coachhino

Greetings Oldsies
Im glad I found this site. It seems to be well run, to have great members, and best of all it has very valuable information. This post is just to introduce myself and ask a few quick questions. I am from South Texas but live in Austin where I teach and coach. (Lake Travis) If you watch football and are a UT or Kansas fan we had Todd Reesing and Garrett Gilbert.
Anywho, its summer time and it had always been a dream of mine to buy a classic muscle car...I had my heart set on a Chevelle and researched them from head to toe........I took my time, hunted on CL for a while and nothing really convinced me.... Then a few weeks ago a good friend of mine called and said he was selling his 72 Cutlass S and wanted to know if I wanted to take care of it for a few months while he biked from Texas to Alaska (charity ride for cancer). I accepted and by the second day I had the car I knew thats what I wanted. It was running great, got compliments every five minutes, and my family loved it. He said the oldmobile is much more car than the Chevelle.... I called my friend, deposited the money (5k) and now I am a proud owner of it. I have had a Trans Am before, but not even close to the caliber of this car. I want to do everything right with it. As of now I have not really put the metal to the metal... Just from a few accelerations I know the car has much power....

Now I have a few questions for everyone....
1. What should I do to keep it running at its fullest potential? How can I check to see if its running to its fullest potential?

2. Do you recommend taking it to the track? I am close to a racepark where you can run the 1/4 mile. Ideally I would want to take it eventually, but I dont know if the car is ready. What do you think? What should the car run?

3. Does anyone know where I can get original items for the car such as the stereo, headliner, and seat covers.

4. For enhanced performance, where should I begin?

5. Was 5k a good deal or just average?

I am sure that I have many more questions which is why I plan on being an active member of this forum. it is great to meet everyone and hope to hear some responses.

Below are some pics..... I had some fun with photoshop.....


CutlassMetal.jpg

LoLaSunset.jpg



CutlassChalk.jpg

05172008141.jpg




052820091285_edited.jpg


052820091326_edited.jpg

coachhino

with a 455, not 445! Rookie mistake....

Jamesbo

Welcome aboard

Very nice car.

I would recomend you down load a Fusick catalog. They will have much of what you need/want.

I would also recomend you purchase a 72 Chassis [service] manual. There's one on ebay as I type. Best investment you can make.

wolfman98

welcome to the site and I think you made a great investment.I really don't think it's that important to see what your times should be in a 1/4 mile. If the car runs great and is smooth running with tons of power then you have a good car. The pics look nice and if the interior is good ,you got a good deal. If you do need to do any work on it then this is the site to be on as the guys here have tons of great advice and knowledge and don't mind passing that along. Enjoy your new car!

Oldsguy

I corrected your title for you.
One word.......................TORQUE
You own a car with probably the most torquey engine Oldsmobile built, and in my opinion that is what makes that engine so much fun. Very nice looking car, it looks like the previous owner has already made some changes in the engine compartment, you might ask him about it. You can buy aftermarket performance parts from any speed merchant. Summit, Speedway, Jegs, Mondello, even the local parts places can probably order basic stuff like aftermarket carbs and manifolds. All the engine rebuild parts are still available, just not as plentiful as those for the bowtie crowd and the price will be a little bit higher. I like your car, nice color.

Nilsson

If the car is as nice as it appears in the pictures you stole this car. May I ask "don't you feel just a little guilty"

Jon69

Welcome.
Very nice looking car!

My first question would be about the wheels. If those are uni-lug keystones (with the oblong washer in the lug holes) you might look for something different. I had a set on my 71 chevelle. When the power increased with an engine upgrade they were the first thing to give way. Sheered off all 5 wheel lugs.
I personally prefer the look of the stock wheels.

citcapp

Welcome to the site, nice looking car and you did get a good buy. The 455 is a torque monster in its stock form and can be built to deliver even more torque and hp. Check out the big block thread you will find several builds in detail (mine included). Taking the car to the track can be a lot of fun. Make sure you have a full gauage package with oil, temp and don't over rev the engine. These big blocks like to stay under 5,000 (unless fully built for racing) and make sure your oil is to the full mark.

coachhino

Thanks for the advice fellas. I just downloaded a catalog for it.... the manual I had already. As far as the interior, it needs work, but no biggie. I dont think it'll be more than 1k to fix it. The big ticket items I dont plan on changing for a while. Paint, wheels, all that arent much of a priority... come to think of it, i dont know what the main priorities are... this car is great... i love it.

thanks for the help guys.

rktolds

I have a 455 in my '72 and love it. It'll burn one tire until I let up the gas, even with the peg leg highway gears. My car is cosmetically challenged so I focused on mechanicals to get it on the road. Now it's on the road it's gonna get disc brakes, suspension rebuild and 3.73 10 bolt rear swap. So I say drive the heck out of it and prioritize projects and conquer one at a time as time and money allow. Good luck and nice car.

Matt

MN71W30

As long as you asked about the 1/4 mile I can give my semi educated opinion. If you can get the tires to hold that 455 you will be into the mid 14's providing you have around a 3.08 gear. If you can't hook up, your times will vary quite a bit, up to a full second slower than it's potential. You'll do much better as you gain experiance. Back in the day we took a 69 Toro 455 and put it in a 67 442 auto, 355 posi and we got it to run a 13.9@99mph. We installed a better cam and it was noticably faster but we never got a chance to run it.
Your car looks exceptionally nice for the money.

