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The longer handle might be for a Toronado. My car was missing the release when I got it and I had to lengthen a cutlass handle to make it work. I can't remember how much longer it needed to be though.
The local Goodyear dealer did a nice job swapping the tires on to the pace car this morning. We matched a correct length valve stem at their shop to an NOS set I had, too. The overall look has improved, however, I must say the radials handle SO much better! I put around 70 miles on the car today running around with errands and such and the car ran well.
The local Goodyear dealer did a nice job swapping the tires on to the pace car this morning. We matched a correct length valve stem at their shop to an NOS set I had, too. The overall look has improved, however, I must say the radials handle SO much better! I put around 70 miles on the car today running around with errands and such and the car ran well.
Ah Bias ply tires. Funny how some of us will
gove up the nice radial ride for the nostalgia and vintage look of the old tires. Count me in.
Continuing the prep of the car for Pure Stocks in a few weeks. We already know the car will be slow. The 2.78 open rear is less than ideal. With that being said, we changed out the plugs, installed 1-Q date coded reproduction Packard wires, installed an NOS PVC as well as a pre-bent hose going back to the carb, and a new valve cover breather. The old breather was loaded with bugs. It appears the plugs on the RH side of the car were loose, the wires were loose and wire #6 may not have even been making a connection.
For whatever reason, the car has a 1112226 distributor out of a '73 350 2bbl. The factory distributor is sitting on a shelf in the garage still and needs to go out for a rebuild.
Put the car on the lift and inspected the underside. Replaced the oil with Driven's 10w-30 formulated for hot rods and classic cars along with a Delco PF-24 filter. The oil that came out of the engine was dark and had a bad smell to it. The rubber hose to the trans modulator was poorly installed and had a kink in it so we reworked that to flow better.
A few more items to work through in the next few weeks before heading to Stanton.
One of the biggest issues when I received the car was the side window alignment. We now have better fitting side glass! And, after a lot of adjusting, the top now latches evenly on both the LH and RH side. The latches were installed incorrectly. It appears the hooks are aftermarket as well so I’ll be in the market for factory latch hooks.
I do not have any engine specs for this thing. I know the original numbers matching engine was rebuilt by Carl McQuillen Racing Engines out of Leroy, NY. Anyone familiar with his work?
The carb was rebuilt by Jerry MacNeish who does primarily Camaro work.
I dropped a few hints last week that the car would be in Michigan—for the Pure Stock Drags.
A few other maintenance related items needed to be worked on to get the car ready. The car was pulling HARD to the left when braking. The front caliper needed a bit of work and appears to be working better.
The timing was at 4* and the idle was at 550 rpm. Not the greatest tune. With some adjustments, it gave a little more life to the car.
Lastly, we swapped the 2.56 open rear out for a 3.42 posi rear out of a ‘70 442. Hoping to get a smoky burnout in the box WITH the caution flags in!
Pace Car #79 received race #079 for the weekend.
Going through tech.
I’m guessing it runs a 15.1. Would be great if it breaks in to the 14’s.
The Pace Car is sloooooooow! Best pass of the weekend was a 16.122 at 82.93 MPH. It wasn’t the slowest car at the event but certainly was one of them—I would hate to imagine the times had the 2.56 open rear remained in place!
I don’t have any specs on the rebuild but the receipts say “low compression” and “pump gas” so I’m guessing that has something to do with it! Oh well. I’d still like to figure out how to get in to the 15’s with the car. Maybe some carb work, distributor rebuild, swap on some different heads and a cam, etc. The distributor in the car now is off of a ‘73 350 2bbl car.
The car did win its shootout against a ‘74 Vette which is pretty cool! I will have the car at MCACN this fall as part of the Pure Stock Drags display.
I drove the car home from my friend’s house which was about a 60 minute cruise in both back roads and the highway. The car ran well but the left front center cap is loose and needs to be tightened.
With the car back in my shop, I removed my friend’s carb from his ‘70 442 that we utilized at the track. The factory 7040250 carb is going out Monday morning for a rebuild. I am also sending the factory distributor out for a rebuild and a curve. We are going to allow for a higher initial timing but still keep it so all in we will be around 36-38 degrees.
Since the car is out of commission, I will use this opportunity to have the power steering pump as well as the steering gear box rebuilt. The gear box is leaking and the “rebuilt” factory pump appears to be leaking as well. Marty will do a nice job on these and he is quick.
The car will be at MCACN this year as part of the Pure Stock Drags display which is really cool to be a part of! Granted, she is slow BUT perhaps it will encourage others to bring their cars out.
Removing my friend’s carb. You can see a few incorrect items under the hood. Truthfully, this is maybe the first time I have given it a close look.
Need to check the PIM on the vacuum lines…something just feels off.
I am not a fan of stainless steel lines. Oh well.
Not sure which previous owner felt the need to use black zip ties on everything wire related but those will be coming off asap.
A friend hooked me up with some rear springs to swap on to the pace car. The springs on there now have the *** end up entirely too high. These springs came off a Lansing-built 1969 Cutlass convertible without AC. I likely need to blast them but for now we will see what a bath in Evaporust does.
