Well, like any of us here, I am not one to leave well enough alone! I bought a very clean 1974 Cutlass Supreme last summer and drove it for a year in factory form. Now its getting a complete drive line upgrade. Motor, trans, rear diff, wheels and tires. The new engine is a 362 with forged internals, ported and shaved #5 heads with large valves. (about 10.85:1 compression) The cam is an Erson I bought from cutlassefi (thanks man!) .504 lift, .228 duration and 111 degree LSA. On top is a Holley 750 breathing through an Edelbrock OL4B. Flowtech headers and 2.5 inch Pypes race pro exhaust run everything out the backside. For now, I am rebuilding the TH350 with hardened internals and all the goodies, but may switch to a 4 speed later on. I bought a posi carrier from 507OLDS (also much thanks!) and am installing 3.42 gears. Since this is originally an open carrier diff, no c-clips to worry about!

Here are a few pictures of the short block, and more will follow as the project continues! Don't be surprised to see a bed in the background later as my wife may make me sleep out there if the project gets any bigger!

 

Well, I will have to try and upload pictures later. Its not working right now.

 

Got a few to upload. I just got the rear end out and apart so more to come.

 

Can't wait to see how this comes out...do you have any more pics of the car? Also, are you doing your own machine work? You're going to have a beast when you're done...make sure it's all done right and it will live!

 

Here is a few more before pictures. The short block is being assembled and balanced at a local speed shop since I don't own that equipment (yet) and the same for the trans. The rest I am doing/ have done myself. I'm trying as best I can to make sure everything is spot on so it will take some thrashing at Great Lakes Dragway on the weekends. I guess I didn't realize how clean this old car was until I dropped the rear end and cleaned off some of the grease. Still have clear factory paint on the axle tubes!!

 

Damn...clean...Cutlass!

 

Here is the car with the rear end out. Just got the new gears in and waiting on the bearings, shims and seals. The trans is going to come out today or tomorrow if all goes as planned. I have a stock oil pan that I am considering doing a little modification to so it will hold another quart or so. I looked under the car and there is plenty of room for re-sizing the sump.

 

x2

 

Great looking 74 it reminds me of the 74 I had, I will have another one someday. This should be a great runner by the time you get done with it.

 

Few more shots of the progress. I thought the valve covers needed a little more after I shot the gold on. I was surprised how clean the inside of the engine was for 127,000 miles and never been opened. I painted the intake to keep with the sleeper look.

 

Very nice!

 

Very nice indeed! I love to see a 74 getting the go fast goodies. Would love to see a video when its ready to run!

 

Thanks guys for the compliments, and here are a couple shots of the progress. More will come tomorrow. And a video will definitely be uploaded when it's done!

 

Very nice Cutlass!

My favorite color combo is the white exterior with the red interior.

 

Here is a shot of the old engine. You might be able to see a little gold through all the grease! Also are a few shots of the new engine all together. Now just waiting on my transmission...

 

A little update. The new powerplant is in and getting all hooked up. New aluminum radiator is in place, rear diff is under the car. Transmission should be done this week, and the torque converter should be arriving next week. Here are a few more photos.

 

Coming a long nicely!

 

A little update on my progress. The whole driveline is installed, master cylinder installed, brakes bled, exhaust routed, and all fluids filled. I just dropped it on the ground about half an hour ago. If all goes well, I should be able to fire it up tonight or tomorrow. As soon as I break it in, I will post a video of it running and maybe some tire smoke.

 

IT RUNS!!! Just ran the cam in. Now I am letting it cool down so I can check it all over before I take it out for its first drive.

 

I guess I kind of left this thread hanging out there. I got the car on the road last fall and put about 1500 miles on it. It runs awesome! I had no problems other than a little carb dialing in. I soon realized that I need some bigger rubber out back. The 225/70-14's don't quite handle the new horsepower. I have a set of 4 15 inch rims that I will use on the back with 275/60-15 tires. One pair with street tires and one pair with my drag radials. I did decide over the winter to pull off the top end and replace the ported #5's with a pair of aluminum ProComps. This will save some weight and give a little better flow. As soon as parts start arriving, I will put up some more pictures.

 

Nice looking 74. Just curious, did you take it to the track at all? Also, what made you decide to replace the #5 heads? Were you running into detonation issues?

 

I haven't had it down the track yet. No detonation issues, just chasing more hp and less weight. I was considering going with aluminum heads when I built the motor, but my budget had kept me to running the heads I already had. Long story short, new year and bigger budget for the car. When I was in high school, I had a very quick 72 Skylark that I used to race on weekends, and I want to get this old girl into the mid to low 12's. She's heavy, and the weight off the nose will help a lot.

 

With that compression, are you able to run pump gas without any octane boosters?

 

The compression ratio ended up being closer to 10.5:1 since I went with FelPro head gaskets. I had no detonation on pump gas. I did run 12 degrees initial timing with 33 full advance as a little added insurance. The cam helped a lot in keeping the dynamic compression down to a "safer" level. The polished chambers and 160 degree thermostat helped out as well. It is pretty close to the edge, though.

 

By pump gas, I meant only 93 octane, though.

 

That's awesome. I'm sure you can't wait to get it to the track. What time do you think it should do with slicks on it?

 

To be honest, I am not really sure. Rough guess would be somewhere in the high 12's. Like I said, she's a heavy old girl. Maybe with a 125 shot of nitrous would put me in the low 12's to high 11's. I can't be quicker than 11.50, or I will need a cage.