67 cutlass
hello,

my name is roy and i live in denton, texas about 30 miles north of dallas and an hour south of the oklahoma boarder. i bought a 67 cutlass supreme convertible about three years ago. the previous owner rebuilt the front end, rebuilt the engine 330. he also put in electronic ignition and replaced the roof and interior.

i pulled the jetfire and put in a 200r4 overdrive tranny and put a new torque converter with a 2200 rpm stall. also put in an edlebrock 550 cfm for which i'm thoroughly sorry. took out the rear end gears which were 3:08 and replaced with 3:42 which gave this car a lot more pep. however, i'm still not happy. the car is a street car that i drive to do groceries and the gym. i'd like to keep the highway power where it is at while increasing the bottom end. if you punch the gas at a dead stop, zero to 20 is nothing great and then 20 to fifty is nice. i'd like to keep the power band from 20 to 70 miles per hour but would like to increase power from zero to 20 miles per hour. in other words, i want to be an idiot kid again once in a while! lol

i am not a mechanic and will have the work done. i think that another cam, some heads and an intake maniforld will do the trick. i'd love suggestions on what i need and how much time it would take for someone with experience to change cam, heads and intake. thanks for suggestions
roymongelli@charter.net

 

Hi Roy, welcome to the site! The easiest way I know would be to drop in a 455, but since your 330 was recently rebuilt you probably don't want to do that. I suspect your on the right track with changing the cam, but your 330 heads already have a small combustion chamber. Depending on what kind of pistons were used, flat top or dished and how much, that would be the limiting factor for your compression ratio. Possibly a different intake and exhaust would help, but I'd also look at a different carb. That's my 2 cents but I have to say I've got a lot more experience with big blocks than small. I'm sure there are other guys on here that can provide more specifics as to what you might do.

On a side note... many years ago I went though a 1971 Cutlass and put in a 455 with slightly better cam, intake, and headers. It had 2.56 rear end gears and I drove it for about 100,000 miles. Then I found a 1970 442 project car and pulled the 455 out of the 1971 to put in the 1970. I found a 1968 350 at a swap meet for a good price to drop in the 1971, there was a performance shop decal on one valve cover but it had a smooth idle. For normal driving around and the once in a while heavy foot I found the 350 performed just as well as the 455 from 0 to 50. Then at 50 the force pushing me back in the seat began to ease up. With the 455 it continued to push me back in the seat well over the 80mph mark. Both engines had a TH400 and 2.56 rear behind them and that's what my experience was. So even though my first response was to drop in a big block I know the small blocks can be made to create power. You just need the right combination. Hopefully someone here will help you with that. John

 

Welcome to the site. Please post some pictures when you get the chance. Once we see the car we will be able to asses what your problem is.

Actually, I think John is on the right track. A performance intake, with some headers and a cam would do wonders for that car. Heads are a different story. As far as I know the stock 330 heads flow pretty well for SBO heads.

 

Welcome to the site Roy. Scan through the small block forum. There has been some recent discussion on the building the 330 you might find some usefull information. Some of the guys familiar with the 330 will chime in as well

 

Welcome to the site. Lots of good people here.

I'm in the same boat as you on the 330. Its a turd if you are used to any kind of real performance. You can make it make power but I think you will find it will be at the exspense of low end power. If you want to keep a small block I think you would be better off with building a 350 or 403. I will be building a big block 455 for mine.

If you are not in a hurry and want someone local to do the work I am working toward taking on some small to medium sized projects for people. I have a few things already in the pipe line though so it would be a while before I could get to it. You can see my build thread as a sample of my work.

 

I've heard there are some of the elusive "non-windowed mains" 403s in northern TX. The problem is tracking them down. They are a difficult beast to observe in the wild let alone captivity. I've been into Oldsmobiles for over 10 years and I have never seen one.

 

For what he wants the window block will be fine.

 

just figured out how to put a pic up.

