Author Topic: 1970 Oldsmobile 442ish Cutlass  (Read 14587 times)

Offline Der Bugmeister

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1970 Oldsmobile 442ish Cutlass
« on: February 18, 2022, 10:51:20 PM »
I'm sure I posted the story and photos of this car here somewhere, but darned if I can find it now.  Possibly lost in one of the forum crashes I guess.  Anyhow, 5 years ago I bought a 1970 Cutlass S that had been sitting untouched in a storage locker for 20 years.  The car was complete, the body and paint had been done not long before it was parked and it had a non-original 260 V8 in the engine bay.  Front disc brakes from a 1969 442.

One of the previous owners had removed all the Oldsmobile and Cutlass badging, and put the 4 4 2 numbers on the hood tooth.  Yes, they're supposed to be straight but the guy thought they looked funky like that.

I was expecting an unrealistically high price on the car after years of paying storage on it, but his asking price was incredibly low...so we shook on it.  He threw in a bunch of other stuff including a core SBO 350 which have since been sold and reduce the overall purchase price even more.

Offline Der Bugmeister

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Re: 1970 Oldsmobile 442ish Cutlass
« Reply #1 on: February 18, 2022, 10:55:07 PM »
We aired up the tires, rolled the car into the sunlight for the first time in 20 years, primed the oil, cleaned the points and fed her some clean gas.  She started relatively easily and sounded better the more we let her idle.  The brakes were present...although more of a suggestion than anything resembling a real stopping force.  I drove her home (about a 15 minute drive) then made a couple runs through town with the family onboard.  Only had a one day pumpkin permit.

Offline Der Bugmeister

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Re: 1970 Oldsmobile 442ish Cutlass
« Reply #2 on: February 18, 2022, 10:58:03 PM »
Once home, she got her first bath in 20 years.  Yes, that was drywall tape hanging from the ceiling and clumps of paste on the hood back at the storage locker.  Cleaned up great.

Offline Der Bugmeister

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Re: 1970 Oldsmobile 442ish Cutlass
« Reply #3 on: February 18, 2022, 11:08:55 PM »
After that day of attention, she went into hibernation in the shop while I debated what I wanted to do with her.  Replacing the engine was a definite intention, so the 260 and transmission came out a few years ago.  The initial plan was to replace it with a strong running 350 for the short term, then eventually upgrade to a 455.  Long story short, I figured the 455 probably wouldn't happen if I got her running with the 350 so the engine bay is still empty to this day.

In the interim I sourced some 442 grills to replace the nearly new Cutlass Supreme grills and replaced the late '70s GM Rally wheels with original Oldsmobile SS2 wheels (14" front, 15" back).  I had a 442 wing painted satin black and mounted that on the trunklid and have an aftermarket OAI (scooped hood) hood for a more aggressive look.  I also picked up a donor car with a black bucket seat interior (http://garagegazette.com/index.php?topic=819.0) and some other parts to swap.



Offline Der Bugmeister

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Re: 1970 Oldsmobile 442ish Cutlass
« Reply #4 on: February 18, 2022, 11:25:48 PM »
After retiring from the Navy, I got a couple nice lump sum payments for pain and suffering, some of which is being diverted to building this car the way I want it.  This is something I only get to do once, and I'm gonna do it right.  Acquiring the car itself was remarkably inexpensive.  You couldn't do the metal work on a rusty car for what I paid.  This makes it easier to spend a lot of money on the drivetrain, when I wouldn't usually want to do it.  I'm building this for me, not for resale value!

Here's the plan:

Engine:  Rebuilt 455 pushing upwards of 500 HP and over 500 ft lbs torque.  I'm sourcing most of the parts from Bernard Mondello Racing and having a local shop do the machining, assembly, break in and dyno.  This will probably be the biggest slow down factor of the build - waiting for parts and for the build.

Transmission:  Tremec TKX 5 speed with hydraulic clutch.  This is a relatively new transmission design and fits the GM A bodies without tunnel modifications.  The vendor that will be supplying the transmission also provides a complete conversion kit for switching from automatic to manual trans.  The donor car will provide everything needed to delete the column shift...steering column/housing, speedometer without the PRNDSL, console.

