cutlass-westport

Hi

I'm the new owner of 1962 cutlass convertible; it's a remarkable fawn colored survivor car in quite good shape. Previous owners replaced the water pump and radiator, fuel pump and put in an electronic distributor; I had to replace the generator with an alternator earlier, but it needs some additional TLC to make it a more enjoyable summer-fall daily local driver. I'm joining here to get some opinion/advice on some of the options for working with the this car (so I'm new to classic car ownership.)


To that end, the springs and shocks currently have the charm of an old hotel mattress so they are necessarily getting redone - and while I'm at it the 13x6" rims with the 4 hole stud pattern (that have a very limited tire choice) are getting updated for 15x7 5 stud rims and a disc brakes conversion on all 4 wheels; also including a dual master cylinder upgrade; all with parts from BCCP. So before long it will be riding on radial tires instead of the bias tires it came with and the car hopefully wont tell me about every pebble/bump in the road nor be as prone to lock up and skid as it is now... So far that wasn't too hard to figure out and source parts for.


Two possible additional modifications seem to merit consideration and I'd welcome the perspectives and advice of others who have done this or similar work on their classics.

(I've clearly already crossed the line from keeping it as stock as possible but I'm assuming that's not out of line here.)


1) Figuring out the magnitude of effort and advisability of a transmission swap. Without knowing more I'd say a 4 speed manual would make the Cutlass a lot of fun to drive (and it was a (rarely ordered) option when originally sold so this change is well within the "intent" of the original designers. So absent any knowledge or insight I'd chase that. I've come to understand that Borg Warner T10s can mate with the 215 Al V8 in the car (and were the original transmission) but are hard to find. T5's apparently also have been used with good success? D&D Fabrications seems to be the source for bell housings for this mating, but pedal sets seem a challenge? Can members who have done this share their experience insight with me?

I also understand that replacing the existing 3 speed automatic with a 4 speed automatic such as 700R4 is a popular option but I emailed one owner selling his 62 Cutlass who had done this who said it was a very big undertaking needing a lot of floor pan & firewall surgery and ultimately wasn't worth the effort so that dulled my enthusiasm. My current transmission "works" fine but likes to get into the 3rd gear in the first 100 yards of driving and stay there. A good transmission shop says there is nothing "wrong" with it - works as designed - just not a "spirited" design. There seem to be a lot of haters of the OEM Hydramatic so is the 700R4 a good way to go ? (my one negative data point notwithstanding.)


2) Going from the current 4 barrel Rochester carburetor to a Sniper EFI system. I pause a little because I understand its a one way trip due to the necessary hole that gets drilled in the gas tank to put in the pump. Does that necessitate taking out the existing (working) fuel gauge? The current carburetor is quite finicky requiring fairly frequent tinkering that is getting a little old. The mechanic who helps me says the finicky behavior is ultimately caused by unleaded gas; he has same issues with his personal rides that he knows how to tune. Have ClassicOlds members had a good experience with the Sniper EFI conversion for this car or is it ill advised etc?



Less controversial but worth asking advice on is the following:

Seat rebuilding. I've had an upholstery shop take off the vinyl and re burlap the bucket seat springs and wire them together a bit to give a little more collective strength but the seats still sag perceptibly left....How do you hit the reset button on seats in this car? Nobody seems to make a vinyl/foam replacement set so the alternative is to spend a lot of money for new custom vinyl but that doesn't seem to address the underlying issue of the tired springs so not sure I'd feel new custom vinyl would be successful. (And existing fawn-colored vinyl is completely intact.) I probably didnt find the most sophisticated upholstery shop to do the work I had done so can a better one get better results? Or are 60 year old seat springs just done, no matter how you tinker with them? Are there other more supported classic seats (eg GTO, Mustang) that are a close modification to swap in?

thanks in advance for comments and advice

Cutlass Fan

Can't answer most of your questions, but I would suggest a few things:
You need to find a new mechanic that knows how to set the carb. It shouldn't need constant tinkering because of modern gas.
Also I would get a second opinion on your tranny. There should be a way to adjust the shift points.
A 2004r transmission would be a much better choice than a 700R4 as it has much lower parasitic horse power requirements.

ART T

You do not have to put the fuel pump in the tank, it can be mounted externally.

redoldsman

You can get new foam for the seats. Try Pete Ciadella Upholstery. They do classic Chevy interiors but the bucket seats in 60's Impalas should be the same and they have new foam. Here is a link.

https://www.ciadellainteriors.com/

joe_padavano

Ames Performance sells the seat foam for the Y-body buckets in their 61-63 Tempest catalog.

The TH200 is the only modern GM automatic that fits the tiny tunnel in these cars. Despite the reputation, it will be fine behind a 215. The factory 4spd was a T10. The T5 is a nice choice but requires some mods. D&D sells the repro bellhousing.