Ah yes, dash removal, I remember it well.
Good to see you back on it.

 

Aces, did you finish this or is it still WIP? I've been reading yours and Gary's thread in prep for my LS swap. Looking good

 

Still a work in progress........
My new house and social outings have absorbed most of my time this past year. I've finally found the time to finish it this summer.
Translation, buddy moved back to Chi-town from St Louis and put his foot in my *** to finish it. LoL

Welded up and sealed the old harness firewall hole,
I'm not **** about show quality presentation because I don't sit for $5 and $10 trophies to placate my ego at shows.
This car will be a driver, so I'm not terribly worried about the firewall just yet.
20130812_160701.jpg

Wire wheeled interior, painted, and now applying Peel and Seal.
I spent waaaaay more time on the floor boards looking great then the firewall.

1 roll has covered each floor pan up to the rear seat section sans middle.
So I believe 5-6 rolls total will be used for the whole interior, sans headliner.
20130816_152332.jpg

 

Coming along quite well. You just reminded me of something I'll need to do. I'll be pulling my old harness next week, so closing up the firewall hole has to be on the list....

 

Good luck with the dash removal......it's a real MF'r.
Someone posted a seriously awesome pictorial of where EVERY screw is and this dash sucks getting off.
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...html#post71525

Some really retarded screw locations that are not easy to get to.
I'm probably going to redo the black goober on the welded on replacement panel in front of my fuse block LOL

Thought I'd be happy just leaving it like that using DAP black silicone but it's urkin me.

 

Yeah you might as well do that now while you have easy access.

I have pulled a dash out of a parts car once before and it was a PITA. I'm going to get this done asap.

 

Remove the dash! I hope I never have to do it again. No fun at all. I still don't know how they did it from the factory on the line to keep it moving.

 

No windshield for starters.

 

You and me both......
Because some of these locations are really next to impossible to get to.
I don't believe that makes any difference......
Screw access is only from under or the front of the dash....

You gotta be inside the cabin to get to them.

 

Yep. You need need to use a technique my friend calls "rachet fingers"....lol Once you loosen the nut it will be too loose for a rachet, but almost impossible to reach

 

I used a flex shaft extension attached to my drill with hex attachments for most of my dash screws I couldn't
reach with my fingers after loosening. The biggest bitch of it was gettin a long enough hex socket on there to fit

 

I must say, I've never seen one of those. I'll have to add it to the tool box...

 

any updates? I'm working on a 72 Cutlass with a LQ4 6.0 swap with LS3 heads/intake and 4L60 trans...... The motor is in the car, wire harness has been modified to 4 wire setup that's hard wired to Power, Ground, Fuel Pump, and Accessory and is up and running..... wondering if you have any pointers on the wiring as I've never rewired a whole car by myself..... I bought an American Auto Wire Highway 22 Fuse Panel Kit but I'm not sure were to start and what needs to be tapped into the original wiring on the car(meaning which relays etc have to stay and what can go)

 

Sorry no updates, I haven't touched the car again in the past few months.
THe AAW Highway 22 kit is absolutely AWESOME.
I used that in rewiring my 78z Protouring car.
http://www.nastyz28.com/forum/showthread.php?t=162255

What I recommend doing first, is figuring out where you're mounting the panel.
Then it really doesn't matter which of the bundles you put in from there.
It's really your choice. If you want to.....start END to END on the car.

I think the trunk is easy.....so start with that.
Mainly I suggest that because there's a tray on the interior that the wires run through.

 

Just another waste of a nice classic muscle car! If you want an LS motor so much why don't you just buy a new Camaro.

 

Hey RC, I hope your just kidding. What are you the Gustapo de la Olds. Anyone who wants to keep their classic who gives a crap what state it's in. As long as it turns heads on the road. It will probably blow the pants off your & my ride so live & let live. Don't like it then don't build one.
Lookin forward to seein some more pic's Ace. I'm investigating at a 69' pickup to do a simmilar engine install for my next project.

 

Maybe like me he likes the looks of the Olds but wants something that's reliable, gets good mileage, can get parts easily, etc. Oh yeah, and I just liked building it, I might do another.
You know, you should appreciate Aces work. The more guys like us that ruin these cars, the more your "museum Piece" will be worth.
If you hate Aces build, you'll despise mine. At least Aces kept the interior fairly stock. The rear view mirror might be the only original thing on mine...and I might change that.
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-iii-swap.html

 

RC, I'm going to be blunt, this type of post is uncalled for and is not tolerated. If you do not like this type of mod then stay out of the NON-OLDS POWERED forum. There will be no further discussion of your personal attitude or opinion on this subject, period. This forum was created just for these projects.

 

Where is the High Five button??????