BLUE72RAGTOP

Welcome and congratulations on the purchase. It looks like a very nice car especially for the price. I say fix the few cosmetic things you were referring too and just drive it. I can understand your the lure of the track. Once you've had it long enough to know that the basic condition is healthy, you can probably run it a few times to see what it can do without any problems, as long as its on street tires. Get sticky tires and it will get faster and also start breaking things. Some of the upgrades to run the qtr mile faster also make it less enjoyable on the street. Like most things, you have to spend some time figuring out what your goals are for the car and then make decisions to enhance it's abilities. The interior parts are available from suppliers listed here. Custom autosound makes modern stereo stuff that will fit in the dash without visible mods. You have a great all around car! Have fun.

coachhino

Thanks for the post.... I actually went to the track today, but just sat back and watched. I hadnt been there in years...... I got quite a bit of compliments and people asking what it ran......it seems like a good hobbie to have, but maybe on another car, off a trailer..... I'd rather have this one to enjoy on the street with as much muscle as I can as long as its still enjoyable.....
I drove it from Austin, TX to Mcallen, Tx (about a 5 hr drive) twice already and it runs great. Gas efficiency is at about 15 mpg and it does not overheat. It does take me a while to get it started sometimes and I think its the lack of a heat shield for the starter.... anything else causing this? Broom.. Broom, Broom... click..click, then nothing... it just wont start.... this only happens when i stop after a while driving so I am quite sure its bc its hot....after about 10 minutes it starts back up...

Ohh.... quick question.... Exhaust... yes or no? It sounds pretty mean now with just the stock exhaust, but i know theres flowmaster and borla kits that improve performance and sound.... im leaning more towards the nay side since it would'nt sound as it does now..... would it sound better... or is it "fake"

Everyone's posts are great... again, thank you! For now, I am headed to South Padre Island for the day.... a little fishing and hanging with friends.... have a great Saturday everyone...

agtw31

nice clean cutlass,i like it.

those keystones look awesome on that car.


if youre wanting to run it on the track,you need to do a few things:

first: CHECK YOUR LUGNUTS,make sure they are tight.i would check this once a week anyway,since youre running old aftermarket wheels.

get rid of all that rubber fuel line,if the tech guy is worth his salt,he wont let you run with all that rubber line.

get another accelerator pedal spring on the carb

fusick sells a factory replacement steel fuel line from the pump to carb,probably run you $20.

replace every belt,and hose under the hood.they may look fine,but just do it,to be safe.

pull your a/c belt if youre going to run it on the track,it probably doesnt work anyway.pull the power steering belt,too,but just be ready at the end of your run,she's not going to steer easy.

have a new driveshaft made.get rid of the one you have,you will either twist the shaft or spit U joints first time out.
a competent driveshaft shop can make you a real nice one for $150-$200

if you have the bucks,i also recommend obtaining a rebuilt rear end.$1000 can get you a totally rebuilt 10 bolt with decent gears.

get a driveshaft loop.this will hold up your driveshaft in case it does puke.

if you don't have one,get a coolant recovery system.your track will probably not let you run without one.

get AAA plus,it runs you $150.

this is a must have if youre running around in an older car,especially if youre thinking about beating it up at the track.

you never know when a 40 year old wire just decides to disconnect,or your fuel pump or water pump goes to sleep.

make sure you get the AAA plus,not the standard AAA.

jaysun

Very nice for the coin, but,before you even start it up again LOOSE THE GLASS FUEL FILTER. yes i'm yelling. It's not a question of if it will leak or break its a question of when.

coachhino

agtw, awesome info bud. thanks alot for the detailed post. im thinking of waiting a year or so while i work on the car and make it nearly flawless for the road..... most of my money will go to the interior.... as far as the ac, it has the complete system and was thinking of recharging it... AAA plus huh?? ill go check that out... i have enough friends to help me out im sure so i dont know if I would need it... regardless it might be good to look into.... what do you own?

jaysun...what you welding there? whats so bad with the glass fuel filter? never had one.. i wonder what the replacement costs....

wolfman98

A filter is dirt cheap and is supposed to go in the chamber where the fuel line connects to the carb. You should check to see if it has one there already. If so there is no need to run 2 filters.

Jamesbo

That's what Flowmasters sound like.

IMHO they're a little too much. But like the lady said when she kisssed the cow................"It's all a matter of taste"

Catch anything at South Padre? Would you mind faxing me a redfish [a.k.a Channel Bass]?

jaysun

The glass fuel filter has 2 problems. First, as you have yours mounted on the outlet side of the pump, it has to hold the 5-7 p.s.i of pressure. Dosen't seem like a lot of pressure, but, it can leak causing a fire. Second the glass has to endure heat and vibration causing the glass to become brittle over time. In addition Yours looks to be installed really close to the ac bracket. Any jaring motion, such as hitting a pothole, might cause the filter to hit the bracket breaking it, causing fire. I admit I had one on my car, for a short time untill I read about them. I'm not trying to be a d*ck, but i'd rather say something then hear about you burining up your car, or worse.

since you asked, it's a just my exhaust.
HPIM1314-1.jpg?t=1245683305

J-(Chicago)

Check the casting numbers on the engine block above/behind the water pump.

I see your air cleaner says 455, but the 350's got the gold paint job.
Your motor is gold.

If it reads 3955582 it's a 350 block.

svnt442

It's got the ridge next to the oil fill tube. It's a big block.

1BadLass

You may want to check your points ignition as far as the car not wanting to start and then shutting off. Also looks like a Olds 350 rocket to me.
Jamie

Wasted

Do you see that bump near the casting numbers, next to the oil filler tube, and behind the water pump in the second to last picture? Thats one of the easiest ways to tell its a big block.

svnt442

If you take a close look at this pic
052820091285_edited.jpg

You will see a bump next to the oil fill tube. That is only present on the big blocks.
Also that looks a lot like a Performer 455 to me.

joe_padavano

...You will also see how close the valve cover is to the A/C box. It's a BBO.