Rear end:  GM 8.5" 10 bolt posi upgrade

Interior: Convert from white bench seat interior to black bucket seat interior.  Plus sound proofing, stereo, etc

I had a decent 1969 455 candidate which had been sitting for about 17 or so years now.  Tore it down, looks like it's had some work done in the past (rod bearings are .010 under and rods have machinist's markings).  The crank was a CN casting which seems to be desirable.  Olds 455s had unmarked castings, N or Nodular castings and CN castings which are also Nodular.  Depending on who you talk to, the CN is better or the CN and the N are both the same.  Both are better than the unmarked ones.

The block and crank are with my machinist now for hot tanking and suitability assessment.  Once the crank gets the thumbs up, it will be sent through a friend to be drilled out for the manual transmission pilot bearing.

Offline Der Bugmeister

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Re: 1970 Oldsmobile 442ish Cutlass
« Reply #5 on: February 18, 2022, 11:36:14 PM »
The current rear end is an O type open diff, unique to Oldsmobiles and having very limited aftermarket support or options while the donor car had what appeared to be a 8.5" 10 bolt posi unit and factory boxed control arms.  The ratio turned out to be 2.73 which is way to low for the 5 speed.  The rear end appears to be a Buick unit based on the axle stamping, and had a Borg Warner split case posi unit, and 28 spline bolt in axles instead of the C Clips.  Although I found someone who could rebuild the posi unit, it does appear the cones are worn and the overall recommendation/sentiment is to replace it all.

I had another Olds posi rear end as an option, but it's 3.08 gearing and limited support was still out of the range I wanted for the 5 speed.  So the GM 10 bolt has been removed from the blue donor car and replaced with the spare rear end.  This allows me to keep the project car as a roller until the new rear end is together.  The donor car is still drivable - the 350 sounds and feels good, the transmission works but there are no brakes.  One of my friends is helping me with a lot of this work and will be buying that car from me once I've got the parts I want from it.  I'll be replacing the "stolen" parts with the ones they replace on the project and the goal is to maintain the donor car as a viable driver/project.

I'm looking at a 3.73 ratio based on the recommendation from my transmission vendor, 30 spline Moser axles and either a Yukon or Eaton posi carrier.  That should all come together in the next month and in the meantime the axle housing will get sandblasted and painted along with various rear suspension components.
« Last Edit: February 18, 2022, 11:40:33 PM by Der Bugmeister »

Offline Der Bugmeister

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Re: 1970 Oldsmobile 442ish Cutlass
« Reply #6 on: February 18, 2022, 11:46:29 PM »
And this brings us up to date.  I'm waiting for information on the block and crank from my machinist then will be ordering all the shiny go fast parts soon...then waiting impatiently as some of the parts are potentially 6 months out.  I think I'm ready to order the transmission and rear end parts next week.

The first new part did arrive recently...the intake I wanted had been out of stock for a while until recently, so we got that in. 

Offline DeadNutz

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Re: 1970 Oldsmobile 442ish Cutlass
« Reply #7 on: February 19, 2022, 09:09:41 AM »
Love the shiny Edelbrock intake manifold that always looks so beautiful when you open the box.
Thanks for the update and are the VWs pretty much limited to drivers now? It is great that you are building your desired car how you want it. I hope it all comes together for you with no major snags.

Offline Der Bugmeister

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Re: 1970 Oldsmobile 442ish Cutlass
« Reply #8 on: February 20, 2022, 07:47:47 PM »
Love the shiny Edelbrock intake manifold that always looks so beautiful when you open the box.
Thanks for the update and are the VWs pretty much limited to drivers now? It is great that you are building your desired car how you want it. I hope it all comes together for you with no major snags.

Yeah, love the shine!  Kind of a symbolic step at this point, but good to be moving in the right direction.  It will be even better when all the other new shiny parts start arriving...and ultimately once they're combined to "fly" in unison.

