Update to my (frame off restoration) 1979 Cutlass Calais

[jetsetw31]

No real downside to the Chevy carb. Just keep all fuel line bends smooth and out of the way from hot parts.

 

[Pharozen]

Rolling Chasis almost complete. The edlebrock alluminum dual plane intake and edlebrock quad jet is next. Also waiting on the 3.70 posi center chunk.

 

[liquidh8]

I love how the frame boxing was done!

 

[Pharozen]

I love how the frame boxing was done!

Thanks a lot! I do too. From what I understand.....the boxed frame should support the t-tops better.

 

[olds307 and 403]

What model Edelbrock Qjet is that? It may need some tuning, stock cam is mild on the 350. What number is on the heads?

 

[Pharozen]

What model Edelbrock Qjet is that? It may need some tuning, stock cam is mild on the 350. What number is on the heads?

1904 is the model...or maybe it's 1905. I plan on going with an over sized cam one day. I'm not sure what number is on the heads....are you referring to 395558 2??

 

[jetsetw31]

Rolling Chasis almost complete. The edlebrock alluminum dual plane intake and edlebrock quad jet is next. Also waiting on the 3.70 posi center chunk.

Hey Pharozen, Are those the 350 exhaust manifolds or the 307's? If it's the 307's, I hope your getting headers or a set of manifolds from a 350. The 307 ones are way too small and restrictive for a bigger motor. I speak from experience, I used the 307's on mine and the motor wouldn't rev past 4500. And I have kinda a big cam. I bought a set of shorty headers for mine. Didn't put them in yet though.
T

 

[Pharozen]

I was under the impression that they were 350 manifolds, but I will double check. Did you see something that I didn't see?

I definitely plan on modifying by adding some custom headers and an oversized cam....

I don't want to customize much with my olds 350 because they are unique engines and everyone don't know how to improve them. Chevy engines are easy to rebuild and the parts are readily accessible. On the contrary the olds rockets are already special to me.....all I want to do is get a cam and some headers.

 

[olds307 and 403]

The big number by the #1 and #8 spark plug. Any Olds manifold's flow poorly, some worse than others. American Racing make great fitting stainless steel headers for your car. Worth power over cheap headers but cost $1000. The Olds 350 was a special motor. I picked up a great running original 76 350. Great oil pressure and compression. Try that with a bowtie motor from the mid 70's.

 

[jetsetw31]

I was under the impression that they were 350 manifolds, but I will double check. Did you see something that I didn't see?

I definitely plan on modifying by adding some custom headers and an oversized cam....

I don't want to customize much with my olds 350 because they are unique engines and everyone don't know how to improve them. Chevy engines are easy to rebuild and the parts are readily accessible. On the contrary the olds rockets are already special to me.....all I want to do is get a cam and some headers.

If they are the ones that came with the 350 then you should be ok. But i'd duel it. Even with the stock manifolds, the 350 will wake up with duels. The Olds motor loves free flowing exhaust, no matter the intake and with the stock cam.
I got my stock cammed '71 350 Cutlass to do a 14.8 with just headers and some rear suspension tricks to make it hook. That was with the stock iron intake and a tuned 800 cfm Qjet. I won 800 bucks from a few suckers that thought it was just making noise while street racing it over one summer. I was 16 and a little reckless. Oh, and it was a heavy 4 door Cutlass.

So, I know the power of Olds small blocks very well. Even with open headers it has a very flat torque curve. That's why as in my name, My favorite motor is the Extremely Underrated W31 350 from '68-'70. The biggest difference between the W31 and a normal 350 (besides the beefed up internals ) was the W30 cam from the big block. That cam turned the W31 into a high revving beast. The only small block that was stronger, was the '70 LT1 sbc. And that was due to the fact the LT1 revved higher than the W31.
Todays cams are better all around power makers, if you choose the right cam for how you drive and what you want it to do. Cam profiles that mirror but improve on stock are pretty good performers. But free flowing headers are a must. Even the muffler you choose has to flow freely. My Headman Olds 350 block huggers are 1 3/4" primaries and 3" outlets. I'm going for a 3" exhaust to the rear but I may get held up by lack of funds. The headers were $300 plus alone. I saw the Sanderson block huggers first and even though the price was about the same and they look better, It had smaller primaries 1 5/8. My system will be custom so, it will cost me a pretty penny.
General rule is if you are going to rev it up to or past 6000 rpm, you will need 1 3/4 primary tube headers as a minimum. If you stay under that rpm, then 1 5/8 will be fine and most of the long tubes in both sizes are well under $300 except mostly Hooker.