Keith
Dickson, West Point, Nebraska
1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme
(4-4-2 clone)
This project was started in 1989. While I was driving a 1967 Cutlass Supreme post, I bought two 1967 442's and a Cutlass Supreme hardtop and started to piece the best of each into one. The Cutlass Supreme hardtop I'd purchased had the best body, so it became the starting point, even though it wasn't a true 442. There was no rust or dents, so actually the body is the one thing I really haven't messed with too much yet. This was definitely not meant to be a 100-point restoration, just a toy to just play with and do some cruising and a little weekend bracket-racing, and possibly an occasional drive-in car show.
I pulled a 455 out of a 1968 Oldsmobile Toronado and it became the heart and soul of this machine. The C-type heads sport oversized valves and Teflon seals and have a 3-angle valve job. They've also been ported and polished. The block has been bored .030 over (bringing the cubes up to 468, if my math is correct) and has been completely deburred and stress-relieved and has oil restrictors to keep more of the oil on the bottom end, where it's needed most. Clevite 77 bearings support the polished and cross-drilled crankshaft and a steel windage tray keeps those revs from whipping up the oil. Pistons are forged aluminum and bring the compression ratio up to 10.25:1. Both the fuel and oil pumps are Edelbrock hi-flow/hi-pressure units. Fuel/air requirements are taken care of by a Holley 600 with vacuum secondarys (and a Holley Trick Kit) and an Edelbrock Torker intake manifold, and spent gasses are routed via Hedman headers. The cam is from Engel and is a high-lift, hi-torque unit purchased through Mondello Performance Products. (I lost the spec sheet, but I recently provided someone with the Mondello part number 0JM0220250000 and according to him - duration: .274/280, .230/236 @ .050 Lift: .512 intake, .523 exhaust) It pushes Rhoads variable-duration lifters and is driven by a double-roller timing chain. All this power is transmitted to a TH-400 transmission pulled from a '72 Vista Cruiser wagon and fitted with a B&M TransPak (street/strip mode), which in turn transmits the horses through a shortened and balanced driveshaft to a 10-bolt 3:91 posi rearend. The front drum brakes have been replaced with the front spindles and disc brake assemblies from a '72 Chevy Malibu wagon.
Some of the original 442 parts (from my parts cars) swapped onto this machine include the boxed lower control arms, front and rear swaybars, front springs, rear differential, front grille and various emblems and trim....and of course the Rally Pac gauges.The entire car went through a minor rebuilding about 8 years ago (which is when the above picture was taken), but went immediately into storage when the car was about 85% done, and only about 250 miles on the motor. After sitting in storage for many years (occasionally outside, where the field mice could get into it) the car was just pulled out of storage last summer and stripped completely done, so a proper frame-off restification could be done. I'm in the process now of getting the frame and suspension components sandlblasted. As the weather now warms up for the 2001 season, I'm getting antsy to get back out into the garage to get back to work on this beast.
For more information, visit Keith's website.
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(taken the day the car was brought home - app. 1992)
(app 1993)
