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There i was standing angle-grinder at my hand.. Didnt have a heart to cut bonnet after all. Better that way. On the other hand, distributor tasted my angle-grinder, now it wont hit to intake, so i can get over 22 degrees of advance out of it. Those ones fitted under the hood barely, removed the insulation/ noise deadener whatever from the hood aswell. Funny, it didnt have one when i got the car, then i bought one, and now i ripped it off
Emergency brake-cable has been attached again with home-made hangers. Trans wont leak either anymore. Got to be creative and nuts to change the 1-2 accumulator cover seal under the car. I didnt even lower the trans/ engine-combo at all. Turned out i somehow had installed too small seal on it.. No wonder it leaked past. Now it holds, and zero leaks anywhere at trans. Success.
Heater is soon ready ( when i get one part) to work, hood is temporarily on ( to verify those air cleaners really fit under). Interestingly when calculating, those two pods have more surface area than the big Ford oval-aircleaner. Wouldnt believe without calculating.
Its pretty much missing the inner valve springs and exhaust anymore. Exhaust equals money. Need to wait next salary.
They hold Yankee-car show here where i live at 3-4th. October, biggest happening of the year, since every else show has been cancelled so far due to Covid-19. Hope to attend it with my car.
"so i can get over 22 degrees of advance out of it."
Do you still adjust your advance by turning the distr.? With that fancy digital laptop controlled ignition? I assumed you can adjust by laptop?
MSD can only retard timing at 25 degree window, limiting advance from either end. So if i want cruise advance to be 40 degree, i set distributor to 40 degree BTDC and build ignition map " wrong way" by retarding from there. And with 25 deg window, if i want to cruise at 40 deg, i can adjust idle down to 40-25=15 deg, or controversially if my idle is 15 deg, my max cruise would be 15+25=40 deg.
Yesterday i received a package. That was a long wait, almost month. Covid plays a role here i quess.
Now i have throttle-setup finally fully done and working beautifully. Used Lokar.
Its 1:1 setup. While installing the inner springs, from what i can tell from the plugs, rear cylinders run richer than front ones. I drove it in as 1:1. Front two are brown, rear two are blackish. Tho, im not making any conclusions until i really can run it.
Best tool ever, period. In the past ive used some lousy valve-spring tools, but that one is by FAR the best. Until something like brake booster obstructs it....
No looking for the welds... Something i quickly cobled together and it works. Only downside is that it requires the other of your two hands to use, so its somewhat clunky to work with valve locks same time. Well, it works anyways. Just use a lever with it. Got other side done today alongside of doing the throttle cable up, other side tomorrow if weather permits.
Again some more important issues have raisen their head, so this has been on backburner, again. More about that later. Its a curse and salvation at same time, if it turns out as i hope.
Well.. The feeling.. Is amazing. Inner springs installed, throttle-cable fabbed up, trans backdrive-linkage, shifter-cable etc installed.. Heater working. New coil-stand, this time on drivers side. Original design placed it just on the way of heater-hoses.. Stupid me. 3 years of working, all available money. And almost stupid trust to own skills.. It f¤&¤#&g moves, shakes, rattles, burns rubber at will when you smash the throttle.. Its overly rich, its missing exhaust so its overly loud.. But its amazing. I cant even describe the feeling.
Most proud im about the transmission. Its nearly all-new inside the case, 100% home-build, all bearings changed, shift-kit installed, own mod to forward? drum, modded dual-feed, everything. I remember when i thought, well, humans build it, so human can fix it. My friends and family thought im nuts " its automatic, you cant fix it at home without tools". Turns out opposite.
Im actually more amazed about the working trans than engine. But yeah. Long journey, and after all a SUCCESS!!!! Next starts tuning. It may go to next summer.
First video is about the car first time moving with home-build TH350 and 350 engine, after 3 and half years.
The other cross at my heart is that we found out our house is conquered by mold. So much from the basement, that calculating fixing costs theres no sane reason to fix it anymore. Fingers crossed we get new loan next friday, to demolish this and build new. If it all qoes as planned, and hoped, i have 538sq.feet garage by next summer solely for my Cutlass. But this cant shade the happiness on my mind at now, and the smile at my face. Its been long time since i last smiled, i really needed this.
