Topic: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

http://images.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/11/DOTJ-90Calais-18-550x412.jpg

So I found this 1990 Olds Cutlass Calais International Series in the junkyard last week, and it got me to thinking: this would be an excellent Lemons car! 160-180 horsepower, light weight, 5-speed, and easy junkyard parts availability. Its Oldsmobility gives it a real shot at IOE. In fact, I could even see putting an unmodified example in Class C, which would let you stomp on the other C cars like little cock-a-roaches (until the head gasket blew... wait, did I say that or just think it?). It's not much heavier than its Civic Si and Sentra SE-R contemporaries and it has a lot more power. In fact, it's pretty similar to the E30 in power/weight numbers, and you can get one cheap.

Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

if you can find the rare Quad 4 with the W41 option it would be a kick ass powerplant.

Captain
Team Super Westerfield Bros.
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Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

God, that thing is hideous.  I think I took drivers training in one of those.

"He attacked everything in life with a mixture of extraordinary genius and naive incompetence, and it was often difficult to tell which was which."   -Adams, Douglas.   The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

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4 (edited by autoxmike 2011-11-29 01:46 PM)

Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

One issue with the old N-bodies is the wheel bearings. I believe the SCCA required that the rear hubs be replaced with a Saturn part if these were raced in Stock classes, as the factory pieces would fail very quickly and the rear wheels would fall off.

I'd love to find the Buick version ofthe N-Body - very rare. 

BTW - The Pontiac version of the Olds is under consideration as a 3rd  Hong Norrth car.    Close enough?

Mike
Hong Norrth
#39 TRON Gray/Orange MX-3, aka "Sumbich"

Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

Someone once thought they would make decent race cars

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Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

Did Judge Phil find an Achieva SCX (what a crappy name) in a junk yard?  And doesn't he frequent a certain East bay junk yard that is near me.  If he can confirm, me thinks he might have an Olds in his judging future.

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7 (edited by autoxmike 2011-11-29 02:05 PM)

Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

Buick Sommerset version:
The Buick Somerset was a compact coupe produced by General Motors between 1985 and 1987. Buick had previously used the "Somerset" name as a trim-level package on the Buick Regal in the early 1980s.

The Somerset was one of a number of down-sized cars built on GM's N-body. Destined to replace the Buick Skylark, the Somerset name badge failed to resonate with the buying public. Initially launched as the Somerset Regal in 1985, the name was shortened to Somerset in 1986, when a four-door sedan version of the car was added under the Buick Skylark name.

The Somerset did not do as well in the marketplace as the Pontiac Grand Am which was based on the same platform. The Somerset did have some interesting features such as an all-digital instrument cluster and a surprisingly luxurious interior despite its small size.

Nonetheless, there were some problems with the Somerset Regal. The factory alternator was unable to adequately handle the electricity demands of the all-digital dashboard, often resulting in charging system failure. Another was the awkward design of the radio. Rather than the standard in-dash unit, the radio was mounted on a pod that rose above the heater and air conditioning controls on the center console. This made it extremely difficult and expensive for owners who wanted to upgrade the factory system to an aftermarket one.

Starting in 1988, the Somerset name was discontinued, and all models were called Skylark.


http://imcdb.org/i074904.jpg

Mike
Hong Norrth
#39 TRON Gray/Orange MX-3, aka "Sumbich"

Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

Those were very underrated cars but they only made 200 of them IIRC.  They were so low production they didn't even change the tach--they kept the old one with the 6800 rpm redline when this motor could rev to 7400.

Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

According to wikipedia the 3300 was an option for this car.  the 3300 is an underbored 3800, which means you should be able to just bolt in a supercharged 3800 in it.

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10 (edited by coolhand454 2011-11-29 02:25 PM)

Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

Or just put a Supercharged 3.8 smile

Byte Marks Racing - "You knew the job was dangerous when you took it Fred."
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Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

I've often wished my Beretta had a Quad 4 instead of the more boring V6.  There was a sweet 5-speed Calais International on craigslist here a while back.  We gave serious consideration to expanding our FWD GM crapbox racing fleet--one of my teammates actually called on it, but it had sold within hours of posting.  I can only hope we'll see it on the track someday smile

Former chief proprietor and lead bad idea generator of Binford "More Power" Racing, 2010-2013: humbly self-proclaimed the best Chevy Beretta in Lemons history.

