1971 Olds Cutlass - Magnacharged 6.0/4L80E

[Ryan364]

Here's my baby; It started life as a boring 71 Cutlass Supreme. The car came out of Lansing basically as a stripper in comparison to most Oldsmobiles. The Cutlass Supreme was the most luxurious model in the Olds intermediate line, essentially a doctor's muscle car. This particular car is rare being as it has virtually no options other than the vinyl top, sport mirrors and rally wheels. Motivated by a 2bbl 310hp Rocket 350, TH350 and a 2.54 rear gear, it was the perfect highway ride.

Fast forward to 2001, still wearing the original color Madator red and completely stock except for Edelbrock valve covers, dual glasspacks and a shift kit, I got my hands on it. Modifications ensued until 2006, when the now built 355" Rocket was not enough. Full suspension and brake upgrades where completed that year and I had collected parts for a nasty 388" SBO stroker. Plans where to build a 450ish hp EFI SBO, but in the pursuit of driveability I sold all the parts off and picked up a low mileage 2003 LQ4/4L80E in April of 2007. And as they say the rest is history :)

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[Ryan364]

Suspension and rear axle where completely redone before the LS swap. The rear is a 8.5" 10-bolt with 3.73 gears and an Eaton posi. Rear suspension has UMI upper and lower arms, Energy bushings, Eibach springs, KYB shocks and a 1" ST sway bar.. The front has stock arms, Global West offset cross-shafts, Moog hard parts, Edelbrock tie rod adjusters, Energy bushings, Eibach springs, KYB shocks and a 1.5" ST sway bar. I upgraded the steering gear to a 96 Jeep Grand Cherokee box. Brakes are the CPP F-13"/R-11" brake kit for A-bodies, stainless flex hoses and stainless frame lines. Wheels are from American Racing, 17x8" black Torq Thrust M's. Tires are BFG G-Force Sports, 245 F/255 R. I am going to upgrade to a 18x10 rear with a 275-295 tire very soon

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[Ryan364]

The swap started out with a 325hp, 38k mile, 2003 LQ4/4L80E drop out from A-Z Auto recyclers in Oklahoma City. With boost in its future, the motor got ARP rod bolts, a custom ground Comp XE 224/230* .569/.578" 114+4* cam, Rollmaster double roller chain, Katech ported LS6 oil pump, BRP oil pick up tube girdle (get one, you will not regret it), Comp Hi-tec pushrods, GM LS6 springs, 160* stat and crankshaft balancer pin set. The 4L80E has a Howard's 245mm 2700 stall and Transgo HD2 shift kit, set up full nasty

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[Ryan364]

Trans-dapt LSx adapter mounts, Trans-dapt BOP-SBC frame mounts, Champ 7qt swap pan, and a fabricated trans crossmember make the LS sit in the frame rails.

The Street and Performance headers had to be modified to accommodate control arm clearance when I had the front end aligned. A simple restructure of the #6 primary did the trick and left a lot of room for the brake line and control arm bushing.

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[Ryan364]

The Magnacharger MP112 Radix supercharger is really the crown jewel of the car. 5lbs of boost from the stock 3.4" pulley; with over an half an inch available to reduce the pulley size, 12lbs is not out of the question. The air to water intercooler incorporated in the intake manifold has a heat exchanger that is mounted in front of the radiator, along with the water pump, and coolant reservoir. The throttle body bypass was accomplished by cutting the hose barb off my stock crossover and welding it onto the water neck of the water pump.

