My 383 T56 Cutlass Build - Now With Pics !!!

[86Cutlass383SR]

Well, the camping trip fell through so I decided to work of the car. I managed to waste 2 full days of working on it. I pulled the fenders, a-arms, everything back off the front of the car. Bare frame to the firewall. I sanded and cleaned, scrubbed and wirebrushed the frame rails and repainted both of them. Had it really looking good. Started putting a few things back on after the paint had dried. Holy &$^# (crap)!!! Something, somehow, put a big-a$$ed scratch down the side of the frame... :shock: I've put 3 coats of paint on this frame and I'm getting tired of trying to make it purty only to end up with another scratch! It's gonna be a driver, not a showcar. It's gonna see rain and snow and it will get dirty. Heck with the paint! It's going together without paint on the suspension. I'm spending too much time trying to make it nice. Most time you're gonna see it anyway is with the hood shut and rolling down the road. Time to get some real progress going.

Sorry, I forgot my camera at home so I didn't get any pics.

 

[86Cutlass383SR]

Time for another update. To rehash, the city was going to tow it because I'd started working on it rather than just letting it sit, so I had it towed to a friends house. 20 miles away. About 2 weeks after I got it moved, he decided to move 8 more miles away, even farther from me. Those plans fell through and he ended up staying where he was. Now, he's decided to move anyway. I've pulled the front end (fenders AND suspension!) off, then back on, then back off and now back on... Since I had to replace all the suspension I'd pulled off, I decided to re-use my 5662 IROC front coils and while I was at it, I put on my a-arms with the GW Del-A-Lum bushings. Later on (with next years Income tax refund, if I get enough back) I'll replace the upper arms with some from SC&C.

Well, I got it moved to his new place today, hopefully for the last time until it's drivable under it's own power. At that point I'll bring it back home as the city can't do anything about it if it starts and moves on it's own.

Got the block, pistons, rods, heads, and everything else loaded up and it's off to the machine shop to start that process for my engine rebuild. New Scat cast 3.75" crank and 5.7 floating pin stroker rods. KB hyper 12cc dished pistons for about 10-1 compression. Bore/hone block an additional .010" to 4.040". Check all clearances and balance. Possibly deck the block but I want to see if the block even needs it first. If it does, and doesn't cut my p/v clearance too much, then it'll be zero decked. My pistons have a height of 1.433" so if it don't need decked my deck height will be about .017" in the hole. I'll have my heads (AFR 190's) bead blasted and rechecked along with installing my beehive springs and check for coil bind with my cam. Comp Cams 280 XFI with 230*/ 236* duration on a 113* LSA. So much to check but I'm making sure EVERYTHING is right with this motor.

I'm on vacation for the next week so while the engine is getting worked over, I've got a few things to get done on the car to get it ready for the engine. On that list is pulling old gas tank and cleaning and painting or undercoating the underbody where the tank sits, reinstalling my other tank, run new fuel lines, brake lines, installing my Howell fuel injection harness and getting the dash put back in, and hopefully, get my custom gauge panel built and installed with the dash.

We'll see how much actually gets done. My luck, it'll rain most of next week... or he'll move again... :shock:

I'll try and get pics along the way.

 

[86Cutlass383SR]

I got my engine to the machine shop today. Talked to the guy for almost 2 hours and liked everything he had to say so I left a bunch of parts with him. In my mind, he was fairly reasonable with his prices too. He is really busy but I guess that is a good thing. If he wasn't real busy then I'd consider that a bad omen. The better you are, the busier you should be. He told me it may be about 2 months to get to my engine and shot me a rough price of about $1400. That is all machine work on block, rings and bearings, clean and check block, several small parts, install differant valve springs on my heads, paint block, blueprint all clearances and balance, along with engine assembly and a 1 year warranty. I was going to assemble it myself as everyone else only wanted to give me a 90 warranty. For a 1 year warranty, he can assemble it himself.

