Justin Smith

Hey everyone i have a pretty much stock 71 Cutlass S in saturn Gold with the rocket 350, i bought the car to fix up for my dad, he had one for his first car.

i wanna make is pretty user friendly, so i wanna put a sniper efi on it for drivability and not knowing alot about carbs. He doesnt either, i wanna make it a lil peppy as its primarily gonna be a cruise and maybe amoke the tires every now and then.

ive been researching and seeing a edelbrock manifold would be better for airflow/distribution for an efi system.
ive seen the performer and the rpm performer and have a chance to get an rpm for next to nothing or the 400 for the regular.
The car already has headers and exhaust stock cam and heads, we might put a pasic cam thats matched with the manifold from edelbrock. I dont really have a hp goal i just want it to be quick in the seat of the pants lol

oldcutlass

Welcome to the site, you can't get much simpler than a carburetor.

OLDSter Ralph

Welcome. "a lil peppy", and "I just want it to be quick in the seat of the pants". These are subjective terms, what are you comparing it to ?
What carburetor do you have now ? 2 barrel ? 4 barrel ? What brand carburetor ? Carburetors worked well for many years.
What differential ratio do you have ? 2.56? 2.78 ? Or ?????? This will have a huge impact on perceived "seat of the pants".

Justin Smith

Sorry i dont wanna come out saying i want big power and want unachievable numbers with a low budget
i just want it to be fun for my dad to drive, ive had bad experiences with carbs in the past(jeep cj).
So this will be more resto mod than resto.


Its got the factory 4 bl carb and its like driving a boat, give it gas and it goes but feels slow, its not the forced induction 4cyl im use to, i get that, i just want a fun lil car

OLDSter Ralph

I hope I don't sound harsh, but these are things that need to be considered.
#1, I wouldn't own a Jeep. I have no idea what problems you had with the carb or what brand it was.
#2, "fun for my dad to drive" is still subjective and vague.
#3, You still haven't mentioned differential ratio. With a 2.56 rear end ratio, there isn't a lot you can do to substantially increase acceleration.
#4, the Cutlass weighs in excess of 3,800 pounds and the suspension probably needs freshening up. I would also suspect that the engine isn't tuned up properly either.
#5, whats a forced induction 4 cyl ? What does it weigh ? How many adults can to get in it ?
$6, YOU "want a fun lil car". You have to decide whether the car is for you or for your Dad.

Justin Smith

You have valid questions and im sorry im not answering in a manor that’s acceptable.

he had an 80’jeep cj7 and i dont know about what carb he had but he kept having to have it worked on and replaced.....” i dont wanna deal with all that, i wanna turn it on and go” so with him saying that i researched efi

rear end gears, where do i find the info to find out what it has? Door plate? Or

”i like this car but what can we do to make it a lil faster/more responsive? I dont wanna make it to crazy witha loping cam? Maybe headers and intake? Maybe an rv cam or rpm cam?” Based off that info i come here to learn

i realize its a heavy car, and will need work, he wants to drive it around and enjoy it before it gets deep in it.

This is a car for him, but since he doesnt know anything about cars im trying to get it close to what he wants with his vague words of what hes looking for.
And trying to get interested in this to bond with him


i realize eveyones got a different opinion and style as to what they want.


im new and dont wanna throw money and parts at stuff i dont need, so i come asking questions to see what works for everyone here