Making a final push to get the car ready for MCACN next week. I registered the car for display purposes so nothing is getting judged. I think that part of the hobby might be in the rear view mirror for me--no pun intended! The car will be a part of the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drags display.
We used the car as part of a “trunk or treat” display for my daughter’s school on Halloween. The setup was a huge hit but I ended up getting caught in the rain on the drive home. This week, we spent time detailing the underside and getting a few years of post-frame off resto road grime off the frame and other areas. Luckily, the underside appears to have been powdered so the cleanup was not too difficult.
The exhaust on this car is / was a joke so we removed it and tossed it in the dumpster. The reproduction tank was leaking gas from a poorly installed sending unit along with lack of clamps on the hose. I had picked up a new tank from Tamraz prior to them shutting down their business so that'll go on the car.
The rear sits up too high so we are swapping the rear springs to factory springs off a ‘69 Cutlass convertible. The shocks came out and a set of repop spirals are going in.
Eric at Gardner Exhaust did an amazing job per usual on the new exhaust. Hopefully, everything will go back in quickly this weekend! I opted for the trumpets and will be installing a repop cutout bumper. Personally, I like the look better of the cutout bumper. The lenses all came off and received a scrub to get them clean, too.
I haven’t heard of this brand of repop tank before. LC? TC? Who knows. The tank was missing the pad that separates it from the trunk pan. Instead, someone used double sided foam tape. Ugh. We knew we had a problem when the straps were completely off and the tank was still hanging from the trunk pan.
Beautiful trunk metal! Phew.
That rear is a 3.42 posi drum to drum that my friend let me borrow for the track. The original 2.78 will get a detail this winter and reinstalled sometime this spring.
Per the car's restorer, this was an NOS rear cutout bumper. Now, it’s an NOS rear bumper sitting in a cardboard bumper box taking up space in my trailer.
The exhaust on this thing was such a joke! The tailpipes were seized in to the muffler and unfortunately my Sawzall was at the house. We had to resort to using a screwdriver pounded in to the pipe to open it up a bit.
The turndown tips on the tailpipes were horrendous. It felt really good to toss this junk in the dumpster!
Leaves and dirt from the drive home after trunk or treat. The kids loved the car at my daughter’s school so it is well worth it!
The RH tailpipe hanger was a pain getting off. Now, I can see why. It looks like it snapped at some point and someone welded it back together. Dumpster.
Last edited by WTHIRTY1; Nov 11, 2022 at 12:36 PM.
The factory 7040250 carb is with Sparky being rebuilt. Everyone has their preferred carb guy, and Sparky has been doing my family's carbs for years now. This carb didn't perform well while on the car. It had a hesitation and was inconsistent with the fuel squirters. In the receipts I received with the car, Camaro expert Jerry MacNeish rebuilt the carb in February of 2012. The next owner had the carb reworked in 2018 by a local auto mechanic. Sparky has been sending me pictures throughout the day and this thing was a hot mess.
I'll be glad to get the 7040255 W-31 carb off the pace car and get its 7040250 carb re-installed!
The carb needed a heli-coil.
Last edited by WTHIRTY1; Nov 11, 2022 at 01:08 PM.
As part of my display for MCACN next weekend, I plan to mount original Goodyear Speedway tires on the car. Since I only have two Speedway tires, I’ll put them on the side facing the aisle at the show.
These tires weretired and crusty! I spent an hour on each tire cleaning them with soap and whitewall cleaners. Now, it will be a matter of getting them to hold air for the 48 hours of the show!
I start by picking out all the tiny pebbled that have wedged their way in to the tire treads.
Cool to see some manufacturer markings.
Manufacturer yellow paint marking.
Prior to cleaning. The raised white letters have seen a thing or two lol.
Not perfect but better than they were!
I use a Flex polisher with a carpet brush to get the sidewalls as clean as possible. I repeat the process until the soap suds are white.
These tires will get mounted to the wheels currently on the car. A lot of shuffling coming up next week!
Last edited by WTHIRTY1; Nov 11, 2022 at 01:21 PM.
It is obvious I have taken on too much with not enough time. But, I think I can get it all done by Friday.
New tank, sending unit, fuel hoses, NOS tank cap, rear cutout bumper, springs, and shocks have all been installed!
The rear springs dropped the car perfectly. These cars had a sag when new and these springs helped restore that.
I put the freshly rebuilt carb on, the car fired up, and then died when I tried to pull it back in to the garage. I am thinking the issue is a combo of not priming the carb plus not having enough fuel in the new tank. I will try it again later.
The read bumper looks good for a $300 overseas repop part.
The exhaust pipes are all loosely in place with the exception of the head pipes to the manifolds which are tight. I’m trying to figure out how best to get the angle of the pipes and trumpets. I always thought the pipes over the axle were parallel to the ground.
To be clear, the pipes are loose here and not the final positioning.
Last edited by WTHIRTY1; Nov 21, 2022 at 07:28 AM.
As usual your attention to detail is always mind blowing. Always great to see your cars get the love that you give them. Oldsmobile love.
