This here is Hazel, my 1983 Cutlass Supreme. I named her that because I am a big Sister Hazel fan. She was born at the Lansing, Michigan Oldsmobile assembly plant (how many are there total? So far I count Lansing; Alpharetta, GA; Ste. Therese, Quebec; Boston, MA; Arlington, TX) It came originally in this color--metallic maroon, and as soon as funds permit it will get stripped down and repainted the same color, but with three basecoats and two clearcoats-. I got it in July of 1996 from my father in settlement for helping him with some work that took time off from my regular job. It came bone stock with the 231 cubic inch V6 which I was at the time content to keep in the car. Drove it daily to and from Warren Central High School, later to and from Western Kentucky University.

        Other than to and from school it didn't have much of a life, because it was a baseline car. It had air conditioning and AM/FM cassette from the factory, but that was it--didn't come with power accessories (power steering doesn't count), but it did come with the nice styled steel wheels, which I like--cragars and mags don't do anything for me--the only racing wheel i would consider would be if they made torq thrust d's that fit the GM bolt pattern (they were made for the Shelby mustangs in the 60s but I swear to GOD I love the style of them!). As for sound system, I changed it out in the interim during high school to a Blaukpunkt Seattle (CD player w/ multiple presets) with pioneer 3 way 4x11 speakers in the rear, and JBL 3 inch round speakers, powered by a 250 watt 4 channel Kenwood amp (pre-mosfet). The Pioneer DEH-6969 I previously had put in when I got the car from my dad at first was stolen out of my car at school--I only knew what it had originally b/c I tracked the VIN # with the good folks at Wilson Oldsmobile in Franklin, KY.

        Unfortunately, everything changed in October of 1998. While taking my car to Midas to have a new catalytic converter put on, the camshaft broke and sent a lifter through the block. I thought at first that the timing chain had just  broke, but my uncle Lloyd tried to put in a new timing chain and it didn't fire properly on startup, which meant there was a cam problem--and got a cam kit from Edelbrock. Block was bad!  End of motor. Well, I didn't quite learn my lesson, so I bought for $300 a good running, but well-worn 84 Pontiac Grand Prix, which I got strictly for the 231 out of it. Drove it in the car for three months while I gathered up the funds for an engine swap, and paid Carl Tebbe to do the swap. He did an excellent job on the swap for just $280 plus the Pontiac that he was planning on bracket racing w/ a built 383 BowTie (unfortunately I didn't know at the time, but the new V6 motor was on its way out too), and I would have recommended him to anyone for such a swap, but unfortunately he succumbed to a heart attack in December of 1999. He was a good man, and will be sorely missed. But back to the ride.

           During this time, I changed out the sound system to what it has now, a Kenwood KDC-67R cd deck with 12 FM and 6 AM presets. I kept the 4x11s, but changed out to Jensen 3inch rounds, and a pair of Rockford Fosgate 12 inch subs, powered by a 500 watt mosfet Rockford Fosgate Punch Amp. The motor was very reliable for several months, long enough that the used car salesman that sold the Grand Prix to me down in nearby Franklin to get out of town (it was a motor w/ seriously low compression that had a gasket job done on it to bump the compression up for a few months), causing major cooling problems once the gaskets could no longer compensate to keep the compression up. Doing some willy nilly stuff bought it three months of time (like replacing plugs, wires, coil cap, and rotor, high speed electric motor to turn the water pump, and new cooling hoses all around. But finally on August 12, 1999, it spun a rod bearing on the Sherman Minton bridge in Louisville, coming back from visiting my then-girlfriend Erin. So I parked it in her father's garage, while waiting for my dad to get a day off and have his wagon, him, and a trailer to haul "Hazel" back from Palmyra, IN, to Woodburn, KY--I so badly wanted the 350 Rocket in my then-girlfriend's dad's 78 Cutlass, which my 83 shared space w/ in the garage, but he was determined to put that motor in a 41 Dodge he was restoring.. oh well.

        Meanwhile I took and traded the 350 Chevy I had planned on installing in the Cutlass, sold it for $850 and got me an 85 Escort for work while I regrouped financially to afford the major project, which I didn't plan on totally until November of 1999. Plans at that point called for taking the 83' 307 olds out of the parts impala my uncle had and was going to let me buy from him to use in the Cutlass--that didn't stay the plan for long though.