stick with an intake and headers?
add a cam? Dont
Change the rear end

maybe just a starting point

JohnnyBs68S

Welcome! Sounds like a nice project for your dad. Keep in mind that the '71 4-bbl GM engines had lower compression ratio (9:1?) than their earlier versions up to '70. IIRC, Edlebrocks "top end kit" for the SBO (Performer RPM, cam & lifters) assumes you are running ~10:1 like the earlier engines, so their recommended cam may not work its best in your engine unless you bump up the compression ratio via non-dished pistons. That may be more work than you were anticipating. The other option is to use a cam grind that works better w/ the lower compression ratio. The Performer RPM intake is probably still a good upgrade, but would still be stifled by the stock exhaust manifolds, so you'll probably want to go to headers to take advantage of it. I've heard that the basic Performer manifold isn't much better than the stock iron 4-bbl intake other than weight savings, so I'm not sure I'd waste time with that. As OLDSter Ralph is hinting at, you may want to make sure your engine in its current state is tuned up to its full potential before diving into engine mods, and a rear gear change may be a better, more direct route to feeling a seat-of-the pants improvement. IOW, unless you are sure the engine needs some internal work, tweak what you have and if that's not peppy enough, consider a gear swap. These cars ran high 15s stock, which isn't a slouch. But if you are looking to have something that runs in the 13s, you'll need a different rear gear (unless its already in the mid 3.xx or higher) and either more compression or more cubes.

Assuming your rear axle is original, there is a 2-character code on the passenger side axle tube that, once decoded, will tell you what the ratio is. The other option is to raise the rear tires off the ground, turn the driveshaft 10.0 turns and count how many rotations you get from the tires.

Justin Smith

Thanks Johnny that was really helpful, ill look and see what gears are in it

oldcutlass

Comparing an 80's Jeep carb (I'm very familiar with them) to a pre emissions carb is apples to oranges. The early carbs on these cars are simple, Jeep Sole-vac carbs and associated ignition, combined with the miles of vacuum tubing were a troubleshooting nightmare with no supporting factory docs. Most of us stripped it off and installed weber carbs and standard distributors.

Adding headers (optional) and dual exhaust will add some power. I bet tuning what you have will probably perk it up also. As far as riding like a boat, in stock form a Cutlass was not a performance car and was designed for a smooth floaty ride. Your going to have to change a few things to get it ride firmer and handle better.

OLDSter Ralph

A. I am answering in a style to minimize confusion and to condense my answers.
B. The Quadrajet carburetor was used for many, many years and performed perfectly. GM manufactured millions, and millions, and millions of cars with a carburetor, including the computer controlled models. EFI came about because of emission standards and mileage regulations. A Quadrajet carburetor can be rebuilt and run trouble free for years. Converting to EFI is not as simple as you might think, and I think you'll figure that out when you look.
C. Changing differential gears could be the biggest bang for the buck, depending on what you have now. As Johnny told you, passenger side axle tube, rear side will give you a two letter code. You may have to sand or scotchbrite to see it.
D. Camshafts are an area to consider in the future, but a "lopey cam" won't make it go faster, it may actually go slower. You would need a different torque convertor and differential gears to make a "lopey cam" work. An "RV cam" is a joke for your application, save your money. An "RV cam" could be less than the stock camshaft.
E. You have headers on the car now ? If you do, use them. I thought in Post #1 you said you had headers.
F. Intake manifolds. Performer will gain some, RPM also. With 2.56 or 2.78 gears, it will have a minimal effect.
G. Putting EFI on a poorly tuned car will show up as a waste of money because it doesn't run any better. You need to do the basics, as Johnny said. Then you can start making changes. Do you know how to set the timing ? Do you know how to set the dwell on the points ? Do you know howto change spark plugs and gap them ?
H. Not knowing anything about cars is a handicap. Learning is most certainly possible.

OLDSter Ralph

From Post #1

Cutlass Fan

The first thing I would do ( other than stop saying "wanna" instead of "want to",lol) is to recurve the distributor. I don't remember exactly how much total advance you want at what rpm, but I'm sure others will chime in with recommendations. I did this on a 72 350 and it really improved the response and power.

Justin Smith

Thanks guys, so I crawled under and it's R2 so 2.56 gears. So I'm guessing that's the problem area so I'm going to look at re gearing the rear end, I'm guessing somewhere in the 3.xx range?


For the distributor it's an Hei distributor, I have a friend coming over to show me how to check timing and give me a lesson on manually setting timing.

I was mistaken, it doesn't have headers, , it does have dual flow master exhaust, not sure on brand the previous owner did it.

OLDSter Ralph

Be sure you get a limited slip differential for two wheel spin.