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My Name ist Robert from Germany, my Car is a 1973 Cutlass Supreme Salon. Original 80000km, Europe Version. The Car was once again registered in Switzerland in 1973. This Car ist my third Oldsmobile. The first was a Delta 88 from 1977, the second a 98 Regency from 1979. Old Oldsmobile do not die! Not in Germany either. ;-)
While here, whats the latest word about headers on 73-77 Cutlasses?
Shorties, long-tubes. I realise, long-tubes give more oomph, but is it worth the grief?
What ive read, noone fit directly in Place. Of course, as proved, denting them dont supposedly diminish the power By any amount, but how about other aspects?
Leaking? Rusting? Hot for feets? Long-term durability?
Just pondering my opinions. All thoughts are welcome around the subject.
Thanks about your experience. Sounds what ive been fearing.. 73-77 Olds forum is also full of non-fitting headers needing denting and what not. 76olds has shorties, and they were great fit on his words. Sanderson if i recall correctly.
I also had the 76 model crossmember. I still had true duals and no cat. Some inventor just went under the crossmember on the side where there is no cut for it.. Quess how was ground-clearance..? Last year i managed to buy correct dual-hump crossmember from ebay, refurbished it, and its now waiting installment. Only old pipes left on my car are rear mufflers before axle + everything behind it. All else will be new.
Thanks about your experience. Sounds what ive been fearing.. 73-77 Olds forum is also full of non-fitting headers needing denting and what not. 76olds has shorties, and they were great fit on his words. Sanderson if i recall correctly.
I also had the 76 model crossmember. I still had true duals and no cat. Some inventor just went under the crossmember on the side where there is no cut for it.. Quess how was ground-clearance..? Last year i managed to buy correct dual-hump crossmember from ebay, refurbished it, and its now waiting installment. Only old pipes left on my car are rear mufflers before axle + everything behind it. All else will be new.
Nice colour btw on your car!
I've got a '73 with a 455. New engine ready to go in. I've got Hooker 1-7/8" primary Super Comp headers. The driver's side slipped in and has clearance everywhere. The passenger side is the issue. The #4 cylinder (2nd from the front) hits the rear lower control arm mount - a lot. Not even close to fitting. I ended up cutting a lot of the lower rear mount to gain room, and then boxing in the mount and adding a gusset to the rear of the mount. In addition that same tube hits the frame near the mount and I beat the tube up pretty good to get clearance. An alternative would have been to cut that tube out and re-route it.
These same headers have a dent on the drivers side specifically to fit around the steering column - however the headers are not near the steering column and no need for the dent on our cars.
I've read 1-3/4" primary tube headers on a 455 have lot fewer fitment issues on our cars - as they are routed completely different than the 1-7/8" tube headers.
Hello, I'm looking at making my 75 a little sportier this spring..
Now I know that vendors make the vinyl decals, but my paint is starting to lacquer checking(small cracks) and rather try the plastic dip them on as I fear the cracks will promote the decals to lift, I'm assuming because of the checking/cracking that it is lacquer , and getting that to paint them on, might be a tall order, but if I like the look it will be done after I do a trial with the plastic dip peelible stuff..
it be ideal if they made stencils for this, but I doubt it, so photo's of the strips and wheel area with a tape measure for placement and size, would be great, Below are the striping in question.. both type hood and the wheel fenders Thanks.
Last edited by midnightleadfoot; February 4th, 2018 at 10:33 PM.
New fuel tank for 76 Cutlass S. Is Spectra GM1216A correct part? Atleast catalog suggests that. What im wondering, is the shape correct? Does it have that kind of bulge where pick-up is? I could have looked myself also, but was too pissed to do anything after impaling my old tank, i just went home..
Freight and taxes cost over twice what the tank itself, so i wouldnt mind to order wrong one.. Want to be 100% sure.