Here's a few pics of the parts going in/on my engine. It will be a 385 (4.040 x 3.75) SBC with 10-1 compression.

Scat Rods for stroker - 5.7"

Scat cast steel 3.75" crank

Keith Black Hyper-eu-tectic 12cc D-dish pistons

My Oil Pan 6qt with pass side kickout

This is the style injection setup I have. Accel SuperRam. This is not a pic of my setup, only a representation of mine

Again, a representation of my Aftermarket T56 transmission

82-83 F-body Lakewood mechanical linkage bellhousing

I got a bunch more pics but you get the idea. More pics later.

 

[mr evil]

Getting closer...shame none of us will be able to shotgun with you when you get it done. 🙁
You MUST tour Doug! The 2010 383 T56 Nationwide Tour! That oughta break her in and give all your readers a chance to meet the car, meet the man and re-affirm our affection for these lovable G's. :lol:

I'm up waaaaay too early today

 

[1evilregal]

don't give up doug, you're not the only one with setbacks, and a loooong build time!

my regal has only been on the road a couple times in the last 5 years now, and the neighborhood "nazis" have omplained several times about it(don't have a garage either, but NC winters aren't as harsh as yours)... have planned on the touring style also since the car retired as a DD 5 years ago...just trying to get everything together, and show people it can be built on a small budget... gonna be a while longer before I can drive it again though, no time or money & too many other things going on... I understand about the light being a freight train, I love the car & even threatened the wife over it, but just want to be able to turn the key and take a cruise!

keep up the progress!

Darin

 

[Minion1186]

Re:

lots of people have been telling me to get bigger,thicker tires,15x7s dont sound bad to me.I dont want any tinted windows,but i like the cleaner look without the door ding strips so they'll probably go.The exhaust i'd like to run on my cutlass is headers, true duals,summit race mufflers so its very loud and maybe glasspacks.I may not put glasspacks on if the race mufflers on there because it seems that glasspacks would make it quieter.Right now,i have a cherrybomb where the original muffler sat and at idle the glasspack gives it a nice evil rumble,even at good hearty rpms it'll make it sound good,so i'm crossed between glasspacks or race mufflers.I really like the looks of the vinyl top on g bodies,i would like to get a new vinyl top kit for it as mines ripped to shreds.AND lastly,i hate the white lines,i'll get some raised white letter rubber for my cutlass when i get 15x7 rims,oldsmobile style.

Minion, "I get a lot of sh*t from dickheads at school and people outside about my car, even my friends rip on me about my car, unless its a mustang, corvette or a rice celica with a fart can muffler I wont get the admiration of "Nice Car."

fwiw in my opinion (not that you asked 🙂) Tint the windows, (it does not have to be real dark) and lose the trim ie door ding guard, door edge guard, SS on bottom taking off the plastic clips & carefully grind off the tabs, all emblems except Olds just clean up on all the tacked on crap. Lose the vinal top if you can and definately the white walls. Get meaty white letter (at least with those rims) tires. If all you have is those little 14s (not a bad lookin rim) get 205/70s (25.4" tall) and 245/60s (25.6 tall) in the rear. Stock original btw was 25.5 tall. (I prefer Firestone Firehawk Indys) Also get dual exhaust. It can be cheap Jegs or Summit brand "straight thru type" muffs & tail pipes for a good sound but not excessive or drone. Now the same car has a different stance look and sound. You immediately start to get more looks, admiration, thumbs ups, you wanna sell its, and even some; "you know"s you have done well with this from your friends as they start to look at her in a different light. You have a great looking car to start with. Buckets a console and a ralley guage pack would also do wonders for the interior if you don't already have it. With a gbody and some time these are things you can still pick up reasonably cheap. And the simple exhaust will have that 307 sounding better than any 4 cylinder no matter what they do to it. Even the died in the wool rice heads will admit to this.

