smash72

I am officially the brand new guy. Contractor all my life, still have my tools on every day at age 51. So right when I turned mid life crisis age I needed a fun project. Put the new kitchen in, cute little addition off the back, new roof this was how I spent my spare time at home. No more told the wife to put her list away I'm doing something for me. Some guys get the 5.0 convertible mustang, or some kind of boat. Not me I went strictly muscle. 72 Cutlass Coupe 455 Got it on the web in Indiana from some young buck that cared more about cloning 442 badges than the motor. He toyed with the carb fouled up the mix which fouled the plugs black smoke the whole nine. There is a process to follow when determining the proper mix & with his being to rich. Long story short he quit, wasn't putting another dime into it. Pretty sure his wife said that. I just had it shipped yesterday after waiting 5 weeks for bad weather. That's where I'm at don't no much about cars the basics I guess but I'm very mechanical , can't wait to roll the sleeves & dig in. Pics and history to follow, will be looking to you guys for the walk through. Talk soon

oldcutlass

Welcome to the site, we do like pictures. Cool story, and yes there a lot of instances where people are in over their heads and sell. Hopefully your experience turns out better than the last owner.

smash72

I have a lot of patience, lots of motor head friends and am also holding some trump to get the professionals in when needed. Change the gears from a racer to a driver, body work, paint stuff like that. Everything else I can't wait. Thx for the welcome. Will get the pics out soon as it arrives.

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

Welcome to the site, enjoy the stay

tru-blue 442

Welcome. Looking forward to the pics.

OLD SKL 69

Welcome to CO!

Allan R

Welcome aboard.
When you get the car check the VIN. If it starts out 3J57U2...you have a fairly rare car. Not many 72's were produced with a 455. If on the other hand it starts out 3J57K2, it was originally a 350CID car and the engine has been changed. Looking forward to pics and 'the rest of the story'.

smash72

Already done, thanks to the vast knowledge on this site I learned about the vin numbers. In the 5th spot there's a letter which tells you the original motor. Mine drum roll please ????????? the dreaded H which was 350 single exhaust, 2 barrel. Only a two owner car, the second owner put in the 455 dual exhaust, 4 barrel, interior, etc. Should be here Friday I might wet self the night before. Weather breaks also on Friday here in Philly. I'm pumped. Thx to everyone for the warm welcomes, can't wait to dig in.

Allan R

My apologies, when you were talking about the Mustang convertible I kind of linked your new car to the CS vert. ooops. So your car is either a 3G or 3F coupe? The H code engine was standard production for those models, unless upgraded.

Did the PO also upgrade to a TH400 or did he just build up the TH350?

Friday it is! Can't wait to see the pics.

Oldsguy

Welcome to CO and congrats on getting the Cutlass. I am sure you will have a wonderful time with it.

smash72

Car arrives today 3pm est. Of course just to give me a little kick in the head it's gonna **** rain for the next 3 days here in Philly. I dont have one of those big fancy warehouse style buildings to work on it. I was able to clear out some crap in my smallish detached 2 car garage. Spent a lot of time trying to make room, felt like a expecting father preping the babies room again. Insulated, installed some T1-11 on the exterior walls, Even put a rug down to keep his little 15" feet warm. I'm ready to hang a mobile or something, maybe a boarder of little race cars. Hope to be passing out cigars in a few hours.

Pics as soon as I can, need opinions on this "4K custom interior" Iv'e gone on record saying I wasn't a big fan but as a newbie what do I know.

smash72

Quick follow up, my 72 Cutlass finally arrived. We had a major rain event on Friday, flooding, lost power till late yesterday. Car transport could not get here till Saturday. It's been a nightmare been doing emergency electrical work for 4 straight days. Any way as soon as I get a chance I will post pics of my new toy. At first glance about 15 min worth I like what I see. No rot some surface rust only. Talk soon I need a nap.

tru-blue 442

Congrats on the car. Hate to hear about the rest.
good luck with it all. Looking forward to the pics.

smash72

There was no mention of a TH400 and that's a little nugget you would not leave out if your looking to sell. I think the PO was building it for racing. Had 25X15 Mickey Thompsons on the back, and of course the 455. Gears are 4.10 He did mention a 3400 stall converter someone want to explain that to me. Got work to do to make this a driver.

Allan R

A 3400 stall converter would give the car great launch capability. Here's an article that explains it really well instead of me having to type it out. The 1st, 2nd and last paragraphs basically sum it all up.
What does a High Stall Converter Do?

smash72

hopefully the guy knew what he was doing & sized it with the motor RPM that would be a nice place for me to start. Also gotta look into that trans cooler. Some nit wit wrapped the exhaust in tape that supposed to cool it off some, I'm not buying it & will be doing it right. Thx to everyone for the help and support I don't feel alone on this project. Your reward is coming in lots of pic from ******* to appetite. Really would value the opinions & help.

smash72

real quick the Cutlass is going up on my buddies lift sometime today. How do I identify a TH400 trans, or a stock trans that's been worked on, or if it's simply stock.

sicky olds

Cant wait to see pictures of the car Smash. Is that your car in your Avatar? Looks like they put the 69 H/O scoop on the car.