12 (edited by autoxmike 2011-11-29 03:13 PM)

Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

Another tempting FWD GM Lemons car is my first new car ever: 1984 Pontiac J2000 1.8L Iron Duke Turbo - hatchback version please.  Mine was the same color as in the picture. Great power, decent handling, but BIG torque steer.  Rare as hen's teeeth these days...

http://dev.hatchheaven.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/pontiac_sunbird_se_turbo_85-880x544.jpg

Mike
Hong Norrth
#39 TRON Gray/Orange MX-3, aka "Sumbich"

Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

BoB wrote:

According to wikipedia the 3300 was an option for this car.  the 3300 is an underbored 3800, which means you should be able to just bolt in a supercharged 3800 in it.

Huh.... my high school auto shop had two Buicks donated by GM - a mid '90s Park Avenue Ultra with the 3800 SC, and a mid '90s (newer gen) Skylark. I always had evil thoughts of taking engine A and putting it in car B, but I didn't think the N-body ever came with a 3300/3800 stock. Thanks to the wonders of Wikipedia, I see that I was wrong - they did indeed have the 3300.

The Homer: Powerful like a gorilla, yet soft and yielding like a Nerf ball.

Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

My first car was a Calais. The only thing I remember about it was that when I had to pull out into traffic, there was about a 50/50 shot that it would actually accelerate when I hit the gas.

Sounds about par for course.

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Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

St. Mary wrote:

My first car was a Calais. The only thing I remember about it was that when I had to pull out into traffic, there was about a 50/50 shot that it would actually accelerate when I hit the gas.

Sounds like most Lemons cars.

"I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!"
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Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

I've seen  Achieva SCXs in junkyards. This one was in Denver, but they're not all that uncommon in CA.

Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

autoxmike wrote:

Another tempting FWD GM Lemons car is my first new car ever: 1984 Pontiac J2000 1.8L Iron Duke Turbo - hatchback version please.  Mine was the same color as in the picture. Great power, decent handling, but BIG torque steer.  Rare as hen's teeeth these days...

My first "bought" car (not the 69 Impala I learned to drive in) was a Pontiac 2000, the stripped down, no AC, no cassette player, 5 speed version of the J2000.  Car got 33 mpg, but was lacking in power and torque. Timing belt would evaporate at about 40,000 miles, luckily it was not an interference engine.  When the muffler rotted through it got a bit faster, but not much.

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Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

I had one of those way back when I was in nursing school.

I had a long cross country drive to clinicals two days a week and I so enjoyed hooning the crap out of that car to and from in the middle of nowhere on back roads.

It had tall soft sidewall all season radials that felt like sponge cake on turn in and would howl in corners but the little Quad 4 would howl and pull hard and work to make my drive to and from as fun as it could be.

Motor was far better than the chassis and brakes but if prepped well it could be a strong little racer.

Daniel Sycks

Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

That's no IOE car. I raced those a couple times back in the day and they have bags of power... Should be easy enough to find one - least where I come from (Lansing Michigan)

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20 (edited by autoxmike 2011-11-30 06:36 AM)

Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

Judge Phil wrote:

I've seen  Achieva SCXs in junkyards. This one was in Denver, but they're not all that uncommon in CA.

The overall production numbers for the Achieva SCX is quite low; 1146 in 1992, and 500 in 1993.  The Quad4 was a pretty great engine (power wise) for it's time - and even by today's standards is pretty strong, especially considering it doesn't have any type of  "VTAC" variable cams or variable intake manifold crap.  Too bad they blew head gaskets. It is a real PIA to do a QUAD4 head gasket.  My first one took 20 hours, but got it down to 8 hours by the 3rd go-around....

BTW - I found a nice SCX with a bad head asket for <$1000.  Im tempted but really don't want to do another head gasket on one of those cars....

Mike
Hong Norrth
#39 TRON Gray/Orange MX-3, aka "Sumbich"

21 (edited by autoxmike 2011-11-30 07:03 AM)

Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

Mick25 wrote:
autoxmike wrote:

Another tempting FWD GM Lemons car is my first new car ever: 1984 Pontiac J2000 1.8L Iron Duke Turbo - hatchback version please.  Mine was the same color as in the picture. Great power, decent handling, but BIG torque steer.  Rare as hen's teeeth these days...

