Project Knightmobile

[IronCastKnight]

The lack of AC doesn't bother me on account of spending the last fifteen years of my life in deserts and on tropical islands, gifting me with a high tolerance for heat even with my thick layer of insulating fat, but the lack of the heater does. I'm probably going to stuff in a Flex-a-lite Mojave so I can not freeze my stupid *ss off in the winter.

That's exactly the information I was looking for, thanks. I'm definitely going for sportier, on account of holding to my belief that the Cutlass Supreme is wasted as a grannymobile.

 

[DoubleV]

The lack of AC doesn't bother me on account of spending the last fifteen years of my life in deserts and on tropical islands, gifting me with a high tolerance for heat even with my thick layer of insulating fat, but the lack of the heater does. I'm probably going to stuff in a Flex-a-lite Mojave so I can not freeze my stupid *ss off in the winter.

Your overall build plan seems good but I don't think it was very wise to ditch your A/C along with your heater and blower motor too, especially if you're planning on driving in any condition other than 'nice warm sunny day'. Others feel different about it but installing one of those flat pieces of steel as a block off always screemed 'easy way out hack job' to me. If I were you I would look for a complete factory non A/C setup and do it right!

 

[IronCastKnight]

I admit that would probably be the best way to do it, particularly if I were intending it as a show car. I probably will at some point after I get it running reliably, but until then I'll have to settle for my flat plate and a little aftermarket heater.

Got the new rear coils in, and it's still sagging a little low on the rear driver's side exactly as it was with the old springs. On the plus side, it's a bit harder to bounce the *ss up and down with my hands than it was before. I'm going to get a set of air bags so I can level it off and to work as a stopgap measure until I get the money and bits to completely rebuild the rear end. Then I'll need the money and bits to completely rebuild the front end, then the money and bits to completely rebuild the middle. After that, the money and bits to completely replace and upgrade the everloving sh*t out of the engine and transmission. I should probably do something about the rapidly disintegrating vinyl top while I'm at it.

On the great news side, I got everything hooked up, turned the key, and once it sucked enough gas up the tubes the beast fired right up. It's a little backfirey at high RPMs, but that's to be expected as I haven't even adjusted the timing yet, I just stuffed in a new distributor and a new old carb that spent the previous six years of its life on a shelf then tried to it to see if it went. The car fired up faster and easier after two so weeks of sitting and having new bits stuffed in it than it tended to after being parked for ten hours at work, which I take as a good sign.

 

[IronCastKnight]

PROGRESS!

Well, not really. Still, the money-eating beast is closer to being back on the road in a sportier, burlier, beastier form than ever before.

What I've Done: First, a set of Air Lift 1000 air bags for the rear, which helped level it off enough that the slant is much less obvious while also giving me a nice little bit of musclecar-esque rake to it, not to mention a bit firmer of a ride. Then... HEADERS! A set of painted Hedman Street headers to be precise. Ideally I would have put in a set of tuned ceramic coated Hooker Super Comps, but with a 7A head'd Olds 307 that's just gold-plating a turd. Goddamn headers were the painiest of pains in the *ss to get in, at least on the drivers side, resulting in also putting in a Powermaster Master Torque mini starter with a mylar burrito wrap on it because there was no way in hell the massive stock starter could go back in. I also put some heat shielding on the starter wires, y'know, because I could. To go with my spiffy new set of headers, I also rigged up a basic 2.5 inch dual exhaust system with some Flowtech Red Hots glasspacks(would have preferred Cherry Bombs, but they were out of stock. Also twice the price.) set to blast out the sides from behind the doors, and, even with my engine grievously untuned, the deep dragon's roar is quite satisfying.

I also took out the stereo because it was horribly installed and only half finished, resulting in seriously bad sound. Also the incredible idiots that put it in left a 12 gauge hot wire running into the trunk connected directly to the battery cut off and not even wrapped in electrical tape. Kind of explains why the battery tended to go dead so fast, though. Damn lucky the car didn't catch on fire.

What's Next: Tuning this sumbitch! The timing is set a good 12 degrees off, because I am a moron, and needs adjusting. Then, getting the carb dialed in for the engine's new free-breathing state. I also need to get my heater set up to defrost the windows, which mainly requires either removing the dash, stripping the vent ducting, and routing in new tubes, or figuring out how to port the heater into the existing vents.

