Low Buck Chuck 79 Hurst Olds

[79Hurst]

New member, name is Craig and my son and I just bought a 1979 Hurst optioned Olds that is going to receive a 2005 LQ4/4L80. Experienced G body members who have done similar swaps please help guide us on the details if we have questions if you don't mind . I have surfed this site for a couple of weeks and learned quite a bit about it so far, but not 100% confident with this chassis yet.

Bit of background on me and cars, I have done an LS swap on my 71 C10 shortbed and I did learn allot from it, but have lots to learn. My son and I found a wrecked Silverado 2500 that had all of the right stuff, LQ4 and the 4L80, harness/computer/all donor parts so we kinda lucked out on our parts available to make this easy as possible for us to tackle.

We were originally looking for a classic ride to put this engine in (pre '74), but nothing was found that was cheap enough for our budget or suitable enough that had style and a coolness factor that we liked so we broadened our search to include the late 70's to early 80's GM cars and while they are good platforms to modify BUT we live in CA where the emissions laws restrict us from having too much fun so we have some challenges ahead of us to make it legal to drive SO, I like the G body cars, GN was our first choice (prices are becoming out of reach for the average) so I moved onto the Malibu, 2 doors and the wagons I love the styling on but we could not locate one that fit our budget or needs so we came across this Hurst Olds that was advertised without an engine.

Cool factor=check. Old school connection=check. Ability to make a cool street car=definitely.

We drove to look at it, talked it over and while there was negatives overall decided we wanted it, paid less than I thought we thought the owner would take so the deal was struck and we towed home our new engineless G body. Has the original gold and white paint, NO rust, complete front end (grill is mint) dual gate shifter and wheels are on the car. Yes, it needs a resto overall but it is complete which is important when looking for a special interest car like this one.

I have a few cars that I have restored and currently under restoration (70 SS Chevelle '61 Continental 71 C10) but I am a hobbyist so my funds and time will be limited. I want to enjoy this car for what it is, and do it low buck hence the name 'low buck chuck'.

Enough of the chat, here are a few (crap night time) pics:

 

[theoldsone]

Chuck, lucky you. W30 h/o classic, I know it wont be that cheap thats for sure. Have you ever owned an oldsmobile? Once your in you'll never get out. good luck and welcome im a new member too.

 

[L92 OLDS]

Nice car. It's weaknesses are the 3 speed transmission and 7.5" rear end. Do you plan to upgrade?

 

[DRIVEN]

Craig, very cool project platform. Honestly, I'd probably try to talk you out of using it if the original engine was still in place due to the relative rarity of the car. Since the engine is missing -- game on!
On the LS swap, I have no personal experience but it's been done enough that there's plenty of documentation.
As far as chassis/suspension stuff goes, I'd start with collecting the various factory bracing viewtopic.php?f=14&t=8126#.VJ7de_eAKA .
If you plan to stay stock appearing with the original wheels you might be limited in brake upgrade choices. If you plan to go bigger with the wheels then you might consider the Blazer upgrade viewtopic.php?f=14&t=35747&hilit=blazer+brakes#.VJ7g1veAKA . There are also options for the rear but they may not apply depending on what you plan to do with the rear end. The 8.5" is the easiest because it's a simple bolt in. The aftermarket 9" are the same if you prefer a dropout 3rd member. 8.8 Ford has been done as well as earlier GM Abody 10 and 12 bolts. The stock 7.5 will live for a long time behind any engine as long as it's not blatantly abused. Stock Gbody gearing is almost always lame so most people opt to upgrade to kill two birds.

I'll be watching this build. I'm interested to see how you deal with the ridiculous California regs. Keep us posted.

 

[79Hurst]

Never owned an Olds car, but plenty of Pontiacs and Chevy cars so it's not unfamiliar territory

Driven, thanks for the excellent info and links to the subjects I was going to ask about. I was going to stay with the 14" wheels for originality as my tastes swing towards keeping the cars I build on the factory look side instead of the aftermarket look but that's my tastes nothing against aftermarket wheels/suspension etc. I do plan on keeping this car in factory colors and interior layout/colors as much as I can. I do body and paint work too so this will get new paint on it too at one point during our journey and it will be white/gold.