First 15 miles under new powertrain. To winter storage, hopefully last time to garage of 5 guys. Next winter i hopefully have my own.
Notes made on the trip:
- Needs bigger/ stronger return-springs to throttle-lever system, few times had to help with toe under the gas pedal to get it idle at lights
- Autometer coolant gauge/ sensor or something went dark. That lasted long..
- Trans needed fill-up after short drive, which was already waited for. Now its full hot
- Trans worked otherwise well, but has awfully high shiftpoints at cruise. Needs calibrating
- Burns rubber
- Needs full tune-up
- Needs exhaust. Surprisingly quiet inside without one, but outside its hell
- Suspension work
- Oil change, get the drive-in oils out. Oil pressure was 50psi all the time even when hot, with 30wt oil. Its really steady 50psi all the time. Im really happy about that.
Well, thats it. Some work at winter to get it really on driveable condition, then waiting for spring.
It has mostly stayed on garage. Only changed the drive-in oils out. Winter coming equals = super busy at work = money. And im poor, do the math
Well, ive bought some items to entertain me when the work finally stops for weeks or months. AEM UEGO- wideband and associated parts, parts for exhaust, and ball mount to my already-installed hitch. I got to comment on this one, i laughed so hard when i installed it to my hitch frame. Both are from Curt if it makes any difference. If local inspection would see how that ball extension jiggles back and forth, they would order to remove the whole hitch right away. Thats ridicolous **** right there, that hitch I quess i end up welding it in place.
Related to hitch, i need to redo my electric-box a little, change few wires inside it to uncomplicate the wiring. I have 13-point european style electrics already installed to my towing-hitch.
Undecided yet, but i quess my winter-program will be ( other than exhaust) to rebuild the suspension with a small drop, 2 inches would be nice, and install ac-delete.
Then it would be short of interior-work and painting to be "ready".. Seat-fabric is deteriorating, and i hate those swivel-buckets by my heart. Makes my back cry. Dash-panel is also cracked as hell, but i hapen to have 100% intact one, at correct colour, on my basement waiting to be installed.
Inline........seems like a great person to me! Not many could do what he's done considering were he lives, really he should be a inspiration to you to get those Olds of yours straitened out........................
Last edited by VORTECPRO; Dec 17, 2020 at 06:19 AM.
I picked up a 76 Cutlass for $50. I sold the mint interior for $200 down to a guy in Boston. These cars like G bodies, they will never have much value. I am getting my G body hauled away to concentrate on my 70S, a car with some actual value. I hope you didn't pay much for it, the 442 was basically just numbers, unless you got the high performance 260. I bet that dash pad is used, no one makes parts for cars worth single digits. I hope this doesn't cause you to beat your girlfriend or boyfriend, maybe both, you seem like a very angry person. Have a great day.
What you said about Jouni is actually quite insulting. And you don't even know the history of this car. I know Jouni and you're way out of line. If you'd taken the time to read through this build you wouldn't have posted those nasty remarks.
What you said about Jouni is actually quite insulting. And you don't even know the history of this car. I know Jouni and you're way out of line. If you'd taken the time to read through this build you wouldn't have posted those nasty remarks.
I may not know the history behind his post, but sounds to me like it was placed in the wrong thread, directed towards the wrong person.. I hope.
Inline........seems like a great person to me! Not many could do what he's done considering were he lives, really he should be a inspiration to you to get those Olds of yours straitened out........................
Yeah, I meant what I said Mark, you are a part of this community now, I hope you and Cutlassefi can learn to live with each other. I am erasing my posts. An emotional time for me, sorry if I saw his post as insulting in my thread. I know, I was out of line, my apologies.
Last edited by olds 307 and 403; Dec 17, 2020 at 08:33 AM.
Yeah, I meant what I said Mark, you are a part of this community now, I hope you and Cutlassefi can learn to live with each other. I am erasing my posts. An emotional time for me, sorry if I saw his post as insulting in my thread. I know, I was out of line, my apologies.
