1972 Cutlass

[Bill Howell]

I have had several ask if I would do a build thread on my latest project. At first I resisted because I just don't have really good camera skills and not sure really what to put in the thread.
I will preference this thread by saying my mission for this car is to be a very nice driver. A car that we can actually drive to Florida, North or West with no worry of reliability, get great mileage and ride like a new car. I have owned several other cutlass oldmobiles in my life and just prefer them over all other A-bodies. Yes, I understand from a value standpoint, I should be doing this to a 70 Chevelle, but I like the cutlass body better, hence, cutlass it is. As for cutlass vs. 442, this car will remain cutlass, not a cloned 442. The only 442 enhancement will be the 71 442 Grilles as I really just like that look. However, it will have a cutlass script in place of the 442 lettering. My goal is for people to notice it as a nice stance, nice wheel ride. Sleepers have always been my preference and this is no difference.
Power Train will be a used 18K LS2 out of a SSTB, bought off of craigslist, mated to a ZF 6 speed (yes, swimming away from the norm, but I like the way the ZF shifts over the standard T-56 these days). This has lead to me starting this thread, to explain the trials and errors I have made making the ZF fit and mate to the LS. I have searched the net pretty throughly, and the information, in whole, is just not there. I have gleaned information here and there, but want to document my build and experiences so others can simply order the part numbers that I have found to work, rather than have to redo the homework again.
For reference, we have already done a complete DSE suspension upgrade, front and rear, already installed JRI single adjustable coilover shocks. Also, while we were there, we installed Six piston 14" BAER brakes on all four corners. As with any build, this car has BFG shoes, albeit KDWs since this car is as promised, a driver not a race car or even autocross car. I did go a bit from my norm with Bonspeed wheels instead of my beloved Forgeline simply because, as stated, for now this isn't being raced and more importantly, I wanted a "factory look" with this car. The new Bonspeed Icons serves that purpose very well, as IMO, resemble the factory RallyII wheels, but come in the all important 18" size that will clear the 14" rotors.
While I will be happy to take pictures of the work we have done so far, most everyone already knows that DSE,JRI and BAER parts are pretty much bolt on parts that fit as advertised and I didn't see the need to bore everyone with yet another generic bolt on build. Again, very simple install procedure on all of that, and parts seem to work well, with plenty of clearance and travel for great driving experience.
As you can see in the picture, this is all being done in my VERY TIGHT third garage bay, which is a space behind my daily driver parking spot. Yes, the lift is nice but as you can see, before I do much more, I need to clean out the space around the doors so my fat butt can access under hood.
I have pretty much got the car stripped down so new parts can start going back on.
First order of business is installing the new Gen IV Vintage Air Sure Fit System that so far has fit in like a dream. Vintage Air has gone over and above with their installation instructions on this one and that is going very well. They even sell the Compressor bracket that moves it up basically to the factory location of the old compressor and makes that part easy and matches the factory frontrunner system on the LS2.

That should be enough boring reading for my first post here, stay tuned, more to come as the progress moves forward.

[Bill Howell]

This is a very quick, very poor shot of the car after the suspension mods were done, sporting the new wheels, brakes, etc. This is actual stance front and rear. The car has factory wheel tubs and inner fenders and for those A-body folks, 275x18 up front and 295x18 out back with NO clearance issues, full travel, lock to lock.

[SickSpeedMonte]

Power Train will be a used 18K LS2 out of a SSTB, bought off of craigslist, mated to a ZF 6 speed (yes, swimming away from the norm, but I like the way the ZF shifts over the standard T-56 these days). This has lead to me starting this thread, to explain the trials and errors I have made making the ZF fit and mate to the LS. I have searched the net pretty throughly, and the information, in whole, is just not there. I have gleaned information here and there, but want to document my build and experiences so others can simply order the part numbers that I have found to work, rather than have to redo the homework again.

Bill,

I assume you have seen this: http://zfdoc.com/projects.htm

I'll be watching this thread! Very cool.

