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1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass "S71"  The original owner wanted a 442, but the pricetag on a 442 was a little out of reach, so this 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass S was ordrered new with every 442 option except for the 455 Olds engine. It's got the bucket seats, 4-speed, Outside Air Induction fiberglass hood, sway bars, disc brakes... and a 350 4-barrel. It's an interesting car, and here's where the journey back to greatness begins. Our transformation includes building an Olds diesel-block based stroker motor with the help of BTR Performance , a Bullseye Power turbocharger, FAST XFI fuel injection, a Tremec TKO 600 5-speed, and a pro-touring style suspension and brake package. Follow the build here!
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 Sometimes the simple solution eludes you. In this case, we've been gearing up for the turbocharger install on the S71 Olds project. We've got our diesel block and new parts set aside, and we're using the original 350 engine to mock up how we want the turbo to fit in the car. We were expecting a ton of fambrication, as turbo manifolds or headers are not readily available for 1971 Olds 350 engines, and we were expecting to have to make our own. However, after studying the stock manifolds, a potential solution became apparant. From a performance standpoint, turbo cars don't seem to care if you're running headers or manifolds, the power levels are similar. And cast iron is as strong as anything when it comes to exhaust parts. We notices that the Olds manifolds had a provision for the single exhaust version cars that merges the left and right exhaust pipes together... can we use this factory style setup to build our turbo exhaust? Let's find out!
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 In this phase of the S71 Dash construction, we're integrating the Auto Meter volt meter, boost gauge, and stereo mounting face into the lower parts of the dash. Once the pieces were cut and fit, they were sandblasted and powdercoated, then the plastic dash was trimmed to accomodate the gauge itself. Here you can also see the 3M adhesive we used to mount the face to the original bezel in the top part of the dash. We are still seeking out the "right" indicators for the signals and high beams, but they can be added anytime before final assembly. The last part will be to have the dash pad restored by Just Dashes, then it gets assembled and wired!
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 The next phase in our S71 Dash Re-Do was to powdercoat the new face with Eastwood's Wrinkle Black powder coat, and the look matches the factory plastic dash pattern perfectly. Then we mapped out where to place our two remaining gauges, which meant we had to move the stock radio location over a little. We made another steel faceplate for that area designed to hold the volt meter and a newer style "DIN" sized head unit.
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 The stock dash face in our 1971 Olds "S71" project wasn't going to work for us. First off, the dash didn't have adequate instrumentation... it only had "idiot" lights for crucial items like oil pressure and temperature. Second, the dash just didn't look right with the 3-hole configuration and wood grain. So we decided to make a new dash face and load it with Auto Meter Ultra Lite gauges we obtained from the YearOne Speed Shop. We like large gauges, which made fitting them a trick, but we like the asymmetric look. We installed the silver faced 2 1/16" fuel gauge in the left lower corner, then added a 2 5/8" Water Temp gauge next, then a 3 3/8" Speedo and Tach, and finally a 2 5/8" oil pressure gauge. We're still adding a boost gauge and a volt meter to the hole left by the original ashtray, but that comes later. After measuring the size of the face, we plasma cut some 18 gage steel for the panel, and used Blair Holcutters and the HTP Plasma Cutter to make our holes. Tap Magic cutting fluid keeps the cutters sharp on the drill press. The last items to add will be the turn signal and high-beam indicators, and then we'll powdercoat the whole face with Eastwood's Wrinkle Black so the gauges "pop".
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 Here are some shots of the S71 Olds project's body being mounted back on the frame. We used a YearOne body mount hardware and bushing kit to make the body sit properly on the frame and to replace all the old, crusty bushings. Click Read More for the pictures.
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 The engine choice has changed a little on the Olds S71 project. It's still an Olds motor,
but we've decided to run a 350 Diesel block based engine because of its much higher strength. We sourced a
DX block from a running 1981 Olds 98 Regency and pulled it apart to see
what's inside. These pics show the internals of the Diesel block and
the large webbing and overall meatier guts of this block. It's also a
factory roller lifter setup. Below you can see the stock 350
block (gold) for comparison. The new recipe as outlined by Bill Trovato at BTR
Performance calls for an offset ground Olds 425 crank, high-strength
big block Chevy rods, custom pistons, MAHLE coated bearings, and a
trick Comp Cams valvetrain to build a 428 cubic-inch Olds stroker. We're
running Edelbrock aluminum heads and intake, an MSD ignition , and a
complete FAST EFI system on the car.
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 The rear suspension on the Olds "S71" is designed to keep this car stuck to the road in the turns, and provide smooth articulation. The Global West Negative Roll rear suspension makes it happen.
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 We want the S71 Oldsmobile to have terrific handling on the street and on in road course and autocross events, so we chose to use the Negative Roll system from Global West for the suspension parts. The Negative Roll system utilizes taller spindles, tubular control arms, sway bars, and special springs to change the front suspension geometry and make a car that keeps the tires planted better when cornering. This is especially important when using new technology tires with large, flat contact patches. Braking is handled by a set of Baer rotors and calipers to bring this machine to a halt - repeatedly - with minimal fade and in short distances.
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 Media blasting removes all the old paint and rust, and also most of the original seam sealer. After we picked out the remaining old caulk, Randy masked the bottom of the S71 and brushed in a 3M body seam sealer to reseal the panels.
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COMING SOON!
Door Skin
Replacement
How-To on
1968 Camaro!
S71 First Start
Video!
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