Pics coming this afternoon, left the digicam in the car last night and BOY is it pissed.
This post is massive, but I've spent the past year not going to college to pay the first 1/3 of this project off, so I hope you'll take the time to read it.
Hey all, name's Russ, 19 from New Hampshire. I posted back on the old forum months ago but didn't get the chance to post pictures of the ongoing battle. I'm re-doing an entire 1972 Olds Cutlass S by tossing everything I've learned from here in the past year or so and I must say, thank you so very much everyone here, especially Scott, Brent, Jody, Andrew, and the rest of you all at Lateral-G.net. The knowledge I've gained from you guys can't be gained from any book or magazine (although I own each one you've been in in recent times... I think?). Right then, onto the car...
What was a $2,500 solid car turned out to be a bit of a bondo buggy, with rust in the lower front fenders and the trunk having pinholes everywhere, and the front passenger footwell having a 1"x4-5" section coming out, which I had hoped was patchable, but it's right above the floor support, so I'll be replacing the entire panel (along with the drivers floor panel, which someone did a pretty shotty job of patching) Also the trunk lid had rust-through all along the lip of the bottom where it meets the fender, so that will be replaced as well. As far as the rest of the car goes, it's as solid as a Wheaties-addicts' stool sample.
As for the modifications... the list is long, and never ending. I never intended to use the asthmatic 350 it came with, and looked into 455's or their stroked equivallents for a while, but realized the massive weight of any olds engine (among the heaviest of all GM engines) mixed with the high cost of Olds performance parts just wasn't practical for me to use. I suppose I should state now that this was a high school project for my senior year, and I got to take 3 classes a day (go in after lunch
) and work on my car the rest of the time. What I finally wound up deciding on was using a small block chevy, but since I'm like you guys in the sense that I can't have anything but the biggest and best, I purchased a 400 with big plans.
Not as big as Scott mind you, it's a high-nickel '73 block punched over .030 and stroked .125, making 420 cubes. I wanted a 434, but didn't wanna risk a stock chevy block to that kind of over-boring. Yeah, I'm lame and didn't know how cheap short blocks were at the time, but I wanted to build this all on my own at the time. list off time:
-Brodix -8 heads, fully ported
-Scorpion 1.6 rockers
-Edelbrock Victor port matched
-Barry Grant 850 speed demon with annular boosters
-Eagle forged rotating assm. 10.8:1~ish compression, Ross pistons
-Comp Cams Wet timing belt system with 3-piece cover
-My own cam which Comp Cams was so nice to grind for me, took me 7 months to make
-Solid Roller, of course
-MSD mechanical advance pro-billet blah blah 8.8 wires blah blah 6AL box durr
yeah, anything else you wanna know about it, ask, I'm more than happy to share
Oh. PS- I sent it out last Friday to be completed by Golen's engine service, Chad Golen is an AMAZING guy and I've heard wonders about his work, so I'll be posting pics of the build every week, plus maybe some dyno vids if Scott will allow
Global West is dominating my front suspension, QA-1 coilovers found their way in there, 1" front sway for now until I decide I need anything else. Monster Motorsports TH400 tranny, 3000 stall, GV overdrive comes this summer, and Denny's will make the driveshaft I'm sure. Global West LCA's and Jeg's tubular UCA's in the back, Currie 9" stage 2 rear end with 3.89's, came with 11" discs off an explorer, will be replaced with the 12" touring system from Baer, of course
front brakes are the 14" GT+ system from Baer as well. Other odds and ends will include GW's quick ratio steering box, Hydroboost, etc.
Body mods? Well, I picked up a W-30 repro hood for dirt cheap (most of everything I've bought so far has been dirt cheap actually) and I'll be running fiberglass bumpers since I want them body-colored anyways and don't plan on hitting anything. 72 442 grilles sit next to **get this** E-36 BMW headlights.
Yeah, what?
Those are the square 3-series ones, and lemme explain. they're exactly the width of the stock headlight housing, and only 2 inches short, but that will be compensated for with some metal work and plastics. The european versions which have glass covers and use H1 bulbs instead of H4 are insanely bright, not DOT approved, and everything I need to piss everyone off. Plus they have the angel eyes, which should look insanely cool.
I'm going to have to post the rest at some other time, cause this is getting too long, but more mods include front spoiler like Buick's got, dual billet fuel doors mounting flush against the trunk lid (one for gas, one for booze), stock 72 spoiler, 18" wheels with 275 front and 335 rear michelin pilot sports, black with grey paint, etc etc
Sorry about this guys, but like I said, this has been my life for the past year and a half, so... deal
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
Not too new here, but saw a Cutlass and had to share mine too
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