PICS TIEM

Bit of asymmetrical paint burn-off on the headers, probably on account of how poorly timed the engine is.

Between the ball and socket connecters on the Hedmans and the bendytubes Summit supplied, positioning the exhaust pipes was quite easy.

Shiny exhaust tips is shiny

 

[IronCastKnight]

Girlish excitement! I found an apparently good running 74 Rocket 350 on Craigslist complete with quadrajet and TH350 transmission for seven hundred and fifty, so if I can jump on it fast enough I should have a good replacement engine for the Knightmobile. Even if I have to rebuild it, it'll be worth it for allowing me a badass engine without having to go the Chevy 350 route I was hesitantly considering. At absolute worst I can rebuild the transmission and put it on the 307 when the TH200 explodes.

 

[IronCastKnight]

I am now the owner of a 1974 Oldsmobile Rocket 350 and everything attached to it, including a TH350 transmission, a four barrel quadrajet, a 38 year old AC compressor and alternator, and the original air cleaner with about 3/4ths of the Rocket 350 sticker still on it. Apparently it was pulled from an Omega and was still running great while it was still in the car with a little less than 100k on it and no previous rebuilds, which, considering my still running fine with 167k and dubious maintenance 307, is entirely believable.

The Plan: First, compression check the cylinders. If everything looks all right there, move on to breaking it down, checking over everything for obvious wear, and overhauling the sh*t out of it. Plus, researching good power-adding upgrades to squeeze more beef from this baby. If it needs a rebuilding, time to start saving up money for the machinework! I was planning on spending well over two thousand on a high performance crate engine for my Cutlass anyways, so no need to cut corners when it comes to sprucing up this beasty. Then, I'm going to take my time rebuilding this engine right.

Optionals: Rebuilding the Quadrajet. On one hand, keeping the Quadrajet would keep it authentic Olds, which suddenly means a good bit more to me than before, but on the other hand I'm still going to convert my Cutlass to a five speed manual and that's not exactly authetic Olds either. Plus, I was intending on the Knightmobile being my answer to the Turbo Regal: The Super Cutlass. Which, naturally, requires putting in a supercharger, which, in turn, requires either a blowthrough capable carb for a centrifugal super(my preference for stealth supercharging), or requires installing a Roots super where I don't think it really matters what kind of carb I have as long as it can pump the gas.

Sub Optionals: I could just sell the Quadrajet before or after rebuilding it in order to recoup a bit of money which would, in turn, be spent on a 750CFM Demon for the centrifugal super.

I'm not sure if I should repaint the engine back to gold, which it seems it was originally(based on the old engine paint still on the front and the valve covers), or to metallic blue which would fit my car better and, at least according to Oldsfaq, was the normal color of 74 350s. I'm also not sure it really matters.

 

[DRIVEN]

I typically lean toward a less is more approach. My vote is for a good cleaning, a reseal, and a "Krylon rebuild". Either color would be acceptable in my book. I'd keep the Qjet too. The deepest I'd go is maybe a cam upgrade. You'd probably be surprised at what an improvement an absolutely stock 350 is over the 307.

 

[IronCastKnight]

To be fair, a good pair of pedals and some good gearing seems like it'd be an improvement over the 307.

 

[1979ratrod]

looks really good man id love to see more pics

 

[IronCastKnight]

I've done a good bit of work on the Knightmobile, including yanking out the dash and installing an aftermarket heater so I can actually drive it in the winter. I also crafted a custom bezel from .125 polystyrene to function as a combined radio/heater delete panel, gauge panel, and neo heater switch holder, which has the effect of making the dash a lot more professional looking. Or, if not professional, at least not "gauge holder poorly affixed in a horribly inconvenient place with wires and tubes crawling everywhere."

I also swapped out the wonky old secondhand Demon I got from my crazy uncle for a smaller new 500 CFM Edelbrock, because I'd rather not have to rebuild and tune some crazy *ss Holley-based bullshit that'd probably still be barfing gas and black smoke after all my work anyways. I'd much rather spend a bit of dosh, slap some functional sh*t on my car so I can start driving it again, then rebuild the Quadrajet for my Rocket 350, and finally rebuild the Demon so I could sell it on ebay or somesuch. Or maybe keep it, if it'll work with blowthrough superchargers.

What can I say, sometimes I have a short fuse.

PIC TIEM

The interior is still in a state of disarray, but I think the panel looks nice enough.