My 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass S

[Olds 307 and 403]

Torque converter bolts tightened. Had a bitch of time getting the exhaust in place, especially the driver's side, broke a stud, all sealed with Optimum Grey RTV at the manifold connections. I just need small metric fasteners to put on the torque converter cover, a spring for the shifter linkage and a small cotter key. Then on to the brakes.

 

[Olds 307 and 403]

Torque converter cover on along with the linkage is on. Back line on wheel cylinders just want to twist so new Ni Cad lines on both sides along with the new wheel cylinders on the back, driver's side was leaking quite a bit. Brakes and front wheel cylinders are a year old. The master cylinder came with plugs for bleeding and I bench bled with an engine pushrod. I will probably bleed it again tomorrow to be sure.

 

[Olds 307 and 403]

Bench bled the master cylinder with the plugs in, rear lines, had to do them each twice to get a decent looking flare and wheel cylinders replaced. I am going to buy a vacuum pump to bled the brakes tomorrow, otherwise betting it will be real bitch to bleed.

 

[Olds 307 and 403]

Well, the 350 runs surprisingly smooth and quite with a bent connecting rod. Also the trans shifts OK for stock calibration and the lock up works. Now the bad. I hooked up the alternator power terminal to a ground stud instead of the power connection, took a minute, know a big spark on ground connection is bad. The oil gauge showed 25 and didn't move. I had another gauge, showed 0 this time. Good flow at the tee going into the hose, definitely oil pressure. Take of the line at the gauge, one drop came out while running. The casing inside must have collapsed, no obvious kinks, grrr. Now the other even bigger issue is basically NO BRAKES! I changed the the rear lines, rear wheel cylinders and master cylinder. I bench bled the master cylinder and even switched back the old master cylinder, only fluid at the front brakes. I even unthreaded the sensor on the distribution valve to try and manually move it with a small screwdriver, a no go. I also try pulling a bunch out of the front wheel cylinders to reset it again a no go. Taking it for test drive was interesting with almost no brakes. I need to figure this mess out. Maybe a new distribution valve or clean out the old one, not sure, kind of pissed.

 

[Rocketman269V]

NO BRAKES! I changed the the rear lines, rear wheel cylinders and master cylinder. I bench bled the master cylinder and even switched back the old master cylinder, only fluid at the front brakes. I even unthreaded the sensor on the distribution valve to try and manually move it with a small screwdriver, a no go. I also try pulling a bunch out of the front wheel cylinders to reset it again a no go.

Two things to check. See if you have fluid coming out of the line to the rear brakes AT the distribution block. If you do, go to the flexible brake hose on the rear end and see if you have fluid going to it and coming out of it. These hoses are known to deteriorate over time.

 

[Olds 307 and 403]

I am getting a power bleeder and going from there. There was fluid at the lines when I pulled them.

 

[Olds 307 and 403]

Still waiting on the the brake bleeder, should be here this week. I decided that my 160 high flow was a better choice than the regular 195. If I had another 180, I would have gone that route, had the 160 sitting here.

 

[Olds 307 and 403]

Finally had time to hook up the Motive power bleeder. I got a good seal first try 15 inches held empty. I threw on 2 liters as per instructions. I had instant fluid to the back. I bled all 4 corners, got quite a few air bubbles. Pulled it off, pedal feels pretty good and actually stops the car. I need to renew the insurance, top up the radiator and take it for a test drive.

 

[Olds 307 and 403]

Brakes aren't bad a fair bit of movement before they grab. The front shoes might need set up tighter, I set the rear quite tight. Glad I went with 160 thermostat, around 185. The oil pressure is meh but not as low as the 260.

 

[Olds 307 and 403]

Had to change the rad cap, was pushing past. It snuck up to 200 with the bad cap, 170 to 185 cruising. Now 160 to 170, might see 180 plus in hot weather. The speedometer is bang, trans had the perfect gears as is.

 

[Olds 307 and 403]

Umbot, dap a do bot. Diddly wappa do bot, yeah a yeah.

 

[Olds 307 and 403]

Has anyone seen a axle shift on a car? I have plenty of clearance on the driver's side rear tire. I actually had to grind the lip and stainless trim to clear the outside of the passenger rear tire, was contacting on the outside. A little disturbing to me, the 275/60R15 should have fit.

 

[Rocketman269V]

There's a number of things to check. How are your control arm bushings? Also see if there is a difference from left to right on the distance between the rocker panel and the frame rail. I had a customer that had a frame off resto done and, when the body was put back on, they got it crooked. He had lots of room on one side and none on the other. Has the car ever been wrecked? A quarter panel repair might also be the culprit.

 

[Olds 307 and 403]

Not wrecked that I know of. I will do some measuring tomorrow night.

 

[Olds 307 and 403]

Well the driver's side measures 2 3/4" from frame to brake drum. The passenger side measures 3 1/2" frame to brake drum. So the passenger side wheel is pushed out 3/4" further. Nothing obvious maybe there was an accident or manufacturing tolerances?

 

[Rocketman269V]

Did you take those measurements with the car on the ground? If you did it with the rear end hanging it will change the measurements do to the suspension movement. Also, be sure to check those control arm bushings. A little wear in those can cause the rear to shift.

 

[Olds 307 and 403]

On the ground and in the air. It could be the control arm bushings. Still some contact.

 

[Olds 307 and 403]

I did a touch more grinding, removed some sharp rotten pieces and moved the stainless trim out slightly as I still had minor contact, switched tires side to side to check. If it is wasted control arm bushings, I will probably just buy aftermarket arms as I am planning more power anyways.

 

[Olds 307 and 403]

So I hooked up my Equus timing light with a tach and strung it through the cab. I have an Autometer tach ordered to work with the Mallory 6AL box. I have the idle set about perfect, 950 in park 700 in gear. It seems I have another governor that shifts at 3000 rpm full throttle, good for this bent rod motor. Also the lock up torque converter drops it exactly 300 rpm. Some claim 200 to 250 rpm, I always find them drop 250 rpm at minimum. Now the last time I ran a 2004R in this car with the same 2300 stall with 235/60R14 it ran at 100 rpm higher than I calculated, 1700 rpm vs 1600 rpm at 60 mph. I am thinking and others have found the same, BFG Radial TA's are shorter than advertised. With the Cooper Cobra radials 275/60R15, I run 1400 rpm at 60 mph, exactly what calculated. Both speedometers were checked with a GPS and right on. Of course the other side effect of the bent rod is I no doubt took out the rod bearing. Until I did that, this motor had exceptional oil pressure. I did slightly flood it the other day and had the choke pull off slightly rich and will probably adjust it slightly more. My point is at warm idle it drops to almost 0 and the oil light flickers on. I will probably drop the oil and put in some fresh 20W50. But honestly the most annoying part of this motor is the tick from the cam. None of the lifters are stuck, all move, checked while it was apart. Nothing is obviously flat but a lobe must be going. I actually ran an adjustable valve train and ran it so tight I bent pushrods, it was still there and still is with new bridges and rocker arms. Either way I will pick up the Ford studs this Summer, just need to figure out if it is the 302 or 351W that has the proper diameter studs that are 1/2 longer for the Halo so I can send the 403 block to the machine shop at the end of Summer.

 

[Olds 307 and 403]

Better. I have also been having issues with the turn signals. It seems with all the wind and rain, water hit the flasher and no signals. Tried the spare from the trunk, then working and now not working, got back the right side. I will try a new flasher tonight