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First mod of 2022! Upgrading the rear to a viking triple adjustable coilover setup, from the stock style spring/shock setup. The ability to adjust the rebound and compression, as well as finally being able to corner balance the car should be a nice step up from the current setup! Just need to reinforce the upper shock mounts, then they'll be installed! Big thanks to Justin at Vector Force Industries for getting me set up with these.
Finally dug the car out of our trailer and put it back into the shop so we can begin the winter upgrades on it. I decided to pull the whole front end off, as that’ll make the engine swap a lot easier to do. Im hoping to pick up the engine the first week of february, so stay tuned for that!
Well the 455 and t56 are finally out! Sadly my engine won’t be ready for a few more weeks, as the intake manifold is still on backorder. Hoping to pick it up around the end of February, so stay tuned for that! In the meantime I’ll be working on smaller things on the car, like installing the rear coilovers and repainting the roll cage.
Well, after several headaches, let downs, and frustrations with the 455 last year I decided to sit down and think about the future of the engine in my car. I wanted something naturally aspirated, could rev, made good power, and could still see plenty of miles on the street without issue. After looking at all options and weighing the pros and cons, I decided to have my dream engine built; the LS7. This engine is a stock LS7 block, fully forged callies rotating assembly, custom comp cam, Golen Racing Engines private label heads, and the Performance Design Carbon PTR intake is the cherry on top. The engine makes 692hp at 6500 rpm, and 627 lb/ft at 5200, And can easily spin up to 7300 rpm if needed. Not only will this give me a significant power bump over my 455, but also 200lbs in weight savings, and a dry sump oiling system. Definitely bittersweet to say goodbye to running an Olds engine, but ultimately made the most sense for what I do with the car. Check out my video below for more details on why I went this route, and my plans for the swap!
Simply awesome! I can't imagine the price tag though. Prepare to be "relocated" to the LS... I mean "non-olds powered" section once othesr see it. Do you think you will have any hood clearance issues? I know I have a lot of room under a flat hood over my low profile aluminum intake so you will probably be OK.
Last edited by Loaded68W34; March 28th, 2022 at 05:46 PM.
Simply awesome! can't imagine the price tag though. Prepare to be "relocated" to the LS... I mean "non-olds powered" section once other see it.
Thank you! Definitely wasn’t cheap, and the swap isn’t done yet. Once its all together I’ll probably put together a price breakdown, to show what goes into something like this.
Wait you're telling me you're pulling the BBO motor and replacing it with this LS7 just because it's more powerful, can rev higher, is much more stable and reliable, and 200 lbs lighter??? At least have some meaningful reasons for the swap!! Come on!
Sorry couldn't resist. I'm still going to try to hang with my less powerful, lower revving, unstable and unreliable, heavy BBO for as long as I can but of course will be watching your progress closely. Since I haven't been auto crossing yet, I guess I don't know all the issues I have to look forward to. I haven't experienced any of the oil system issues you described but I also haven't done hardcore cornering for an extended period of time. Lots of fun and troubleshooting to look forward to!!
Wait you're telling me you're pulling the BBO motor and replacing it with this LS7 just because it's more powerful, can rev higher, is much more stable and reliable, and 200 lbs lighter??? At least have some meaningful reasons for the swap!! Come on!
Sorry couldn't resist. I'm still going to try to hang with my less powerful, lower revving, unstable and unreliable, heavy BBO for as long as I can but of course will be watching your progress closely. Since I haven't been auto crossing yet, I guess I don't know all the issues I have to look forward to. I haven't experienced any of the oil system issues you described but I also haven't done hardcore cornering for an extended period of time. Lots of fun and troubleshooting to look forward to!!
-Joe
Hahaha exactly!!! Definitely will be fun to dial in an optimize this new setup, it’s going to feel like a whole new car. Im interested to see how you fare with the BBO! Maybe you’ll have better results than I did!
Funny, I have been following you briefly, but didn't realize how close you are, I am Marlborough. My Son went to UCONN
Let me know if you need an extra pair of hands. Not up to your caliber but I can hand you a wrench.
Following close now.
Funny, I have been following you briefly, but didn't realize how close you are, I am Marlborough. My Son went to UCONN
Let me know if you need an extra pair of hands. Not up to your caliber but I can hand you a wrench.
Following close now.
Awesome! Always cool to see other Oldsmobile enthusiasts that are local. And will do!
Well its been a little bit since I’ve posted an update on the car….after we fired it up I started to work through debugging various small issues, and ended up spending almost two months trying to figure out an rpm signal issue, as the ecu would lose the rpm signal over 5,750rpms and cause the car to shutoff. Long story short, somehow the crank sensor had failed in between the engine being on the dyno and getting installed in the car. Once that was figured out we could finally start to push the car! Heres a video of our very first test with the new setup on Lime Rock’s Autocross course. Overall the car feels great (except for a brake pad knockback issue on the rear end) so im excited to finally focus on refining the setup, and more importantly start getting seat time and events under my belt again, after nearly a year and half since my last time driving a car hard.
Congrats on getting the issues worked out and getting it back on the road. Looks and sounds amazing!
-Joe
Thanks Joe! It definitely feels good to finally start logging miles on this thing, and finally testing out the new setup on autocross courses and road courses! Next year should be fun.
Well im pretty happy after my first “traditional” autocross with the car! I went in with no expectations, as the main goal for the year is to just get seat time and continue to shake down the car. On a pretty small and tight course I managed to pull out a class win, despite driving pretty sloppy all day. Was nice to knock off the rust as this was my first time back autocrossing in over two years now. Can’t wait for the trackcross at Thompson next weekend!
Garage Hot Rods recently did a feature on my car that covers the backstory of how I got it when I was 13, as well as all of the different iterations of the car along its journey so far. Find the full article below! https://garagehotrods.com/2022/11/27...ns-70-cutlass/
I always love your updates and information. What a great car. Must be so much fun to drive.
Thanks, I appreciate that support! Its definitely a ton of fun to race it!
I have to ask. Is that your Dad's 67 in the background? Got plans for that car brewing?
Yep, that's my dads '67. We were supposed to get started on it last winter, but the LS swap on my car spiraled out of control and took far longer than originally planned. We're hoping to start on it this winter now. Currently the plan is to do a mild resto mod (add air conditioning, fuel injection, disc brakes, etc) but keep it as stock looking as possible. I'll be making videos on it as we work on it.
Back in high school a friend and I did a cinematic video of my Cutlass, and ever since we talked about doing a follow up that captures all of the changes to the car. Over the past few months we finally made it happen, and I couldn’t be happier with the end result!
December 23rd, 2021, 08:53 AM
Sorry couldn't resist. I'm still going to try to hang with my less powerful, lower revving, unstable and unreliable, heavy BBO for as long as I can but of course will be watching your progress closely. Since I haven't been auto crossing yet, I guess I don't know all the issues I have to look forward to. I haven't experienced any of the oil system issues you described but I also haven't done hardcore cornering for an extended period of time. Lots of fun and troubleshooting to look forward to!! 
