I am new to the forum and Olds. I have 67 Cutlass Conv. 330 ultra high compression Quadrajet w/ AC 2 speed trans. , all stock, 130 orig. miles, that belonged to my great uncle and sat for 7 years in the garage. This is my third classic that I have rehabilitated but it doesn't have the same umph as the 350 2bl Skylark or 318 2bl Fury so I am puzzled.

New points, then converted to electronic ignition, new air filter, new wire from the coil, voltage test is good to the coil, new coil, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, vac. advance new, new brake booster, rebuilt carb, adjusted the choke to specs., some new vacuum lines, vacuum is good, PCV not clogged, timed to spec, Compression test good on all cylinders, new fuel pump, new fuel filter. It runs fine. Idle could be a hair smoother. I just expected that the 330 4 bl would at least jerk me back in the seat around town like the 350 or 318. The 350 is like a horse chomping at the bit. 350 also gets better mileage.

Any ideas? Or is the 330 quad just sluggish?

I'm not trying to hot rod, just get it as good as can be stock.

 

What do define as good for a compression test? Remember the 2 speed has terrible gearing and maybe the switch pitch converter is stuck in low stall mode. What ratio is in the rear end?

 

I have no idea about the rear end. I don't know much about transmissions. Compression is 180

 

what is low stall mode?

 

The 2 speed will not have spectacular acceleration in low gear until 40-50mph.
The car probably has 3.08 or 3.23 gears & a 1.76:1 low gear so not much torque multiplication there.
How does it feel from a roll as you go to full throttle?

 

Ok so maybe it is the two speed? The 318 and 350 have 3 speeds.

I'm not sure what you mean from a roll. Do you mean coasting then stomping on it?

 

The transmission is probaby the 2 speed Jetaway ST-300. We call it the Junkaway, because even in perfect working condition, its pathetic. I just finished rebuilding a TH350 with mild stall converter, shift kit, performance clutches. Cant wait to get it swapped out.

 

The 2 speed Jetaway transmission also has a switch pitch (variable vane) torque convertor. There is a switch mounted as part of the throttle linkage on the firewall that has 3 wires on it. The stator blades move from high to low position by an electrical solenoid and a stator valve, controlled by the switch on the throttle linkage. At light to medium throttle, the stator blades were at 32°, providing a torque multiplication of 1.8:1 and a converter stall speed of approximately 1800 rpm. At ⅔ to full throttle, the blades switched to the 51° high position, giving torque multiplication of 2.45:1 and a stall speed of approximately 2300 rpm. The blades were also set to the high position at idle to limit creep when stopped in Drive.

 

Yes, I was asking if the car feels decent from a 40-50mph roll, instead of a dead stop when you try accelerate.
If the car downshifts to first when you hit full throttle you will have a better indicator of the performance, instead of trying to move the car from a dead stop.
That trans gear ratio is basically like pulling out in second with a typical 3 speed trans.

 

I thank you for your replies. This may be more towards Lonnie and Eric's comments.

When I stomp on it at 30 to 40 or so it downshifts and roars down the road. The response is good but not as fierce as my Buick 350 2bl, 3 speed. I expected a quadrajet on a similar sized motor to pull the reins from my hand in similar fashion to the Buick.

I have been puzzled by the electrical switch on the throttle linkage. Is there any need to open the manual and calibrate that switch or does it sound like the transmission is working properly?

I have noticed that when I disconnect the throttle linkage from the carb it mounts with what is maybe too much forward force/pressure. I have to push it back towards the firewall to line it up to reconnect to the carb-throttle. I see that there are threads allowing me to shorten the forward throw of the throttle linkage bar extending to the carb and that there is a slight bend in that bar that maybe shouldn't be there.

Also when I adjust the mix screws, as a second phase I have to put it in drive for a second and richen the mixture slightly to stop the car from shaking in D or R.

 

The idle a/f screws need to be adjusted using either a vacuum gauge or a tach. You adjust for the highest vacuum or rpm while keeping the 2 screws as evenly turned out from the stop as possible. Also if the dwell and timing is not set right the engine will run and perform like crap.

 

The rod should have a kink in it like in the photo below, probably to clear the bottom of the air cleaner. The rod length is adjustable so you can adjust it to make sure you can get WOT position. The kickdown mechanism is also spring-loaded to force the carburetor closed when you take your foot off the throttle pedal.

 

My 330 was straight, the manifold picture above is not for a 67.

 

No, the manifold and carb are not 67. Everything else is.

 

I thank you all for your responses. I switched to an under the cap electronic ignition conversion a few months ago. Seems to run the same as when I had the points and dwell set to spec. I have it timed at spec at 7.5 degrees also. I've adjusted my throttle linkage in similar fashion to Eric's. The car seems to be running right. I should double check the mixture by vacuum as Eric described. I've concluded that it is the 2 speed transmission that is the reason I'm underwhelmed with performance.

Since you all seem to know these cars. I've got another issue: At over 70 mph on the freeway the passenger side front end starts to vibrate and I get a bouncing steering wheel. At 70 it's not bad but at 80 etc. accelerating I really feel and see it. This happened with the old skinny 14" rims and tires and the new 15" rims and tires. I just had the front wheels rebalanced today and it appears to be the same condition.

Shocks are new, front end has new control arm bushings, idler arm, ball joints and alignment in the last 6 months. Condition was similar prior to the front end work and alignment. [Note the front end work I didn't do myself and have never done that type of work myself other than shocks. I'm also not that confident in the shop that did the work because the shims they used on the control arm were body shims with fingers that were loose and I had to direct the finger out of the way of the control arm and tighten the control arm myself. This is after another shop attempted the job, lost my original shims and returned the car to me "aligned" but pulling all over the place].

