1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Daily Driver LQ4 Swap

[1970camaroRS]

Wiring = 100% done for all systems! Rear brakes have been bled. Wheels on and torqued. Car is on it's own feet again. Going to need some 1/4" spacers for the rears...maybe. Eating dinner, then I'm making noise in the neighborhood!

Wish me luck!

[1970camaroRS]

It was a success, all systems worked. Only got it up to 30mph, 2,300rpm and 30% throttle, but good enough for now. Now to get the exhaust done and tackle the efffing transmission leak!

[1970camaroRS]

Got the exhaust welded up and it looks killer with the exhaust exiting just infront of the rear tires out the side. Only a few leaks from spots I can't reach on top and from a few bad welds- I'm learning as I go on this one! I will finish them when I drop the exhaust to remove the transmission.

About that. There's more going on with that trans than just a couple of seal leaks. Last night I was getting 1st to 2nd shifts. They were early, but they were there. I was also getting 4th at high speeds. Today, only reverse and 2nd along with a plethora of codes. P0748 - Pressure Control Solenoid. P0753 - 1-2 Shift solenoid. P0758 2-3 Shift Solenoid, etc, etc. I've been advised to clear the codes and clean the harness connectors. I really want to verify this thing shifts through all of the gears before I drop it to replace the seals because I can rebuild it while I have it out. Don't want to spend the cash if I don't have to.

However, I did get a pull from 30mph to 97mph in 2nd gear today (6,000rpm). Car seems to like to move along very nicely for a mild cam 6.0L and 3.42 gears - it should get to 60 in 1st gear. It must be very light. It will also do 2nd gear burn-outs just fine...

[1970camaroRS]

Just a few bellhousing bolts and the trans is ready to come out.

[1970camaroRS]

Trans is currently on the ground in my garage and making a small lake of fluid. Took the pan off and checked the wiring, everything is perfect. Pulled, inspected and tested all of the solenoids and they're perfect. So, I had to think it's either my fault it wasn't working right, or there was a harness issue. Turns out it was a little bit of both. Looks like it's entirely possible to install the main harness plug upside-down on the trans. And, if it's possible to do something wrong, I very likely will find a way to do just that.

[1970camaroRS]

While I had the transmission out of the car to replace the front and rear seals, I decided to put a Trans-go shift-kit in. Just took me one evening of careful work. Today, I finished reinstalling the transmission and hooking up everything I took apart. Took it for a test drive, and everything works. Trans shifts hard and firm through all 4 gears. Lock-up works. At first, it was shifting at almost 7,000rpm. Tuned it back down to about 6,500, but part throttle shifting could use a bit more work. All-in-all, I'm pretty happy with it!

[JOES66FURY]

Awesome!

[1970camaroRS]

Loaded a slightly revised tune to try to lean out the idle and cruise AFR, get the WOT shifts closer to 6,500rpm and the light throttle shifts to happen sooner. Thing drives like a dream now and shifts pretty much exactly how I want it to. 1-2 shift happens at about 62mph and 6,600rpm, tires spin pretty bad on the street after that! Also, the serpentine belt which I was a little concerned about because it was installed at maximum on the tensioner, didn't enjoy the RPMs I was running very much. Chucked the belt on the street. Noticed the steering got a bit heavy, looked at the volts and they were at 12, and the ECT was creeping up rather quickly. It was only two blocks to get back home. Stuck it in the garage, hopped into the Corvette, drove up the road and retrieved the belt then popped over to the parts store to get a slightly smaller belt. Went too small the first trip so I had to go back. Was JUST a bit too small on that trip, so I went back again and this time I was perfectly in the middle of the tensioner adjustment. Couple more rips up and down the street and I'm good to go. Waiting on some bumpers to arrive, get those mounted, then I might think about heading to the track at least once this spring to get some good cold-air times.

[SuperBuickGuy]

excellent!!!

[1970camaroRS]

Videos!

[1970camaroRS]

[1970camaroRS]

[1970camaroRS]

And some pictures!

Nose sits a little high. I don't want to lower the car much so that I keep the ground clearance and comfy ride, so I might grab a pair of V6 springs for the front or a set of Eibachs since they don't actually lower the car much.


The bumpers are in the mail!


Side-exit exhaust actually worked out better than I thought it would as far as ground clearance goes.


Took the top off, not too bad underneath. Rear window trim is in the mail!


The other side of the roof where the lower trim was in the C-pillar is pretty rough.


Not sure I can just weld this up....but that's what bondo is for, right?


Pretty clean, eh?


The office.


GPS speedo and quad guages (volt, oil PSI, water temp, fuel).


Wide-band, check-engine light and CD player.


Small detail, the custom 442 shifter knob on my pro-stick.

[1970camaroRS]

Got the new bumpers installed. A little bit of adjustment will be needed here and there, but they fit pretty darn good out of the box.


For reference, this is what a 1978 Cutlass typically looks like:


Much better with the integrated air-dam, I think. They're narrow and flush mount now too. I might paint the "bumper" portion a silver/gray, and the rest flat black with the rest of the car.




Makes the nose look like it's not so high anymore. But with all that weight off the nose and the small front wheels, it looks a bit high with all of that fender-gap.


Rear bumper is also now flush mount and narrowed. It was stupid-easy to install.


What the rear bumper normally looks like:




Not the cheapest thing I've put on the car, but well worth the money in my opinion.


Close-up of the nose.

[TheSilverBuick]

Looking sharp! Inside and out! I do like good chrome bumpers, but those new integrated bumpers do look nice. I think painting the bumper portion grey and the rest black would look good.