Hey guys
Glad I found this forum. I am the 3rd owner an 82 Cutlass Calais that's in relatively good condition( or so I think). Last summer i took it out of storage (been stored for 10 years or so) and fixed a couple of things & test drove it. I lost oil pressure after 10 minutes & turned around heading for home with the temp guage slowly rising & when I pulled in the garage it was knocking. I had the option to shut it down & get towed home but the car came from the factory with an Evil 6 under the hood so I let it ride.
No more gutless Cutlass for me. Honestly on gravel from a dead stop when floored the rear tires would spin possibly 2 revolutions and that was it. A huge disapointment in the HP & TQ dept. I love the way the car looks and the ride. The T-tops are an option I enjoy too. I will have to look for photos, not sure if I have any. The head liner in the back seat is hanging down now & the previous owner had the wind catch the passenger door & it crinkled the door & fender a little bit otherwise the car is pretty straight with factory paint thats cracked, shrinkage? The t handle on the floor shifter is broken off and the shifter cable doesn't shift the trans. I replaced a c-clip once in the console to fix that but it wasn't the right clip so it lasted a while & broke before the car was parked. The A/C didn't work when I bought the car, one of the hard lines was severed all the way thru. There's sun faded vinyl within the interior, mostly the door panels below the window. Pretty typical stuff for a car this age that was used as a daily driver until the late 90's. The previous owner kept the T-top bags for his vette so I could use a set of those too. A bit long but that's the car's history.
The plan was to build a sbc400 I have laying around for it but fuel injection would be really nice. An LQ engine would bolt in & offer fuel injection with a 4 speed AOD trans. I want a reliable daily driver that can attain reasonable fuel milage. Other areas needing improvement are handling, braking & comfort. I'm open to suggestion regarding engine choices I may have overlooked. The LS engines are lighter but cost more so that's why I thought about the LQ series for my swap. Be nice to drive it again ! 😀
Glad I found this forum. I am the 3rd owner an 82 Cutlass Calais that's in relatively good condition( or so I think). Last summer i took it out of storage (been stored for 10 years or so) and fixed a couple of things & test drove it. I lost oil pressure after 10 minutes & turned around heading for home with the temp guage slowly rising & when I pulled in the garage it was knocking. I had the option to shut it down & get towed home but the car came from the factory with an Evil 6 under the hood so I let it ride.
No more gutless Cutlass for me. Honestly on gravel from a dead stop when floored the rear tires would spin possibly 2 revolutions and that was it. A huge disapointment in the HP & TQ dept. I love the way the car looks and the ride. The T-tops are an option I enjoy too. I will have to look for photos, not sure if I have any. The head liner in the back seat is hanging down now & the previous owner had the wind catch the passenger door & it crinkled the door & fender a little bit otherwise the car is pretty straight with factory paint thats cracked, shrinkage? The t handle on the floor shifter is broken off and the shifter cable doesn't shift the trans. I replaced a c-clip once in the console to fix that but it wasn't the right clip so it lasted a while & broke before the car was parked. The A/C didn't work when I bought the car, one of the hard lines was severed all the way thru. There's sun faded vinyl within the interior, mostly the door panels below the window. Pretty typical stuff for a car this age that was used as a daily driver until the late 90's. The previous owner kept the T-top bags for his vette so I could use a set of those too. A bit long but that's the car's history.The plan was to build a sbc400 I have laying around for it but fuel injection would be really nice. An LQ engine would bolt in & offer fuel injection with a 4 speed AOD trans. I want a reliable daily driver that can attain reasonable fuel milage. Other areas needing improvement are handling, braking & comfort. I'm open to suggestion regarding engine choices I may have overlooked. The LS engines are lighter but cost more so that's why I thought about the LQ series for my swap. Be nice to drive it again ! 😀
