mattsk8

My 2nd post here, just thought I'd join and try to post progress. This is my dad's Cutlass and I'm helping him get this done. So far, I've bought the connect and cruise motor and trans from Chevy, a new style (baffled w/ electric fuel pump) gas tank, motor/trans mount kit from Muscle Rods, and a complete accessory drive kit from Chevy (guess it's original to the 6.2 Corvette).

A buddy of mine is doing most of the heavy lifting on this one. So far he has the motor and trans mounted (had to beat the tar out of the trans tunnel on the Cutlass for the 4L65). Figuring out the wiring right now.

My first question is, I've searched and found that people have used AC compressors out of Silverado trucks. I tried to mount this Corvette compressor and it's right in my steering linkage. For now I'm trying to stick w/ the factory manifolds that came w/ the 6.2 (maybe do headers later). The engine actually came w/ 2 sets of manifolds; one is a kind of a center exit and the pair we're using is a rear exit manifold. That said, if I move the engine forward far enough for the compressor to fit, the exhaust manifolds will exit right above the frame's cross member. Should I shop up headers (or will headers basically exit in the same spot), or should I source a different compressor and compressor mounting kit??

garys 68

iTrader: (1)

I put a 5.3 in my 72 442 and I love driving it. A 6.2 will be great.
I'm pretty sure the original corvette compressor is variable displacement, so it wont work very well with your current AC system. Both Holley and Kwik make top passenger side brackets for a fixed displacement Sanden compressor. Btw, if you're trying to use some of the original cutlass components, contact Classic Auto Air. If you're replacing everything Vintage Air has a perfect fit kit for Olds now.

oldgoat69

Add a few pictures, sounds like a great swap.

mattsk8

Thanks for the info! Contacted Classic Auto Air and ordered what I needed. Ended up getting a new AC compressor, condensor, mounting brackets, and few other odds and ends. In the end it actually makes more sense to still go w/ this GM accessory drive kit and just sell the AC compressor on ebay because cost wise it's the same price as piecing it together.

This is the only pic I have so far. Many more to come. My dad bought the car from a guy in Idaho, and the guy from Idaho did a frame off resto after he picked it up in CA. It's a completely loaded Cutlass S. Has a couple bubbles on the lower front of the rear quarters and the lower back of the fenders, but the quarters and fenders are still original. Very solid frame and body. It was a originally a 350 car, and the Idaho guy put a 455 in it. The 455 was using quite a bit of oil, so my dad figured he'd fix that .

garys 68

iTrader: (1)

Just an fyi, not sure how much Cutlass vs. Classic components you'll be using, but Classics heater control valve will be opposite the Olds temp control lever if you mod it like mine. Exchange it for their "red dot" valve and hot will be hot, cold will be cold.
Btw, they also have a great deal on the Kwik AC compressor bracket if you buy through them, $100, about half price.

mattsk8

Thanks again. Not sure about the valve, but he said I ordered everything I should need to make it all work. According to him the only issue on my end might be mating his AC lines to mine; they might be different sizes (basically the brackets were included). Guess I'll find out.

That's going to be quite a bit down the road though. Right now we're working through figuring out all the wiring for the motor/trans computers; mounting the new drive-by-wire gas pedal, etc. I also think the engine needs to come forward a bit from where it sets now. I just got the new radiator and fans so w/ that we can have a better idea of how it all fits. Just seems a bit too close to the firewall in my opinion. But we're also running into probs w/ the manifolds if we move it back. Really trying to convince my dad to go the header route and hoping that will get us a bit more room to play.

mattsk8

FINALLY!!

Finally got everything done (kind of). Drove the car on Saturday and its FAST!

We ended up w/ a Dana 60 rear diff custom built for the car, and used 3:73 gears. Hotchkis rear suspension w/ Wilwood rear disc brakes.

I have to drop the car back off to the guy that did the work because the AC doesn't work (compressor runs but no cold air).

I have a question about the transmission. I restored a 67 Camaro for a good friend of mine years back. We put a LT1 350 w/ a 700R4 trans in that car. The same guy that did this install did the install on that Camaro as well, but he could never get the transmission to shift right (it always fealt like a turbo 350 trans w/ a bad shift cable). I dropped the Camaro off to a recommended transmission shop here in town and he adjusted the shift cable and the car shifted perfect after that.

The Cutlass seems to shift much the same as the Camaro did before the transmission guy adjusted the shift cable. I called the transmission shop and they said the guy that did the install should be able to program the shift points (at least that's what I got from my conversation w/ him). Is this true? Is it that simple?

Basically it doesn't downshift into first until the car is almost completely stopped, it doesn't seem to hold RPMs the way it should when its floored (unless you manually shift it), and it definitely doesn't downshift if (for example) you're going about 40 and floor it.

Just looking for some clarification on how to remedy this. Thanks for any help!!

Here's a couple pics of the car...

garys 68

iTrader: (1)

Is it tuned to read speed correctly with your current rear end gear ratio?

mattsk8

I'm not sure. I don't know much at all about the tuning process. I'll have to ask Nick (the guy that did the swap). Just thought I'd check here to see if I could give him some direction.

mattsk8

I did some research...

I figured this was going to be the final stage but wasn't sure. I called Berger Chevrolet (where we got the connect n cruise engine and transmission). The guy there directed me to another guy w/ a wheel dyno, and he's supposedly a tuning wizard.

After speaking w/ the guy, he said the car should be tuned anyhow because we did headers, a custom exhaust, etc; plus he'll do a wheel dyno and let me know exactly where the engine is as far as hp is concerned. He also said the computer isn't reading the speed right and that probably has to do w/ the style speedometer converter we used (at least I think that's what he meant?). Either way, he said he can fix that, tune the engine, and I'll come away w/ a wheel dyno knowing exactly where the car is for HP.

I'll post the results when I have them....

mattsk8

Got the results back!

The main issue was the computer was setup for 3:42 gears and the car has 3:73 gears.

Also fixed a few other issues w/ programming for the exhaust changes and whatnot. He also set the shift points at 6200 RPMs, because he thought that would give the most pull based on where the power dipped off in the the RPM range.

It still doesn't seem to downshift into low gear the way it should if I'm going about 15mph and step on it, but it does shift right and it holds its RPMs the way it should. Right now I'm still running the factory Cutlass console shifter and I can't seem to adjust it to be able to pull the shifter all the way into low (I can only go to second), but I'll play w/ that somemore. I really don't want to go to a Hurst or anything like that for a shifter, they don't ever seem to work as well as the factory ones plus they look goofy IMO.