[Bill Howell]

Yes Bernie, great site and some very usefull information. However, his modified adaptor price doesn't make budget sense when you can buy a Quicktime 6039 for a lot less money. I am actually going to try to use the factory bellhousing. They are about half the price, and as long as the starter and clutch clear ok, I will be golden for about $250. If not, I will go quicktime for about $600.

[TimMC]

looks great love the supreme bodies.

[Motown 454]

Nice looking ride.

[Radlark]

Nice looking ride Bill, I love the A-bodies I will be starting a thread on my 67 Buick Sportwagon!!



SUBSCRIBED!!!

[andrewb70]

Bill,

Looking forward to this build. You don't need mega camera skills. Get your phone out, have plenty of light, and snap away. All my build pictures are done with my phone camera!

Those fans are huge! How come you put them as pushers and not pullers?

Andrew

[Bob in St. Louis]

Great looking car, very sexy!

[csouth]

Glad to see you pulled this out in the open for all of us...I love there Supreme body, but couldn't find one for a reasonable price when I bought mine. Following this...
I'm getting back in the garage!....lol

[Jeff70]

I dig it. Subscribed

[Bill Howell]

Andrew the fans are left from last owner. I plan to turn them around and use properly.
Thanks guys for the comments. I have loved cutlass supremes and 442s since my second car which was a 73 model, bought my senior year of highschool in the fall of 1975.
There is a quick shot of some parts that came on the big brown truck today. This is the harness and other bits and pieces that will control the LS2 properly. Trans came today, and so did the Flywheel needed to mate the LS to the ZF. It is .40 thicker on the Pressure Plate side that places it in the proper position for input shaft.

[andrewb70]

Bill,

Looking at the blades on those fans it looks like they are made to be pushers, so you can't just put them on the other side of the radiator. Need to get new fans. I would also highly recommend modding that harness so that you can utilize PWM to run the fans, instead of just having them turn on/off.

There is a bunch on info on this here:

http://www.lateral-g.net/forums/showthread.php4?t=40215

I think you have either a E38 or E40 ECU there...

If it turns out you can't use those fans, look at using a fan from a C6 Corvette. They come prewired for a C6 fan controller (including the plug), which will make life easier. If your radiator is aluminum, you can have the mounts for the fan welded to it.

Andrew

[Bill Howell]

My ECM is a 38 Andrew, and it came with the wiring harness, pre programed, etc. I also opted for the dual fan relays from PSI that ties in to the ECM and described as plug and play. Sparky is handling the radiator for me, so I will let him know and get fans from him too so fitment isn't a problem. Thanks.

[lxmodguy]

My ECM is a 38 Andrew, and it came with the wiring harness, pre programed, etc. I also opted for the dual fan relays from PSI that ties in to the ECM and described as plug and play. Sparky is handling the radiator for me, so I will let him know and get fans from him too so fitment isn't a problem. Thanks.Nice looking setup

[andrewb70]

My ECM is a 38 Andrew, and it came with the wiring harness, pre programed, etc. I also opted for the dual fan relays from PSI that ties in to the ECM and described as plug and play. Sparky is handling the radiator for me, so I will let him know and get fans from him too so fitment isn't a problem. Thanks.

But all the cool kids are doing PWM for their fans...:smoke:

Andrew

[Nicks67GTO]

Nice! Chevelles are great, I have a 70' Malibu waiting for me when my GTO is done, but it's nice to see the "other" A-bodies get built. The Buick and Olds cars are really neat.

Just like Andrew, I snap everything with my phone camera. Quality is fine, its fast and easy.

[deejai35]

Already shaping up to be a great build. I am taking notes and loving seeing a Cutlass build.

[Later-A-body]

Bill, I have an E38 powering my LS7 and a Speartech harness. My fan is a Lincoln Mk VIII single 18". The fan is powered by the E38 with the standard programming from GM as far as the temperature it activates which I believe is around 208 degrees. It works flawlessly. No fancy PWM or added expense. Each speed has its own dedicated 75 amp relay.