As far as your car not killing it on the track. I wouldn't sweat that. That's a lot of weight for that engine. Car looks great and it will get the right tweaks from you to make it even better. Great job. Enjoy the show.
Finished up the exhaust Thursday evening before loading the car. I can tell from the weekend that it needs a few tweaks to get it a little better. Nothing like loading a car in snow and 20 degree Chicago weather.
The car is showing well and received a lot of nice compliments from the folks at the show.
Thursday night outside my garage.
Positioned in the center of the Pure Stock display.
I am digging the lower rear. I opted to just bring a Goodyear Speedway for display versus trying to install them on the car.
Sent the original distributor to the car out to Ken. He did the distributor in the 31 and did not have any issues. I sent Ken a care package with a few NOS goodies, and he took care of the rest.
The scope of his work is as follows: rebuild recurve service 17-19 initial, 17 mechanical, 7-8 vacuum low compression SBO.
Before disassembly.
Overall, the distributor was in decent shape. The bushings are good although the lube wells had dried up.
It was great meeting up this weekend, and the car looks fantastic. The closer you look, the better it gets. It’s a great piece of history that you have preserved.
Had a great time at the show this weekend and enjoyed displaying the pace car!
The pipes need another adjustment now that I can see how it looks on the ground versus on the lift.
Next bit of work will be around the interior starting with the new carpeting and working from there. The side glass is still a bit of a mess so I’ll tackle that slowly this winter.
Couldn’t resist a photo or two prior to loading the car up. Can’t beat a 25 minute drive home!
Loving the new stance.
Backdrop of O’Hare airport.
A big thanks to Mike in Florida for helping with the font and sizing of the LITTLE 500 letters. Thanks again!
Patton finished the alternator rebuild for the car. I sourced a used alternator with a proper date code and had it sent to Texas for Patton's wonderful services. There is some type of charging issue going on as I "borrowed" the battery out of the car for the winch in my trailer and the battery was almost dead. Either something is slowly draining the battery or the charging system in the car is faulty. Recently, the generator light appeared so I'm on the right track. I am hoping that with the correct alternator, a new front light harness (and engine harness), and correct external regulator will address the issues. We'll see...
Haven't touched the car since parking it after MCACN. At some point, I'll cut the new carpet for the car but I've been busy with the 442 and a new W-31 project.
Figured it would be a good time to dust this thread off for 2023. I haven't touched the car since I parked it back in November after MCACN. A few major things that need to be addressed before the car hits the road for the summer.
The transmission is leaking. A lot. It could be from sitting for several months but I'd expect more of a drip than a pouring of trans fluid. I need to get it on the lift and see if it's the trans pan seal, the seal on the back of the trans, or something different. At first glance, the fluid appears to be coming from inside the dust cover so maybe the converter?
The hood latch isn't latching. It's almost like the core support isn't high enough to latch to the hood. Not sure where the adjustment needs to be made but I don't love the idea of using the hood pins as a latching mechanism.
The exhaust system needs a minor series of adjustments for a better fit within the cutout bumper.
The e-brake cable under the car appears to be too long. I ordered the correct size cable but it's still off. Could there be a difference in the hook between an Olds versus say a Chevelle? A lot of parts used during the resto were from a Chevelle since that's what the previous owner knew and had restored before. I've correct everything else but this one is a bit of a mystery. I'm hoping the cable to the e-brake arm inside the car isn't the wrong size because that would be a major PITA to fix.
The plan is to have the car at Homecoming in Lansing for 2023. I've created an informal invite for Y74 cars and it looks like we'll have at least four there as of right now with hopefully a few more able to attend.
Hey Jimmy. Maybe the core support bushings have collapsed a bit. If the fender to door gaps look good then that may not be the case. Maybe you can just drop the hood bumpers down a tad to see if the latch will grab. On a car I did a while back I had this issue and the car was all gapped right and painted so I did not want to mess with moving the fenders and hood around so I took off the hood latch and grinded the hood latch hook a small amount to get it to grab the hood. Once the latch was reinstalled nobody could tell the shape of the latch hook had been changed.
Hey Jimmy. Maybe the core support bushings have collapsed a bit. If the fender to door gaps look good then that may not be the case. Maybe you can just drop the hood bumpers down a tad to see if the latch will grab. On a car I did a while back I had this issue and the car was all gapped right and painted so I did not want to mess with moving the fenders and hood around so I took off the hood latch and grinded the hood latch hook a small amount to get it to grab the hood. Once the latch was reinstalled nobody could tell the shape of the latch hook had been changed.
Maybe? I think it's too new for rubber to give that much. I believe it's a combo of an aftermarket core support and incorrect bushings / hardware. Like you stated, I don't want to mess with fenders and hood so I'll try whatever method I can get to work for the hood.
Just finished reading this posting. I have a Y74 Cutlass as well that needs a complete restoration, however at the moment it's still in California. Mine however is a column shift with a bench seat.
The car is at a local shop receiving a new convertible top and side glass adjustments. The plan is to trailer the car to Indy for the month of May and drive it around town as I'll be there for the Grand Prix, 500 qualifying, and the 500 itself in the Hulman club.