New fuel tank for 76 Cutlass S. Is Spectra GM1216A correct part? Atleast catalog suggests that. What im wondering, is the shape correct? Does it have that kind of bulge where pick-up is? I could have looked myself also, but was too pissed to do anything after impaling my old tank, i just went home..
Freight and taxes cost over twice what the tank itself, so i wouldnt mind to order wrong one.. Want to be 100% sure.
That just may be random illustration, but I would call them. Our tanks are almost flat on top, no hump. As for headers, I used the headman creamic coated shorties with Remflex graphite gaskets. Very happy with them. Had them on for 5 years now and still look like new, not a leak yet.
Hope this helps!
Eric
I got suspicious after looking my service manual which also showed that hump. So, first thing on the Morning after few cups of coffee, i went to garage to drop my tank, after cooling down overnight, and there it is. I assure this is stock tank, it still had build sheet taped to it.
Lol, its my 4th build sheet (!) from this car. They werent sparing on them at 76 anymore, thats sure! Atleast not in Arlington, TX plant.
Tank started to have rust-spots on bottom, and the filter-sock on pickup had started to deteriorate. So, wasnt such an disaster to impale my old tank.
Last edited by Inline; February 10th, 2018 at 03:04 AM.
That just may be random illustration, but I would call them. Our tanks are almost flat on top, no hump. As for headers, I used the headman creamic coated shorties with Remflex graphite gaskets. Very happy with them. Had them on for 5 years now and still look like new, not a leak yet.
Hope this helps!
Eric
That looks like the tank in my '73. The hump is there. That is the same hump in the middle of the trunk which the spare tire is mounted over.
My Olds Cutlass Saloon: 350 Rocket, 4BBL, Automatic, Cragar Weehls, Anti Spin Axle and much more. The Vinyl Roof was removed because of Rust. First approval in Switzerland:
Lokin' good for a 500k mile daily. 350 car ? Has the engine needed a refresh or rebuild ? Tell us more !!
Car has buckets, console, tilt wheel, sport wheel, ac, pw, pb, "M" code dual exhaust 350, TH350, 3.08 rear axle. Bought it from an aunt in 1989 for $80, so I could fix up my old '66 Pontiac Tempest Custom wagon I had been using as my DD since 1982. Drove this Cutlass Supreme everywhere, on long trips, around town, used it as a "truck" to pull a 5x8 utility trailer. It had 135000 when I bought it, had been garage kept. It has been extremely reliable. The transmission was rebuilt twice, I replaced the bearings and seals in the rearend once. I keep all the fluids changed regularly with synthetic. In 2013, when the engine had 492000 miles on it, it developed a "miss" I could not tune out. Finally checked the compression, had very low compression on number 7. Never knocked or smoked, but did get to the point it used oil. I pulled the engine, and went through it. The only real wear items were the cam, lifters, and the rings had lost tension. the "miss" was due to a sticking exhaust valve, that wouldn't completely close. It was very clean inside, likely due to my frequent oil changes, never overheating it, and using synthetic oil. It now has renewed power, and has 515000 on it. Don't drive as much as I used to these days. But this car is more like an old friend than a car. Thanks for the interest and the compliment.
479 cid, olds 425 crank offset ground to 4.360 with a 2.100 pin, 4.155 bore, GP aluminum 7.400 long rods, JE piston 12.7 to 1, solid roller, victor intake, C casting heads, heads and intake done by myself. 1000 cfm 4150 holley, th 400,no brake, a1 8'' convertor, 12 bolt, ladder bar,14x32 hoosiers,4.56 cog. car is plated and insured, gets limited street duty, has been 9.81 at 135 at 3460 weight.
Things I've learned in the last few weeks. 1-7/8" headers for a 455 do not fit on a 73-77 Olds. I found one thread on the 73-77 olds Forum that agrees with what I found. Engine Cylinder #4 - which is the second cylinder from the front on the passenger side - when using 1-7/8" primary pipes - hits the (hits a lot) the mount for the rear of the lower control arm. I'm using Hooker 3202 Super Comp headers.
