My Cutlass' first trip down the 1/8 mile

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Well, I was bored last week and had wednesday off, so I decided to go to the local test and tune night. Now, I knew the car wouldn't be very quick, it has an open diff, a convertor that brake stalls at around 1600 RPM and the Quadrajet needs some help, but this was for fun, and the $20 wasn't gonna kill me so, why not? My first run of the day was the best run. I ran a 9.4 at 68 MPH with a 2.6 second 60 foot. Ouch. I had to idle it out of the hole as the brakes could not hold the engine at all due to the convertor, and it spun the one wheel badly even while taking great care. Now, the rest of the runs were all in the 10 flat range, so I was like WTF? I noticed the factory tach was erratic and not going above 4500 RPM which I had thought was due to faulty tach wiring. Turns out that was wrong as I was about to find out on the way home. I live about 25 miles from the track, so any tow would be expensive. As I was leaving the track, the engine started cutting on and off intemittently. I pulled in to the nearest gas station and checked the wiring to the HEI, battery, and alternator, but all was well and as tight as it has been for the 7 years I've had the Chevy 355 in it, so I decided to limp it home as far as possible and just tow it after that. Fortunately, I made it home safely and without an expensive tow. I did finally figure out what the problem was though: a faulty internal wiring harness for the 30+ year old HEI distributor! The lesson is to never trust old wiring as it will fail you at the most inopportune moment! I will be going back in a few weeks with another Quadrajet (I have one with a straight inlet from a 79 Buick right now and the baseplate is worn out, I want a 90 degree Chevy style instead) , a MSD digital HEI module ( comes with wiring!) and hopefully a posi with hopes of hitting the high 8's.

 

[pontiacgp]

if you want to hold the rear wheel from spinning while you raise the reves get a set of S 10 non power brake wheel cylinders for the rear wheels. A GN can raise the boost from 4 to 8 lbs before the wheel turns with this upgrade

 

[steve 86]

a locker is a cheaper and easier way to get posi and is stronger than one because it eliminates the spider gears, wich 90 percent of the time is what actually blows up. lockers install in about 1 hour.
I feel your pain about having a 1 leg. :?

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

a locker is a cheaper and easier way to get posi and is stronger than one because it eliminates the spider gears, wich 90 percent of the time is what actually blows up. lockers install in about 1 hour.
I feel your pain about having a 1 leg. :?

True, but this car is not a serious drag car, and lockers can be harsh. I plan on installing cruise control, assembling it and getting the A/C to work, installing a good stereo and using it for a road trip from Florida to New York and back in a few months, so I want it to be almost stock in driveability.Plus, a posi is $40 at the local u pull it yard, if I can find it so that's likely the route I will take. I also have a ring gear spacer and a cone type 2 series posi I may try with my 3.23 gears if I can just find 3 damn reverse threaded bolts to install them ( I lost 'em somehow....), or a 3 series gov lock posi from a MC SS I have lying around here somewhere, but that's another story...

Ultimately , I want a G body 8.5 10 bolt with preferrably the 3.42 gears from a turbo Regal, or the 3.73's from a 442 as I do plan on a small hit of nitrous in the future ( 125-150).

 

[Mr 4 Speed]

FYI The governor style posi is not known for its strength.

 

[steve 86]

a locker is no less streetable than a good posi carrier i.e. auburn or "detroit locker" , not to be confused with the locker im referring to.