[Motown 454]

I love seeing new parts!

[Bill Howell]

Since pictures are a hit, here are a couple from last week big brown truck delivery. I have bypassed this segment of my last two builds and seriously regretted it. I promised myself never again. Especially since I have gone LS with the cutlass, it just makes sense to me to have modern gauges and these fit both the modern part and the retro look. It is actually cheaper than it cost me to redo the charger dash and hopefully these will work and not quit in six months.
Anyway, these are ready to go in, just need to get other, under dash things done before I pop these in.

[andrewb70]

...No fancy PWM or added expense. Each speed has its own dedicated 75 amp relay.

Clear...You're not that cool...LOL

Andrew

[Motown 454]

Sweet looking gauges.

[Bill Howell]

I have a pile of parts and plenty to do, but today as I take a break from working on it I am doing some research and thinking ahead on some other parts I need.
Question of the day is this, what sound deadening product do you use? Does it have to be Dynamat? Are there other options? I know Dynamat is the one usually mentioned, but I also know that product is pretty heavy for what it is and adds to the overall weight a good bit if you use it in all the right spots.
Is the weight sacrifice worth it? Remember this is to be a driver so I am not sure I am overly concerned with weight but like everyone else, if there is a similar, better priced product or better product I need to look at, I would love to hear about it here. I know the product we used in the charger was cheaper but I certainly got what I paid for too. I would be better served to not have used anything.

[andrewb70]

Bill,

Have a read:

http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com

Andrew

[724tim]

nice looking gauges do they have the turn signals and high beam indicator built into them.

[Bill Howell]

nice looking gauges do they have the turn signals and high beam indicator built into them.
Yes Sir. actually there are hook ups for the following..... Dim, Check eng, Brake, High, Left, Right, 4x4, Gear and Cruise.

[SSLance]

You are gonna love the Gauges Bill, they are sweet! Had mine in for 2 years now.

I used RAAMAT sound deadener in my car 5 or 6 years ago and was very happy with it, price weight, smell, everything was good.

[Justin@EntropyRad]

This thing moves quickly..i didnt have time to comment on the pusher fans..car looks dope though!

[UMI Performance]

Looks great Bill, looking forward to seeing it complete.

[Bill Howell]

Thanks for the kind words guys. The car is going to be fun when completed I believe and this is a nice winter project for me.
This post is for my reference more than anything but may be helpful to others also when the question comes up.
The 455/400 Olds motor/TH400 without exhaust manifolds weighted in at 874#. That was with radiator, hoses, all factory accessories except the A/C compressor, A/C brackets and A/C hoses. The starter, alternator, PS pump, carb, breather and wiring. This car also had a electric fuel pump mounted near tank so no factory mechanical pump in the weight in. The transmission was drained of fluid, but I am sure the Torque Converter still had some in it, and the engine had oil in it.
Tonight I have weighed the LS2 complete with front drive system, harness, full of oil, starter and factory truck exhaust. Total weight 466#
Then I weighed the ZF (they are always talked about as much heavier than T-56. The ZF with shifter was 139#
Flywheel 30#
GM clutch, pressure plate,bolts and pilot bearing 32#
Still waiting on quicktime 6039 bell housing but quicktime list it's weight as 22#
That brings the LS/ZF and parts to a grand total of 689#

Conclusion is this new setup will be about 185 pounds lighter than original factory style engine/auto transmission set up.
I do need to add the weight of the new aluminum radiator that I have coming to be fair, but that shouldn't be a huge change in numbers.
Also keep in mind the LS was with exhaust manifolds and the Olds was without any exhaust.

Like I said, just sharing that here for future reference but hope at least some find it interesting.

Adding new infomation.. car as roller without drivetrain is 2676# WAG of V/A sure fit is 60#
Net savings on old compressor over new style is 19#
That puts me at about 204 total savings on the drive train swap FWIW.

[garys 68]

Other than gauges, any other plans for the interior?
Also, on sound deadener, I layered fatmat, reflexit, OEM deadener, jute in my 72 Olds. Really quiet, comfortable.