The one thread I found on 73-77 Olds mentioned he tested headers built by Nick when he was with Kooks and they did not fit. Nick had no intention to make them fit. This tells me Miller, who now has the Kooks plans, will not fit either. And I'm guessing ARH will also not fit, since that is Nick's company.
This same thread on 73-77 Olds says 1-3/4" headers will fit.
I'm doing mods to the frame, and might also have a new pipe welded on the header to get around the issues. Based on how my engine was built 1-3/4" is too small for my build.
Update:
I modded the lower rear right side A-Arm frame mount so the the header would fit on passenger side. Engine with headers fit now. I put a new Spectra fuel tank in with a Holley Hydramat pickup inside the fuel tank. Ran a 10-AN line from the hydramat to an AEM external fuel pump mounted next to the fuel tank. Ran PTFE stainless braided 8-AN line to a fuel regulator in the engine bay and a 6-AN line return line back to the fuel tank. The Griffin radiator has been test fit. The 3" tail pipes that go over the rear end have been test fit. EFI wiring harness is mounted with ECU mounted between ash tray and console. Taking the TH400 to Mike's transmission in Lancaster, CA tomorrow for him to go through and will probably put a Gear Vendor on it.
I'm using the Hooker 3902 headers on a 74 Hurst Olds W-30 and a 75 442 both with 455's with no issues and am using both the floor and column shifter in tandom.
I'm using the Hooker 3902 headers on a 74 Hurst Olds W-30 and a 75 442 both with 455's with no issues and am using both the floor and column shifter in tandom.
That syncs up with what I read and by looking at the pictures of the 1-3/4" long tube vs 1-7/8" long tube header routing. 1-3/4" will fit with little to no issues in the 73-77 Cutlass. 1-7/8" tube routing is completely different and major modifications will need to be made because of the route of the 2nd tube from the front on the passenger side hitting the lower rear A-arm mount and possibly the frame rail as well.
I think since the 1-3/4" headers fit on the earlier A-model as well as the 73-77 A-model they assumed the same to be true for the 1-7/8" header without actually test fitting it.
That syncs up with what I read and by looking at the pictures of the 1-3/4" long tube vs 1-7/8" long tube header routing. 1-3/4" will fit with little to no issues in the 73-77 Cutlass. 1-7/8" tube routing is completely different and major modifications will need to be made because of the route of the 2nd tube from the front on the passenger side hitting the lower rear A-arm mount and possibly the frame rail as well.
I think since the 1-3/4" headers fit on the earlier A-model as well as the 73-77 A-model they assumed the same to be true for the 1-7/8" header without actually test fitting it.
Are the oem 455 mounts different. and the headers fit when on the oem455 engine stands and mounts.
And not when dropped on other mounts/stands?
No idea but I do know this is a problem with other makes and models.
when dumping a big block on the s/b stands/mounts.
Fiberglass AC delete that will bolt up to a AC firewall- easiest way to change.
The 76 currently restoring- ended up buying a non AC parts car and making the needed changes to the firewall and adding the manual vents to the cowl. Very minor change to heater box opening.
If you use an aftermarket one, not much modifications are needed because it was made to bolt into the stock AC locations. However, the stock AC delete box doesn't line up with hardly any of the stock factory AC mounting points. I have a stock box on an AC car and there are a bunch of wires to manage and it's not exactly bolted in. It's wedged in to existing studs, and not functional. However it does the trick by sitting there.
An AC box wedged into place, unbolted. It does not move just sits there non functional. I would recommend getting the aftermarket one however I believe you need the shallow non AC fan for it. Catch 22.
Anyone installed AC-delete to 73-77 Cutlass? Been pondering the question for like a year, and im more and more feeling like that.
Jc posted a few pics on the other 73-77 forum , using the small heater fan that 74hurstolds is speaking of. The aftermarket A/C delete box would be the way to go with minor mods IMO as well.
January 26th, 2018, 04:15 AM
