Thread: 1988 Cutlass Supreme 5 Speed W body

So tomorrow, after an exhausting 5+ year search I believe I'm finally scoring an 1988 Cutlass Supreme International 5 speed. It appears like its in decent shape and also was told it runs good. The clutch is spent though. So assuming this car is what I think it is my plan it to do a slow overhaul of the entire car. I sold my 40th GTP and My 85 Monte Carlo is pretty solid so its time for a new project. I need suggestions as to what direction to go with the car. I want to keep it an original stock looking car and if I upgrade its performance I want to keep it somewhat true to its stock form. Im thinking:

1) Rebuild stock engine and tranny. If I go this route, any suggestions?

2) Get a McLaren Turbo Grand Prix donor car(since there are many that aren't nice yet aren't terrible) and swap the motor over and have a 3.1 Turbo 5 Speed Cutlass

3) Do a 3800II SC swap. Would it fit? What would be the obvious challenges?

4) Do a 3400 v6 swap. Thinking the 60 degree v6 would be easiest swap and would net about 80 more hp than the stock 2.8


Thoughts?

its hard to beat a L67 swap, i think the only issue you might run into is some minor firewall clearence with headers (friend has a 91) that i helped him swap a SII L67 into.

I wonder if the 90 degree 3800 would hookup to the Muncie 5 speed seeing as how the Cutlass is a 60 degree?

getrag 284 trans? it does, contact jeff kuntz as he was the pioneer of the manual swap

An '88 would be a 282. The 284s were reserved for the LQ1 (3.4 DOHC) motors to handle the increased hp and tq, and that motor wasn't introduced until '91. Speaking of which, that might be another option. It should obviously bolt up to the trans, and if you don't mind some custom fabing of parts, a turboed LQ1 would beat up the L67 pretty nicely.

Every motor has its pros and cons. Changing the timing belt on almost ANY DOHC motor is part of the regular maintenance. And just like any regular maintenance requirement that goes ignored for too long, it inevitably leads to a much bigger, much more expensive problem. However, take care of them like you're supposed to, and there's a pretty good chance they'll last you a long time. We had a local member here who had a '95 GTP. I haven't heard from him in years, but I just found a post he made a few weeks ago (apparently, he drives a Ford Fusion now).

http://www.fordfusionclub.com/showth...=605777&page=2

"Won't bore you with the details, but I put almost 309,000 miles on her, on the original engine- bottom end last saw daylight when it was first assembled, but I've had the top end apart twice to fix spark plug threads and a valve refresh."

Not too shabby.

Originally Posted by redlinepontiac

getrag 284 trans? it does, contact jeff kuntz as he was the pioneer of the manual swap

Its my understanding the 88 had the Muncie 5 speed. Which i've read may be a Getrag?

Originally Posted by SnowFlake

Muncie is Getrag.
I'd do a turbo 3800 swap Lol
But you will shred the 282.

Agreed. Think of it this way. If they had to mate the LQ1, which only produced 215 hp and 220 lb-ft of tq in it's '96 - '97 pinnacle (stick not even available at that point) to a 284 instead of a 282 because it wouldn't handle the power, you can bet even a stock L67 would eat the 282 alive, let alone a modified one.

Originally Posted by SnowFlake

I loved my 2 LQ1 cars. They loved high RPM, with a chip (yes they were actually chips back then) I'd wind em out to over 7000rpm.

Not to mention it sounds infinitely better than any possible exhaust combination for the 90° motors whether gargling at idle, lightly accelerating to 3000 RPM, or winding up to that 7000 RPM.

That sucks that the 282 can't take more torque. Its not like we're talking huge numbers. Although I have a world renowned tranny builder in town here, Competition Transmission. They did the build on my 2004r for my 85 Monte Carlo and did a great job. Its a harder tranny to work on. I wonder if this thing could be beefed up by the right people.

Thanks man