My father purchased the car about 20 years ago from an old lady near Buffalo, NY which I remember even though I was only 12 years old at the time. He drove it for a while and then it sat in his garage untouched for the past 10 years. He gave the car to me when I moved back to my hometown last year just outside of Rochester, NY. I'm trying to fix it enough to drive after animals had made a home in the car including eating a hole through the convertible top. The car has 63,000 miles on it now and its a 1972 Cutlass Convertible. The VIN says 3J67M2M196209 which tells me that it should have a 350 in it. It has a 455 that I think is possibly out of a '73 because it has an EGR valve. My first question is if it is truly a 442 or did someone just add all the badging. Secondly, it has the OAI hood and air intake. My favorite part is the 8-track player with the eagles greatest hits in it that still works! Next question, how do I hook up the vacuum lines to get it to run right? I put an HEI kit from Crane in to eliminate the points because they burned out all the time. I want to time it now that I've changed the ignition but want the vacuum lines correct before I time it. I'll include pictures to help. My name is Jason. Thanks in advance!
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/q20dd2jnfgoe0kt/woUW6o6zwY
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/l7kxexw5ilezisi/rGWFcXE7GZ
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/41qr4zbarfljrpe/y4p2Han3rQ
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/9iwnuqmkfey1pwu/8vIAcfYUYS
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/y6i956gbelw9rgl/JODpHOjaHU
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/lp469njmnj3pxms/f1VbgLz2yI
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/yi7pfln38p4noin/cpfIezX-KB

 

I have it up on jack stands in the garage because the TH350 that was in it is getting rebuilt. It slipped really bad and when I tried changing the fluid there was barely any in it and there was about 1" of graphite sludge in the pan.

 

Being a '72 you would need some sort of documentation being that Oldsmobile reverted back to the 442 being and option (RPO W-29) instead of a model. That said it was possible to order a Cutlass Supreme convertible with the 442 option but not a Cutlass Supreme hardtop coupe. As far as the vacuum lines go the chassis assembly manual is a great place to start. However there are diagrams out there and the search function is your friend. Welcome aboard If you cannot find what you seek, let us know and we can help.

 

Thanks for the suggestion! If I get the '72 assembly manual would it still have the proper routing for the 455 that's in the car? So far I haven't been able to figure it out because I bought a vacuum line kit from Fusick's and it had a diagram for a '72 but it didn't have to right features for that motor and I'm not sure what diagram would be correct since the motor is not original. I have a picture of the engine above.

 

Also, when I got the car from my dad it didn't have any vacuum lines hooked up to the three ports on the vacuum switch in the front corner of the manifold. The diagram from Fusick's showed the three ports on the sides but it showed one on top and an electrical connector that I don't have.

 

You are probably right about it being a '73 or later 455. The VIN derivative stamp towards the front of the engine on the driver's side will tell you exactly what year it is. It would be hard to read with the alternator bracket in the way, but it is there.

P1010412.jpg

Photo from John (2blu442)

From that I would obtain the schematic for the vacuum lines from a CSM of that year.

 

Thanks, I will try that

 

The emblems on the fender and trunk look like they were added, but 442 option or not, it's a nice convertible and nice color.

 

Thank you!

 

Has anyone had issues running a TH350 behind a 455? I'm hoping that my issue was due to lack of fluid which was a maintenance issue on my dads part prior to him giving me the car

 

I used some degreaser and cleaned the area where you showed in the picture. There are no numbers on the tag. It is blank.

 

Well that's a bummer, this one should help

vacuumdiagram.jpg

 

That doesn't look at all like what I have. That shows three different vacuum switches and I only have one.

 

Here's the 72 assembly manual engine section. Join Wild About Cars so you can access the rest of the assembly manual sections.

http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/membe...l_Sect_6.1.pdf

Welcome BTW. I live between Rochester & Syracuse in Seneca Falls

 

That's quite detailed! Thank you! And you're right, Seneca Falls isn't too far from Mumford.

 

I removed the bracket that runs from the power steering pump to the manifold and scratched away the paint and there are some numbers there. I can hardly make them out but I will post the links to the pictures I took of it and see if anyone else can help figure out what they are and what they mean. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks! Jason

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/9igsozl7fcsaro2/pItb9shigC
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/tryonhhybjbcj0c/_1KDAalg-1
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/9g8nbdjstk788p9/W8Zz7DDxWK
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/u0tuc067h70q2lb/EPRwPyqYly
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/td3ht1uuqrut9dy/pNXkSaGYjv
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/ordvqz80k1unh1i/AMEOSqGsrz

 

If the second digit is a 4 then it should be a 1974 engine. This one should help

 

That looks it! With just the one vacuum switch. It doesn't have the switch inline for the EGR though. I'm guessing it was removed. I heard that I don't need the EGR valve anyway and can just block it off with an aftermarket cover. Is this true?

