.
It could very well be an '87 they used for the conversion but in the photo of that car there were no door panels emblems like '88's.
Personally I would just leave it alone and just put some gears in it.
You would be amazed what rear gears will do for performance.
In fact I would go with 3.73's since it has an over drive transmission, you will not notice any issues on the highway with 3.73's and a TH2004R.
The headers are NOT going to improve performance on a 307, it may in fact hurt back pressure since the 7A heads were a swirl port design and in fact was designed to mimic and compete with fuel injection.
This design was so good that it was the only naturally aspirated engine to survive past 88 up until 1990 due to its fuel efficiency and was used in Limos, Cadillacs, Wagons etc.
Adding your EFI to that 307 is going to be just a long headache to deal with and guaranteed NO gains to be had.
I have an '87 307 in my daily driver '85 442 with a TH2004R and 3.73 7.5" posi rear end, it's quick and will burn rubber off the line believe it or not...
There was one on eBay last week that said '87 and the guy claimed it was the dealerships prototype with a granny steering wheel, is this the car? The regular ones had a sport steering wheel.
It could very well be an '87 they used for the conversion but in the photo of that car there were no door panels emblems like '88's.
Personally I would just leave it alone and just put some gears in it.
You would be amazed what rear gears will do for performance.
In fact I would go with 3.73's since it has an over drive transmission, you will not notice any issues on the highway with 3.73's and a TH2004R.
The headers are NOT going to improve performance on a 307, it may in fact hurt back pressure since the 7A heads were a swirl port design and in fact was designed to mimic and compete with fuel injection.
This design was so good that it was the only naturally aspirated engine to survive past 88 up until 1990 due to its fuel efficiency and was used in Limos, Cadillacs, Wagons etc.
Adding your EFI to that 307 is going to be just a long headache to deal with and guaranteed NO gains to be had.
I have an '87 307 in my daily driver '85 442 with a TH2004R and 3.73 7.5" posi rear end, it's quick and will burn rubber off the line believe it or not...
Hello again. No raining on my parade. I've owned classics and started my first baby steps of working on cars about 13 years ago. I've always wanted to do a classic with an overdrive and fuel injection for the reliability of newer cars and nice cruising rpms that could be used as a daily driver and this fit the bill. This is indeed the car that was on ebay last week. I spoke to the gentleman about it - said his brother in law purchased it and because of an illness he bought it from him. He's an older gentleman but the car looks immaculate and has barely been used. Looking at the condition I don't disbelieve him. The title check said the mileage was ok. He did send me some documentation on the car. Here is a link to some pictures from another site. http://car-from-uk.com/sale.php?id=135043 It is a low mileage car and very clean. Supposedly everything all works. I know it may not be real fast, but I think it looks cool and it will be a nice cruiser. The efi is actually not all that difficult to install, and I had it from another car I was going to use it on, but have decided not to. I'll admit with the computer carb it may not give much more benefit but I'm hoping drivability will be good and even better. Since I am new are these computer carbs pretty reliable? I definintely want to do a gear swap - seems like the best bang for the buck to improve speed a little. What rpms are you cruising at at 70 mph with those 3.73? What do I have to do to change the speedo gear? Question about the headers - Is it just the headers that don't help? I guess what I'm asking is should I leave the stock exhaust manifolds on it but put a dual exhaust? From what I've read the dual exhaust helps. But the car has options I like. I don't prefer power seats, which this didn't have. It does have power windows, which is nice because my 2001 daily driver doesn't even have power windows. I can put the windows down without reaching over the seat! I have an 80 Firebird Yellowbird I'm working on and it needed a lot more work than what I was led to believe. I've probably spent nearly the same amount on it and it's sitting in my driveway not really all that close to being driven. The sport steering wheel you mentioned, does that have the circular center? What do the door panel emblems look like? He sent me a letter from the Olds dealer to the original owner on the build sheet saying this was one of 2-3 prototypes made before the plaques. The build sheet says it has F41 firm ride and handling option and has the GT package. Can anyone tell me what the WL7 option package is? Other than appearance you are correct, it doesn't seem to be upgraded in the engine in any way. Anyway, I do want it to have some pep, but I don't plan on ever taking it to a drag strip. Seems like it has a really neat story to it all, so I'm excited to get it and drive it.
I couldn't help but laugh at the Firebird tidbit. Didn't you know all those firebirds / camaros need more work than told? This is a much better platform to work on and a lot easier to mess with too. Lots of engine / transmission choices and different ways to improve the suspension too! Don't be afraid to take advantage of the opportunities this platform presents. Parts are twice as expensive as they used to be and not finished going up, but still way cheaper than buying parts for a newer foreign car so enjoy the car while you have the opportunity! Adding dual exhuast won't help your car at all, that is chevy 350 talk and this is not that engine. I have the dual flowmasters kit and my car sounds really good but it's actually slower. The backpressure kills acceleration, especially uphill. The 3.23 is on the right track. EFI is a waste of time and money on a 307. I have heard of people adapting the tbi system (throttle body injection) from a 78/79 Cadillac Seville, but never seen it done in person. If you can find one of those cars it might be worth a shot, but I doubt you'll find 1 since it looks like your in the UK. It's probably better just to learn the ins and outs of the quadrajet carb. If you feel nervous about it causing you issues in the future, its pretty common to see ecm computers / wire harnesses for sale used on here in the for sale section, grab an extra set for a spare.
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