64 Olds Newbie

[Rocket 442]

Hello Everyone. My name is Andy and a newbie here from Buffalo NY.

I'm currently in the early phases of researching and planning a way to turn our 64 Olds into a more corner-friendly car. As you can see from the photos, its stance is there mainly just because of tire-rub in the rear before deciding if we wanted to start hacking the car apart. This car was built mainly by my father before giving it to me (since he was 18). The 455 I'll be putting into it is coming out of my 66 Cutlass that I started to build. To save some money and get something done faster, this car is closer to driveable I'm moving my entire focus on the 64.

Basic setup will be the same, 455, built TH350 (for now), and a few other goodies I've not completely figured out yet. SSBC Disk Brake kit is likely coming soon, and hopefully sometime in the next year or so, we'll be updating the suspension more seriously than just getting the ride-height down. Definitely a newbie when it comes to turning a car into something that can corner well, but hopefully if I lurk around long enough I can at least get some ideas. As far as aesthetics I'm looking to get some new wheels, other than that very minor changes just because I don't want to mess with the body lines of it much.

Currently:
Engine:
1970 Olds 455 F2 Block
Edelbrock Performer RPM Heads
Edelbrock Performer Intake, Modified
Mondello JM 20-22 Cam
Harland Sharp 1.6 Roller Rockers
3/8" Chromemoly Rods

Trans:
Built TH350, 3000 Stall






This is the Engine/Trans combo from the Cutlass, that we'll be putting into the 442




Plans:
Engine:
Not too much for the time being

Trans:
4l80E with a Shift Kit, possibly some Paddle Shifters, keep going back and forth on that.

Suspension:
Not really sure how to go about it, which is half the reason I'm going to be reading on these forums for a while. I want to get something half-decent but also not completely rebuild the entire car.

Exterior/Interior
Not sure on Wheels yet, looking at something along the lines of the Boze Force, or if they'll look good something along the lines of the Forgeline WC3s.
New Race-inspired Buckets, nothing completely race-driven, but something that has a bit of comfort for long drives, and still has support.


I've been trying to do research on the history of the car, but am not sure exactly how it got the options it did, so I'm not sure right now if it was an original 442 or not. It has original power windows, and had an auto when my dad bought it in 1985. Outside of that, I haven't dug too far, and really its not a big deal.

So its going to be a long and slow road turning this into something I can take around nice roads and really have some fun with, but I'm sure that the time and effort will eventually be worth it.