I can live with Mark Remmel just fine, I wouldn't like it if he went away. I just want to be be clear, I'am not on this forum looking for work, Cutlas EFI can take care of that, I do enjoy my inter action with different people on this forum and very much like building engines and drag racing cars. Theres nothing better than proven performance data: MPH over 1320 is true crankshaft HP, thats why I prefer drag racing. I think I've been on this forum for at least 8 years. Although I did not agree with the dyno data from Matt Scranton's dyno, I very much look forward to Mark's testing on his new dyno!
Last edited by VORTECPRO; Dec 17, 2020 at 08:26 PM.
Everyone has right to voice his/her opinion. What separates people behind their comments is do they stand behind what they said in good or bad, or erase and voice sorries afterwards. Its same as talking one thing and doing other, if anything at all.
But about the subject. Thanks for asking; in todays currency rate i paid roughly 8500 dollars from my car. The car included, i have way over 20000 dollars on it, and im going to spend 10000 dollars more i quess before its "ready". I didnt buy it as investment, and im not even dreaming getting back as much as ive used on it. At our market, in current condition, realistic price would be here between 15-17000 dollars. Painting it wont raise its value here at all, and it costs about 7000 dollars, so if you think as investment, its the worst money you could spend for it.
Dash-pad is used, it came from junkyard.
The question is do i care? Nope. I just happen to really like it. And i can afford my hobby in side of raising two children, house-wife whos not at work, plus own property. When i bought my car, i wasnt looking for GM, Oldsmobile, or less Cutlass S. I loved it from first sight, and do love it still, and wouldnt change it to other cars. If someone junks other similiar car, i couldnt really care less.
If somebody wants to speak more about money or life, im all ears and more than happy to provide answers.
Please add some of that to my thread, not what you added in there. Nothing you put in there had any good intent, 0. Never said one bad thing about your car till yesterday, sorry I did.
Last edited by olds 307 and 403; Dec 18, 2020 at 03:30 AM.
I have zero need or less interest to write that kind of stuff or apologise on your thread, i stand behind what i said. I dont need your sorries either.
You said what you said, i said what i said, and its all fine.
I have zero need or less interest to write that kind of stuff or apologise on your thread, i stand behind what i said. I dont need your sorries either.
You said what you said, i said what i said, and its all fine.
Got the exhaust completed. Next on the list is assembling the lambda-sensor. Really love the sound, its really deep and burbling. Video dont do it justice. I had to cut the end of video of, phone mic stuffs up when trying to rev it, sounding just "swooooosh".
Also fan of hidden exhaust- no tips visible- as is the case here aswell.
First start in month, its 50 Fahrenheits ( 10 Celsius) at the garage, and no choke ( front-carb choke deleted, and rear-carb choke currently hanged open ( out of use)).
So, went on and installed the painted exhaust, and lambda-sensor. Have provisions on both sides, i installed it at passengers side and plugged the drivers side.
Now i just need to assemble the gauge itself, somewhere. Dont know where. Im actually disgusted that at a time i didnt invest to speedhut/autogauge etc. multi-gauges, fitting them at place of originals would have been alot neater solution than trying to figure out where to install all separate gauges without doing holes to interior. Live and learn.
On the more "scary" side, long time ago, i went on to our most renowed classic american cars parts dealer to buy oil filters. They didnt have the one i requested, so they cross-referenced it to WIX ( cant remember the number). When i drove in the motor, i had AC Delco filter on it. Then i changed out drive-in oils, and installed new filter. Ive been wondering long why it drips oil at garage, and yesterday i thought i change it to new one, probably cut seal or something. NO WAY! Its wrong- it screws at place, but the sealing ring ID is same size as the oil-filter housings OD, so it basically wont seal at all, just enough to not pour it all over. Thats why its been dripping. What a luck i caught that at garage. Lesson learned- never trust anything. Thats almost the only item ive bought locally, since Oldsmobile-parts are scarce here, and even that one was wrong.
And on the last note, we finally got the housing-situation to the end. Now i have my own garage. Big garage. We bought old firestation as our new house Took alot persuading to wifes side
Cant wait to move my Cutlass there, buy lift etc. Good times! Need to take few pictures when were there.
