Project LS1-F85

[bonecrrusher]

Autobots... Transform!



LOL... car looks awesome

[Mingus]

Car is looking great. Can't wait to see it finished.
Have you been happy with the LS1? I'm leaning heavily that way. I was going to do a 455, but even with aluminum heads it would be way heavier than an LS engine. I know I'll catch grief from the Olds guys, but since I've already "ruined" the suspension and body ('67 front clip on a '66) I'm used to it.
Mike

[BanditDave]

Car is looking great. Can't wait to see it finished.
Have you been happy with the LS1? I'm leaning heavily that way. I was going to do a 455, but even with aluminum heads it would be way heavier than an LS engine. I know I'll catch grief from the Olds guys, but since I've already "ruined" the suspension and body ('67 front clip on a '66) I'm used to it.
Mike

You do what YOU want to do with your car. It is a little more work to ge tthat engine in the car...wiring, etc...but you will NOT regret it once it is in there. I swapped an LS1 into my '78 TA and NEVER regretted it for a second. Instant starts every time...it was fantastic.

Olds is looking mean btw...keep up the good work!

[rockytopper]

Car is looking great. Can't wait to see it finished.
Have you been happy with the LS1? I'm leaning heavily that way. I was going to do a 455, but even with aluminum heads it would be way heavier than an LS engine. I know I'll catch grief from the Olds guys, but since I've already "ruined" the suspension and body ('67 front clip on a '66) I'm used to it.
Mike

The LS1 is fast, reliable, & cheap. Pick 2

Does that answer your question?

Sorry the olds power plant can't compete with it. It is a no brainer if you are building a car to drive which I am. I mean drive across the USA and back without thinking about it. I put 10.5 k on mine the first year I had the engine in. Nothing wrong with big block power I still like the feel of it better out of the hole but thats about it. Doesn't really meet the needs of this ride a go anywhere do all driver. I don't want to just win the red light to red light drag race anymore, I want to hang in the corners as well. The coolest thing is just crusing along the interstate in the fast lane with modern vets and BMW's and pushing them to pick it up a notch your holding me up. After all I'm geared for the open road. I plan to go with V rated tires at some point. My next upgrade after finishing the cosmetics is to up grade the steering box and add upper adjustable control arms with better shocks Springs all around. My goal is to make this car handle as good as a gen iii iroc camaro. Honestly that is the best handling car I have ever owned. If I could get my cutlass to handle as good I would be more than happy with it.

[cmraman]

Car is looking great. Can't wait to see it finished.
Have you been happy with the LS1? I'm leaning heavily that way. I was going to do a 455, but even with aluminum heads it would be way heavier than an LS engine. I know I'll catch grief from the Olds guys, but since I've already "ruined" the suspension and body ('67 front clip on a '66) I'm used to it.
Mike

Dude, you'll catch grief from the hardcore Olds guys regardless of what you do. I DID put a 455 BBO in my car, Project Olds, and they just ripped me apart. Mine is working great and the car is working great.

[twosaturns]

Dude, you'll catch grief from the hardcore Olds guys regardless of what you do.

these are the same guys who lamented the passing of Olds but hadn't bought a new Olds in decades!
things change, but some guys can't deal w/ the new technology.

[Mingus]

I have enjoyed following the buildup in PHR. It's also been fun to watch the people on the Olds sites reaction to it (not always the most positive).
I have always believed you should do whatever you want to your car because you want to, not because everybody else is doing it or what they might think of it. I have no use for people that have to rip apart every other car they look at. I see things on cars I wouldn't do in a million years but as long as they're not trying to do it to my car I could care. I drove my car 265 miles one way to visit some friends and go to a car show. The stock 350 Olds and Turbo 350 work great, but less weight, more HP and another gear (or 2 or 3) would definitely be nice.

[Mingus]

BTW, there were only about 5 other Oldsmobiles at the car show today out of around 400 cars. Seems like I'm seeing less and less of them lately.