        The tuesday after thanksgiving I saw the motor I knew I absolutely had to get. A 350 Rocket recently pulled from a '78 Firebird Formula. It was pulled to make way for a 400 Poncho motor b/c the owner had wrecked his '76 bird and wanted to put that motor in the '78. Good for both of us. $375 later, I had a 350 Rocket, plus a 4 row core radiator, a Holley 6210 spreadbore w/ 650 cfm of flow, and a month later, my friend Clay and I put that baby in my Cutlass.Very respectable motor, considering it had stock at best  160 horsepower due to smog equipment, which I eliminated from my Cutlass' vocabulary. Since we don't have emissions testing in South Central Kentucky, it made perfect sense. So I axed the Thermac pump, got rid of the charcoal canister, cut out the catalytic converter and put in test pipe to fill the gap. The only thing that is still on is the PCV valve and the EGR. While I don't like my car breathing crankcase burps, profuse oil leaks are worse. I drove it this way for over a year, and got it up to about 138 mph on I-65. It did mid 16s in this configuration in the quarter mile. Best time was 16.46 seconds in the quarter mile at 92 mph.
 
 

        In 2001, between bonuses from my christmas sales job finally coming in, and my steady income hanging doorhanger flyers for Doughboys Pizza and a couple of other local businesses, I took it to Todd Taylor at Independent Auto Repair and he did a honey of a job on the car. I cannot applaud his work enough! It did need some work done on it, but a lot of it was to improve performance, plus increase the vehicle's efficency. He pulled the motor out and replaced every oil gasket and seal, painted it Oldsmobile bronze on the valve covers and jet black on the block, heads, and intake. He replaced the motor mounts that were starting to go bad, and reinforced the frame mounts w/ two bolts in each mount. Also he replaced the stock plastic geared timing set with a heavy duty steel single roller (since dual roller was not available in this application). He changed out the spark plugs to AC Rapidfires, and rebuilt the carburetor, re-connected the vaccum advance and fully opened the four barrel. I also replaced the worn out 4 row core radiator with a 3 row core radiator designed for the hurst/olds with a shroud from an 86 Pontiac Safari Wagon (equipped w/ 307). Since I didn't want AC hooked up, I stripped out all the air conditioning equipment, saving Times as a result dropped to 15.2 in the quarter mile. Since then though, after having spent $300 on the carburetor, I opted to replace the holley with a quadrajet pulled from a 77 Electra 225 (Buick). Since then I dyno'd it in at about 160 horsepower and 280 ft/lbs of torque. Also, it has run 14.7s in the 1/4 mile in current form. I will likely keep it as is in terms of configuration, but I'm going to build up and blueprint another 350 Rocket to run that setup off of.

Engine:
Block:  455 Oldsmobile from 1973 Oldsmobile 442
Cylinders: Stock Bore, with new Sealed Power rings, factory cast pistons
Heads: J castings--modified by Jerry Brown of Brown's Auto and Diesel Service--Deshrouded, ported and polished
Oil Pump:  Stock replacement (Sealed Power)  pump modified w/ higher pressure spring, stock replacement pickup
Valvetrain:  Sealed Power Rocker set for 455, using 307 VIN 9 rocker bolts from 84 Cutlass
Crankshaft:  Stock, with Federal Mogul main bearings and heavy duty main bolts, polished to prevent bearing chew
Rods, Pistons: Stock, with Federal Mogul Rod bearings
Camshaft: Stock Replacement Hydraulic tappet camshaft for 73 442,  Crane dual profile grind .268/.272 duration, .430/ .440 lift
Intake: W casting stock cast iron intake
Color:  Oldsmobile Rocket Gold
 
 