[Bill Howell]

Recovered drivers seat, new vintage air probably new radio. Other than that I like that factory looks just fine.

[Bill Howell]

More parts and pieces came on the big brown truck today. While I still don't have the Holley oilpan to do some test fitting for tunnel snips, I can do some accurate measuring now, and do some test set-up for engine, bellhousing, clutch, throw-out bearing fitment. Also, can tackle the clutch pedal, M/C install, in prep for that part of the equation.

[csouth]

You are really pluggin' away over there! I just need a little heat in my garage to play catch up...lol

[Bill Howell]

Ha Chris, we had a snow day here today also. Garage is not heated but not bad at the moment. I did make a trip to the hot rod shop in Knoxville today and bought a cheaper, off brand underlayment for the car. I decided to do that, at least in the area on the firewall where the V/A install will make access later in that area tough to get to. I do have most everything I need to assemble the car now, I just need to find the time and talent to get all the cool parts put together and in/on the car.

[csouth]

Ha Chris, we had a snow day here today also. Garage is not heated but not bad at the moment. I did make a trip to the hot rod shop in Knoxville today and bought a cheaper, off brand underlayment for the car. I decided to do that, at least in the area on the firewall where the V/A install will make access later in that area tough to get to. I do have most everything I need to assemble the car now, I just need to find the time and talent to get all the cool parts put together and in/on the car.

I'm sure you have the talent, time is another thing....lol I had a coworker offer up his propane heater so I don't have to spend the money right now. I'll be back in business in a few days too...

[gardnerme]

Yes Sir. actually there are hook ups for the following..... Dim, Check eng, Brake, High, Left, Right, 4x4, Gear and Cruise.

Is it going to be push-button 4x4, or are you going to have to get out and lock the hubs? :-)

[Bill Howell]

LOL, AWD on this one so won't need light... :)

[67cougnut]

Killer project Bill!

Look forward to checking out in person at some point!

[bbcowboy]

Great looking car Bill....

[Bill Howell]

Borrowed junk block from fellow forum member David Hamilton √
UMI motor mounts √
Quicktime 6039 bell housing √
Spare ZF housing I had laying around √

Let the test fitting begin.... :)

I know the trans tunnel will need some relief, just not sure how much yet, but this will certainly make that decision easy and correct. Plus I can be sure to get the motor in the correct position without all the bulk of complete engine.
Got a meeting tonight, but will be ready for some fine tuning tomorrow.

[Bill Howell]

:) I have had several people in conversation ask me who was doing this work, and where it was being done. The answer to the first question is that for the easy stuff, I will be doing most of the bolt on duties. I do have help for the wiring, etc but this is meant to be a home project, done by me.
To the second question, I used to have a Toy Box in one of my warehouses, however, when a client offered a great monthly rent for that space, I opted for the coin over the space, hence, here is the current work space. As you can see in the last shot, it also serves as my DD parking spot at night. I do have a lift in the back (this was the original one car garage on house and I added a 24x24 double garage years ago in front of that space). However the bay with the lift is VERY TIGHT with doors opened so I roll the car out to the main garage when I need to work under the dash. So while this is certainly better than being in the yard, it is tight and a bit time consuming to move everything out of the way to park the Jeep nightly.

[analyte]

I get the working in tight spaces...lol

That ZF is huge!!

[andrewb70]

Hey Bill,

Did everything bolt up right to the block?

Andrew

[Bill Howell]

Haven't bolted flywheel clutch or pp yet Andrew. this is just to get the tunnel cutting done and in the correct spot. Flywheel do fit the crank, but have not had time to set that up and measure for bearing, etc.

[andrewb70]

Haven't bolted flywheel clutch or pp yet Andrew. this is just to get the tunnel cutting done and in the correct spot. Flywheel do fit the crank, but have not had time to set that up and measure for bearing, etc.

I would install the bellhousing to a good engine before bolting on the flywheel or clutch. Then install the trans and see how the input shaft mates with the pilot bearing. Then get your flywheel and clutch together to measure for the bearing.

