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So since there will start being some progress soon I figured its time to start a build thread for this vehicle.
Little background on me this is my first lsx powered project car but ive worked on countless ones with friends but now its my turn to have a fun LS powered vehicle. Previously i`ve had mostly Nissan 240s and a Mazda rx7 i had a ford 2.3 turbo swapped rx7 for years and had alot of fun with it but was never quite fast enough. So i decided to double the cylinders and displacement on this. So here comes this new build for me I picked up this 1984 cutlass from Craigslist after the owner gave me the run around on Craigslist for over a month. Southern car but will need new doors since there separating at the bottom like alot of original gbodys. Had a 307 with edelbrock carb/intake/and random set of headers. Also had 0 oil pressure which was the best part of the deal seeing as I already have a 5.3 sitting on the engine stand waiting.
Current build plan is going to be pretty simple considering the crazy builds people are doing now.
Current plans are as follow
-stock bottom end 5.3 to get the car going and building another engine after this season, (headbolts small cam possibly and s475)
-turbo400 or 4l80e depending on whats available locally
-Thinking of going with the quickperformance 9in bolt in rear end with 35 spline axles and disk brakes.
-fuel injection tank with -8 feed,-6 return from a walbro 450 pump looking for a sending unit now, but might just end up making my own.
Enough writing more pictures
Old faithfull mazda after 4 years of blowing up turbos and t5 transmissions that stock 2.3 never skipped a beat.
But now time for the cutlass helped a friend last winter build a sbc cutlass and wanted one bad so after getting rid of the mazda and my last 240sx it was time for a gbody
This was the night I picked up the car
Drove it to work for afew days as that 307 was knocking on heavens door and even drove it to school so I could put it up on a hoist before tearing it all apart.
And on the 4th day of owning it in the garage it goes.
so onto the new parts ive already recived today came in my gm muscle car oil pan for the 5.3 so I don't have to run a truck pan dangerously close to the ground.
I dropped out the old gas tank the other night 20 minutes max, this car so far is the easiest thing to work on.
getting a little cramped in the garage with all these old parts laying around
that new new Tanks inc just sent me a FI gas tank and sending unit
Last edited by stevens1092; 01-11-2023 at 01:09 PM.
Reason: Title
Was working on it alittle last night but its only 20* out with no garage heater so not to much done just seeing how I want everything ran really.
Its so nice to have this much room, Im going to be keeping heat I dont need ac but heat and defrost is defiantly a must Thinking of swapping out to a slimmer heater box but that might have to wait for another time. For the radiator Im thinking of mounting it recessed into the radiator support since im going to be mounting the t6 turbo between the radiator and the engine not off to the side like most kits. Going to be a little smaller than stock rad but will still fit a 31x19 radiator so shouldn't have any cooling issues.
Man in the pictures they make this dirty engine bay look alot worse with rust but its all surface I will be wire wheeling the support and painting it before anything is finalized.
Tonight ive been wire wheeling the whole floor pans and trunk pan and going to be spraying undercoat once it gets alittle warmer for a day or two.
I think the LH8/ GM muscle car oil pan is a poor choice....it hangs low, not as low as the truck pan. There is a sticky on LS oil pans here with dimensions listed. F-body or cts-v would be a better choice in my opinion.
When I did my cutlass, I looked at the quick perf 9 in. I ended up going with a strange s60 with s track and wilwood disc brakes . It was a much better deal in my opinion and bullet proof.
Sweet build so far! the muscle car pan hangs a couple inches below my k member, but I havnt hit anything yet. I made a little skid plate for a little insurance for now.
If you pull all of your a/c box and and stuff out with out damaging it I would be interested in it/buy it from you. I'm thinking about putting a/c back in my g body.
When I did my cutlass, I looked at the quick perf 9 in. I ended up going with a strange s60 with s track and wilwood disc brakes . It was a much better deal in my opinion and bullet proof.
Is there a junkyard option? Those are both kinda pricey. I can see why guys go foxbody LS.
