Hey there, brand new to the board and to owning an oldsmobile. I just purchased a 1987 Cutlass Supreme and man is this thing clean! I have owned numerous cars and always drawn towards Olds just never had one until now. I do have a couple of questions though and was hoping my fellow gearheads could point me in the right direction.

1) The fellow i bought it from said it had a 305 from a 1971 El Camino SS. For some reason I doubt this. Are there any visual differances between a 305 and 307? The only number I found on the block so far is ion front of the right cylinder head and reads: 70353 I cannot find any deciphering for this number. Anyone know?

2) Anyone use KYB Gas-A-Just shocks? Need to replace mine and these seem decently priced just dont have any exp. with them.

3) What is interchangable on my car and with what? For example I know s-10 suspension parts bolt right into regals and monte carlos, how about cutlass? Any others would be appreciated.

I Think thats it for now, I will get some pics up as soon as it stops raining.

Thanks for the great site! I can see myself spending alot of time here, lol, oh and the OldsmobileWiki is one of the best things I have ever encounters!

Until Next Time,

-JD

 

Welcome to the site!

Best I can do to help here... if there is an oil fill neck in the front of the block then it's an olds V8.
I have the same shocks on my car but never ran the street since they were put in.
Not sure what other GM models are interchangeable except an '88 Cutlass. A junk yard should be able to tell you what will interchange.

Best of luck

 

Chevy didn't start building the 305 till the late 70s, so a 1971 EC could not have come with one. It COULD have had a Chevy 307, but not in an SS. So that's BS right off the bat.

Easiest way is to look at the valve covers. If they're rectangular with four bolts holding them on, it's a Chevy engine. If they're more of a trapezoid with 5 or 10 bolts holding them on, it's an Olds engine. A 1987 Cutlass could have had a 307 Olds engine.

All the info I have says it was either a Buick-sourced V6 or an Olds 307 V8 in 1987 Cutli. Look in the VIN and if the 8th character is a Y or a 9, it would have originally had the Olds 307. If it is an A it originally had a 3.8 carbureted Buick V6. Unless it was a Canadian-market car, in which case it could have had a Chevy 305.

 

Welcome to CO. Look for a bypass hose or tube from the front of the thermostat housing down to the top of the water pump. This is another identifier that would tell you it is an Oldsmobile engine. Welcome to CO.

 

That is why I doubted what he was saying because I couldn't see a 305 in a SS. My VIN (Y) tells me that it came with a Olds 307 between the rails, but I doubt its that because it looks like motor has been swapped.

So as soon as the wife gets home from school, she took the Olds so I could work on her van, I will go look at the things that you guys have mentioned and try to get to the bottom of this. Thanks Alot!

- J.D.

 

Welcome to CO!

 

Ok so thanks to rocketraider and Oldsguy I have concluded it is indeed a SBC under my hood(4 bolt valve covers and no hose from thermostat housing and waterpump). So I have a chiltons manual ordered so I can start straighting out the mess they left of the wiring harness when they did the swap. Right now I plan on building a rocket for it but we will se how that goes just happy to have my toy to play with and even happier its an olds. Thanks for your help guys!

- J.D.