My First G Body

[scoutsout]

Hi everyone! Yesterday I took delivery of my first G Body, a '79 Cutlass Supreme. I've loved the look of these cars forever but I've really only owned vintage MOPARs and Fords prior to this. The car is great so far. The previous owner focused on the body and the powertrain, so I mostly have a long list of interior stuff to work on. It's got a 403 with an Edelbrock Performer carb and what I believe is the Edelbrock 350 intake manifold. Is there a simple way to find out exactly which IM I have? The previous owner wasn't really a car guy so he couldn't give me much detail on the engine internals, other than saying it had "flat top" pistons. No clue on any work to the block, heads, cam, etc.

The interior is red and the plastic pieces are in rough shape. I'm debating keeping it red and cleaning it up, or swapping over to a black interior. Only a few issues with the car so far... I'm pretty sure the power steering pump is dead or dying, the key can be very difficult to remove from the ignition (suspecting this is from the missing factory shift knob), and the accelerator is very hard to push down. I'm thinking the throttle cable may be frayed or binding.

Very new to this, but eager to get this car looking great and running even better. No real plans for tracking it or showing it, just want to build a fun weekend cruiser. Looking forward to meeting you all.

 

[melloelky]

welcome to the site scout,looks like you're starting off with a clean ride.

 

[87National]

.....or swapping over to a black interior.

Definetly black.....would compliment the exterior nicely.

 

[L92 OLDS]

Welcome to the forum from West Michigan. I’m surprised you can get the hood closed with that Edelbrock RPM intake and air cleaner. Maybe that was only an issue on 81-88 models?

 

[olds307 and 403]

Very, very, nice car! Does it have a 4A near the #1 spark plug? They are probably the 6cc di KB Hyper pistons. Those bump the compression around 9.5 to 1 with 4A heads vs less than 8 to 1 factory. The Performer RPM, which you have is the best Street/Strip intake. What cfm is the Edelbrock carb? My bet is 600 cfm, which is too small. I would assume they upgraded the cam. How does it run?

 

[scoutsout]

Very, very, nice car! Does it have a 4A near the #1 spark plug? They are probably the 6cc di KB Hyper pistons. Those bump the compression around 9.5 to 1 with 4A heads vs less than 8 to 1 factory. The Performer RPM is the best Street intake. What cfm is the Edelbrock carb? My bet is 600 cfm, which is too small. I would assume they upgraded the cam. How does it run?

Yep, 4A near the #1 cylinder. No clue on the CFM from the Edelbrock. I looked around and couldn't see a model number or anything to ID it without pulling it off. Am I just overlooking it? It runs like a champ, plenty of power in the mid-range. A little more sluggish off the line than I was expecting but I also haven't really gotten on it too hard yet.

 

[olds307 and 403]

If it has factory gearing and the factory 1600 stall, assuming a TH350 with an upgraded cam, it will be sluggish off the line. I don't know Edelbrock carbs. I believe the 600/650 cfm has smaller primary bores vs even bores for 750/800 cfm. It could be way off tune like a lot of Edelbrock carbs.

 

[Cauterize]

On an edelbrock you will find the model number stamped on the front near the front left bolt/stud hole.

 

[scoutsout]

On an edelbrock you will find the model number stamped on the front near the front left bolt/stud hole.

Super helpful and clear as can be. I don't know how I overlooked that. It's stamped 1407 9278, which appears to be a 750CFM, so that's a nice surprise! The other surprise is that this is a manual choke carb, and I have been driving it under the impression that it was an electric choke. Just checked, and sure enough, there is a manual choke with the knob broken off under the steering column. That definitely explains the rough start up I had this morning! I kinda feel like an idiot right now... 😂 Very appreciative of all the help though!

 

[scoti]

Nice start inside & out. Not sure where you are on the map but Black interiors are hot. That Red looks nice enough to work with vs changing it over (unless you're just not a fan of the color combo). Sounds like a decent drivetrain as well. I would pop the rear-end cover for some investigating (figure out your gear ratio) & fluid flush cause its often overlooked.