Introducing Project Sabre, 1971 Cutlass S Pro-Touring car

[BulldawgMuscle]

We're just getting started on "Project Sabre", a '71 Cutlass S being built for/in conjunction with Sparky at RnD Fabrication. In Sparky's own words:

We wanted to take a moment to introduce our future shop car and Autocross machine, called Project Sabre. The base of the project is a 1970-72 Oldsmobile Cutlass 'S'. We will be swapping in LS motor, manual transmission, chassis upgrades, custom brakes, Rushforth Wheels along with a slew of other killer upgrades.

The goals for this project are a platform to display our products in use, that we can also use competitively at the autocross tracks. But the main goal for this project is to build a very streetable and usable Pro-Touring Muscle Car that anyone can replicate with a little planning and elbow grease. This will not be an overpowered, overpriced car that spends all of its time at shows and on trailers. It is meant to be driven, and driven hard!

There are quite a few great folks involved with this build, including Bulldawg Musclecars, Jason Rushforth and others. We will be documenting the entire build from start to finish, so that everyone can see exactly what we used and why.

You can see our project site and updates here:
www.projectsabre.com

[BulldawgMuscle]

Project Sabre is underway! Here are a few shots of it the day it arrived at the shop.





She's pimpin' with that white interior!



The "Rocket" 350, now gone to a new home in an '87 4-4-2





As Sparky mentioned, this build is intended to show that it isn't necessary to have an air-to-water intercooled American Express Black card to have a nice Pro Touring car. If you're looking for the latest widget machined from billet unobtanium, you're probably not going to find it here. We are using off the shelf parts, and in some cases parts that will soon be released to the general public. We will also be using some used parts, where deemed safe and reliable enough. For less than the cost of a new crate motor, we will have a 400+ engine with a 6 speed manual transmission and a rear end that will take anything we throw at it. Make no mistake, while this car is being built to the highest standards, it is being built with a realistic budget in mind.

[killer67]

Nice project Joe! Headlights and grill are nicest 3rd gen. Underrated A body IMO

[BulldawgMuscle]

Thanks Fernando! We're in the parts acquisition/mock up stage right now, but we have a pretty tight schedule for the build so its going to have to move pretty quickly.

From Sparky:

Throughout the build, we are going to update what we've spent on various parts. We want this build to be able to be replicated, so the prices we pay will be what are available all over, rather than just a one-in-a-million deal that no one will ever find again. We will also list the parts we use on Sabre, as well as the companies / locations where we purchase them. The best part will be early next year starting to run Sabre on courses and proving that this project not only works, but will take repeated floggings.

Safety though will be of top importance. Brakes, suspension, belts, and other items are being chosen for safety AND performance, not just because they look neat.

Here we are getting started on the teardown:



The 350 removed. The firewall and undercarriage are in surprisingly good shape. I'm used to doing tons of rust repair, but there will be very little of that here. Even the factory red oxide primer is visible on the bottom of the firewall.



Somewhere underneath all that wiring and ugliness is an iron block 6.0 LQ4. We'll take care of that.



The seller of this T56 failed to mention it was painted flourescent snot green...that is going to be fun to strip off.

[BulldawgMuscle]

The truck oil pan isn't going to work with the BRP/Musclerods mounts (or anybody's, for that matter), so Sparky ordered the GMPP Musclecar Pan Kit, PN 19212593. This came from our own Jeff Tate at Day's Chevrolet.



The Cutlass had an automatic, so a set of pedals was ordered.



The stock steering wheel has to go. In its place, this one from Momo.

[SparkyRnD]

I can't wait to see the motor and transmission mocked up!