I bought a white walled 442 when the tires tint & sound changed it was night and day the difference in attention the car got. Another cheap great upgrade would be the factory "F41" thicker sway bar and rear sway bar with replacement poly end links, so she would especially with the tires actually go around a corner. Makeing it fast even just a mid 12 car takes her repspect and admiration to a whole "nother level" but you can't fix that so quick cheap and eazy like what I have outlined for you. Good luck and have fun with her.

BTW anybody agree with my ideas for Minion or am I just mean & twisted.

EDIT Mr Evil I love EFI but good proper conversion takes some serious time and coin. My experience is skip the frustration and hire a Qjet pro to set one up for your car. A well done 800cfm electric choke q-jet leaves little to actually be gained by efi. Again I love & prefer efi. Not sure of the winters there. One big shop that ships abroad would be "The Carb Shop" in Ontario California. They have a web site. Check out the info sheet as to the info they want about your motor & car. It will come about as drop in ready and tuned as can be.

 

[86Cutlass383SR]

Well, here it is March now and the last time I did an update was in September. :shock: Six months of cold, rain, & snow, with my car still sitting at my bosses house, in the mud. His whole yard is mud... (sigh)

Maybe, with the oncoming of warmer weather, I can finally get started on this thing. The engine is finally rebuilt. Sitting on an engine stand inside a garage. At least It's staying dry. The transmission is still in my nephew's garage. Maybe I can get the car pulled to some higher ground so I can get some some work done on it when it dries up a bit.

I got my Dakota Digital gauges ordered today. http://www.dakotadigital.com/index.cfm? ... zm_485.jpg I got them in blue without the speedo/tach bar graphs. I can then get these in and wired up, get the rest of my fuel injection wiring done, and my dash back in.

I still need to run my new fuel lines. Main, return, and vapor lines back to the tank. Speaking of tanks, I need to get that installed, too. While I'm under it doing all that, I thought I might as well run new brake lines, too.

I'm also hoping to do some cleanup/rustproofing while I have the tank out. I figure I can get the rest done after I get it driveable. Then it's on to getting the engine and transmission mated back together and installing in the car. The front end is loose so I'll pull the front clip off for the install, it should be much easier that way.

The engine, for those don't remember, is a 385 Chevy. Accel SuperRam fuel injection, AFR 190 heads, 10-1 compression, 230*/236* 113* XFI 280 hyd roller cam, Comp Pro Magnum roller rockers, and I'll probably get a chip from PCMforless until I can learn to start chip tuning on my own. I have the stuff to do it, just need to learn how to do it. If anyone here knows that stuff, hit me up PM, I'll gladly use some help 😀 The transmission will be an Aftermarket T56 with mechanical linkage and Centerforce 11' clutch with a Lakewood bellhousing.

After it's drivable, movable under it's own power, I'll get it registered (again!!!) and insured. Then I can bring it back home and the city can't say a freaking word about it

After I get it back home, I can start getting my C5 front/LS1 rear disc brakes installed, and then top it all off with my 17" Rondell 58 wheels and 245/45 tires. I may go with the 275/40's in the rear but I'll have to see what kind of clearance I end up with.

I *might* even be able to get some upper a-arms ordered from SC&C. I'm going to be going with the Stage 2 setup but I'll need to see where my 5662 springs sit with the engine in it. I'll either cut the coils or get some new front springs when I do the upper arms. It all depends on how it sits and what Marcus recommends at that time.

My goal is to get it running and driveable and *hopefully* meet up with the power tour in Springfield, IL and drive back to Du Quoin. That is June 6-7. Tight deadline and won't leave a lot of time to get the bugs worked out, but it's my goal. Eventually, it will work it's way into being my daily driver. My only other car is a 91 Buick Le Sabre with 275k on the speedo. I don't know how much longer it'll last. I'm hoping the Cutlass will be able to take it's rightful place !!!

I'm also hoping to get the frame boxed and new poly body mounts put in towards the end of summer or over the winter. Just hopefully before the Buick dies a final death...