Andrew

[Bill Howell]

Holley Oil Pan and Baffle came today so I bolted it to the mock up block just to be sure we are good on fitment there. Moving on with fitment number 1. lot of tunnel cutting in my near future. The contact with tunnel on left side is just the bracket that holds the shifter module, so yes, got to loose a ton of real estate in that general area and about 7 inches rearward. All is good though, let the cutting begin. :)

[car_designer]

Bill, this is definitely a build thread I will be following. Always nice to see another Cutlass build.

I've been debating the direct-fit VHX gauges for my '72 Cutlass but wasn't sure how easy they would be to read. You posted the perfect pictures for me and they look great. The current aftermarket gauges I have are hard to read at night (small font and blue backlit) so wanted to avoid doing that again.

[andrewb70]

Bill,

That transmission is a HOSS! My recommendation is that you cut that tunnel enough to raise the back of the trans as high as possible. Slide a slip yoke inside and get it so there is 1/4" of clearance between the yoke and the transmission tunnel. With the LS engine and the lowered ride height, this will make the front u-joint operating angle as small as it can be. You may still need a CV driveshaft, but the smaller the operating angle, the better.

Andrew

[Bill Howell]

If you love original, please look away, this may hurt your eyes.
First picture is of virgin, 43 year old floor pan. The last two are of the cut to fit pan with tranny in place. Yes, that is a lot of cutting, but we decided to cut it enough to be able to get the drive angle at 0 to 1 degrees. This means that we will have to cut past where we are now for driveshaft clearance but while we were cutting, might as well get it right. This seems to be an issue with most A-body builds, so rather than fight it, we will just fix it going in.

[Bill Howell]

As to the clearance at oil pan and drag link, here is a shot, both full left and full right. The UMI motor mounts seem to have everything placed in the right spot. At this point we have motor set back as far as possible. May have to tweak that a tad for intake clearance at firewall later.
Last shot is a picture of angle of back of transmission.
This is all approximate location today, tomorrow we will drop the JRI coilovers down to correct ride height. Right now front is sitting a bit high since no motor/tranny weight.
We also got the clutch/brake pedal brace out today. It has to be drilled out to 5/8 to accept the new rod that came with new clutch pedal. Brake pedal had a sleeve in it that when removed made it the right diameter to accept the new rod, so that looks pretty simple. Brake booster off, to add bracket for Hydraulic M/C.
Good day, plan to get more done tomorrow. Stay tuned.

[Bill Howell]

Last shots for today.
First shows a shot of approximate final location of rear of transmission. Second shows how much more of the tunnel has to go to make room for driveshaft. Yes, more work now to do it right but certainly better than leaving the drive angle all wrong and the problems that creates.

[snappytravis]

Looks good.. Should be a sweet ride..

[andrewb70]

Bill,

You probably don't have to cut that whole trans out if you use a CV driveshaft.

Andrew

[Bill Howell]

Finished up the drive train angles today. Engine is -1, Driveshaft angle is -2, and pinion is (at this point) +1 but with the DSE adjustable upper trailing arms, I can adjust as needed for torque compensation. My mock up trans is hollow inside so I took a fence post, as you can see to imitate a driveshaft and placed the other end over the pinion nut. As you can see, that works pretty good to check angles.

Ended up just cutting the entire tunnel out, just to be sure no clearance issues, since that seems to be a common problem with A-bodies.
We also got the clutch pedal, Master/Cylinder installed which in itself is no simple task. However after many in and outs for trimming, fitment, we marked that off the to do list and once everything was right we have a great full motion with correct arc there too.

Loaded the car and took it over to my buddies place in Maryville. He can get the new (higher) tunnel in this week after work. After that, it should be wide open with assembly.

[Bill Howell]

Big Brown Truck showed up again today, this time with a cool(ing) piece. The Sparky and the guys at RnD knocked this one out of the park and I can't wait to test fit it and get more pictures of it in the car. All the parts and pieces are starting to come in now, just a few more and once I get it back with new, raised tunnel installed, they will all find their new home. :)

[Motown 454]

Nice radiator Bill.