I've been down to a single VW for some time now (although I do have a '58 rolling shell that's a good project for someone not me at the moment).  I'm hoping to be able to keep the '57 sunroof Bug but am reluctantly prepared to part with it if I need extra funds to bring this Cutlass project to a close without cutting corners.  I had the Bug insured last summer but only drove it a handful of times...it needs some work and problem solving to become a reliable driver again.  I hadn't insured it for the year or two before that, partially due to the 'vid reducing driving opportunities.

I don't know how much I'd wind up driving it once the brute is finished, although the Bug will certainly be easier on the gas budget.  If I do manage to retain the Bug, I'd like to do a nut and bolt restoration on it after the Cutlass is done.  I've been collecting parts for that for years now.

Offline skfarmer

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Re: 1970 Oldsmobile 442ish Cutlass
« Reply #9 on: February 21, 2022, 12:19:33 PM »
looks great. i grew up driving olds cars.  i drove a 79 delta 88 for years and had an 87 cutlass as well and then an i would guess about a 90 cutlass supreme international. my parents had several as well. nothing like yours but i really wish i had never sold the 87.[email][/email]
from the ashes shall rise a phoenix

i was here when the hangout turned into mexican food site!

Offline muddy

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Re: 1970 Oldsmobile 442ish Cutlass
« Reply #10 on: February 22, 2022, 08:18:04 PM »
Very nice! My father in law has a Red 69 he's been working on get out of the barn and back on the road.

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Offline Der Bugmeister

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Re: 1970 Oldsmobile 442ish Cutlass
« Reply #11 on: March 15, 2022, 10:23:00 PM »
Mmmmmmnewwwww partsssss  :)

I decided to go all new components.  This allowed me to upgrade to 30 spline Moser axles and move away from the worn, less desirable split case posi.  I now have a Yukon Dura Grip posi, 3.73 gears and the 30 spline bolt in (no C clips here) Moser axles.

I sourced these parts from JD Race in Ohio, and he saved me more than a couple hundred dollars over buying these through some place like Summit Racing.  Highly recommended if you happen to be looking.

Offline Der Bugmeister

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Re: 1970 Oldsmobile 442ish Cutlass
« Reply #12 on: March 15, 2022, 10:23:46 PM »
I still have to clean and paint the axle housing before I can get this reassembled and under the car.

Offline pep

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Re: 1970 Oldsmobile 442ish Cutlass
« Reply #13 on: March 16, 2022, 06:31:56 AM »
 Wise to upgrade, Moser axle good stuff run them in the coupe... Rear ends are the next heaviest item after the engine. The Ford 9 is a real elephant.

C clip, you jamming in a Ford rear under there? If GM, I have seen that upgrade, great upgrade. Intense, you must be jumping to disc?   Measure 4 times and cut LOL

 What's standard in the 442 10/12 bolt, 3.72 same gear in the mustang, you have a manual box? If not no matter still fun with auto.

Got a good build going for ya

1776 ................... what happened!

Offline Der Bugmeister

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Re: 1970 Oldsmobile 442ish Cutlass
« Reply #14 on: March 16, 2022, 11:11:29 AM »
I considered swapping to a Ford 9", but the entire project is already blowing past my initial budget especially with how prices are going up these days.  This is all going into my GM corporate 8.5" housing.  There were a couple years in 1971/72 where these rear ends used bolt-in axles without C Clips, and this is rear end is one of them.  Saved me from having to get the Moser C Clip eliminator setup.

There doesn't seem to have been any standard rear end in 442s, or Olds in general.  Between the O Type (Olds specific) and the various corporate types and sizes even identifying one can be a bit of a challenge without digging into it.  None of my cars are 442s, just Cutlasses...and the rear end I'm using has Buick axle stampings so possible originally sourced from a '72 Skylark!  The donor Cutlass had some major reconstructive work done many years ago so the swap might have been done then.

I'll be getting the Tremec TKX 5 speed...manual is so much more fun to drive  :)   The TKX slips right into the A body without having to do any tunnel modifications.