slickdriver

I have a 1984 Custom Cruiser wagon. 150HP . Would like to get more power out of it without having to rebuild or do a swap out. I would like to put dual exhaust system, including headers on it. Anyone have recommendations on header matches and brands for this engine? This car does not breath at all well and has trouble at highway speeds above 55 mph. Also want to rebuild the carb. and look into removing the air pump and associated vacuum/air lines for the A.I.R. system.
Any suggestions out there?

Fred Kiehl

Headman shorty headers worked well on my 91 OCC. They should fit your car as well. You must install a bung for the O2 sensor in the left header. I would also use a short pipe and elbow to reposition your oil pressure sender to point directly to the rear of the car.


You must make a hump in the driver's side of the trans crossmember for the pipe. You can get the passenger's side hanger for the rear crossmember from the right side, and it will bolt on to the holes that are already there (if the chassis is the same as the 91). If you are going to use cats, you need a heat shield on the driver's side, because there is none. You also need the rear hangers for the pipe, and they can be salvaged from a right side at the same time as the other pipe hanger. The pipe may need a custom hanger at the rear of the trans.


A patch cable/wire may be necessary for the O2 sensor.


The AIR system can be deleted without any penalties. If you are putting headers on it, the system will have no place to attach to anyway. If you have a serpentine belt, it must be rerouted, and the belt size will be different.


Serpentine belt instructions:
Its very simple really, the wholetrick lies in the belt routing. The stock setup in a clockwisemanner: Tensioner, over the alternator, down to the power steeringpump, under the crank, under and over the water pump, back to the accompressor. The problem in just removing the pump with this beltrouting is that the tensioner will interfere with the belt coming offof the water pump to the AC compressor.


To remedy the situation a differentbelt routing is necessary. Clockwise instead of having the beltcoming off of the power steering pump going to the bottom of thecrank, have it come up over the top of the water pump, back under thewater pump then around the crank and off the bottom of the crank tothe AC compressor. All of your accessories will turn as they did, andyou will be able to remove the pollution pump.


You will however need a longer belt,I used Dayco 965K6 belt. It is basically a 96.5" 6 rib belt. Allparts stores stock just about every length of belt in every width.They should be able to find it using these numbers. If you have anunder drive pulley you will need Dayco pn# 935K6 which is actuallyshorter than the stock belt by one inch.

Olds64

Fred, the engine in your 91 OCC is a Chevy 305 while the OP has an Olds 307 in his OCC. The 307 didn't use a serpentine belt.

FWIW, here is a good thread on potential upgrades to an Olds 307:

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-upgrades.html

Ultimately, it might be a loosing battle. The 307s were anemic motors from the start.

Professur

My '81 307 had the exhaust pipe separate right after the cat. If there was any gain from the open exhaust, I never noticed it.

I got bit on this, so I always ask ... when's the last time you changed your fuel filter? After changing mine, my CC is still pulling strong as she rolls past 70.

Fred Kiehl

I prefaced my writing on the serpentine belt with an "if". I do not know when they started using the serpentine belt, but thought I would cover that base.


He may be able to get an airpump delete pulley, if it uses the belt for more than one function.

Olds64

No harm meant. I know the air pump is on the passenger's side of the engine under the AC compressor. I don't know if it uses the same belt as the AC compressor or not. I had a 1990 Buick Estate wagon with a 307 that was the same car as a 1984 OCC.

The OP would have to get an older style Q-jet carburetor or an aftermarket carburetor because a 1984 OCC uses a CCC Q-jet with an idle mixture solenoid that controls the primary metering rods. Plus, the OP would want to get a different distributor since the original is curved for emissions controls.

slickdriver

Thanks for your input, guys. You have all given me some great ideas.

joe_padavano

1. Removing the A.I.R. pump will add all of about 0.5 HP. The only HP impact from the pump is the small amount it takes to run the pump.

2. If your car won't run at highway speeds, find and fix what is wrong with it BEOFORE changing anything. The car should run fine at 80 MPH. The fact that it doesn't says there is a fundamental problem. Changing parts before fixing this will likely only make it harder to find the real problem.

3. Have you checked the catalyst for meltdown and blockage? That is the most likely cause of your power loss.

4. The catalyst melts down because there is another problem elsewhere that is causing the engine to run rich.

Bottom line, don't throw parts at the car until you know it is running properly.

slickdriver

Joe, Thanks for your response. I have always suspected the catalytic converter. Have an appointment at the exhaust specialist soon.

Olds64

Let us know what you find out.