My first "bought" car (not the 69 Impala I learned to drive in) was a Pontiac 2000, the stripped down, no AC, no cassette player, 5 speed version of the J2000.  Car got 33 mpg, but was lacking in power and torque. Timing belt would evaporate at about 40,000 miles, luckily it was not an interference engine.  When the muffler rotted through it got a bit faster, but not much.

The 1.8L turbo verson of the Iron Duke rally woke the car up.  It was a sleeper (in tha day anyway) with that motor and the manual trans.  In 1985 or 1986 I think the dispalcement of the turbo motor was upped to 2.0L??  Torque steer was a bitch though when the turbo kicked in because of axles lengths that were VERY different...

I just realized that I have/had a thing for early GM FWD cars.....

Mike
Hong Norrth
#39 TRON Gray/Orange MX-3, aka "Sumbich"

Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

J2000/Sunbird Info from Wiki. I still occasioanly check Craig's List for one of these....

===================================================================

For 1982, the rear-wheel-drive Sunbird was replaced by a new front-wheel-drive compact called the J2000. Appearing as a sedan, coupe, wagon or hatchback, the J2000 was powered by either a 1.8L or 2.0L four cylinder engine. The J2000 shared GM's internationally used J-Body platform with the Chevrolet Cavalier, Oldsmobile Firenza, Buick Skyhawk, Cadillac Cimarron in North America.

For 1983, the "J" prefix was dropped. This was in an effort to market the J2000 as a smaller version of the Pontiac 6000, which had a similar appearance. Both engines were replaced by a new SOHC 1.8L four, imported from GM of Brazil. This engine used throttle-body electronic fuel injection, in contrast to the carburetor that was used in the 1982 engines, making 84 hp (63 kW). A 5-speed manual was newly optional. A convertible called the 2000 Sunbird was also new for 1983.

1984 brought a new front fascia for a smoother, less angular look. Also, the lineup was renamed "2000 Sunbird", a title used only on the convertible the previous year. A new turbocharged four-cylinder was available. Based on the standard 1.8L inline-four that powered other 2000 Sunbirds, it used multi-port fuel injection, for a total output of 150 hp (110 kW). This engine was popular, and more powerful than many V6 engines in competing brands. 1985 was a carryover year, except for the "2000" prefix being dropped. A GT model arrived in 1986. It featured fender flares, hidden headlamps, and the Turbo engine standard. It was available in sedan, coupe or convertible. The GT sedan is very rare, with less than 5000 sold. The GT convertible is the rarest variant, with fewer than 1,300 sold.


1988 Pontiac Sunbird SedanA redesigned gauge cluster and new engines made news for the 1987 model year. The gauge cluster featured different graphics, and featured a 120 mph (190 km/h) speedometer on Turbo equipped models, where 1984-86 Turbo models had just an 85 mph (137 km/h) speedometer. The new engines were "punched out" versions of the 1.8L, displacing 2.0L. The base engine still used throttle-body injection, for a new total of 96 hp (72 kW), and the turbo still used port-injection, for a new total of 165 hp (123 kW). Also, the convertible could only be ordered in GT trim. The rear fascia was redesigned in 1988, and the 4-speed manual was discontinued.

Mike
Hong Norrth
#39 TRON Gray/Orange MX-3, aka "Sumbich"

Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

autoxmike wrote:

For 1983, the "J" prefix was dropped. This was in an effort to market the J2000 as a smaller version of the Pontiac 6000, which had a similar appearance.

By my math, the number 6000 = IOE.

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Daniel Sycks

Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

autoxmike wrote:

The 1.8L turbo verson of the Iron Duke rally woke the car up.

The 1.8L engine was never referred to as the "Iron Duke." That name only applied to the Pontiac 2.5L.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_Iron_Duke_engine

The Homer: Powerful like a gorilla, yet soft and yielding like a Nerf ball.

Re: How about a Cutlass Calais with Quad 4?

LTDScott wrote:
autoxmike wrote:

The 1.8L turbo verson of the Iron Duke rally woke the car up.

The 1.8L engine was never referred to as the "Iron Duke." That name only applied to the Pontiac 2.5L.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_Iron_Duke_engine

Yup - my bad.  So let's call the 1.8/2.0L the Iron Slug

Mike
Hong Norrth
#39 TRON Gray/Orange MX-3, aka "Sumbich"