You can identify a TH400 and a TH350 by looking at the pan itself, one has a square pan and the other one looks like Texas kinda (for the life of me i cant remember which is which so i will not post what i think)

smash72

Yep thats it, I hate that hood looks like a home made scoop, plus that gold paint is pretty bad. Finally got to see it up on the lift, unfortunately it looks like it was sitting in a lake. The good news the body and frame are good. Surface rust only no rot. No twists in the frame. Gotta replace oil pan it has a crack and leaks pretty bad. New pan came with the car. Need front end completely done, ball joints, bushings, springs before I can even think about getting the lines right. First I need new 455 long tube headers. It's real tight and did't wanna bang up the new pan getting them in. will post pics of the under carriage later today, the rest after it comes off the lift. Someone didnt think it was important to bolt the shock in half the rear came hanging down. as you will see.

sicky olds

LOL I remember when i got my Hurst and it had the same problem, except i drove with it not knowing and it fell down one day and made a bunch of sparks...

If that is an H/O scoop and you dont want it, carefully remove it and sell it on the parts for sale section, plenty of people doing Hurst clones that would buy it off of you.

smash72

Not sure the scoops are square. I will post a pic in my album. Which I'm just getting the hang of some pics are coming in up side down. I edit them on my phone they still post the wrong way.

QMaster

Welcome aboard!

smash72

Quick follow up, pics are up. Anyone like that interior 4K custom.,Door panels front and back match. Its all less thsn 18 months old. As for the motor good news is the top half has been done & done right. The bad for me anyway is everything was built to race. Im replacing the cam, intake manifold, & carb. Exsisting carb dumps way to much fuel & has no choke, I believe it could be a dominator 750 or bigger, need to replace and dial down the stall converter from the 3400 it has now to like a 2500 once I identify the cam doubt I will be able to use it though. Since the springs, lifters are done im sure its not a cam for me. Also noticed the bore marks on the heads. The work all seems good on the motor so far. Lots of other hurdles with suspension, diff brackets throughtout were all hacked by PO. Lots of elbow grease to get it cleaned, and sealed. Im lovin every min since its stuff I dont normally do. Check out the pic and lets hear what you guys think, Im open for suggestions. Also in the market for these parts. Keep in mind Im building a driver. Leaning towards since I have to replace intake manifold going with (not sure what its called) it has seperate exhaust ports differant than headers so I can save all that room, less heat, little less hp, but I will have some to spare. Thoughts & parts chime in. thx.

smash72

Also not sure how well you can see it but that hood is for sale could also be custom. will try and post better pics of the hood & interior. 3400 stall converter who needs one ?

smash72

Little disappointed no one chimed in with suggestions on my project. At least 15 people welcomed me and asked for pictures, now I'm on a island. Just kidding guys but take a perky poo at the pics even if I can avoid falling in a single hole or shoot myself in the foot it would be a big help. Turning a racer into a drive, leaning toward manifold exhaust instead of headers ? Dialing down the toque converter, cam, etc. This car was a street racer, heads were bored, 3400 toque convert, aggressive cam, custom Holley no choke carb, dumps massive gas. Looking for suggestions pros & cons on my intake. Thx

Allan R

Sorry I've not commented. I've been away for the past week and deliberately went without electronics as I needed a break.

Just had a quick look through your pics.

1. I agree the hood with the 69 air hood scoops looks just wrong. I think I just saw your post on another thread about the OAI glass hood you bought. It will still need tweaking for fitment, but IMO the look is much better. Looks like you also need a stone shield and grills?

2. 3400 is way strong if you're going back to just a driver. Suggest looking at closer to 1500 which I believe is closer to factory.

3. If you're keeping the car as a driver, I'd leave the interior as is. Nothing really wrong with that unless you want to spend extra $$ on new stuff.

4. Wish I could give you some info on the cam and intake choices, but someone with more technical knowledge should be able to. It's a question I'd throw into the tech section for a response.

5. Saw the pic of the rear axle hanging and first thought was WTH happened? Glad to hear you got that under control. How'd you do the fix?

smash72

Thx Alan basically bolted the shock back on the frame. It's been a little slow on the build this week. Business decided to finally pic up after a brutal winter. Anyway will identify the cam this weekend, agree on the converter, and gears a 4.10 are all but gone. Might be able to use the cam will see. I did run the number on the heads turns out to be a good 455 big valves from 68 pretty pumped about that. Replacing that cheap spray painted torker manifold & carb might go back to a Rochester Quadrajet. Hope to have it bench running this time next week. Best laid plans and all that. Learning a lot from this site just gotta learn to find some time & get more than 5hrs sleep every nite. Thx again

smash72

I also have both sets of grills the original Cutlass (which cleaned up real nice no cracks) & brand new all came with the car. Came loaded with extra stuff part of the deal. All the old chrome , new chrome was installed, little rough for my taste it will get redone but one less thing to buy.