[rockytopper]

Guys to each his own I say. After all it's still just hotrodding when you get to the meat and potatos of it. Personally if I owned just about any original true muscle car from the days past 442, ss chevelle, z28 , etc with original power train I would not touch it. Some will and thats ok too it is their ride not mine. I simply chose in my opinion the most economical bang for the buck drive train package available. That is a complete low miles LSx matching trans salvage setup. If you desire more power they are all great platforms to build from at minimal cost. The cost of putting a OD auto trans behind the stock 455 I had already delivered to the engine shop cost 2/3rds the cost of my complete drivetrain with fuel injection that I ended up putting in the car. That is the single reason I chose the LS1. So far I certainly have no regrets about it. They say the truck 6.0 engine trans setups are dirt cheap and they make tremendouss power with minimal modication. The most amazing thing is how really easy it is to wire many of these modern power trains into the classic cars & trucks of old.

Thanks all.

Here are just a few more little things completed and removed from the to do list.




Stereo located in fabbed glove box. I even have room left for legal papers etc...

New Alpines and kenwood amp hung under deck. Speakers will be completely hidden with a smooth black grill cover panel layed over them. The stereo equipment in the trunk is all but invisable when looking in it. I am not sure if I need to port the 6x9's using the entire trunk or adding a smaller ported box or boxes around them. I will determine once the rear seat is installed.

Carpet layed and trimmed. very quality product I recieved from Opgi. Fit perfect with minimal trimming required. kick panels with speakers in place.

[Mingus]

Looking good.

[cmraman]

Can you post a pic of your dash, particularly the gauge layout? I'm debating about what to do with mine.

[rockytopper]

Can you post a pic of your dash, particularly the gauge layout? I'm debating about what to do with mine.

Here is a short video with the dash in action. http://s282.photobucket.com/albums/k...t=MOV06596.flv

I still have the cad file to get one cut if you are interested. We can put just about any layout or logo you wish to have on it. I used auto meter guages in my case.

Here are a few pics of the build up. The red area will be black when finished. As you can see in the last picture I have painted the panel it self the same color as the car. Interior will be solid black. I had not intended on painting the oem chrome area around the instrument panel but the paint shop got their wires crossed and it is painted now. Considering the color I went with it shouldn't look to bad. So I let it slide.

[rockytopper]

Changed directions so deleted post.

[Mr. Anderson]

You may have explained it in the lstech.com forum thread, which I haven't read...but whats with the '64 nose on the '65? Not complaining at all! I much prefer a '64 anyway. Just curious is all. I love the project....those wheels will look pretty good! But I'd leave the spinners on the shelf.

[rockytopper]

You may have explained it in the lstech.com forum thread, which I haven't read...but whats with the '64 nose on the '65? Not complaining at all! I much prefer a '64 anyway. Just curious is all. I love the project....those wheels will look pretty good! But I'd leave the spinners on the shelf.

I originally bought the car because it reminded me of my 66 chevelle I had in high school. I didn't know anything about the olds cutlass of the mid 60's. I was lead to believe it was a low miles original Texas car and I was to be the 3rd owner. I found out latter when I went to buy a radiator that it has a 64 front clip. I have even purchased a complete 65 front clip but honestly I like the 64 straight lines much better so I kept the 64 front. I agree the wheels may not be deep enought to handle the spinners. I was thanking they would be easy to do a custom logo on thow.

[rockytopper]

I have decided to go a different direction on the wheels. I'm going with the new rev classic 100 17x8 wheels with 255/45/17's on all for corners. I am also going to do my on custom center caps either with the words "LS1-F85" or maybe with the rocket olds logo like I have on the engine covers I made.

[rockytopper]

New dash pad arived from the interior guy. Dash painted and completed.

[Mingus]

The dash turned out really nice.

[jocko124]

The dash looks great. I may have to hit you up for 1 when I get to that point in the build.

[rockytopper]

The dash looks great. I may have to hit you up for 1 when I get to that point in the build.

Lee in your case I would not bother unless you just want a custom look. OPGI has your cars replacement dash and glove box on sale right now for 344.90$ Just hit the buy now button and put them away for when the time comes. http://www.opgi.com/product.asp?topc...6640&prodcode=


I am very pleased with the way the dash turned out. Compared to the cost to get a dash restore job done for this car I am very very happy. I have seen covered dashes in these cars before and they just looked cheap compared to the tight oem dash. I told my interior guy that I wanted a double saddle stitch(he calls it is a french seam) on my seat edges rather than the welded edge like oem. I also told him I wanted it done in the dash pad. It already looks great but he told me when once it gets out in the heat it will tihgten up even more. It was suppose to be black. Store continued at 6.......