My GF and I just picked up a cream puff 72 Cutlass S a couple weeks ago. The DMV dropped the ball and says it's gonna be 2 months before we see plates for it, so I'm gonna take the opportunity to wake up the 2V 350. I've got an old school edelbrock intake coming and it'll be topped with a Q-Jet. Would anyone care to recommend a cam grind? She will be the primary driver, and this is the first carbureted vehicle she'd ever driven, so it's gotta be very user friendly. She says she wants it to sound good ( she likes the lumpy idle) but the power brakes still gotta work. I've got a couple HEI's layin around and it's got 3.08's. Just need it to run good enough to dust off the pesky tuner cars around here until i can get the 455 built. thanks in advance! Chad

 

Check with all the OLDS venders here. They can answer all your questions. Also check with "CutlassEFI" he can be a big help.

Why does it take 2 months to get plates? Are all the prisoners on strike?

Gene

 

Why does it take 2 months to get plates? Are all the prisoners on strike?

I don't think prisoners make license plates anymore. It probably violated their civil rights.

 

Thanks Gene.

nofiveo- you'll have to be careful here, you have maybe 8.5:1, maybe, and a tall gear. If you try to get a lot of "lump" it'll be a pig and not very fun to drive.

I'd probably do a small single pattern on a tight lobe sep i.e. 214/214 on a 108. Should give you good torque and a little lump. Let me know.

Good luck on your build.

Thanks
Mark

 

Thanks for the reply's everyone.

When we took the title to the DMV to get plates, they said something about the VIN not matching anything in their system. When that happens, they have to send it to Madison so one of their monkeys can go into North Carolina's records, find the car,then go into Whiz-consins system and manually over ride everything. In years past, it wouldn't take so long, but with our state gov't doing it's cutbacks they are down to just 5 people that deal with these types of situations. Meanwhile, I got a Cutlass sitting in my gargage that I can't drive.

 

Keep in mind those were quite low on compression. By my calculation, if the head gaskets were not replaced he is looking at 8.25 to 1 +/-. There is only so much you can do with that in a heavy car. I would be very conservative, or just tune what you have until the BBO goes in.

 

Not trying to hijack here....The DMV can be really funny around here with tagging a vehicle. I was going to put tags on mine and get hobbyist plates. The gal wouldn't let me do anything at the DMV. With Hobbyist & Collector plates, you have to send your title into Madison with pictures of the car. They are really starting to mess with people around here with the specialized plates & custom cars. Wisconsin hot rod radio has plenty of info on this (if you push the name together it should be a website). Anyway, she wouldn't even let me just title the car to get it back into my name. I'd be damned if I was going to send in a title without my name typed on it anywhere. So, I titled my Corvette there and went to another DMV to get the Olds titled. I am just going with regular plates for now. Good luck with your new purchase!!!

 

Try checking the factory cam spec's for a '72 4bbl 4-speed Cutlass. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!. A little known fact. I'm doing that exact combo. now with a Performer intake, Hooker Comp. headers, a decent HEI, and a mildly teaked Q-Jet. It's kinda like an Old School Day Two. I put a 3:91 Anti-Spin 12bolt "O"with W27 rear, rebuilt M20, mint old style Cragar SS and Goodyear belted RWL, together on a frame-off. It's about 3/4 finished, Sequoia Green, Gold stripes, Saddle (Legendary) buckets, NO console, factory rallye-pac, OAI hood. Until next time..... Dave.

 

8.0:1 is pretty depressing... I think it'll get the HEI and a 4BBl with some duals and call it a driver. No point in throwing good money at this motor when I can dump it in a 455 down the road. Thanks for the input!

Tinner, we weren't even trying to get the hobbiest plates for it, just regular ones so we can drive the freakin' thing before the snowballs come!

 

Youre pretty much wasting your time just "sliding" another cam in that otherwise stock 8.5 motor, especially with 3.08 geats. All that you will accomplish is to reduce your fuel ecomony *gas mileage) even further than what it is. The addition of a good intake with a good set-up Q-jet will improve the performance and may even IMPROVE the gas mileage! The only thing a very mild aftermarket cam may do for you is to provide a little "noise candy" for you but do next to nothing for the performance. Besides those "lumpy" cams normally REDUCE low end power and put it on the top where you rarely ever need it!! Not to even mention how your stock converter may work with the aftermarket cam! Go with the Edelbrock, Q-jet, and HEI and you will have a great driver!
The next cheapest and easiest performance gain you can make on the car would be to change the rearend to lower ratio such as a 3.42 posi! Then you will get some performance but it will also REDUCE your gas mileage!!

 

Not true. Just an fyi, you can do a couple things to cam that will still provide good low end torque, decent mileage and even give you a little tone, i.e. increasing the exhaust lobe while keeping the intake lobe small. Also tightening the lobe sep will give it some tone while bringing the power in sooner, just what you need with a 3.08 gear and low compression.

