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66 Cutlass complete suspension and drivetrain overhaul.
About 12-13 years ago I was on here building a 66 Delta 88 that was basically a junkyard dog project. The car was given to me and I didn’t have much resources at the time so I learned a lot here and made a pretty nice car out of it. Eventually I sold it and have been mostly away from the forum for a decade or so.
Now I’ve picked up a 66 Cutlass 330 4-speed car. Since I’m starting with such a nice car this time, I’m going to focus my efforts on the complete overhaul of the drivetrain. It runs good, but the engine is a bit tired. It had some minor overheating issues when I got it, so I went ahead and tackled the cooling system first, setting it up to sufficiently cool any power plant I decided to throw at it. The stock radiator and mechanical fan came out in favor of a 4 row aluminum radiator and spal fans. I intended to build a 455 for it, but after a conversation with a friend in the racing industry and then a phone call with @cutlassefi I was pretty easily persuaded into building a stroked 350 and dropped a deposit on that. I plan to back that up with with either a TKX or a 6-speed and rear gear change, along with a full suspension overhaul. As soon as I have the engine specs locked in, I’ll start collecting parts. I’m going to tear into this thing only once and knock it all out.
I’m super excited about the engine build and looking forward to sharing the progress.
Still trying to nail down the rest of the plan while I wait for the engine. I was originally debating swapping the 4 speed muncie for a 5 or 6 speed. When I realized Could drop in a TKX without any tunnel mods, I had kinda settled on that. However, my buddy who helps me put my cars together is trying to talk me into keeping the 4-speed and spending that TKX money elsewhere. Mechanically, I trust the guy. He knows his stuff and I'd let him build any trans, rear end, chassis, etc for me with 100% confidence that it will be right. However, he's a drag racer( and a Ford fan...). I'm more of a go to the car shows on the weekend kind of guy. Jumping in the car and driving hours away to an event isn't really on his radar. He says if I do that 1-2 times per year, who cares if I'm running 2300 or 2800 rpm down the interstate?
Opinions?? It's not a "money is no object, unlimited budget" build, but the money can be spent where I feel I'll get the most benefit from it. This is strictly a "for fun" driver car. Fuel mileage isn't a concern. Am I losing anything that I will regret by not changing to the 5 speed now? Should I keep the 4-speed for now and then if I decide to swap to a 5 speed later I'll appreciate it more?
I do think the stock 4 speed is getting some wear on the synchronizers. I'm getting a slight grind on hard 3-4 shifts. So if I keep the Muncie long term, it will need a rebuild anyway.
The Munchie is a strong transmission and it will run 300 rpm lower on the highway vs a TH350 due to no torque converter slippage. Plus the motor Mark is building you will rev way past 3000 rpm. What is your current rear gear ratio.
The Munchie is a strong transmission and it will run 300 rpm lower on the highway vs a TH350 due to no torque converter slippage. Plus the motor Mark is building you will rev way past 3000 rpm. What is your current rear gear ratio.
I think it’s 3.08, but I haven’t cracked it open to know for sure. I’m going to break it down and overhaul it anyway so I don’t want to mess with it until I’m ready to do that. I planned to get the engine build specs, decide on a transmission then use that information to choose a rear gear.
This is a Muncie hand shaker conversion, with a modestly built 455. This is how it will look ( minus a console) My 67 "old" resto-mod resides somewhere up in the Boston area. It was blast to build and drive for years...Plenty of guys in the Club that can help you put together your car..
That is a reasonable gear ratio to start with, definitely not deep enough for an OD trans.
I chalk marked the tire and the driveshaft. 1 rotation of the tire gave me 3 and about 1/8 rotations of the drive shaft, so I think my 3.08 assessment is accurate.
The rear end is nasty. It’s clearly been leaking, so at the very least it’s going to get cleaned up and re-sealed. I don’t want to open it until I’m ready to do all that and I won’t be ready to do that until I know if I’m keeping the gear.
It is posi, so I’m happy that this part of the project also might let me off relatively inexpensively. I am running a 29” tall rear tire though with the possibility of going to one that’s 27.8, so I’ll have to factor that in as well when that’s finalized.
This is a Muncie hand shaker conversion, with a modestly built 455. This is how it will look ( minus a console) My 67 "old" resto-mod resides somewhere up in the Boston area. It was blast to build and drive for years...Plenty of guys in the Club that can help you put together your car..
Here’s a few more pics of what I’m starting with. The only thing I’ve done under the hood is replace a bad alternator and swapped out the stock radiator and mech fan for a champion 4 row and pair of electric fans. I cut the upper cover to match the new setup and transplanted the upper mounts to hold the new radiator. The stock lower mounts worked fine.
When the engine comes out, everything will get cleaned up. Inner fenders, firewall and rad support painted. Wires cleaned up and hidden, etc.
Well it’s been a while, so I figured I’d post an update. Between a long wait for the engine build, lots of other projects and all the gremlins and bad previous work hidden in this thing it just got put off. Now it’s turned into a full frame off. NOTHING that was done on this car was done correctly except the paint and polish used to cover it all up.
I just got the Muncie back from a rebuild, front end is off, 330 is out, full suspension kit is on the way and the frame/radiator support/inner fenders/brackets/etc. will soon be off to powdercoat.
She will go back together with all new suspension, lines, hoses, wiring, bushings, etc as well as 4 wheel disc brakes.
My only suggestion would be to lose the crappy all-thread and get real bolts for the motor mounts. You don't want threads loaded in shear, especially not ones made from tinfoil.
My only suggestion would be to lose the crappy all-thread and get real bolts for the motor mounts. You don't want threads loaded in shear, especially not ones made from tinfoil.
Forget the all thread, what about the chain links?🤣
Like I said, nothing was done correctly and it will all be replaced properly.
Here’s a better shot of the motor mounts we removed.
I was assuming the chain links were intended for some sort of torque strap.
I really don’t know. The only thing it appears to have accomplished was to raise the engine up about an inch. Maybe to clear headers? But the headers appear to clear without the lift.
I really don’t know. The only thing it appears to have accomplished was to raise the engine up about an inch. Maybe to clear headers? But the headers appear to clear without the lift.
Oh, I guess I didn't realize that's how they were configured. Wow, what a cluster.
This project snowballed so, it got put on the back burner for a while so I could finish up some other projects. Now it’s back out and on the rotisserie after evolving into a complete frame off restoration/resto-mod. Hopefully we’ll have it all buttoned up by spring.
