sicky olds

Alright, for those of you that are friends with me on FB, you already know about this car and a select few on here that i have talked to about it.


Hi my name is Tom and i am an Oldsmoholic, I have recently "acquired" a 1972 Vista Cruiser that is a 1 owner car, pretty much fully loaded, all original from what i can tell.

455 4 bbl with g heads and dual exhaust
A/C
Electric windows
bench, automatic
no third row seating though
green interior with green paint, white top and the wood grain.

Body is pretty solid with a couple of problem spots that SHOULD be easy to fix.

So here is my question.... Drivetrain. I want this car to be a complete restomod, engine, transmission, everything.

I am pretty much settled on a t-56 manual transmission with 3.73 gears i am thinking.

I already have a car with a 455 and one with a 350 that are olds and i am not, i repeat NOT putting an Olds in this one. So please refrain from your comments about putting a "chevy" motor in the car (which btw, the LS series motor is a GM motor not Chevy only...)

Let me know what you guys think of what i should put in it.

oldcutlass

I'll go with the Caddy.

sicky olds

Little bit more about what i plan with the car.

Black with black woodgrain, Thinking the raised OAI hood, and all the chrome will be Black chrome. Baby moon hubcaps that will also be black chrome with matching to the body paint steelies behind them.

Oldskeeper

I like the Caddy option for this project, man you can't save them all, sounds like a real dragon wagon.
Steve

sicky olds

It will be saved, just not in the way you guys would like . due to the prices of the motors though it might have a 455 for a while, and the other thing with it is i do not own the drivetrain that is currently in it.

lshlsh2

Caddy or go with a twin turbo cummins.

Of course with the cummins you would need to add a water injection system

Larry

Funkwagon455

Vista Cummin or Cummin Cruiser??? Sounds like a money shot if I've ever heard of one!! If you are considering diesel power, an LBZ Duramax could give the acceleration and save a considerable amount of weight.. Hood/ oil pan clearance are other major considerations. Pics would be great!

sicky olds

of the wagon you would like pictures of?

sicky olds

http://imageshack.us/g/1/10332381/

Here you go, I will have to find the other images i have for the interior of the car but this was us loading it.

Funkwagon455

Of course I'd like to see the wagon, if your sister/girlfriend/wife resembles Sophia Vergara you can include her in the photos as well!! But I would be satisfied with the car only. Sounds like a nice project. I would like to convert my '70 Cutlass 455 wagon to a Kiesler 5 speed as well. My wife did not enjoy the last car I converted to a manual though, and has expressed that she will not drive it if converted.

sicky olds

Just posted an album sir, will try to get the other pics tonight for you

OLD SKL 69

I would also go with the Caddy motor.

garys 68

There was a cummins conversion A body at a car show last week. The oil pan will fit ok, nut the turbo exits right where the AC box sits. Caution; the owner told me the electronics are really complicated compared to an LS motor swap.
LS motors make great power with boost (see link below), but I've read tuning efi with turbos can get complex.
http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/e...lock_for_3252/
I would go with the stock LSA if cost is no object.
An iron block 6.0 LQ9 or LY6 (VVT) could be done pretty cheaply and puts you at 400hp right out of the box. If you go this route avoid any with active fuel management. It seems it doesn't work well with a manual trans.

sicky olds

More pictures of the Vista here

http://imageshack.us/g/1/10337388/

Funkwagon455

The visible corrosion around the roof glass will be a huge challenge...and I have to wonder what is not seen. Your drivetrain plans for this car are already fairly extravagant, no matter which route you decide to go. I think the cost of the drivetrain added to the repairs to the body and interior will financially wear you out very quickly. (I know it would me) I don't want to crush your dream, but based on your plans, I think the smarter money would be on a cleaner example for a starting point. I'm sorry to be blunt, just being honest.

coppercutlass

Cummins 12v mechanical injection minimal electronics needed to make it work. Btw I can always use a 455 up here lol. I'm just saying .

sicky olds

It looks better in real life. And where would the fun be in scrapping this project to get another one? This project will take me years to complete and i am perfectly happy with that, but i really dont see it costing that much in body work and i was already planning on ripping out the whole interior and modding it as well.