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[Ryan364]

There are several inherent problems that come up when you stick a truck motor with a 4L80E in an A-body. The first and most obvious is that the power steering pump pulley hits the steering box. The fix for this was a P/S pulley from an 88 Ford Econoline, just press it on a bit further than the end of the shaft and you are all set. Next was the radiator hoses. The lower hose from the truck fits great with the factory radiator, just cut a few inches off and you are all set. For the upper I used the factory truck upper and connected it to a lower hose for a Chrysler mini van via a stainless coupler I fabbed. The rear trans cooler line (return line) on the 4L80E is critical to the transmission, there is a tube at the end that moves fluid over the output shaft, you need to use the right fitting here or the trans life will be greatly reduced. The 4L80E in the stock tunnel is extremely tight, there is no room for the factory fitting. What I did was went to Autozone and picked up a Spectre 3/8" 90* hose barb fitting, cut it and the GM fitting down and welded them together. This fix leaves the rear fitting functional most importantly, but also leaves plenty of room.

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[Ryan364]

I used a Spectre Industries EFI retrofit gas tank with the stock fittings cut off and -06 bungs welded on to make hookup a bit less complicated. Aeroquip -06 socketless hose connects the tank to 3/8" aluminum hardline that runs the frame rail up to the front where -06 socketless takes back over and runs to Pure Choice Motorsports billet fuel rail adapters. I will be installing an inline boost pump here soon, most likely to the tune of a Bosch 044.

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[Ryan364]

For the wiring harness I modified the factory harness and added a fuse block from a late model Chevy Lumina. The 2003 engine was setup for drive by wire so part of the modification was to set up the TPS and IAC sections of the harness, along with eliminating the TAC section. A 2004 Express Van PCM controls everything.
An FJO Racing dual channel wideband O2 system is incorporated with the main harness. The PCM got mounted with a piece of sheet metal bent up to position it inside the fender, tucked up with the fuse block and battery. Tuning is done by me via HP Tuners.

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[Ryan364]

Power is delivered via a 3.5" 1/8" wall steel driveshaft with 1350 joints.

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[Ryan364]

She's almost done now. It starts, moves and stops under its own power. Just need to clean up some lose ends and she'll be on the road just in time for summer. All in all it was a very rewarding project, I would only do a few things different, nothing that cant be changed later.

After I get it out for a few months and work the bugs out I will be adding a booster fuel pump, #79 injectors, 90mm TB, ported J-tube, 2.8" pulley and tune for E-85. I would like to see 525 RWHP by next spring.

Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sHXGDJ2u-o&feature=related)

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[LuckyHenriksen]

Man I love those finished photos! That is one sexy car, I really like the stance.

[MAP]

Greetings Ryan,

Excellent thread! Do you have any of the following data:

1.) Car weight before conversion; F/R distr.
2.) Car weight after conversion; F/R distr.
3.) Any acceleration figures at WOT before conversion.
4.) Any acceleration figures at WOT after conversion.
5.) Any fuel economy measurements, and under what conditions, before conversion.
6.) Any fuel economy measurements, and under what conditions, after conversion.

My understanding is that the 3.73 rear would work better as an all-around driver were it to be been mated to a 6L80/90E 6-speed transmission than the 4L80E 4-speed. If this is correct, than what barriers currently exist for opting for this combination?

The "look" of these conversions is undeniably great by any measure, and I certainly wouldn't downplay anyone's desire to pursue them on this basis.

Speaking for myself, however, as an engineer, the "looks" factor counts for nothing; instead, I need to justify this on a cost/performance/fuel-economy/weight/reliability basis - in other words, exactly how the OEM justifies it. The OEM demands solid data to prove this, and I do the same to justify drivetrain changes to myself.

The current lull in gas prices is probably deceptive. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see gas head for $8/gallon within a year or two, given geopolitical tensions and the instability of the world economy. For this reason, I think it's wise to plan "ahead of the curve" from an engineering aspect.

That's my main motivation for pressing about the fuel economy measurements.

On the other hand, what's the point of great economy without great performance? Clearly if this weren't so, we'd all buy an electric hybrid and call it a day. This, therefore, is my main motivation for pressing about the acceleration figures.

In this broad context, and given the OEM's diligence for proving reliability, a costing analysis can quickly point to viability for the conversion.