 

the engine right now has only about 5,000 miles on it. it would kill me to drop a 455 in. on the other hand would love to have a 455 in this car. for the fun of it, if i had the work done, what kind of ball part are we talking about to buy an old 455 redoe everything and put in car???

I'm guessing that water pump, fuel pump and most other parts will attach no problem. also the car has factory air that is kick ***.

 

I would just have to see the car and we would have to talk in detail on what you want. I will be cheaper than I high end pro shop but will take me longer because this is nights and weekends between family and work. Also even a mild 455 is going to be hell on the 2004r unless its built to take it.

 

that is what i'm told. the tranny was built by pheonix transmission in weatherford. to rebuild the tranny for the 455 would cost about a thousand....already checked!

not really worried about the time issue. more concerned with what the best option is?? how much will it cost to build up the 330 verses starting with a 455? any saturday you have time, i'll drive the car down your way and you can take a look at it. thanks for your input!

 

Very cool car! Keep us posted.

 

The car looks great. The weekends this month are pretty much taken up with a Camaro project and getting my 66 ready to go to Goodguys Columbus OH in July. I may be able to talk with you mid July or so.

Also you might be happy enough with just a few changes to the 330. I want another couple 100 HP for my car but you might be happy enough with a cam ,mild head porting and headers to get you a few ponies.

I tend to get carried away with power sometimes and have to remember what one person thinks is fast I might think is a turd . Not to long ago I helped build a heavy street truck for a friend of mine. He wanted to be able to run a 6.99 on a best day after all sorted out. First pass down the track 6.7x and it sorted out down to the 6.3x range beating up on some fast race cars. I guess his goals were met

 

Hello Roy I have a 1967 cutlass with a 330 bone stock engine trany and originale carburator too and I know what made a bigg difference in the performance on mine. I know from the previous owners they put in an over sized cam and lifters in it when they rebuilt this engine it has maybe 500 miles on the motor now. I swapped out the Y set up exhaust system and had dual 2 inch. straight pipe all the way to the back bumper and the difference was great and inexpensive. When I went to get it done the shop that did it for me didnt really want to do that they said it wouldnt sound right but I was insisting on that and when all was said and done they were amazed at the sound it produced and now they recomend that setup for other oldss that come in to them. Oh and another thing i have a 2 speed trany with an electronic throttle position sensor ???? I dont know exactly how it works but if I burry my foot in it, it will put you in your seat. especialy if I am on the freeway the speed here is 70mph and if I stomp on the gas it will down shift to 1st and it will break loose the tires and launch.

 

Beautiful car Roy!

Given the fact that your 330 is fresh I would be inclined to stick with it for now. I think the exhaust work already mentioned would help a lot. Couple that with a small gear ratio change so you don't lose too much at the top and you will probably reach your goal. For the long term, you should think about what you want to do with this car. If you don't want to alter it too much maybe the 330 is the way to go... But there is no replacement for displacement and as stated by others the 455 is an excellant choice! The good news is you don't have to decide right now. You have all summer to enjoy your car with the top down!

 

Already shows he has 3.42 not going to do much better with gears.

 

Sorry for being a little OT but have to insert this comment to you Richard. Your car is really nice, it turned out very nice and I don't go too much for the touring look but it does your car right.

 

thanks Dan...several pics are posted at the end of my build thread.

I can be your official consultant when you are ready to order your 17/18" wheel combo

OK thread highjack off

 

Perhaps in the future, when finances allow it, I would consider it. Particularly if you can make my Cutlass look as good as your '66.

 

Cutlass??? I'm talking the 46

 

Oh man, that would be some serious money there! It is all stock suspension and steering underneath. Old kingpin front with "knee action" shocks. Although I do have a 9 inch in the garage that I plan to use some day at the rear.....that is a long way off. I saw on ebay someone selling a backing plate conversion for those cars to use some modern GM disc setups, can't remember what though. I would think a complete front clip would probably be the way to go instead of just converting the brakes to discs.