Project: Motor City Madness- 72 Cutlass (Delilah)

[deejai35]

Chris, sorry to hear about the theft. You were really moving along nicely. Don't give up.

[csouth]

My friends garage really wasn't a storage facility, it was space he was renting on half a warehouse. He had locked rooms that were broken into where our parts and his tools were. I'm trying to sell my VW Jetta beater to use the money for a new drivetrain. I have some money saved, but that was for emergencies, so we'll see how it goes.
I'll going LS this time, hopefully I'll have good news soon.
I'm in Columbus ready to hit Good Guys in the am, maybe it will lift my spirits?

[SRD art]

Man I feel so bad about all this. Sometimes starting over provides a fresh perspective though, and things can come out better in the end.

[car_designer]

Chris really sorry to hear about what happened. Good luck, I hope things work out in the end.

Sorry to hear about your car too Gus.

[csouth]

Man I feel so bad about all this. Sometimes starting over provides a fresh perspective though, and things can come out better in the end.

Chris really sorry to hear about what happened. Good luck, I hope things work out in the end.

Sorry to hear about your car too Gus.

Thanks for the well wishes guys. I went to Good Guys this weekend to get my spirits up. My brother and cousin came to town and we had a great time. I was my cousins first GG and he left wanting to find a car...lol
Some good news on my front is that I picked up an LS2 from a 2007 TBSS. I went into my paint money, because painting a car that doesn't have a motor makes no sense...lol I guess Ill be spending some time over on LS1Tech searching and asking stupid questions. I still need a trans, but my friend who's shop was burgularized is going to take care of it for me. He wants me to finish the project sooner that later, so he's sacraficing to get me back on track. Any words for wisdom for the LS Swap would be greatly appreciated...

[csouth]

Got my LS2 home and unloaded last night. Now I'm going to start getting the other parts necessary together for a test fit. I'm going to use Pacesetter F Body headers and probably the Dirty Dingo sliders for the adapters.

[deejai35]

Switching over to the dark side Chris? Can't say I blame you. LS motor is appealing. I wish you well.

[csouth]

Switching over to the dark side Chris? Can't say I blame you. LS motor is appealing. I wish you well.

Yes, although I wish it was because I sold my old motor and upgraded...lol

I pulled the harness last night and I'm shipping it and the PCM to Todd McCullogh at S&S Performance. Hoping to have it back in 3wks. Now I need to order some mounts and headers. This is tough because I acquired all those other parts without using credit and now I'm behind in progress due to this I hate to do it, but I'm going to break the seal on one of my credit cards...

['71cutlasluvr]

Chris really sorry to hear about what happened. Good luck, I hope things work out in the end.

Sorry to hear about your car too Gus.

Thanks for the condolences car_designer. Still waiting on the estimate from my body guy, but I have to say I fared far better than poor Chris. My fix is much easier and probably far less expensive than his will be. The hardest part is shifting gears on projects, as Chris is finding out. I had my '71 hardtop on a rotisserie with the floors stipped of undercoating and was getting ready to do the quarter panels when I hit the pole, thanks to the deer. Since then I have removed the hardtop from the rot, placed it back on the frame and I am ready to strip the 'vert and lift the body. But can't do a thing until we get the insurance settlement. Argh!! Like Chris, I will have to make the best of a less than perfect situation...

Chris, sounds like you have a plan. Way to pull yourself up by the bootstraps.. good luck with your new course.

[SRD art]

I would have loved to see this thing grunt king Olds power, but I'm sure you'll be happy with the LS. If you ever wanted to down the line you could always build another motor and easily sell the LS set up.

[csouth]

I would have loved to see this thing grunt king Olds power, but I'm sure you'll be happy with the LS. If you ever wanted to down the line you could always build another motor and easily sell the LS set up.

Me too Ben. There are a lot of disappointed people that wanted to see their work riding around in that car. I haven't told the trans builder yet, he's going to be sick.

[csouth]

Small updates: I have a line on a built 4L70E transmission. I talked to the builder, he said the seller is taking a major loss on this one. It was built to go behind a 5.3 with a suprcharger, but the guy has changed his mind. If I get it, my funds will be tapped out for a while. My headers finally sold which is good because I have money going out and none coming in. Once I get the motor cleaned up, I'll post new pics.

