1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Daily Driver LQ4 Swap

[1970camaroRS]

what machine shop did you use?

Auburn Auto Machine, referred to them by a buddy in the ls1 world. Guy knows his way around late-model engines, that's for sure!

[SuperBuickGuy]

ah, I didn't figure you used either of the 2 1/2 up on the n.end. C&D is a nice guy, but my goodness is he slow and he does like spending your money. Green Performance is a crook who argues with tape measures... TRD - sigh - I think you need to catch him before his morning attitude kicks in; some days he's pretty decent, others.... well, I don't know if it's a medicated condition or not - but he's not a terribly easy person to get along with at times.

and I've heard from a couple other people that Auburn is pretty good. Maybe I'll try them on a pretty simple task I have with the Buick motor I'm building.

[1970camaroRS]

ah, I didn't figure you used either of the 2 1/2 up on the n.end. C&D is a nice guy, but my goodness is he slow and he does like spending your money. Green Performance is a crook who argues with tape measures... TRD - sigh - I think you need to catch him before his morning attitude kicks in; some days he's pretty decent, others.... well, I don't know if it's a medicated condition or not - but he's not a terribly easy person to get along with at times.

and I've heard from a couple other people that Auburn is pretty good. Maybe I'll try them on a pretty simple task I have with the Buick motor I'm building.

Mike at AAM is a great guy. Really sold me on giving him my business the second I met him. I was bringing my engine to him without any real notice and I got stuck in traffic on the 405 heading south at rush hour. I called to see if I could make it before they took off and he said he would wait. He stayed an hour after closing to go over the block, cam bearing journal, measured and inspected my new pistons and rings, etc. Went the extra mile for me and I hadn't even given him money yet. He's a very type-A straight shooter personality that I like. Gave me crap about using my stock rods but understood what I was doing and agreed to not make a fuss over it. Low and behold, I ordered a set of budget forged rods anyway and he's set my stock stuff aside and is waiting patiently for me now once again.

[SuperBuickGuy]

I'm chomping at the bit to get to the Buick - your recommendation adds another piece to the puzzle. I'm less than thrilled with the end result of the Buick build. He did a nice job, but was well beyond what the budget was.... and we could have reduced some stuff to get into the budget...

when you need the cage welded in, I know a guy. He's made a mopar roof from a pile of rust.

[1970camaroRS]

I'm chomping at the bit to get to the Buick - your recommendation adds another piece to the puzzle. I'm less than thrilled with the end result of the Buick build. He did a nice job, but was well beyond what the budget was.... and we could have reduced some stuff to get into the budget...

when you need the cage welded in, I know a guy. He's made a mopar roof from a pile of rust.

Does he tig? I'm looking at getting this bundle of sticks in moly. https://wildridesracecars.com/shop/g...-6pt-roll-bar/

[SuperBuickGuy]

He does

[Deaf Bob]

Nice thing about a big city, CHOICES
Used to have a shop called GRANNY's. Wonderful work.. Would close down for weeks in winter to build a Texan's pro stock motors..
Now his helper does model trains..
The shop that did pop up isn't timely or accurate..
Need to find somebody far... Siiigh.
At least I do my own heads

[1970camaroRS]

He does

Can you put me in touch with him?

[Deaf Bob]

Can you put me in touch with him?

Sounds like you already are...

[STINEY]

Lol....yep!

[1970camaroRS]

I missed the reference about the MOPAR roof and I thought he was talking about someone else. My mind has been very busy lately, it likes to take vacations when I'm home.

[SuperBuickGuy]

Sasquatch (Remy) brought his car by my house to weld up his roof. I've seen colanders with fewer holes.

[1970camaroRS]

Word from machine shop is that my shortblock will be done on Friday. Perfect, because my last final is on Friday. And I haven't found a job yet. How long do you think it will take me to put the longblock together, get the exhaust figured out with the new headers and get it tuned?

[1970camaroRS]

Scion Tc shop truck completes another mission.



So fresh, so clean.



Almost a shame to cover this up.



Now I just have to put in the cam, oil pump, lifters, heads, oil pan, front cover, rear cover, flex plate, motor mounts, drop the engine in the car, install intake manifold, water pump, ignition coils, radiator, hoses, intake tube, test fit headers, weld o2 bungs, weld v-band (or slip fits) and modify existing exhaust to fit and paint the headers. Plus a few misc electrical tid-bits. Oh, and the adjustable lower control arms, And rewire nitrous system, install purge and bottle heater. Then tune the whole thing. Just a short list.


At least that pretty little billet circle-d is going to be put to use soon.

[1970camaroRS]

Was doing some final math and detail work before getting to work assembling the rest of the motor. I ended up with the pistons .004 out and was hoping for .010 to .015. With the .051 head gasket that gives me 11.35:1 compression and .047 piston to head clearance. Not enough compression, and too little quench. If I got a .040 gasket I would end up with a nice tight .035 quench but 11.7:1 compression which is pushing it just too far. A .045 gasket, however, gives me 11.52:1 compression and puts me on the high end of the quench target at .041. Downside is that the only gasket that thick I could find that was in stock are 4.130 bore, which isn't bad, but bigger than required for my 4.060 bore and PRC 5.3L heads.

So pretty. Cam is in, oil pump installed.


Rear cover and flexplate.


Got the front cover, crank pulley and oilpan in as well as the lifters. Just waiting on those headgaskets.

Took an afternoon and welded the o2 bungs and v-bands on the headers.


Got them painted with some good ceramic paint. I've used this before in the past and you have to really clean the hell out of the surface and apply it when it's very warm out and in direct sunlight/under a heat lamp.