Sub'd, clean *** cutlass! Of all the g body's, the cutlass is my favorite. Hell I might try and find me a clean one and put my stang on the back burner!
the mounts I picked up are Metaltek Manufacuring, When I was looking for mounts I wanted to find a complete set that got rid of the factory clam shell since I want to have the most room as possible. The car is going to keep the heat and defrost I would like to get the slim kit for the heater box but I think that will have to wait untill swap is done, maybe next winter.
Still going back and forth on which rear end I was to run all will meet my needs but just need to order one soon.
Sub'd, clean *** cutlass! Of all the g body's, the cutlass is my favorite. Hell I might try and find me a clean one and put my stang on the back burner!
cutlass is my favorite of the gbodys aswell, I was planning originally to swap a sn95 or get another 240sx/rx7 but this gbody popped up and couldnt miss it the cars not perfect but with a couple of patch pannels later down the road it could be. But for now good enough for a fun street car.
Last edited by stevens1092; 01-19-2017 at 03:19 PM.
the mounts I picked up are Metaltek Manufacuring, When I was looking for mounts I wanted to find a complete set that got rid of the factory clam shell since I want to have the most room as possible. The car is going to keep the heat and defrost I would like to get the slim kit for the heater box but I think that will have to wait untill swap is done, maybe next winter.
Still going back and forth on which rear end I was to run all will meet my needs but just need to order one soon.
Just curious why you don't want to use the Holley mounts. They use the 4th gen f-body engine mounts with custom frame stands. Very durable and they mount the engine as low as possible in the chassis, which is desirable for driveline angles.
The only mounts I saw from Holley are the brackets that work with clam shells, maybe I missed it, if these mounts dont fit like expected I may get different mounts or just modify these to fit.
The only mounts I saw from Holley are the brackets that work with clam shells, maybe I missed it, if these mounts dont fit like expected I may get different mounts or just modify these to fit.
Sorry, I got the g-body swap kit mixed up with some of their other kits.
But, what's wrong with the stock clam shells and the Holley brackets? The stock clam shells are basically just like the 4th gen f-body mounts, except they mounts to the frame instead of the engine. They won't come apart, and if you want to get fancy, you can get poly inserts.
I am saying all this because doing generic adapter plates is not the best solution. I did my swap in 2008 and there was nothing else available at the time. The new parts are so much better that I am seriously considering redoing my whole swap.
I have to agree with Andrew's advice. I got the Holley mounts, oil pan, trans crossmember and full exhaust for my 83 Regal and it sits very low and everything fit perfectly. Their engineering is top notch!
Alright bringing this back from the dead since i had other things take priority over this build but for now heres the updates as i`m trying to get this thing on the road this summer.
I did go with the Quick Performance 9in for the car and the installation went really well no issues at all, put in my spare engine that I have laying around that I used to mock up my turbo kit when building it. I picked up a set of Speed Engineering forward turbo headers and shortened them both 1in, also made my own cross over for a center mount location. I really wanted to have everything equal length and semetrical as possible plus I went with a twin gate setup with the Turbosmart 40s. Turbo is a BW S475 T6, and the engine should be going back together in the next few weeks once i drop my heads off at the machine shop, Engine specs are going to be mild on this as I plan on going with a built engine after the season if budget allows, Already have a BTR stage 2 turbo cam, dual valve springs, chromoly push rods and afew other small things.
Heres so updated pictures of the build, the engine thats sitting in here right now is the empty engine that i have laying around.
When i started this build unfortunately I went with the first fuel injected gbody tank I saw the Tanksinc one which is a great product but it limits your pump selection so instead of selling it and going with a turbot tank i decided to modify my tank. Picked up the ring kit from Vetteworks and welded it onto my tank to accept the F-body setup as I plan on getting the Chris1313 kit for dual Walbro 450s
Also how do you plan to utilize the turbo support flange that is built into the 2-1? I bought one from Motion and will need to fab up something to help support the turbo so I don't end up with cracked piping. Like yours, mine is all solid with no flex joints or sections.
01-10-2017, 05:53 PM
84 Cutlass 5.3/S475/9in 