I had some pkgs waiting when I go home today.

Chevelle frame mounts, Energy Suspension motor mounts and Dirty Dingo adjustable adapter plates



LS2 Intake



Pacesetter F-body LS headers.

['71cutlasluvr]

Sounds like you go some steam back in your motivation Chris. Good for you. Keep on goin'.. I'm sure once your behind the wheel of you finished beauty, tearin' up the autocross track, the bad things will become a distant memory.

Kinda neat opening new parts packages. Almost like Christmas in July! Especially like the headers. But to be honest, I am clueless about the LS swap deal. Gettin' too old and impatient to learn about the new stuff I guess. But as they say, necessity is the mother of invention... kudo's to you for taking the high tech route to get back on course. Looking forward to more pics Chris. I hope the 4L70E deal works out for you.

[csouth]

Sounds like you go some steam back in your motivation Chris. Good for you. Keep on goin'.. I'm sure once your behind the wheel of you finished beauty, tearin' up the autocross track, the bad things will become a distant memory.

Kinda neat opening new parts packages. Almost like Christmas in July! Especially like the headers. But to be honest, I am clueless about the LS swap deal. Gettin' too old and impatient to learn about the new stuff I guess. But as they say, necessity is the mother of invention... kudo's to you for taking the high tech route to get back on course. Looking forward to more pics Chris. I hope the 4L70E deal works out for you.

Yeah Gus, I have been doing lots of reading. I'm trying to learn from the mistakes others have made and documented for those coming behind them. I'm sure I will run into a hiccup or two. Good thing about this forum is people are willing to help those who don't know.

[csouth]

So I have my 4L70E that I picked up this past weekend, along with a brand new F Body pan kit. It was pan, windage tray, pickup and dipstick. I got them for $250, which was good seeing as used ones go for $175 plus shipping on LS1tech.

The 4L70E was built up to go behine a Supercharged Saab 9-7, until owner found that the pinout was different on the plug. He had it sitting, but decided to dump it now that he needs more room in his garage.





I removed the truck intake and test fitted. I'll pick up some new gaskets today and my fuel rails are in route.



I put a coat of gold I ordered from Inline Tube on the valve covers. I should have scuffed them up a little more after cleaning, but oh well. These can be revisited at any point since they sit on top. I'll remove the TBSS oil pan once I get the engine painted. I'll then paint Fbody pan and install it.

[csouth]

Finished the topend minus the fuel rails. I hate the way the valve covers turned out. I think I'm going to scuff them and paint with black etching primer, then spray with gold. I think that will darken the gold in the valve covers. I'll worry about that after its running though...

[car_designer]

Painting the engine Oldsmobile gold?

The engine is looking good.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Awesome choice on engine color... Congrats on getting back at her...

['71cutlasluvr]

Looks Good Chris. Making progress. The Olds gold looks real nice. I hope the Inline tube paint holds up under heating and cooling cycles. I used Fusick's gold on the small block that was in my 'vert initially and it burned off very quickly on the stock heads around the headers. Perhaps the black etching primer is the way to prevent that. Is the primer you used heat rated for engines?



Glad to see the 4L70E deal went through for you. That is going to be one very cool combo in your cutty.

[csouth]

Awesome choice on engine color... Congrats on getting back at her...

Thanks. It has definitely pushed me WAY over budget, but I want this done.

Looks Good Chris. Making progress. The Olds gold looks real nice. I hope the Inline tube paint holds up under heating and cooling cycles. I used Fusick's gold on the small block that was in my 'vert initially and it burned off very quickly on the stock heads around the headers. Perhaps the black etching primer is the way to prevent that. Is the primer you used heat rated for engines?

Glad to see the 4L70E deal went through for you. That is going to be one very cool combo in your cutty.

Thanks Gus. I actually did nothing to the block besides paint, so no primer was used there. I've painted a few engines over the years and I've never primed them. I only used primer on the valve covers because the surface was so smooth and the paint is thin. The primer was some leftover I had from KBS coatings. It goes on thick, but smells awful! I'm not sure how this will holdup, but since its on top its an easy fix. THey may end up powder coated later, who knows?