Garage is 39.4ft long, 10.6ft high and 13ft wide ( 1576 sq.ft); door is 10 x 10 ft.. Plus it can be lenghtened by additional 13ft if i ever need by just opening one door-way inside As its old fire-station, its all around just brick and concrete. At garage we have brick-walls, concrete floor and roof, running water and sewer. No need to worry about welding or grinding inside. Plus its plumbed to house warming-system, so its nice and warm place, and living quarters are just behind opening one door.
To illustrate what i meant. The one in the right is the wrong filter they sold me. I wondered why it dripped oil at garage floor. Left is correct. Lesson learned- check everything twice. The wrong filters #-number turns to some Chevrolet filter. Good thing i didnt drive it that way, just changed drive-in oils out when drove it to the garage last autumn. That would been as much my fault as theirs for not checking such obvious thing, just a reminder.
While completing the install of the lambda-meter, i finally figured out a good place for oil/ water-temps. Since i didnt want to break anything. I removed the ashtray-lid, and bolted those to ashtrays "carriage". That way if i remove those, i just install the ashtray-lid back in place, and no visible holes are anywhere. Also the place is good, those are pointed straight towards the driver, plus they wont prohibit the use of the center-console tray underneath them.
So here it finally is, at my own garage. Got it towed there yesterday. Roads were so icy that i barely got it from tow-truck inside the garage, no grip at all with those tyres. But. oh boy it fired up beautifully after hibernating for few months. Prime the fuel system, few kicks from the pedal, and roaring it lighted to life.
Since we just moved there, theres alot of boxes with wifes "important" stuff lying around. But to visualize the size, you could fit four Cutlasses there in a 2's row. and still have some space lenght-wise left. You couldnt open doors if side by side of course. And steel-reinforced concrete / brick walls all over. Oil-heated by big radiators and circulated water ( whole house, including the garage, is oil-heated, water-circulated) From there my happy life begins. We made a deal, wife got the house, i got the garage. Fair game id say.
love all the work you've done to the car ! you must be thrilled with all the room in your new garage
Thanks. Yet there are alot left to do to get it where i want. Yes, really excited about the garage and the hose-tower included on it ( remember, its old fire-station- around here they dry the hoses by hanging them from the roof of purpose-build tower, and it just happens to be connected to garage).
Alot of visions with it.
I had to update a little. I was going over all minor stuff forgotten when building this up, like adding missing washers, hiding wires or wrapping them, etc. Then i remembered that my shifter cable was stretched beyond the limit where i could get all "gears" to work from selector. When i got Park positioned correctly, i couldnt get the 1st gear selected from selector.
So, using that as an excuse, i ordered Hurst Pro-Matic2 shifter for this. It was even locally available. Since work hasnt yet started due to tightened temps, im going to attempt installing it at weekend inside the stock console, so only hint will be the selector.
Well. Today i received my shifter. This ones gonna be interesting and intriguing little project. Yet i didnt do nothing else than disassembled the stock console and shifter from the car.
Next follows 4 pictures with notes. I have a feeling this will turn out really nice.
Picture 1. Tried to take picture showing the height difference. Its reeeeal close height-wise. Both gear selectors positioned at Neutral.
Picture 2. Same idea- to show height difference- from side.
Height difference is here. Its approx. 5 millimeters. And its on the pivot-point, which is higher on Hurst Promatic2. You can shave off that difference in height same time you make a base from 3mm thick steel-plate, to utilize stock shifter attaching points to body. With that mod, you cant resell your Promatic2, atleast not as easy, but it dont matter. What you get, is no more holes to body, pivot point height fixed to match original, and whenever you want, its just a bolt-on to install original shifter back.
Picture 4. Just dropped at place. The yellow chalk-mark was done original shifter at place, to mark where its pivot point was located at body. When locating the pivot-point on Promatic2, you see immediatedly, that stock cable-routing is pretty much spot-on. Thats stock-cable still hanging there. That black flat plate on the new shifter, where it rests to the body, is the one im going to cut, then measuring from the original shifter, i cut a new "base-plate" which bolts to original holes, weld the shifter on it carefully measuring correct position for it, and install it.
So far- it seems that with interest, time and attention you can assemble it so that someone who doesnt know, wont ever realise its not a stock shifter. Idea for this actually came, when ive read about propositions for the never released 76' H/O, where the other iteration had Hurst Autostick3, as stories tell.