 

Yes, you can do away with it. As long as it isn't required in your state for inspection reasons.

 

This diagram is confusing to me so just to clarify, this shows distributor vacuum advance to the top port on the vacuum switch, the middle line on the vacuum switch going to ported vacuum from the carb, with a thermal check and delay valve inline, and the lowest port has a tee'd line coming to it from the A/T modulator but where else does it go? is it going to manifold vacuum? Where does the EGR line connect? where does the line on the canister on the carb next to the choke go? mine already has a line running to another port on the carb.

 

Yes ported vacuum from carb is going to DTC & Check Valve then to middle port on the TVS. The vacuum break on the carb by the choke goes to the EGR control valve and on to the EGR. Then the top of the TVS goes to the distributor. And the bottom of the TVS is teed to go to the modulator valve on the trans and to the manifold between the carb and thermostat housing.

 

One last thing and then I'll stop bothering you. Thanks for all of the help, I really appreciate it. If I eliminate the EGR then I would just disconnect the vacuum line to the canister on the side of the carb? or would I have to hook that line to something else?

 

Simply plug the port by the choke on the carb with one of these

 

And you are quite welcome. Here is the block off plate

http://www.autopartsnetwork.com/olds...FXRp7AodVF8AEQ

 

Well that block off plate is for a 350, so I'm not 100% positive it would work for your 455. Maybe a little searching will find what you seek or make one yourself from something similar.

 

Hi Kleiner. Welcome to CO.

Just to give you another perspective, yes, you can definitely run the '74 455 without the EGR, but the engine will probably run a little bit lean.
It will run better with the EGR intact and working properly, but without all of the original parts, there's no point wasting your time and energy.

If you're not going to run it with the EGR, you might consider using a pre-EGR carb., which might be set up better for the application.
Also, note that you do not have to use a block-off plate if you don't want to - the EGR is closed when the vacuum is disconnected.

I had had the impression that all Olds had HEI in 1974, so it is possible that the points distributor you took out was not the original one from that engine anyway (see above point about not wasting time trying to get EGR to work if you don't have all the parts).
An aftermarket HEI should have advance curves that work "well enough" with most engines, but would probably benefit from tweaking for exactly what you've got.

(As an aside, for whatever it's worth, if your points "Burn out all the time," there's something wrong somewhere, like a bad condenser.)

No matter what you do, keep in mind that this is a low-compression engine, so there is a limit to what you can get out of it in its present form.

- Eric

 

Oh, another thing: Get yourself a copy of the Chassis Service Manual and the Fisher Body Manual.
You should have no problem finding proper paper copies on eBay, etc., but you can also download digital copies for free from WildAboutCars.

Reading in the CSM about how the EGR works should help you to decide what you want to do with it.

- Eric

 

I'll probably just leave it if it's not a part I can just buy to cover it up. I'm not exactly mechanically inclined enough to make one. Thanks again for all of your help!

 

Jason,

It looks like you have a bit of a charlie foxtrot there: '74 engine and a '77-ish carburetor. Sure it can all be made to work, but it's gonna take some learning and maybe the presence of a local car nut to guide you through some of it.

Have you driven this car since its recent 10-year hiatus as an automobile ?

 

Thanks Eric, and I did join wildaboutcars.com at the suggestion of allyolds68 earlier in the post. What a great resource! Also, I don't think the carb that's on my car is original either because the canister that's show in the pics is on the opposite side of the choke on mine. See earlier pics in my first post.

 

Yes, Joe. I drove it about a month ago but it's breaking up really bad (haven't timed it since installing the HEI) likely needs to be timed. The TH350 that was in it was slipping really bad and when I checked the fluid it didn't even read on the dipstick. I figured it needed a fluid and filter change from sitting but when I pulled the pan off the tranny there was about an inch of graphite in the pan! Right up to the filter! So I have the transmission out of it now getting a rebuild and while it's up on jack stands in my garage I figured I would try to put the vacuum lines on it since I noticed some missing and the vacuum switch with the three ports didn't have anything attached. Of course I thought that something should be attached to it and that's when I started asking questions on here after I found out about this forum.

 

Honestly, I just wanna get the car driveable again so I can take my kids to the drive in movies like my dad used to do with my sister and I when we were kids.

 

You drove a car that had been sitting for ten years without checking the oil?

- Eric

 

Probably not the smartest idea, I know. I checked the engine oil but didn't think to check the transmission.

 

Just a quick update. I have the TH350 rebuilt and back in the car. It's running good but breaks up a little and doesn't run well until it warms up. I'm thinking of taking it to BTR Performance to see what I can do with the engine. Anyone have any experience with BTR? Good, bad, different?

 

Wow. If i lived that close to BTR, i would've dropped my engine off there too instead of messing with the local idjits that screwed up mine.

 

BTR has a good reputation, and prices to match.

- Eric

 

Thanks for the info. BTR is 30mins from my house. Sounds like a worthy trip.