But, for now, all I can hope for is some more warm weather and a lot less rain... Rain, rain, go away ...

 

[86Cutlass383SR]

Ok, time for some updates and more pics. I have been getting some done on a sporadic basis. Between work and rain, it's not moving too fast. Car is still sitting outside but at least I got it moved out of the mud. I pulled the old gas tank out and started some clean-up in the trunk pan where the tank sits. Cleaned up pretty good, I just wish the rest of the floor looked as good.



I'd like to get some new rear coil springs (5659), shocks (Bilsteins for MCSS), and some SC&C Spohn Del-Sphere upper rear control arms put in before I put the other FI tank in. Lots more room to work since the tank is out and I may as well take advantage of it! Besides, I still need to clean the inside of the tank and paint the outside. I at least got my rear coil springs ordered today...

I also got the main, return, and vapor lines run to the back of the car. I'll wait until I get the tank back in to finish routing the lines. I need to figure out exactly where I want to put the fuel filter for best access. While I was running the fuel lines I began noticing lots more small rust holes in the floor pans than I thought were there. It's not really surprising, I knew this wasn't a rust free car. Just a lot less rust than the old 84 I previously had. I'll probably just use some type of rust converter to (hopefully) stop the rust and use some epoxy putty to fill the holes. Since this is going to be a daily driver, that'll be good enough until I win the lottery LOL.

I've been collecting more engine parts and doing some mock-up on the engine stand.



Okay, all I got mocked up was the headers. But today, all that changed too. I got my large cap TPI distributor from Performance Distributors (aka Davis Unified Ignition). Yup, I got a DUI...



After I got the DUI I decided what I needed next was a hooker. Wait, why not get 2 hookers. So, I did.



Ray Steele had these for sale and dealing with him was really good. Thanks again Ray! These are the 2451's and will clear my mechanical clutch linkage. Fitment seems to be good especially with my kicked out oil pan. We will see how they fit the chassis after I get the engine back in.

I gave my Moroso valve covers and the SuperRam a brushed finish. I was going to polish them but realized the polished look was going to require more upkeep that I wanted to devote to a driver so I just stayed with the brushed look. I got it mocked onto the engine today, too. First is the fuel rail, then the runners, the plenum box, and then the lid.



And here it is with the valve covers and everything in place (just loosly bolt on) for mockup and inspiration...



And so, the saga continues...the saga of...

Will it ever run under it's own power...

I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just hope that light isn't a freight train... :shock:

Thanks for looking.

 

[Blake442]

Lookin' good Doug!

 

[86Cutlass383SR]

Sometimes.... things happen and it makes ya just wanna throw up your hands and give up...

Little bit of back-tracking...

My Cutlass sat in the back yard for 3 years, and I never really had a chance to do much to it. All the city wanted was for me to keep plates on it. So, for 3 years I kept a registered, undrivable car.

I finally had a chance to work on it. Pulled the front end off, pulled the motor and transmission out and had the front suspension off for rebuilding. Then... the city decided I couldn't work on my car, in my own freakin yard. They sent me a letter that said it was going to be towed in a week.

I put as much of the front suspension back in/on to get it mobile again. Ever see how low a g-body sits with only upper and lower arms and spindles sits... No springs or shocks...the 14'' tires rubbed the top of the plastic fender liner!



I had the car towed to a buddies house. 20 miles away. Really put a crimp on me working on my car...

Then he had to move. So, less than a month later it was going back together ... again. At least this time it had springs in the car. I did manage to get a few things done in the next few months.

Well, I got a phone call earlier this evening and he said was was going to have to move... again... he has no idea where he's going to be moving and don't know if he'll be able to store my car anymore. Better yet, he's moving in less than a week. (F-Bomb!!!)

So now I get to find a place to store my car yet again. Son-Of-A-...

To those of you who have a garage to work on your car in, you might want to go sleep in it and show your appreciation for your garage...