Day 1. Hacking the $475 shifter. Yes, it costs that much here. Some measuring, notes, and warm meal later, its time for angle-grinder. Dont note wifes wooden table
So i did cut original mounting tabs off from the shifter frame, and disassembled it some. Dont know what the &¤#&¤#& is the size on those hex-headed screws, they werent either metric nor inch-sized Since i later had to remove the shifters neutral / safety switch since it was in the way of one bolt, i just drove T20 torx with hammer on those suckers. Works every time.
Welded at place, small seams at a time to prevent it warping, and letting it cool after every seam.
Mocking it up. Looks pretty good start. Then i run into an "issue". Since the console atleast on this Cutlass, raises towards rear, when downshifting, the ball went awfully low at the farthest position, almost touching the "tray with a lid" at the end of the console. Other note- my seat is as back as i can get it, and i had to reach back to operate the shifter. That was really akward and unpleasureable position. So i resorted to turn the lever other way, the kink pointing forward. At first it looked a bit akward, but my eyes got used to it pretty well already. Plus, the geometry from seat when operating it, is now _just_ perfect. Like it wouldve been supposed to be made this way from factory.
At Park. Here it looks pretty akward, but its good to use.
Now its at Drive. From that position you either ratchet it forward or backward to shift between N-D-2-1.
Most of the "hard" part is done. Next up is to make the stock shift-indicator work with this shifter. Not looking too hard feat. Or to be precise, to illuminate the position-markers with light on correct position relative to gear. Original system was done by some kind of illuminating fiber, cant remember its name, its been broken long ago. After that, rest is same as with any shifter, install the cable and adjust it.
Aluminium pan at your trans? Better bring your welder. Its just that much thicker, that you wont get the cable-support installed. Measure it, cut it, weld it and paint it. Usual business.
Shift-lever on trans. Instructions call for welding the new lever under or top of the required linkage for park-lock system, if you happen to have one connected to trans. Pro-tip: weld it on top of the existing one. I turned the existing one around ( 180 drgrees; ie. upside-down), as some of you might notice. Wont interference to anything, and you dont need to cut anything original. That way its easy to cut the new lever off with angle grinder, if need ever arises. Then for the reason to weld it on top of the existing lever. The supplied lever is so loose to the "key" of the TH350 selector shaft, that its unbeliavable. And no, the shaft isnt worn, the original lever was tight as hell to the shaft.
And here it finally is. Adjustment short of working. As you see i had to make new hole to trans tunnel. All in all, funny little project before spring. But took surprisingly lot of time.
God, what have i done
Thought to clean up and re-grease the whole steering column. Not bad idea at all, i can tell. ~50-year old grease is pretty cooked
It was actually pretty easy to disassemble. Few moments i had to scratch my head, i really didnt understand what i read, but well its all apart and cleaned. Now on the hunt for few missing items on column, its clearly has been opened up at some point, from scratches and marks.
This bearing looked like dead, under black sludge and hardly turning. After good cleaning and injecting it with lithium bearing grease, its like new. Thats good way to fill old bearings if you dont want to take them apart, inject with needle, and then roll the bearing, the rolling motion "sucks" the grease in if theres no lip-seal to prevent it.
Got the steering column done. God its good now. After seeing what i aaw, id suggest everyone to clean and re-lube theirs. From now on, thia summer consist of getting it inspected, tuning it and drive it. Most time goes to house, fixing it and building garage.
Have a great summer everyone, and enjoy your rides!
After 3 years at the making; fresh papers from inspection with 2-year stamp. Whiskey on the hand
We got a good laugh. When it was all done, and i had papers on my hand, it died to inspection stations lift
Alternators batt-terminals insulation gave up and shorted; and also the starter had heat-soaked enough that it wouldnt start They pushed it outside and loaned tools. I walked a total of 8 miles to get new alternator and maxi-fuses to drive it home ( fusible link is almost unheard there, that long time ago i replaced burnt fusible link with maxi-fuse).
Alot to do. Cruise is @lambda .85-.90, full throttle ~.75. Trans shifts way too late at part throttle, about @4500rpm. It means almost 50mph for 1-2 shift. So some tuning to be done. But now im allowed to drive it at public traffic and tune it. Talk about happy times.
