As requested '80 Olds Cutlass build thread

turboswede those would be tempting, I loved the feel of my old 944 seats. Nice thing about these is I just have to swap out the seat rails with the ones from my Cutlass and they are installed no fabrication needed.

I need to find some new covers though. There is a new upholstery guy in town maybe I will see what he would charge as well.

Dan I honestly don't know what they were off of they were on that Cutlass when I got it. But I don't think they would be because these would have the standard GM bolt pattern of the day and wouldn't the Lincoln wheels share the Ford bolt pattern?

BTW, saw this:

http://dougberger.zenfolio.com/p616061681/h2c74b74#h2c74b74

And thought about this thread....

Too bad it was slower than molasses through the corners.

The Petty-tribute Monte was pretty quick (depending on the driver) as it was a bit evil handling apparently.

http://dougberger.zenfolio.com/p616061681/h1c81f877#h1c81f877

I do have the Porsche Sport seats for sale. I can make you a deal and meet you in Portland with them Unfortunately, the driver's bolster needs repair so you'd still be dealing with needing work on them.

Those chump cars are cool, gotta love people taking the G bodies out to play. I particularly like the Monte.

Javelin it is tempting let me tell you.

Got any wheels that will fit my Javelin? We can work out a killer partial trade if so!

what bolt pattern does the Javelin use?

5x4.5" so Ford/Mopar

hmmm don't think I have anything in that pattern...though you know I might a set of alloys available over at my brother in laws place that might work...

Well I went to go pickup the 3rd gen Camaro seats today and the passenger seat was broken. Thankfully there was a 4th gen '98 Camaro sitting right there that had seats actually in better shape, so I got them for the same $50.

Alright so tonight test fit the 4th gen driver seat, first off it is quite comfy, more so than I imagined it would be. I yanked the factory rail off and slapped on the old G Body rail and...it is to narrow to mount up proper. Damn it. However narrow I can work with, I figure that I can make a rail adapter for one side fairly easy. The next problem is the extra cushion on the seat and the more upright seating position puts my belly rather close to the wheel, more incentive to lose weight I suppose. However I think the 2nd gen F Body steering column will not come out quite as far so that may help some. Gotta love building a Frankencar

Here are the test fit pics of the 4th gen seat. Just crappy cell pics.

I'm picking up a '78 Malibu tomorrow...so I'm resurrecting this thread to see what's happening with yours.

Also...this is the first thread that came to my mind when reading about the new "Build Threads" section of the board: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/a-place-for-every-build-thread-and-every-build-thread-in-its-place/52503/page1/

Clem

Clem sadly life is still mostly getting in the way. I have most of the interior stripped and I am currently cleaning up some minor rust I found when I pulled the carpet. We had to move some things out of the house for awhile and they have invaded my shop and basically are blocking a good portion of my work area for the Olds. I am going to try and get things rearranged out there so I can start working again. I have seen a couple Montes rolling around town that look like they need some company.

I am also trying to get a new business off the ground so that is taking some time. I will post about that in off topic.

Got the hood off and started pulling lines on the diesel the other day and started cleaning up the 403. Today I yanked off the old cast iron intake (crap that thing is heavy) and just set the Edelbrock on to see how it looked and all.

also, look around the s10 sites. ub machine sells a tube upper control; arm that uses c10 ball joints for a cheap, effective, alignable tall ball joint swap.

i have confirmed their design, durability, and function.

they flat ass work.

michael

I love g-bodies for some reason, probably growing up in the 80s did it. Used to have a 1987 Grand National. The worst part of the cars is that the windows leak so badly after a while (well, maybe not the worst part, but certainly it was damned annoying).

Yeah the Grand National is on my list of "must have" cars. I also want to build a GN clone but then put a twin turbo V8 in it instead

I have heard (I think) that these GN leaks are due to unibody flex, and that proper attention to chassis/body stiffening can cure them. Is this right, or am I misinformed? Any gurus out there?

In reply to Stealthtercel:

They're not unibody cars, so no. It sounds like Camaro knowledge applied to the wrong car.

Yup, I bet I was thinking of the Camaro. I appreciate the correction.

Apologies for the temporary thread detour!

They still flex about as bad as a Camaro. I've worked on a few hardtops that started to crack the roofs by the back of the rain gutter.

The bodies on the GN especially flex at the B pillar because of the torque. The thing made 355lb/ft stock. The chassis definitely needs to be stiffened from stock. As indicated the rear seat brace is a common addition to the GN, updated body bushings as well as putting the GNX bushing into place are also advisable.

The window leaks are just from the rubber and the various internals of the window giving out over time. That and the fact that the g-body has a huge door with a big frameless window makes it more prone to leaks, because you've just got so much more window to seal up.

There are a few cheap runners out there for sale on various turbo buick forums. I saw a guy had a Turbo T (basically a GN without the badges) in Long Island for $6200 with relatively low miles. Some rust and mechanical work needed, but not too bad.

Hmmm I may want to look at a bit more chassis reinforcement. The 403 while not a high hp motor is a torque happy thing putting out 325 lb ft stock.

I'm not saying it's a definite must do, but even my 87 GN that I bought with 50k miles on it had those paint cracks at the B pillar and at the time it was 1997 so it was only 10 years old. To me, it means the thing needs a bit more stiffening if you are going to add a lot of power.

Worked o. The shop getting thing more organized to prepare for the engine swap.

Multiple shop dogs in place.