[Justin@EntropyRad]

Cool build!

[Bill Howell]

Got decent start on the tunnel rebuild. First things first, might as well add a driveshaft loop while we are this far into it now right?

[andrewb70]

Bill,

Make sure that loop is not so tight that when you drop the rear down the driveshaft hits it.

Andrew

[Reckn8]

Smart move to replace the whole tunnel!

[cutlassconvert]

First ever post. I am starting build a 70 Cutlass convertable. Been out of the car seen for a goog while man things have changed. You are starting awesome car and can't wait to see it grow.

[Bill Howell]

First ever post. I am starting build a 70 Cutlass convertable. Been out of the car seen for a goog while man things have changed. You are starting awesome car and can't wait to see it grow.

Thanks! Thanks for coming to Pro-touring.com This is a wonderful place for info, ideas and to make life long friends. However, let me warn you it is expensive around here...lol
We all have a passion for our cars and we look forward to meeting you and once you start your build, start your own build thread.

[64G-lark]

Nice build Mr Howell. I had to cut my tunnel out as well and found that a first gen Camaro replacement hump helped a lot and made plenty of room. The hump I used was to replace hacked up 4 speed cars, I recently saw were Mark Bowler is offering the whole first gen tunnel/ hump as one piece. This would be even better. Just something to check out and save some fab. time.

108587

[Bill Howell]

Tunnel is coming along. Flu bug hit my fab man last week, but back on the job now.

[Bill Howell]

More big brown truck porn today. I decided to ditch the power brakes and just use this instead. :)
This is BAERs brand new Made in Arizona Master Cylinder. I can add power booster if I want but for now, this fixes clearance issue with coils and really gives that clean look under the hood.

[chichirone]

Really like this build Bill. My dad had one of these. Green with white vinyl top and white vinyl interior. He had white Cragars with big and littles on it. I recall as a very young child, maybe 5 years old, when the muffler rusted out and fell off. We lived in Erie, PA...rust belt. It sounded so cool. My dad still laughs nearly 40 years later because I cried when he fixed the exhaust. "It don't sound like a race car anymore daddy!"

[andrewb70]

Bill,

Does that new Baer MC have a deep hole in the back of the piston for the pushrod to snap into?

Andrew

[cutlassmann]

Check out my build from last year

[Bill Howell]

Andrew, the BAER brake cylinder has a 1 1/4inch hole for brake rod. It is smooth inside.

Sometimes it is the parts you don't even see or think about that take a lot of time to get right but well worth the effort. Since this piece is rarely seen after you finish your car, I thought I would post a picture now before it goes into place.
I wonder how many know what it is (that is the easy part) but more importantly how many know by looking how much it has been modified from stock to accommodate modern technology? :)

[andrewb70]

Bill,

Looks like you had steel sleeves welded to the pedal mount and there are bushings inside to make the pedal work smoother. Good call.

Is that MC a 1" bore? Might be a tad big for manual brakes. I saw they were also coming out with a 15/16" version which would be better.

Andrew

[Bill Howell]

Yes 1 inch Andrew, that is what Dutch recommended for my set up.

You are correct on the brake pedal/clutch pedal mount/brace. This is after I bought a "bolt in kit" that was sold as "plug and play". There has been quite a bit of trimming to the bracket too for clearance of added Clutch pedal and M/C rod. Since we were making new sleeves to space it out properly, we went the extra mile with the bushings also. This "made to fit" "bolt in" product only took about four hours to get correct fitment (had to rebend pedal) , rod angle, travel and alignment. I have bragged on some parts that actually did what they were advertised to do, this McLeod 68-72 A-body sure fit clutch pedal/master cylinder kit was anything but.....

[andrewb70]

Yes 1 inch Andrew, that is what Dutch recommended for my set up.

