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1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass S Project... Need a bit of help.
Hello everyone,
I am switching from a zero mile BBC 496 to a possible LH6 5.3. It made sense to me to switch because I was pretty much spending a good amount on the 496 to have the updated features that a LS engine will give me. EFI, coil on plug, etc. I would like to do a TT (symmetry issues LOL) set up but if a single will be simpler I'm all for it. Now to describe a few things I have done to the car thus far.
Chassis:
HPI Customs K-Brace kit
Notched Frame Suspension:
Ridetech level 2 coilovers kit with upper and lower control arms.
UMI control arm reinforcements Rearend:
QP Ford 9" shortened 2" overall
3:89 gears
Yukon Nodular Center section
Eaton Trutrac 31 spline Transmission and TC:
Built 4l80e
3200-3500 stall TC Engine:
2006 LH6 5.3 163,xxx miles
24x reluctor wheels, flat top pistons (10:1 CR), gen 4 rods, 799 heads and updated coils Rusty and Dusty All suspension removed Rust treated
.
I will like to have 700-800hp with good torque. What is a good recipe to achieve this goal? It is a 95% street car. I will have the engine hot tanked, rings gapped, and new cam bearings installed. Not sure on the cam to run. Was looking at summits stage 2 turbo cam .
Well it looks like someone is handy with welding so I'll tell ya what I did to get a bit more room for my 4l70 trans and a bit more space at the firewall. First off my car is a 68 Chevelle convertible, I have an honest 1 3/4" between the firewall and the pass. side head and the 4l70 still needed a bit of hammer work to get it to fit. I'm also using a 4th gen f-body oil pan.
So what I did was cut out & reinforce the rear side of the front cross member to allow for the f-body pan to move forward, I made my own adapter plates using the standard sbc motor mounts.
I used 3/8" alu. for the adapter plates and if I had to do it over again I would use 1/4" steel instead, it made the engine higher than need be.
I also used 4th gen f-body 1 3/4" stainless long tube headers (because they are CHEAP) but needed to "dish-out" the top side of the cross member behind the motor mounts to clear for # 1 and #2 down tubes. To do all this I braced the cross member between the two upper A-arms to the factory spec of 32 + inches, but that measurement should be double checked for your car.
My swap motor is from a 2007 tbss with factory truck accessories, the AC on the lower pass. side fit well and the tie rods do not hit the oil pan. I did however need to make a custom bracket for the power steering pump in order to raise it up to clear the steering gear but that' s a tale of its own and I'm tired of typing for now.
Reason for the Madness...... I owned the equipment and had more time than money.
Rather than make a new bracket for the power steering pump, go to the junk yard and grab the one inch smaller pump pulley off of an S10 truck - GM pn 14100597NU. This part number is stamped into the pulley and the pulley should be abundantly available in the yards for a cheap price. Don't forget to take your "pulley puller kit" with you to the yard.
This will trigger the need for a shorter serpentine belt by an inch but it sure beats making a different pump bracket.
Looking like I will be running 2 GT35 turbos for this build. Will update as I go along. Did a mini-tub on the car earlier in the fall. The rear tires are 315s. Have to make some filler pieces to fill in the gaps. Rear Front view
Dropping the body on the frame was a headache. She is all bolted down except for the far most rear trunk driver side. It's in a bit crooked. I will fix it though. Really enjoying looking at her from behind.
Any thoughts of reinforcing the shock mounts for the coilovers? A lot of cars had those mounts thrashed from people running overinflated air shocks and forcing the entire weight of the car on that area. UMI and Global West have reinforcing crossmembers, but I'm not sure if GW sells theirs outside of a kit.
Last edited by blackhawkMC; 01-02-2021 at 12:45 PM.
Any thoughts of reinforcing the shock mounts for the coilovers? A lot of cars had those mounts thrashed from people running skyjackers and forcing the entire weight of the car on that area. UMI and Global West have reinforcing crossmembers, but I'm not sure if GW sells theirs outside of a kit.
I have not looked at it. A lot of the Pro-touring guys have good reviews of the system. I will look deeper into it though.
In your title it says you need a bit of help. Doesn't look like it to me. Nice work, keep posting updates and pics, I've got a weakness for Oldsmobiles.
In your title it says you need a bit of help. Doesn't look like it to me. Nice work, keep posting updates and pics, I've got a weakness for Oldsmobiles.
Oh, once the engine comes I'm going to need a lot. Very new to the LS platform and forced induction. Been doing a lot of research to make sense of it all.
This should be fun
This part makes me nervous because I never done it. Should be fun none the less. Going to bite the bullet and order the AAW crimpers.
12-25-2020, 01:08 PM
1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass S Project... Need a bit of help. 