 

Agreed!

I suppose RC still uses bias-ply tires, too, since that is how GM designed his car.

 

B bb but I like bias ply tires...

 

Aces and or Garys68, Nice work on your projects. My 69 is almost done so I'm thinking ahead to the next project, it's going to be a 69-70 vert with an LQ4. My question is clearance with the truck intake? I would like to use the FAST LSX Truck intake but not sure if there is enough clearance. I've checked out the LS swap sites but didn't quite see anything. Any thoughts.

I've pretty much leaned toward keeping these cars original but you can't beat the reliability, gas mileage and HP potential with these engines. I would never cut up my 69 442 but a plane Jane Cutlass, I think is a good option.

Also FYI I got a peek at a suspension kit that will allow the fitting of a 2010-14 Camaro SS IRS into an GM A Body it looked pretty cool.

Slam1918, I would be more than happy to assist you with your LS swap PM me.

 

When I was measuring mine the hood clearance was going to be very tight, so I just opted for the LS1. Over at LS1 tech, there's a thread on smoothed truck intakes. By removing some of the junk on the truck intake, you get almost an extra inch of clearance.
Do you have a link to the Camaro suspension under A bodies?

 

Honestly I would rather see the LS in these cars then the sbc. The new Camaro is just ugly, so many problems style wise. For any GM die hards, I can see why these cars being cheaper and maybe nicer looking than a Chevelle would do this. That said, I will challenge anyone LS powered with close to stock suspension and brakes to a road race challenge against my SE Challenger. 40 years of suspension technology goes a long way. I like my Cutlass but it will always be an over powered living room couch, just like Olds designed it. No surprise a guy like oldcutlass would tell you to STFU, his car has a BBC, don't take it personally. I too love Olds and prefer to be different. The 5.3 LS is soft down low but very strong up top in stock form, IMHO. Just drove them in trucks, probably very impressive in lighter cars with simple bolt ons.

 

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...3560096-n.html

 

Please note, what's in my car has no bearing on me telling people not to crap on others cars or engine choices. Again, this forum has been set up to allow people to share information and showcase their rides to those that are interested. My advise to everyone is if you have no interest or conflicting viewpoints, just stay out of it, period. This is not open to debate or discussion.

I personally would not have an LS engine in my cars as I don't like the electronics involved. I'm an old school, keep it simple kind of guy. Hell this is the first GM engine that I've gotten away from points and installed an HEI. However I respect and admire the guys who put modern powertrains in theirs. Some of the engineering and fabrication shown in this forum to make them work is amazing. From a rodding stand point we can all learn something here.

 

Personally, I love the look of the Olds, the 5.3, and the ride of a living room couch.
My other cars are a lowered 68 corvette and a truck. The olds is the only car I cant feel driving over a penny.

 

I agree there is a lot work to do EFI swaps on these vehicles. Pretty sure the wiring is better quality than my 80's junk but is old enough that a 60's or 70's car will need wiring replaced anyways. I like how Dodge redid the Challenger to look like the original, inside and out. Women at her work were actually arguing whether it was an old one fixed up or new one. That is women though. Of course one guy gave her a hard time about it not being a Hemi. Guy obviously doesn't remember the awesome slant 6 or 318 2bbl that a lot of the original Challenger's came with.

 

Thanks guys, I'm hoping this coming month I'll actually set some time aside to get some progress.

 

Lets just say I'd take that bet in a heartbeat if there was $$$ on the table.

The Challenger SE weighs 3,834lbs.....
Whereas a stock 1970 Cutlass weighs ~3515lbs

Now take the giant heap of cast iron out of it and put in an LS powertrain that's lighter.
Even if that only shaved off 80lbs.....you're talking a huge disadvantage in weight
then there's the HP differences of various LS powertrains, mine will be 400hp+
So your 250hp/250tq V6 ......not gonna happen with that extra 400lbs+

Even if yours is the newer 305hp/268tq V6.....or 5.7L Hemi + few hundred lbs
I'd tell you that you won't win. My suspension is "Kinda stock"

 

Ram Air IV GTO vs Chevelle SS 454 LS6 - 1/4 mile Drag Race
Obviously the GTO isn't stock either......but it's the original powertrain.

 

Eric, you know when i get the wagon done you will love it

 

I hope you'll start a build thread on it.

 

Might be a while on that one, still having title issues and taking the Hurst and Rallye to Vegas with me i am thinking. But one day . Done thread hijacking now

 

glad i found this i was wonting 2 swap a 5.3 n2 my 70 vert this winter

 

Aces, what happened here?

 

what radiator and fans are you using and what transmission crossmember are you using

 

I'm going the same route except I'm using a LQ4 with and T56