1971 Cutlass sx

[Al Saggese]

I am thinking about turning my cutlass in to a stocker any tips would be well appreciated.It is a factory 455 th400 car hoping to do this for under 10K.

[Dan Fahey]

Originally Posted by Al Saggese

I am thinking about turning my cutlass in to a stocker any tips would be well appreciated.It is a factory 455 th400 car hoping to do this for under 10K.

Dick Miller has suspension components perfect for you car.
Joe Mondello has passed away but think his shop is still in operation that are the Oldsmobile Engine specialist.

Dan

[Jim Kaekel]

I don't like to be the bearer of bad news, but you're not going to be able to turn that car into a Stocker with that kind of budget.

[njk53]

X2 You will get $10K even more in the engine alone.

They're correct. Stock Eliminator is very expensive. You didn't list your location ... are you close to IHRA tracks? Pure Stock might be an option. I'm not familiar with your combination but some headers, gear, converter, wheels, tires, ... can be done for under $10K and you may run the index.

[Dan Fahey]

Originally Posted by Tar Heel

They're correct. Stock Eliminator is very expensive. You didn't list your location ... are you close to IHRA tracks? Pure Stock might be an option. I'm not familiar with your combination but some headers, gear, converter, wheels, tires, ... can be done for under $10K and you may run the index.

AND save the car later as a Collector Car..

This is what Pure Stock is for.
Racing good hotrod machinery without cutting it up.

D

[FED 387]

they only made 2175 totalSX cars in 1971 and about 875 were Convertibles--kinda a rare car--- might just wanna keep it the way it is and look for something else--- just take it out for a blast every so often I think I might be inclined to think that way--FED387

[njk53]

If I were you I would not turn a rare car like yours into a drag car. I would look onto the Racing Junk website and try to find an existing car for
$10-12K and save yourself a lot of work along with messing up a rare car.

[Terry Cain]

Originally Posted by Al Saggese

hoping to do this for under 10K.

Sorry, but your way off on your numbers. A car like that which can run a few tenths under the index will cost at least $30,000 to build.

Originally Posted by Terry Cain

Sorry, but your way off on your numbers. A car like that which can run a few tenths under the index will cost at least $30,000 to build.

In NHRA form you're exactly correct ... can't be done. Put in Pure Stock form perhaps. We put less than that in our C5 (and those parts are CRAZY expensive) and run 1 second under.

From a quick investigation it appears to be a natural C car with a factory horsepower rating of 320 and factored to 340. That index in Pure Stock is 12.75 if he can get it down to a race weight of 3570. Again, I know nothing about these cars and I may looking at the wrong numbers but with a good set of headers, 4.56 gear, loose converter, and slicks wouldn't this be attainable?