And there also seems to be some power behind
God, im at seventh heaven. Rear done- transmission done-engine done-3 years at the making and inspected.
Gonna burn some rubber. Well i already did
You guys should sometimes see what a reaction american V8-equipped car at Finland: next to Russia, gives to people at full song; middle of snow. Unbeliavable feeling and attention!
So yesterday i did a little tuning, and this morning i went to test them. This is gonna be a long and boring post without pics.
Now it shifts @4000rpm part throttle. And holds it at drive far later. Like 2400rpm. Still want to get it a little down, so i dont have to speed up to get 2nd inside for 40mph limit, and then slow down a little to 40mph.
Trans itself shifts beautifully, crisp shifts, not bat-in-your-back hard at all. No noticeable slipping above stall. Bulk converter, Hughes 2500 stall-one. Stalls from dead stop closer to 3000rpm than 2500. Well i have a heavy car. Lets see if it changes at summer, to something little less stall and tailored to engine. City driving is pretty meh, just a juice-box. Is it normal operation for th350 to "free wheel" when letting off the throttle, rpms dropping to idle, and when applying throttle again, it does grab back up when rpms match the gear and speed? I quess its working correctly, just weird feeling at first, since i dont have that much experience with these gearboxes, and its my first home-build gearbox. I also took off little fluid yesterday, beautifully red, no hint of discoloration, no burnt smell, and no visible particles at oil.
No loss of coolant either, and same colour without any oil at it. Took a hefty sample from radiator emptying-screw.
Blow-by breather can had a little of oil on it, few millilitres. Actually it was more like gasoline. And was expected. Emptied it. No engine-oil loss, and there also the colour is beautiful. Keeps about 50psi hot all the time with 0w-40 full synthetic, no restrictions anywhere, hi-vol pump. Cant remember did i change the spring or not, probably not.
Then to the carbs. AVS2 500cfm x2. 1:1 linkage. 11hg/in vacuum at idle. Got it tuned now pretty close, and it seems to have very good fuel curve. At cruise it start from about ( lambda, i prefer it over AFR, probably also depends on what youre used to)1.05, and creeps to .95 at higher rpms, just before shifting. Nice. I quess im not going to get it any better, and hey, what is even better when talking about carbed engine?
When smashing the throttle wide open, there is, and was waited for, some problems. It bogs a little when both air-doors slams open. Expected. Need to tighten them to max recommended, im half-an-turn from max now. Then it starts to pull the mixture fatter, down to .75, which is around 11 at AFR scale. Already have the smallest jets, according to manual, there ( Stock, need to investigate if smaller ones are available from desk). Idles nicely, and all transitions seems to work flawlessly on those carbs ( the bog with 2*500 is to be expected on my mind especially at this point of tuning)
All in all, pretty happy for results of one day testing. Now to remove the governor and fiddle with it ( accumulator-route is done since yesterday), tighten the air doors, and opening up rocker covers to see if everythings going on well there.
As weird as it sounds, it seems to have a pretty good combination, regarding trans, gearing, and engine power for everyday driving from city to highway. Already been driving it 75mph at highway.
When i get it close enough im planning to head dyno with this to get to see what this makes (180bhp as it says at registration sertificate) and to tune it if needs.
Oh, needs extra muffling. 70db at front seats, 72db at rear. Gets old fast.
No audible pinging noticed, or visible at spark-plugs. I mentioned this, cause there goes to trash two stupid wives-tales without any resemblance to truth. First one is, you cant have 10:1 static compression with iron heads and pump gas. Im running 93 at your scale. This one is actually really stupid. Way too many variables to state something this one-eyed.
Second one is that you cant use 1:1 linkage with duals. Perfectly fine fuel curve with them, and to the current problem of secondaries pulling it rich at wot, they would be both open aswell with progressive linkage. Until you disconnect the front carb alltogether.
)
I quess i end up welding it in place.
Since i later had to remove the shifters neutral / safety switch since it was in the way of one bolt, i just drove T20 torx with hammer on those suckers. Works every time.
They pushed it outside and loaned tools. I walked a total of 8 miles to get new alternator and maxi-fuses to drive it home ( fusible link is almost unheard there, that long time ago i replaced burnt fusible link with maxi-fuse).
