Grandpa Car: 1979 Cutlass Thread
- Thread starter DRIVEN
- Start date
It's been a while since an update on this thread. Mostly because nothing has been done. I've fired it up and driven it around the block on a few occasions but that's about it. There is a show coming up in early June in the town (250 miles away) where it spent most of it's life that I'm planning to attend. I have pretty grandiose plans but I'm not sure it's all gonna happen. First, I need to take it through DEQ testing before I can get new tags. They expired in 12/'09...such a slacker. So, I need to weld in a cat and see if it passes before I do anything else. I'm going to look into collector insurance too since I drive it so rarely anyway.
The 200 4R STILL hasn't been installed. I've been thinking for a while that it might be time to pull the engine, reseal it and give it a "Krylon rebuild". I always liked the look of the late L82 with it's black valve covers and aluminum intake on the corporate blue long block. That means I should probably clean and detail everything else under the hood. Where do I stop? I went to the Portland Swapmeet this weekend and picked up a few items. Some will end up on the 305, some probably wont. Here we go...
LT1/L82 valve covers. They look kind of crusty in the photo but are actually in really nice shape. They would polish out great if that's the direction I was headed. Already called my buddy about gloss black powder coating:
I couldn't find a reasonable deal on a 70's Corvette or Camaro dual snorkel air cleaner so I did an impulse buy on this Spectre unit. Probably won't actually use it but for $40 (new in box) I couldn't not buy it.
A pair of Crossfire intakes for $60:
I've been collecting 2GCs when the price is right. My buddy came into town for the swapmeet and brought me two that he had found in his stash.
Where am I going with this combination?
I wonder if a diagonal tri-power would work? :? I've seen guys make new top plates and create a crossram with two 4bbls, so why not? Everyone knows that the Crossfire was pretty lame. I'm thinking I might remove and weld up the EGR passages and port the runners out to a reasonable size and see what happens. I'll consider this a lonnnggg-term project and play with it on the side. It probably won't ever get put into use but might still look cool hanging on the wall.
The 200 4R STILL hasn't been installed. I've been thinking for a while that it might be time to pull the engine, reseal it and give it a "Krylon rebuild". I always liked the look of the late L82 with it's black valve covers and aluminum intake on the corporate blue long block. That means I should probably clean and detail everything else under the hood. Where do I stop? I went to the Portland Swapmeet this weekend and picked up a few items. Some will end up on the 305, some probably wont. Here we go...
LT1/L82 valve covers. They look kind of crusty in the photo but are actually in really nice shape. They would polish out great if that's the direction I was headed. Already called my buddy about gloss black powder coating:
I couldn't find a reasonable deal on a 70's Corvette or Camaro dual snorkel air cleaner so I did an impulse buy on this Spectre unit. Probably won't actually use it but for $40 (new in box) I couldn't not buy it.
A pair of Crossfire intakes for $60:
I've been collecting 2GCs when the price is right. My buddy came into town for the swapmeet and brought me two that he had found in his stash.
Where am I going with this combination?
I wonder if a diagonal tri-power would work? :? I've seen guys make new top plates and create a crossram with two 4bbls, so why not? Everyone knows that the Crossfire was pretty lame. I'm thinking I might remove and weld up the EGR passages and port the runners out to a reasonable size and see what happens. I'll consider this a lonnnggg-term project and play with it on the side. It probably won't ever get put into use but might still look cool hanging on the wall.
My valve covers are done at the powder coater. Just have to pick them up. I also just placed my RockAuto order for all the gaskets, water pump, radiator and tuneup stuff. Pics will be up when I get some work done.
Time to go to work. Welded in a new cat so I could pass DEQ since the old one was hallowed out. Failed Friday afternoon, readjusted carb, passed Saturday morning and blew zeros! Wanted to make sure I could get legal before I ripped it apart.
Monday morning 8am:
Monday morning 11am:
The retired TH200:
Tore into the 200-4R that to see what was necessary. I'd planned on a converter upgrade (2200rpm), and a shift kit. I found that the stator support was really worn, which is a common problem. No big surprise:
Ran into town to pick up parts. Grabbed a stator support and shift kit. Neither warehouse had the convertor in stock even though they both claimed to. Anyway, it's on order so I'll pick it up Wednesday morning. Tomorrow will be spent doing teardown, cleanup, reassembly, engine install.
Monday morning 8am:
Monday morning 11am:
The retired TH200:
Tore into the 200-4R that to see what was necessary. I'd planned on a converter upgrade (2200rpm), and a shift kit. I found that the stator support was really worn, which is a common problem. No big surprise:
Ran into town to pick up parts. Grabbed a stator support and shift kit. Neither warehouse had the convertor in stock even though they both claimed to. Anyway, it's on order so I'll pick it up Wednesday morning. Tomorrow will be spent doing teardown, cleanup, reassembly, engine install.
Last edited:
Tuesday 8:30am. Stripped to longblock.
Wasted original timing chain. Almost touching the timing cover.
Fresh double roller.
New freeze plugs. Got rid of the block heater too.
Check this out. ZERO sludge thanks to my grandpa's faithful Delo 400 oil changes.
Bearings look pretty good for 160,000 miles too. New rear main seal.
My fake L82 all buttoned up!
Got the shift kit installed as well as the new stator support. Have to run into Portland to pick up the converter today. Then clean up the engine compartment.
Wasted original timing chain. Almost touching the timing cover.
Fresh double roller.
New freeze plugs. Got rid of the block heater too.
Check this out. ZERO sludge thanks to my grandpa's faithful Delo 400 oil changes.
Bearings look pretty good for 160,000 miles too. New rear main seal.
My fake L82 all buttoned up!
Got the shift kit installed as well as the new stator support. Have to run into Portland to pick up the converter today. Then clean up the engine compartment.