You are correct on the brake pedal/clutch pedal mount/brace. This is after I bought a "bolt in kit" that was sold as "plug and play". There has been quite a bit of trimming to the bracket too for clearance of added Clutch pedal and M/C rod. Since we were making new sleeves to space it out properly, we went the extra mile with the bushings also. This "made to fit" "bolt in" product only took about four hours to get correct fitment (had to rebend pedal) , rod angle, travel and alignment. I have bragged on some parts that actually did what they were advertised to do, this McLeod 68-72 A-body sure fit clutch pedal/master cylinder kit was anything but.....

I'll be interested to see how you like the pedal effort with the 1" bore. I used a 15/16" MC for a long time but ultimately switched to a 7/8" for a softer pedal (at the expense of greater pedal travel).

Sucks about the McLeod "bolt in" pedal master kit.

Andrew

[Bill Howell]

Got this done today. Always nice to have access to a machine shop and someone that knows how to whip out those one off pieces. This is a transmission mount for the ZF tranny that bolts to the original rubber mount. Believe it or not, I am using the original auto trans cross member. All we had to do was redrill one of the bolt holes in the frame where we shifted it a couple inches. Life is good!

[snappytravis]

Andrew, the BAER brake cylinder has a 1 1/4inch hole for brake rod. It is smooth inside.

Sometimes it is the parts you don't even see or think about that take a lot of time to get right but well worth the effort. Since this piece is rarely seen after you finish your car, I thought I would post a picture now before it goes into place.
I wonder how many know what it is (that is the easy part) but more importantly how many know by looking how much it has been modified from stock to accommodate modern technology? :)

Looks good, better then messing with the little plastic bushings.

[SparkyRnD]

Love this build thread, and let me know when you have the radiator installed and can get me measurements so we can select fans. I have Project Sabre going in to a new shop in the next week or so (after firing the last shop), so hopefully I'll be on the road later this year so your Cutlass won't feel lonely :)

[Bill Howell]

Can't do much with car until it warms up a bit so not much to update. However I did get this today.

[Motown 454]

It looks good Bill. Nice billet piece.

[rchaskin]

109465

[Bill Howell]

109465

I have that very sticker in orange. It came with the car.

[Bill Howell]

"Dr. Olds" retired to Crossville, Tn and passed away a couple years ago. I figure he or his family has the DR OLDS tennessee tag.

[Dusted]

Bill,

Nice thread. Im from Seymour,TN currently working on a 72 cutlass as well small world. Do you still have that 455?

[cutlassmann]

i have these same wheel on my car since last year.

[csouth]

Yes 1 inch Andrew, that is what Dutch recommended for my set up.

You are correct on the brake pedal/clutch pedal mount/brace. This is after I bought a "bolt in kit" that was sold as "plug and play". There has been quite a bit of trimming to the bracket too for clearance of added Clutch pedal and M/C rod. Since we were making new sleeves to space it out properly, we went the extra mile with the bushings also. This "made to fit" "bolt in" product only took about four hours to get correct fitment (had to rebend pedal) , rod angle, travel and alignment. I have bragged on some parts that actually did what they were advertised to do, this McLeod 68-72 A-body sure fit clutch pedal/master cylinder kit was anything but.....

Bill you are definitely right about the McLeod kit. The rod for the clutch pedal was SUPER long even using the spacer they provide. I ended up buying a stock pedal set since I needed the 4spd brake pedal anyway. Maybe I'll be able to recoup a cpl dollars off of their clutch pedal?

Any updates?

[jnaarnold]

Alright, I am subscribed Bill. :)
Glad to see the car is serving you well....but I sure miss it now! lol

I finally bought my 'Holy Grail' of cars after I sold you this one..a 1987 Buick Grand National..with 65,000 miles..
Cant wait to see more..good work and keep the pictures coming..

115285

[Olds-Dub]

What size rims you have on the front and back 18.?

[Bru]

That is one Great Looking Cutlass!
More pictures please.

[Bill Howell]

What size rims you have on the front and back 18.?
fronts are 18x9 with 5inch bs. rear 18x10 with 5.75bs