I will plan on upgrading to 15" steel wheels to keep costs down and a better size for tire selections, paint them either gold or white and throw on some dog dish GM caps I have in the garage. They are Chevy caps but they might give it that factory hot rod look 8)

On the LS swap, I know I am up against a large task getting it CA compliant and in reality I may not achieve what I want to do with the car in this state before throwing in the towel or regretfully selling out of state. I do have all of the emissions that came with the truck, BUT I know I can't install a truck engine in the car so I will be off to look for full Vette or F body parts to at least look the part. I do have the cats, manifolds, tank evap parts, front and rear O2 sensors and harnesses, EGR etc so unless they start looking at block casting numbers or tap into the VIN in the OBC I am somewhat confident I am at least on the right track. I will be asking my tuner details about the VIN inside this computer and the ability to change or modify but those details I will keep out of this thread. I know there are ways around this stuff, but my goals are to properly get a CARB sticker as long as I can achieve it without spending a fortune to obtain the blessings of my local referee employees. It's going to be a possible long road to success and may not be able to in the first 2 years of ownership .

ANYWAY, I will post more pics. I know the rear end has been modified at one point, there is an aftermarket cover and does have a posi unit in there with promises of a 3.73 ring and pinion as this particular car was drag raced at one point and also had a roll cage in it. Full aftermarket exhaust and flowmaster mufflers too. It did have a 455 in it (seller said) and it has a built TH trans but not sure if it's a 350 or a 400 but hope to get that out of the car today and take a peek.

 

[DRIVEN]

Man, I'd be really tempted to just get a SBO dropped in there and enjoy it. But I'm pretty impatient by nature. That 6.0 will make it a strong runner, for sure. Up here in Oregon we only have to pass a tailpipe sniff-test for the year of the vehicle back to 1975 model year. Doesn't matter whats under the hood, as long as it's as clean or cleaner than what the factory placed there. A bit surprising that the smognazis down there wouldn't embrace and welcome newer, cleaner engines in older cars.
You don't suppose it's all about money or something, do you?

 

[79Hurst]

I do have a 350 4bm in the garage but it needs mains and a crank grind. Heads too. That engine came out of my truck, and when I lost the main bearings only after 10K miles I bit the bullet and converted it over to the 6.0 that is in it now. At that point I promised myself I won't look back on older tech and never build another SBC again. It's all LS from here on out haha, well except for the Chevelle the 427 stays. Can't beat the over all drivability with FI and computer controlled engine management though, runs the same in any weather and climate. Start and go.

Off the soap box, I should have the engine/trans ready to drop in by late Jan/early Feb. As soon as I get this harness torn down and engine cleaned up and painted it's going in. I have read on this site the Chevy frame mounts must be used with the clamshell style engine mounts to make this work so that's my plan. I can make my own adapter plates (have access to a shop) so my plan was to get the GM muscle car pan swap kit and put the engine in place, mark out where I need to drill and cut. It was that simple on the truck I hope it holds true on this frame.

Looking forward to this, going to be a fun car to drive.

Oh, and don't get me started on CA DMV and emission laws I could go on for a while

 

[Csilvy2000]

Hey Chuck! Welcome to the site. I picked up a '79 H/O as well. Mine was engineless and in need of a drivetrain too. I picked up a wrecked '05 Silverado with the 4.8 and 4l60e. I've made the swap and got it running, however, I'm still trying to figure out how to get the shifter to work with the 4l60e. I also need to shorten the driveshaft and figure out a better way to do the fuel tank. As far as emissions go, I live in Texas so very relaxed standards. Ls1tech.com was very helpful in the swap. If your creative, you can get it running pretty cheaply.

If anyone has a suggestion on how to get the shifter to work with the 4-speed auto, I would be very thankful.

Here are some pics of my budget build.

I've ADD and 4 G-bodies so I bounce around from one to the other.

 

[Csilvy2000]

I'd love to have a set of the factory wheels, but they're hard to come by.

 

[DRIVEN]

I'd love to have a H/O. You guys are living my dream.