Bill Howell

New to this forum but long time Cutlass fan. I have recently bought a very nice paint, original interior cutlass and am in the process of upgrading it with parts that fit my style of car these days. We have just completed the suspension, brakes wheels and tires portion of the restoration with DSE, Baer, Bonspeed and BFG. Now I have a analog Dakota Digital Dash, UMI motor mounts, Vintage Air, a SSTB LS2 sitting waiting to go in. I am trying to make my mind up on using the 4L70 that came with the motor or go ahead and go T-56 manual. Once I make that decision, PSI will furnish the engine harness and we will upgrade the drivetrain.
I love the cutlass out of all the a-bodies and can't wait to have a really nice cruiser that we can have ready for the season.

gearheads78

Sweet Supreme....get your flame suit on man. I'm sure a mod will get you moved to the Non olds power section in the mean time they will be sharpening thier pitch forks.

dc2x4drvr

LS motors are evil)

Bill Howell

LOL thanks for the warning. I at one time owned a 71 442, 455/4sp convert with air. Yes, one of 171 built in 71. Sold it though because it was too rare to modify and too boring to drive.

Macadoo

Uh oh, them there's fightin' words.
Nice looking supreme! Good luck with the upgrades.

dc2x4drvr

My '71 442 Remodal, photoshopped to lower it...started with completely original car.

Bill Howell

How do you like your tranny? as compared to a T-56? I live close to SST but just not seeing many reports on the tranny, good or bad.

dc2x4drvr

I love the 5 speed, it changed my whole driving experience over the Muncie, and it's practically a bolt in in any A Body.

oldcutlass

Welcome to the site, I moved your thread to the non-olds powered. Don't sweat the LS conversion as it seems to be a very viable swap in these ol girls. Review some of the threads, your not the first to accomplish these changes.

car_designer

Bill, the analog Dakota Digital gauges you have, are those the factory fit VHX series or are they for a custom installation?

Bill Howell

They are the VHX for the 72 cutlass. looks really easy to hook up especially with the LS computer setup.

A lot of progress made in the last couple weeks. I have decided and bought a ZF 6 speed. I have one in my charger and they are bullet proof. Tunnel has been cut out for clearance both for transmission and driveshaft. Vintage Air, RnD Radiator, quicktime bellhousing, UMI engine mounts, Kwik Performance A/C relocation bracket, psi harness, magnaflow exhaust, hooker exhaust manifolds, centerforce clutch parts, pedal and M/C and so many other parts delivered. I have the car at a friend's shop for new tunnel installation then I will be installing all these cool parts.

Bill Howell

I haven't posted in a while, but got the car running and finishing up all the little things. Here is a shot taken earlier this week. Car has turned out really nice with no real surprises during the build. I love the Vintage Air, it fit so nice and works as promised. Still need to get the LS2 fine tuned but is pretty strong as is, even with the 3.08 gear currently in the car. With the ZF6 speed, I should be able to run 160 mph...lol

oldcutlass

Nice pic.

cdrod

Bill:
Love the stance (and the pic). How much did you lower the ride height? Will you provide some details about your wheel & tire sizes? Thanks

Bill Howell

Sure. Bonspeed Icons 18x9 with 5" bs front 18x10 with 5.75bs on rear. 275 front tires 295 rear tires.
Stance comes from DSE front and rear suspension with JRI shocks and coilovers. I think they advertise two inch drop but my car may be just a tad bit lower, since I can adjust the coilover settings. No rubbing issues at all, though my plastic front inner fenders are old and have some holes rubbed from earlier in it's life. We drove the car 100 miles yesterday, two couples and no issues at all.