This is a convertible, and I have been told that convertibles tend to vibrate more. But the shaking and bouncing seems excessive.

Any thoughts?

 

Take it back and ask them to do a road force tire balance. Also check for wheel runout for a bent wheel.

 

You can also try rotating the tires front to rear and see if the vibration moves to the rear. It may make your car less exciting to drive until you can get the problem fixed. But get it fixed!

 

Check the timing chain for stretch causing late valve timing and to prevent a failure of the nylon teeth on the camshaft gear. Also confirm that the harmonic balancer hasn't slipped causing the ignition timing reference point to be inaccurate.

Good luck!!!

 

I fixed the vibrations I was posting about a few months back in part by replacing what I found to be an out of round drum on the passenger side. I also replaced the driver side drum for good measure and because it had a groove in it. Well, the driver side drum fit real snug even with the star wheel compressed all the way. It seemed to drive fine for a while. Then I smelled brakes on a recent 20 mile highway drive. Now I've got a smelly hot to the touch driver side rim, drum etc. And I notice a clunking sound coming from the same area, particularly when I turn to the right. I don't have time to pull the drum for a few days. I plan to find another replacement drum that is not so tight or take it to the machine shop to turn it. Any ideas what that clunking sound is going to be? Did I cook the bearing? Did something warp with all that heat?

 

Take it apart and inspect the brakes and wheel bearings. You should be able to turn the adjuster all the way in and clear the shoes. You can swap the adjuster to the opposite side and see if you have the same result. You can also file down the adjuster barrel for some additional clearance instead of cutting a drum.

 

Did you pack the bearings? It is a simple thing and no offense intended, but I have spoken with people as they leave the parts store with new wheel bearings about that exact thing that didnt know what it meant or why to do it.

 

Also over tightening the bearings can cause them to run hot.

 

Thank you for the responses. Well I figured it out yesterday in the hot sun. It turns out the drums that they sold me, have holes that are slightly smaller than the original drum, which I didn't notice. The flared teeth that are at the base of the threads studs for the lugs, instead of sort of biting through the drum hole as they do on the original, they prevented the drum from seating properly. What I had was slightly loose drums and wheels. The unnoticeable wobble bored out the opening in the housing for these studs about another 16th or 8th inch in diameter!!! And flared teeth at the base of the studs made lumps at the opening on the drum from being torqued on and not popping through the hole! In short, a disaster!

I'd need to get new housings for both sides at this point, drums etc.! And the other drums the parts store (that services the local mechanics) gave me have the same problem with the hole! So I now have an excuse to switch it all over to disc in the front.

This 67 is giving me many more headaches than my 70 or 72 American cars. I think they made some leaps in those few years.

 

The splined studs need to be drawn into the drum to make the front hub and drum an assy. They are no different than the later models with drum brakes up front.

 

Eric, thank for the correction on my vocabulary. "Splined studs" were the issue. I didn't recall having splined studs on the front drums on my 70' Fury but it has been a while.

On another note, do you have an opinion on putting aftermarket tubular UMI control arms on the rear of the 67 Cutlass rather than replacing the bushings and using the existing control arms. I'd like to firm this boat up but is it going to be too stiff of a ride for this cruiser?

 

I've never used any UMI products, but from what I understand they make a quality product.

 

I have been offline for a while. If anyone cares to know, the UMI rear upper and rear lower rear control arms have increased the pleasure of driving the 67' Cutlass. It's not a stiff ride as I feared. It holds straight and in control, more predictable arc through turns, and no boating around on the freeway.

 

Sluggish 330 issue resolved! Loving the performance of this 2-speed Jetaway Transmission now!!! I have attempted to attach the image from the repair manual for 1967 on the Carb Rod Adjustment (length) and the Throttle Switch Adjustment (resetting it). If it is not attached herein I have it amongst my profile pictures. The car never performed right until I made this adjustment yesterday that required hooking up a test light, in line, on the black wire leading to the tranny coming from the round switch that is incorporated into the accelerator linkage. I had played with the length of the carb rod before and obtained various levels of performance which included the tranny kicking down but it was sluggish off the line and acceleration wasn't consistent in feeling like the even pull of a V8 throughout degrees of pressure on the gas pedal. Now it feels like a horse chomping at the reigns consistently throughout acceleration from start to WOT. And WOT is more robust. It is like the Tranny and the carb are in perfect sync now! The images on the repair manual were unclear as to where to put the test light so I had to fiddle a bit. IT IS A MUST THAT ANYBODY WITH A 330 AND A 2-SPEED do this calibration!! Note, the key needs to be on while doing this calibration. [I disconnected the current to the coil during the process as a precaution] I thank you all for your input.

 

Glad you got it figured out. BTW, I installed UMI tubular upper and lower control arms, their rear sway bar, and a set of KYB Gas Adjust shocks over the winter. It is night and day over the old worn out stock stuff.

 

The UMI control arms you mention are for the rear?

 

Yes,

 

OK, yeah, the rear UMI control arms for my 67 have been great. Rear sway bar is next. If you have the part number on your UMI rear sway bar handy let me know.
What is the status of your rear springs?

 

I used the black UMI 4034B sway bar comes with bolts. I have Moog cargo coil stationwagon springs in the back of mine its lifted a few inches.