Induction, Fuel & Fire
Carburetor:Rochester Quadrajet from 78 Pontiac Firebird with 400 ci. pontiac motor.
Air Cleaner: Fram..  soon will have cold air intake fabricated using a 307 Y air cleaner, and use K&N then.
Fuel Pump: High Volume mechanical pump for 455
Fuel Filter: Purolator in line and in carb Deutsch filter)
Ignition: GM HEI distributor with stock high performance coil from  78 350 Oldsmobile
Coil and Module:  Sorensen replacement Coil and module for '75 442 w/ 455
Wires: Accell 8.8 mm wires
 
 

Cooling System
Radiator:Aftermarket 3 row core radiator designed for 81-88 hurst/olds and
                 Grand National w/ integrated transmission fluid cooler (cooler not used)
Fan: Stock 6 blade 307 Olds fan from 85 Cutlass Supreme
Clutch: Stock replacement 455 Olds  clutch for 73 442 (new unit)
Pump: Stock replacement 455 Olds  for 73 442
Shroud: Stock 307 shroud for 87 Pontiac Safari wagon (re-drilled to fit cutlass bolt locations)
 

Exhaust
Manifolds: Stock manifolds from 455 Rocket for 73 4-4-2.
Pipe: DUAL 2.25 inch aluminumized pipe
Mufflers: Dynomax Turbo mufflers
Tips:  3 inch opening trumpets, exit beind rear tires.
 

Transmission
Type: TH-350 from 79 Pontiac Firebird, w/ shift kit--modified by Matt Goins
Converter: replacement converter for 73 Cutlass w/ th-350/350 engine (new unit)
Crossmember: Stock 307 Olds, but w/ c notch on left side to accomodate dual exhaust
Shifter: Stock column shifter connected to transmission via a B&M shft cable
Cooler: seperate heavy-duty transcooler, separate from radiator)

Rear end:
Axle: 8.5 inch stock GM 10 bolt
Gears: stock 2.56
Posi: Stock GM
Cover: Stock

Suspension and handling package:
front:
Shocks: Monroe Sensatrac shocks
Springs: Heavy-duty coils made for 82 Cutlass Supreme w/ 350 Oldsmobile diesel

Rear:
Shocks:  Monroe Sensatrac shocks
Springs: Heavy duty coils for 82 Cutlass w/ 350 Olds diesel

All other handling equipment, spec for 350 Olds diesel equipped 82 Cutlass

Wheels (front and rear): Stock styled steel wheels (original) Current -- optional premium Wheels for '88 Cutlass Supreme Classic
Tires (front and rear): Dayton tires 205 70/ R14

Security:
Active: NUNYA--Ain't telling!!!!!
Passive:  Two stage system
                Ignition Kill switch (not telling where!)--starter turns but ignition doesn't fire w/o switch turned on...
                The Club....
preparing to run a blade style pass thru switch for the wire  from the battery to the starter..

Pics of my 455 coming soon!!!! Teardown and Build        Motor after being cleaned                         better photo showing lifter valley & clean bores         Motor fully dissassembled--Notice the solid Mains!!! Crankshaft before Polishing--still extremely clean even so. . . NOW fully polished   better still!!   Intake and Exhaust valves getting                             Finished with new valves installed                                      deshrouded for improved flow--                                 improved flow for intake & exhaust ports                                                        both are Essential on a J head motor                                                                                                                                                 Reassembled--before painting                       One view after painting                                                                                                                                Left side view-- Notice stock exhaust manifold      Right and front view                                                                                                        Good view of new pedestal mount rockers                                                Factory pushrods in excellent shape-- so reused                                     Notice a W code Intake                                                     Close up view of pedestal mount rockers                                     Notice these are J (smog) heads Not very many people can get 300 hp out of these But I did!!!

Motor Install This was a Really good motor--will definitely install later in something else She did use a little bit of oil though--pretty bad though was using Castrol 20W50 But it was very strong from idle to 4000 RPM--not bad for a 307  w/ 7A heads Notice my hot fuel feed  system (by running the fuel line next to the heater hose) HAHA Its OUT!!! and its still a pain in the ASS to do stuff on!!! 455 is in now!!! coming together quickly too Thanks to my friends, Jerry Brown and Matt Goins for loaning me the tools and their expertise in  making this install and buildup possible. I did dissassemble the motor and reassemble it but without them to help me with polishing and machine work and with putting it in (not much two cases of beer can't get in this world).