 

Sorry if i "offended" you Cutlassefi -- What you say is totally true! I think you missed my whole point?? That being --- all of the time, trouble, and money spent on installing a cam such as what you suggest, is (in my opinion) absolutely not worth it from a performance standpoint for a stock 8.5 motor - unless the owner REALLY desires the "noise candy"!! Thats all i meant!! AND its just my opinion! If this guy (or one like him) comes to my shop and asks me the same question -- I will give him the exact same answer as above --- even IF I HAVE THE CHANCE TO DO THE JOB FOR HIM!! Besides I'[ve been there -done that -- and can tell you first-hand -- the difference just isnt worth the expense -- UNLESS you're rebuilding the whole engine and have it all apart, or maybe even removing the heads for a fresh valve job -- THEN its worth the price of a new cam to select a grind that will suit your needs!! Again, my comment was directed at the guy that has an 72 car with a stock 350 motor and all he is interested in doing is picking up the performance a little but wants some "noise candy" too! Again I would tell him again in my shop it wouldnt be worth the expense if thats all he wants. Now maybe I could "suggest" to him that he have a valve job or even a rebuild? Then that would be a whole different story and we would then be discussing a cam similar to what you mention! MOO
TV

 

I did a similar swap on our 71 Skylark when it had a 350 SBB. Put in a 205/215 on a 110, new chain, recurved HEI, cast 4 bbl intake and Q-jet. Total cost probably $400, I already had a carb. Noticeable difference, sounded good. Good chance to upgrade maintenance items like fuel pump, belts and hoses, etc. The question is; is it worth the time and expense? IMO, yes, unless the 455 swap is very close to happening.

 

No offense taken. It's just that you made a statement that in my experience was only partially true. Not all cams will sacrifice low end performance, even with low compression and a tall gear, just an incorrect one.
I agree with you to some point but also with Captjim. It depends on his budget, desires, and time frame. If it's going to be awhile before the 455 swap then maybe it's worth it to him. If it's around the corner then maybe not. But all we can do is offer suggestions and the facts. He has to take it from there.

Jmo.

 

i would go with a towing cam if you plug the numbers on a compression calculator on the high side with 64cc heads and 23cc dish and being .025 in the hole with a stock bore and stroke you are under 8.5., and thats with a shim gasket if you go with a .038 gasket you are at 8 to 1 compressiopn now those 72 7a heads have more than 64 cc's closer to 68 cc's you are looking on some low compression you're choices are limited but you could make this motor much more responsive than stock . also the deck heigth at .025 thats from my build used as reference. Stock deck height with stock flat tops gave me .025. I had a 73 350 with a towing cam comp cams 260h, 72 heads close to 9 to 1 compression, headers, edelbrock intake, edelbrock carb with a 3.42 ran a 13.99 in my 72 cutlass which aint too bad. i have to agree with chesrown 67 oai i would atleast freshen up the motor no point in throwing new parts on a worn motor even if it has low miles i built the motor stated abouve with 1200 bucks carb to oil pan and i did some bartering and did use some used parts such as headers intake etc. and it was a nice motor ran 13's and i could drive it anywhere ., now if you say you are getting a 455 soon i would hold out until you got the 455

 

The 455 is a ways off.. I've got a 68 F block with "C" heads and another out of a 70 Toro GT sitting in the garage waiting to be built. Gotta scrape together some funds before that can happen. Like i said, she wants it to sound healthy and I"ll be happy if it paints decent stripes on the pavement for now. Will the above mentioned cams work with the stock valve train? I'd be more apt to swap the cam if I can do it without dropping excessive funds that could be spent on the 455. thanks again for all the input.

 

Anybody had any experience with falcon performance on Fleabay? I see they list an RV cam and lifters for $120. The specs are .449/.473 204/214@.50 with 112 deg centerline. Kinds sounds like what you guys are describing and for that money I'd probably do it.

 

That's generic one, all those are the same, 204/214, 214/224 and so on.

It'll be lazy, you need one with less exhaust and on a tighter lobe sep because of your gear and low compression. They're cheap because they're a compromise.

 

cutlassefi, I see you do custom cams, PM me with a price if you like for what I need. I'd like to do this right the first time since it'll buy me more time for the 455. thanks Chad

 

This may sound really dumb, but have you checked your oil level. I just had a similar experience with an LS2 engine that was brand new and built by one of the "experts" in the nation. One day I started hearing what sounded like an exhaust leak, or maybe a lifter. I could have sworn it was an exhaust leak. When I got home I checked the headers and there seemed to be no leak. Next day started the car everything was fine, after about 10 minutes of driving on the highway I started hearing the ticking noise again, I could have sworn it was an exhaust leak, or again maybe a lifter. When you stopped at a light noise would go away. Long story short, this new 3000 mile engine, that had the break in oil changed per manufacturers recommendation at 1000 miles, and had been running for only 2000 miles on 6 new quarts of the best synthetic oil, had digested 3 quarts of oil. What sounded like an exhaust leak was the lifters loosing pressure after the oil warmed up. I would have never thought that an engine that does not leak or smoke could go through 3 quarts of oil in 2000 miles...

You may have an issue with the oil pan and the pickup, pickup too far from the bottom. From your description it sounds oddly similar to what I had going on. Like you are loosing pressure to the lifters and they start ticking...

 

I think you responded to the wrong post. This one is from 2011 and has nothing to do with oil pressure. ???