Thanks!

Best,
MAP

Thank you and congratulations on this conversion!

[Ryan364]

I understand your thinking.

I built the car like this for 3 reasons:

First was driveable performance and decent economy. The old Olds motor got about 6-8 mpg and was not a good highway cruiser with a 3 speed and 3.73 gears. I expect around 20mpg on the highway with this setup.

Second was to venture into something I could learn about and basically use as practice for my career goals. I am an automotive controls test engineer technician, so this was good learning as well as a skills exercise.

Third was finding a cheaper engine brand than Oldsmobile!

I do not have any weight figures F-R, all i know is that it used to weigh 3800lbs with me in it at the strip with the old motor. I know I have added weight with the blower and 4L80E so I am anxious to find out what it weighs myself. The drivers side is heavier than I would like it, everything is on that side. As far as performance I do not know yet becasue I have not drove it any great distance, I am still working on the small details and getting the bugs out. I will post up some numbers when they are available.

Before:
3800 lbs w/ driver
14.30 1/4 mile, forgot trap speed, it was a low end car and never trapped remarkable speed
Averaged 6-10 mpg city/highway

After: Guesstimates
3900ish lbs w/driver
Low 12's
Hope to see 20+ mpg highway

My goals for next year will be mid 11's and shave 100 lbs or so off it. My fuel economy will fall because it will be on E-85.

[bczee]

Ryan

Good swap, you get this dyno'd yet ? 1/4 mile ?

You know I have been telling everyone for almost two years to skip them Quick Disconnect on the fuel system and just braze or weld the AN fitting on where needed or you can.. a lot cheaper and more secure, How offen do you really disconnect the fuel lines ?

[Ryan364]

I hear you Brian, I thought about it after I bought the QD's, the Magnacharger inlets are just -06 o-ring fittings, had i known that I probably would have just used them, but that's water under the bridge now.

Very shortly it will be at Texas Speed for a dyno tune, will post numbers of course. I estimate 425 with the current setup, Valve springs will be the limiting factor.

I hope to have it to the strip in early March, will post up some numbers then.

I am racing at Pinks All Out in July up in Michigan, it should air on TV this fall.

[Ryan364]

Here's a video from Sunday.

The revs are limited to 3000rpm so I don't get into boost yet. Open headers make for distorted sound but you get the picture. This thing has got nuts! The tune needs some help and it didn't want to break them loose while the camera was on. Right before we started filming I backed it out and had them lit up for a good part of the street, bouncing off the rev limiter! After that it wasn't having it, i guess its camera shy.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=52622269

[6Lolds]

Good to see it moving man, gives me motivation to keep going on mine.

[Ryan364]

I built a new trans crossmember for exhaust clearance and incorporated a driveshaft loop with it. The exhaust is ran and turned out pretty good for piecing universal kits together. I used Dynomax race bullets in the typical position under the car, then used 24" Sweet Thunder chambers for the tailpipes, it sounds pretty mean especially on acceleration. I had a transmission wiring issue that put the PCM in limp mode, thats fixed and its a completely different animal now. I am working on re-running the engine compartment fuel lines for heat soak reasons, I also have Patriot Gold dual springs are on the way. Those should be the last big projects before the dyno tune.

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[Ryan364]

The Cutlass is now finished for the most part. It tipped the scale at 3,850lbs with me in it. The best pass to date is an 11.75@115, 1.70 60ft on drag radials and pump gas. I need to upgrade the injectors, the 42#'s are at 99% right now. With injectors I have some more mods that will be done soon. First will be a switch to E85, then throw on a 90mm TB and possibly nitrous to overcome the blower running out of air on the top end.

Pinks All Out was a success and the car attracted a lot of attention. Here are some drag strip vids:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEI9bVA8WlU

http://s610.photobucket.com/albums/tt181/4troutracing/?action=view&current=MOV07235.flv

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