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Hello all,
I recently bought a 76 Cutlass in pretty good shape overall, but unfortunately it has the 260 V8... for now.
I noticed the car has no fan shroud, just a small piece above the fan where they put the emissions sticker. It looks stock, as if the car didn't come with a fan shroud, and I've read the 260 was a cool running engine which rarely overheated. I haven't had it very long, but haven't noticed the engine running hot even though it is August and 90+most days.
Can anyone tell me if these cars actually came with no fan shroud or am I just missing mine? The car is bone stock and I doubt the prior owner would have removed it unless it cracked or something. I took a fan shroud out of 350 Cutlass at a junk yard, so I have one to install if need be, or I might do the electric fan swap at some point.
Agreed 100% with Matt, both on the shroud and the motor. Sure, every time you go uphill on the highway with that A/C on it will remind you it's a 260, but man these motors don't let you down. I'm the 2nd owner of my 79 Calais and despite the original owner taking ZERO care of that motor when I got it with 46,xxx miles on it in 1984 (he was one of my landscaping customers from 1980 until then) I rode that until it had over 100,000 miles in 1992. I had a rebuilt 260 motor installed in 1992 and it still runs as great as the day I bought it nearly 30 years ago.
If you find difficulty dealing with how sluggish it is on the Interstate, I have 2 words for you: Cruise Control. I find that option takes my mind off of how hard I'm pressing that gas pedal going up those inclines. If your car doesn't have C/C, it might be worth the expense getting it installed if you can find the parts. It would be cheaper than a motor swap..
This car doesn't have A/C, so that might be part of my answer. You can see in the pic below it only has that little piece for the emissions sticker.
The motor is running well, so I will keep the 260 for awhile, and eventually throw a 350 in there. If the engine is in good shape I might as well get some use out of it. I read it only has a few more horsepower than the V6, but the 260 is a lot more durable, and this car only has 44,000 miles on it, so I might be driving it with that engine for awhile..
Man, this is a really nice original example of a 1976, great find! Depending on where you live, having a non-air car is an advantage with that motor, less of an H/P drain.
Not sure about 1976, but by 1979 the HP was rated at 105 for the 260. The V-6 had 110, but holy cow, NO torque. I had a V-6 1979 Cutlass Supreme brougham with that V-6 in it and I got rid of it, couldn't take the overall slowness.
For a (slight) bit of extra kick around town my 1979 blue Calais now has a 3:08 posi with a 200R4. I threw originality out the window on this car many years ago. But your car, you may want to consider its apparent originality as a huge plus. In looking at those 2 photos you could enter your car in the AACA's HOPC class and IMHO I think that's the class to be in, it's a special group of cars.
Thanks, BlueCalais, I do think I found a nice one. Your Calais looks pretty nice too. Yeah, the 260 was rated at 110 in 1976 and the V-6 was rated at 105. Funny how that switched by the time they built your car.
I don't really need air; I have short drive to work. The nice thing is everything on this car still works: lights, blinkers, horn, heater, wipers, hi-beam switch, etc. The dashboard is starting to get a little tacky, but it hasn't cracked yet so a dash cover is next on the list. I'm also going to have to do a little re-upholstering, the driver's seat is a little torn up, like you usually find on these old cars. It also has a few dents around the fender wells where original owner must have had a problem parking in the garage or something ( I bought from the owner's son). It's not rusty all though.
For the dash cover I'd suggest Dash Designs, I think Seatcovers Unlimited sells that brand. They will custom make them for your car. I have one of these in my 1979 Calais, 1994 Cutlass Supreme, 1996 Cutlass Supreme, 2021 Dodge Caliber, 2014 Ford F-150. They wipe out the glare the dash puts on the windshield. All of us who have light colored dashboards know this is a big issue in the sun.
They give you Velcro strips but I would recommend NOT using them. Just plop it on there and see if you can get away without it flapping in the wind with the windows open, you should be able to. The only car I had to use the Velcro was the 1994 CS but I cut the pieces to fit onto the A Pillar base on each side rather than the dash, as I'm sure the adhesive from the Velcro strips would probably never come completely off.
September 10th, 2021, 10:36 PM
