Cutty project

[rebelgtp]

Well I'm starting to gather the parts for my '80 Cutlass project so I figured it was time to start a project thread.

The car in question is a 1980 Olds Cutlass Supreme that started off life as a diesel powered car. I received the car free from my Uncles brother that use to race dirt track. I was looking for a project and he was looking to clear up some space in his yard.

I got the car home on a trailer as the diesel had been yanked and a Pontiac 301 had been dropped in its place that had long since thrown a rod. The rest of the running gear was fairly standard, auto trans and a peg leg 7.5 rear. The pleasant surprise was the fact the car actually had some aluminum bits due to its original diesel configuration.

Here is the car as it was when I got it home.



As you can see it needs work but is not terrible and heck you can't beat the price.

Now then the main ideas for this project is to rebuild the car to a point that it can one have a good amount of power (300-400hp), two actually handle (I would love to auto cross it), and thirdly I want to try and build it to the budget to qualify for the GRM challenge.

The Pontiac 301 is being yanked along with the transmission and the rear. A Chevy 350 from an early Z28 is going in its place that will be lightly worked over, a 4 spd transmission will be going in and the rear as of this moment will be replaced with a GM 12 bolt. Disk brakes on all 4 corners will help bring everything to a stop faster than the old drums.



The disgusting huge chrome mirrors are being tossed in favor of a set of aero units pulled from a later Olds. The seats are being tossed in favor of a set of black leather seats taken from a '98 Pontiac GTP. The rest of the interior will get stripped and rebuilt to match the rest of the cars remodel. Additionally on the outside the over all look of the car is going to get an over haul. The initial plan was to use the smaller Regal bumpers pulled in and rework the header panel, though a complete front end swap maybe possible in the future. The wheel wells will get flares on all four corners. Some rear down force will be added by a custom built aluminum adjustable rear spoiler fashioned after those used in stock car racing.

Originally I planned on simply using a carb on the engine and rebuilding a Quadrajet for it to go on the Edelbrock intake that is coming with the V8. However recently I acquired a TPI injection setup off a Corvette for a very good price that might be going in instead with the help of a Megasquirt. The injection possibility has also brought about the idea of going a bit more extreme on the engine setup. Currently at my local junk yard there are several M90 superchargers taking up space on their shelves that I could get for a song I'm sure. The idea of remote mounting two of these has crossed my mind.

The car had quite a few parts in the trunk when I got it including a set of G body racing springs. These will at least in the beginning be going in along with a completely rebuilt suspension and frame bracing.

Anyway as I get new parts and make progress on the build I will post updates here. Any comments or suggestions are always greatly appreciated, this will be my first build on this level but at least my girl friend is supporting me doing th project and is even helping me with some of the wrenching.

[2ndgenhunter]

Cool project. I've always liked the 78-80 cutty. Good luck with the build and keep us post with lost of pics.

[CruizinKev]

nice to see another g-body project on here!

[rebelgtp]

Thanks guys I have always loved F bodies and G bodies so you can imagine my reaction when this Olds fell in my lap.

[85GPLEf41]

Nice Project! What aluminum goodies did your car come with?

[rebelgtp]

The core support and hood are both aluminum in the car. I have thought about selling the hood because I want to put a scoop or cowl on the car and I would hate to cut into an aluminum one.

[85GPLEf41]

Nice! from what i hear the core support is pretty rare. I just found one for my Grand Prix i will be swapping in later. The hood should be usefull to somebody if you sell it. My car only came with the rear aluminum bumper core and now i want to find a front one to lighten it up as much as possible.. I also found a set of aluminum drums but haven't sent them to get turned yet. I pulled a set of aluminum bumper cores out of a Cutlass that i thought would fit my car but didn't if your interested...

[JJEH]

Nice Project... good luck with it

[montessaj]

Good to see other G-bodies on here. Keep us updated.

[rebelgtp]

Yeah the aluminum parts are getting a bit hard to find, most people don't even know that they have them in the cars at all. There is another diesel Cutty in my local junkyard I need to check over for the aluminum parts if only to scrounge them for others building G bodies.

[Hoghead123]

Nice ride, I have a 81 that i'm redoing. It's going to be a lot of work. If it wasn't my first car I would scrap it for one in better shape.

[rebelgtp]

Yeah I would have rather started with a later body but this was a freeby so that is always a good place to start especially with a solid body.

[GRNOVA]

Here are some pics of my 80 cutlass I rebuilt in 1988 , my sophomore year in High school. (notice the Oakley sticker on the back window 80's baby)

[rebelgtp]

Nice lookin Cutlass Tim.


Today the 12 bolt rear got dropped off. Guy had pulled it from a '68 Buick Skylark, its a non posi unit and I'm not sure of the gear ratio (or even what ratio I will eventually use).

[jro183]

I like Cutlass minitubbed, lowered, all drag race looking. Look tough.

[rebelgtp]

Got the engine, transmission and two more wheels drug home today. I'll post a pic later of what I spent $450 on.

[wmhjr]

Any comments or suggestions are always greatly appreciated, this will be my first build on this level but at least my girl friend is supporting me doing th project and is even helping me with some of the wrenching.

That's not a girlfriend. That's a KEEPER!

Good luck with the project!

[rebelgtp]

Yeah she is a keeper that is for sure. She actually let me spend half the day today driving to the next town over to pick up the parts then even helped me unload the truck when we got home. This little 5'2" 110lb girl helped my heft a 350 block and move it to the bench.

[rebelgtp]

Forgot to post the build log site I have started for the project. There is also going to be intermittent posts about V2.0 a more extreme version of the car.

http://banditcutlass.wordpress.com/

[rebelgtp]

Well my fuel injection arrived today so I figured I would show the stack of parts that have arrived in the last week for the Olds.


Chevy 350 block (bored .030 over), Saginaw 4 spd, crank with aluminum Edlebrock intake in the back corner.


TPI Fuel injection all taken apart, heads, distributor, Quadrajet carb and box full of pistons and rods.


One of the wheels I got as a freebie (got two of those now to find 2 more)


2 more Quadrajets


12 bolt rear from GTO


And Ricky guarding the stack of parts