New member, new project Cutlass..

[tyoneal]

Originally Posted by LWillmann

My Grandmother gave me this 88 Cutlass Supreme Classic recently. She paid cash for it brand new and has driven it since. It's got some minor problems now, but I think it'll make for a fun project...

It's got the factory Olds 307 in it, the car is totally stock, and all original. It's got 223k miles on it, and outside of some hefty oil leaks, the car runs pretty good considering it's age.

Since I'm married and have two kids, I don't get a lot of money to devote to the car, so for now, I'm going to clean up the 307, get it running good again and get the car driveable for a while. I'll be building <gasp> an SBC 350 to drop into it, as they're cheaper to mod, and easier to source parts for, not to mention easier to find. I will have the trans rebuilt, probably but a 3200 RPM stall in it, stick a posi or locker diff in the rear with some better gears, maybe 3.42s or 3.73s.

I'm hoping to locate a set of the Rallye Pack gauges for the car, as I'm not a big fan of the long, wide speedo and otherwise gaugeless dash, and I'd rather not go mounting a bunch of other gauges all over the place to get the standard information.

I will also be building the suspension a bit, with better control arms, new bushings, and steering linkage and such. Haven't really decided on shocks/springs yet, but I know that I want to lower the car a bit, as it looks just way too high right now.

I'm having some difficulty deciding on which wheel/tire/suspension 'look' to go for. I could go with the standard fat/skinny drag-racing inspired look that so many go with, or I could go with a big wheel small sidewall, with the car hugging the wheels look (Pro-Touring). The drag inspired look is really common, and I'd like to be different, but dont' want to be different at the expense of straight line performance.

The car will be first and foremost a street car, driven regularly (maybe even daily), and will see some drag-strip action. I don't expect to hit any AutoX or road-racing type of stuff with it, but I want the car to handle well in the corners. I do love a good twisty road now and then!

I'm coming from a 1996 Formula so if I can get similar cornering characteristics out of the Cutlass without breaking the bank, I'd love it. But I fear that might be a tall order with the size difference of the two.

Well, I suppose I've rambled enough. Here are a few before pictures of the car, It's living in my garage now, out of the weather, and awaiting the TLC for the 307.

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FWIW: I had a 85 Cutless a number of years ago, and a 455 olds will fit in that car, and if you attach the smog trees to the exhaust manifolds and hang the "Stock Airpump, a/c etc", on the front it is really hard to tell the difference between the two when looking at it. The width difference between the two is a 1.75 inches total, and the 455 hasn't been made in such a long time, many people wouldn't automatically realize that what they were looking at wasn't a stock oldsmobile.

I think the olds engine for that year is still flat across the top and wide just like the older ones were. I know in my old car, if you sat both engines side by side it was remarkable how similar they were. Paint them the same color and run the same air cleaner. That with the smog trees, the air pump etc. will give you a really neat sleeper of a car.

Ty