Bernhard

Bernhard Wrote:
Thanks for the reply.
Until Dave Smith and Kenne Bell there was little support for the Oldsmobile. We could not keep our 400 G from spinning rod bearings, that's why we went to the small block Oldsmobile. I remember talking to a class racer back in the early 80's, his term was Mondodollars as he spent $$$ and the car went no faster. There were always racers and engine builders that could make the Oldsmobile perform and live, it's just that that information was not readily available. Until Bill T published his book I still had no idea why we could not keep our 400 G from spinning rod bearings. Rotating mass was discussed prior and how important it was to reduce the rotating mass.

OLDSter Ralph

There were companies with products for Oldsmobile, long before Kenne-Bell and Dave Smith showed up. Isky, Emgle, Howards, Lunati, Racing Head Service, Offenhouser, B&M, Art Carr, Hooker, Heddman are that pop into my mind. Maybe not as many choices as a Chebby, but they were there. There were some car dealers and engine builders who knew how to make an Olds run and live.
Joe Mondello's reputation was built on cylinder heads. Almost every NHRA Top Fuel dragster winner and runner up had Mondello heads. He began marketing his ported and polished small block Chebby heads to speed shops. That probably led to starting Mondello Performance....of which later 1/2 ownership was sold to Lynn something or other. It wasn't until I joined this site that I began hearing what an "Olds engine Guru" Joe Mondello was.
The 400 G seems like an afterthought. Oldsmobile might have been better off stroking the 350, or just continue with the 400 E.

BangScreech4-4-2

Not likely ... Olds built it to save money by having components in common with the 455.

Bernhard

Bernhard wrote:
I was referring to Oldsmobile specific parts suppliers that addressed Oldsmobile specific issues. Yes the aftermarket support was always there, just not as large as the other brands. The 400 G has its limitations.

major tom

Using an on line calculator that uses both ET and Speed that 1/8th time equals 12.95 in he 1/4. The cutoff on sanctioned tracks is 13.49 in the 1/4

major tom

My car is 530G (the times on the right.
Dial is the speed I was aiming for (bracket racing). I lost that race with a faster time because I "broke out" worse than the other car
R/T is my reaction time off the lights, not good. He was much faster
60' is my 60 foot time, it is lousy because the olds likes to twist the tires to much, even when spiking the convertor
330 is my time at 330 feet
1/8 is my time to the finish
MPH of course is the speed at the end trap.

The fastest ticket recorded was 7.58 with MT DOT drag tires and about 12 PSI in them but I carried it around until it was illegible.

major tom

My Olds is far from stock to be clear. 455, 11:1 compression, rollers, 40 overbore, custom grind cam, ported aluminum heads, a worked over Barry Grant mighty demon, full length headers into 3" exhaust to the mufflers, then 2.25" out the back, in-tank pump, -6AN delivery and return lines, Holley regulators, LineLocs, TCI stage 2 turbo 400 with 2500 stall, Hurst dual gate, 3;55 Olds Posi w/hardened steel axles after it "rag dolled" the OEM axles, QA1 dual adjustable shocks on all 4 corners for launch control, and M/T DOT drags with very little air pressure. It's the business. And I get 8 MPG on 92 octane for the effort.

That "rag dolled" axle nearly cost me the car. It wrapped the axle up till it pulled out of the carrier and sent the car immediately toward the jersey barrier. They never did break. Installed the hardened axles and it twisted the driveline the next week. Now it has a thick aluminum driveline I had built in Portland for it. "The weakest link" as they say.

So back to the OP's question. You can make a cutlass go 12's or lower, but it is going to cost you a lot of money. Probably the reason there are so many more Camaro drag cars. Drag racing will make you moderately wealthy...if you start out a millionaire.

fleming442

You need about 19 in MT Radials, and really good prep. Once they spin, you're pretty well done. They don't recover from wheel spin like slicks.

DR_DAN

I built a stock 425 short block, ported C heads, mild cam, performer, headers, Q jet 323 gears TH400 shifting at 5200 my 69 HO ran 12.0’s .

69455

Yes a cutlass can do better than 12's street tires full exhust