I just got a cutlass about 2 months ago i feel i got it for a real steal. I owned a 95 cadillac deville had about 160k on it, originally spent $800 on it and had a few mechanical issues to repair that didnt cost me much. The heat went out early Nov. so i got a beater for the winter. suprisingly it didnt get any colder than 50 degrees here in minnesota so i figured hey why not fix the old thing up and atleast sale it. had a guy offer me this 78 cutlass supreme brougham. 44k original miles for a even trade. The frame i solid with not a spot of rust and just some very minor surface rust on body when get painted it will be taken care of. so basically i got a $800 cutlass and im ready to get to work. Now heres the important part i had a small argument with a buddy i was looking for a parts car mainly for the interior plastics and stuff of that nature and i saw a real nice 86 cutlass for $400 and i wanted it. He says that the 86 parts are not compatible and will not fit my 78 so im here trying to clear that up a bit. because i think the parts will work from what i know so far. someone please help me out.
which cutlass yrs are compatible
- Thread starter sampdawg
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Take a look and compare to make sure, but most things should fit.
I just got some A, B, and door panels for my 81 malibu wagon out of a Cutlass at the junkyard last week, and I'm pretty sure it was an 86.
I just got some A, B, and door panels for my 81 malibu wagon out of a Cutlass at the junkyard last week, and I'm pretty sure it was an 86.
**Assuming Two Door Model** No exterior body parts. Most Interior parts will work, with the exception of the rear quarter window sail panels, they are specific to 78-80 cutlass only.
**Four Door Model** With the only minor differences being header panel and lamps, everything is basically the same.
Keep in mind for chassis parts, the 86 will be metric while the 78 is mostly SAE, meaning different rotors (metric studs vs SAE), with a different bearing (can't remember if it was inner or outer, one the same one different), rear end metric studs for the 86.
**Four Door Model** With the only minor differences being header panel and lamps, everything is basically the same.
Keep in mind for chassis parts, the 86 will be metric while the 78 is mostly SAE, meaning different rotors (metric studs vs SAE), with a different bearing (can't remember if it was inner or outer, one the same one different), rear end metric studs for the 86.
Oldsmoletick said:
This holds true up to the '81 chassis. My brother's '81 has the SAE wheel studs and like you said, the outer wheel bearing is different between the two. Inner wheel bearings are the same.
cool i figured that it would work. that is the exact thing that i told him, that the differences in those years were the body,grill and other small exterior parts and therefore the body of my cutlass is almost perfect with not a dent on it anywhere so i didnt want to use any of the body so that all will work out perfect.
now next little debate we had. I just cant take it anymore driving that 305, dont get me wrong its a nice motor and all but man i feel like an old lady when pulling off from a stop light. I saw a couple nice 350 and 355 motors and want to upgrade but first thing he tells me is numbers wont match. which i completely understand is true in some cases but hey wouldnt a beefed up motor hold equal or maybe even a greater value.
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and i would not dare wasting my time trying to squeeze an upgrade out of this 305 because i feel it will cost me way more money to add horsepower than it will to find a nice 350 and put nice carb,intake,headers, and duals on it. and im pretty sure with those additions i could get that 350 to do a whole lot more than the 305 would with the same modifications.
With G bodies, unless you have a turbo car, matching numbers are pretty much irrelevant. The engines they come with are undesirable and usually are the first things to get changed out. So, go for a 355, 383, 406 etc. It will make it a better car and will actually increase it's value over an original 305. After all, the only reason these cars have any value at all is that they easily take most older GM engines as a bolt in. If they didn't, they would have little more than scrap value, much like a Cutlass Ciera. My only caution to you is that you should not butcher the car. Do a clean job and try to keep the A/C, etc. working as that will preserve the value to a larger group of people than keeping the original engine ever will. It's a 305, and 305's are not good for much more than as donors for the brackets used to install a real engine.
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lol i like the way u worded that because thats how i also feel about the 305 pretty much a donor. so ya that is going to be my first part of the project then, finding a well running engine and were off to a start. well thanks for all the advice i will continue to post my progress as im moving along. and hopefully this will be smooth sailing for me
I laugh everytime I hear somebody talk about "matching numbers" on their 305/307/etc... powered G-body...
Who cares?!?! :lol: The original motors in these cars were awful!
It's not a W-30 442, it's not a LS6 Chevelle, and it's not a ZL-1 Camaro... Pull the 305, keep the brackets, and throw the rest in the junk pile. Get a real motor and enjoy it.
I put the "numbers matching" H.O. 307 from my 442 with the scattered bottom end in the back of my K-5 Blazer before I sent it to the junkyard. I hope it doesn't negatively effect the resale value...
:lol:
Who cares?!?! :lol: The original motors in these cars were awful!
It's not a W-30 442, it's not a LS6 Chevelle, and it's not a ZL-1 Camaro... Pull the 305, keep the brackets, and throw the rest in the junk pile. Get a real motor and enjoy it.
I put the "numbers matching" H.O. 307 from my 442 with the scattered bottom end in the back of my K-5 Blazer before I sent it to the junkyard. I hope it doesn't negatively effect the resale value...
:lol:- Status
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