Finally finished - 1968 Cutlass Supreme W-31 tribute
March 10th, 2019, 09:02 AM
#1
Gearhead
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 431
Finally finished - 1968 Cutlass Supreme W-31 tribute
My first car was a 1969 Cutlass S convertible in Saffron Yellow. In late 2017, I decided to try to find one like it, and found one right away on eBay. But the $70,000 asking price was much more than I wanted to pay. So I expanded my search to all '68 and '69 Cutlasses. I found this car, but initially passed on it due to the color change. But the more I looked, the more I kept going back to this car. The color really grabbed me and I thought the car had a lot of eye appeal. I contacted the seller and he assured me that the repaint was done very well. So I ended up buying it. It's a very nice car, very clean with no rust, and Canadian built. It has 48,000 miles. Once I got it home and saw how nice it was and verified the seller's claim that the paint job was done correctly, and decided to keep it, I started on a plan. Since the color and hood had been changed, I wasn't too concerned about keeping it completely correct and decided to have a little fun with it.
1GhvfI4.jpg
I believe the color to be very similar to a Pontiac color called Aleutian Blue.
09WHXgx.jpg
Oldsmobile offered the W-31 option on the Cutlass Supreme in 1968, but it kept the high-compression 4-bbl engine that was standard in the Supreme instead of the W-31 engine. I assume this was a customer satisfaction measure, meant to keep the rough-idling W-31 engine from annoying Supreme buyers. I decided to go with the W-31 style engine. We pulled the heads, had them machined for large valves, and installed a little tamer and more modern version of the W-31 cam. It still has a rough idle, although not quite as rough as a real W-31. This enabled us to keep the automatic transmission and add air conditioning and power disc brakes. We also added a set of aftermarket high performance exhaust manifolds and replaced the carb with FiTech fuel injection.
gn7m4ww.jpg
The original Jetaway went away in favor of a built 200R4 with a 2200 rpm stall converter. We swapped the rear gears to 3.73 with anti-spin.
Yp0oAgy.jpg
The interior was completely redone in the original parchment color. We added aftermarket guages and a tach to the two outboard pods in the instrument panel.
NFAUnhU.jpg
5Tev3Zj.jpg
We added a rear sway bar and had the steering box converted to 10:1 ratio, but otherwise left the suspension alone. Because of the front disc brakes, we went with 15x7 SS1s in front and 15x8 in the rear for a little more rubber.
nC3iSS0.jpg
I've only been able to put a few miles on the car so far, and we still have some fine-tuning to do on the FiTech. But the car drives great and is a blast to drive. It turns about 2800 RPM at 70 mph. I'm looking forward to spring and some driving weather!
1GhvfI4.jpg
I believe the color to be very similar to a Pontiac color called Aleutian Blue.
09WHXgx.jpg
Oldsmobile offered the W-31 option on the Cutlass Supreme in 1968, but it kept the high-compression 4-bbl engine that was standard in the Supreme instead of the W-31 engine. I assume this was a customer satisfaction measure, meant to keep the rough-idling W-31 engine from annoying Supreme buyers. I decided to go with the W-31 style engine. We pulled the heads, had them machined for large valves, and installed a little tamer and more modern version of the W-31 cam. It still has a rough idle, although not quite as rough as a real W-31. This enabled us to keep the automatic transmission and add air conditioning and power disc brakes. We also added a set of aftermarket high performance exhaust manifolds and replaced the carb with FiTech fuel injection.
gn7m4ww.jpg
The original Jetaway went away in favor of a built 200R4 with a 2200 rpm stall converter. We swapped the rear gears to 3.73 with anti-spin.
Yp0oAgy.jpg
The interior was completely redone in the original parchment color. We added aftermarket guages and a tach to the two outboard pods in the instrument panel.
NFAUnhU.jpg
5Tev3Zj.jpg
We added a rear sway bar and had the steering box converted to 10:1 ratio, but otherwise left the suspension alone. Because of the front disc brakes, we went with 15x7 SS1s in front and 15x8 in the rear for a little more rubber.
nC3iSS0.jpg
I've only been able to put a few miles on the car so far, and we still have some fine-tuning to do on the FiTech. But the car drives great and is a blast to drive. It turns about 2800 RPM at 70 mph. I'm looking forward to spring and some driving weather!
Last edited by Jon442; March 10th, 2019 at 09:07 AM.
March 11th, 2019, 10:27 AM
#4
Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 86
Great car!Like the stance,color,wheel tire combo!Nice clip of back of car running.What a view.Always liked the 68 for the thin horizontal tailights.What are the tire sizes and brand? I have a 68 myself so I guess I am biassed. Tim
March 11th, 2019, 11:51 AM
#7
Gearhead
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 431
Thanks! The color/wheel/tire/interior combination really caught my eye. The tires are Diamond Back radials. I've used them several times over the years and have always been happy with their tires. They can make any tire style you want. My tires are 235/60/15 front and 255/60/15 rear.
March 11th, 2019, 06:45 PM
#11
Gearhead
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 431
I checked the speedo with an app on my phone, it's within a mile or two per hour of being accurate. The trans is a performance-built trans, so I'm assuming it doesn't have a lock-up converter.
March 14th, 2019, 07:07 AM
#16
Out of Line, Everytime😉
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Melville, Saskatchewan
Posts: 8,909
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