sicky olds

I do have a spare 455 just laying around, bored 60 over awaiting a rebuild

coppercutlass

Was that the on in the 69.

sicky olds

yarp. the 69 has a bone stock 76 toro motor and the other 455 is in the Vista

Texas442

Maybe you should buy the car below and transfer the drive train & the complete front clip to your Vista cruiser. Heck it even has an after market Ram Air Hood:

http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/4094381333.html

m371961

I vote for the cummins bt, maybe even a 4 cyl. Older ones had no electronic control.
Be real cool hearing the turbo spool and blowing black smoke. If you do use a 6 from pre 03, read about the Cummins killer dowel pin and fix that before using.

garys 68

A lot of good stuff for $5500. If it checks out. No idea why an SD tune.

coppercutlass

I had a 94 12v cummins. 230k and I was yet to find out about that killer dowel. My cousin works for kenworth and he said not to worry about it so I didn't truck is gone and the kid I sold it to hasn't done squat to it but drive it. It is a simple enoug fix considering any 5.9 with over 180 k will have a leaking front cover. I belive all you do is drill the gear and screw a 0late to hold the dowel in from coming out.

sicky olds

So a couple things that scare me about this ad:

LSX "type" engine? 6.0 from a truck. WTF is an LSX "type" motor

What other "type" equipment does he have with this car?

Also, there is no hood lol.

Might be good for the price but it just screams watch out to me....

coppercutlass

The lsx is the greatest and latest ls series engine I didn't even know they where in production cars I thought the lsx blocks where sold over the counter. Im not the biggest ls buff but the 6.0 is a nice engine.

sicky olds

I know what an LSX motor is sir lol.

But if you read the ad he says LSX TYPE, meaning it is not an LSX motor but an older 6.0 LS series, or even LT series motor i am guessing. No they have not been put into stock cars as of yet.

coppercutlass

I didn't even catch that lol lsx type. Probably just a 6.0 ls then. It does appear to be an ls though just by the look of the intake.

Texas442

For some reason, he is selling the hood separately here:
http://victoriatx.craigslist.org/pts/4077660344.html

garys 68

Looking at the motor, almost certainly an LQ4 or LQ9. Selling the hood separately says to me there are problems with the car. Like I said " If it checks out". Guessing the hood, price, trans, SD tune, etc all adds up to something not checking out.
If it were local, I would look at it/

sicky olds

That is what i was saying, and the Transmission will be freshly rebuilt for that price? HMMMMMMM......

Hurst/Olds owner

I used to cruise around with a buddy of mine in the late 70s early 80s that had a Rally 350 car - I normally wouldn't do a frankenstein engine swap on the Vista Cruiser but I gravitated towards the Caddy motor - but only a 500 - maybe just maybe a 472 - nah! 500 cube ! Marc in Spokane Wa.

Allan R

Marc, you may not have realized but this thread is a year and a half old before your post.

sicky olds

I am still deciding on what motor to put in the car so all posts are welcome Alan . Finally got the car in my name so now i can start doing work

Allan R

Sounds good Tom. Hadn't seen anything about the project and thought it might have been done or scrapped....what combo is front in your mind now?

sicky olds

Thinking about a twin turbo LS motor. I have refused to touch the car as it wasnt legally in my name due to there being no title, I have a bonded title in my name now so it is officially in my name (I am second owner and the original owner has passed away, hense the big issue with title transfer). I will start a new thread when i get to being started on the car. Also thinking about seeing if someone had a roller that they would trade seeming this one is a well equipped all original drivetrain 455 VC. The other hard thing is also having 2 other project cars that are taking up my time and money lol.

sicky olds

Thought i would share with you guys on how the wagon looks when i had a short time with it before moving to vegas. Here is the base of my project.

Enjoy

sicky olds

So some big time decisions on this car happened and i will probably open a new thread as i have chenged my mind on the drivetrain once again. Since i now have an LS series car (06 GTO) i am more leaning towards a 455 fuel injection setup with a 6 speed manual for the drive train. ALSO i have found a better condition body so i will be swapping the bodies which means that this car is no longer going to be a 72 but a 71.