I bought this car in august of '11 when I was 17. I was cruising around craiglist and found this beat up 62 f-85, no interior or drivetrain and it was pulled out of a junkyard in the 90's and continued to sit. Already having a car at the house I jokingly said to my dad that I found a good drag car and I want it. Suprisingly he went for it, I didnt have the money so I called up everyone I did yard work for and made the rest of the money I needed in two days. I ended up getting the car for $325 and had plans of a stripped down drag car, just give it what it needs to run at the track. I didnt think it would take long, a year tops, but here I am 2 years later and its just now rolling on its own again. Ive since decided to build it with full interior and keep as many functions, Wiper ie., working as possible. I wanted to wait to post my build here until it was rolling after I realized it was going to take forever, but here it is.
My dad was getting ready to redo the front end on his nova, and give me his front axle. Being on the hamb and having a drop axle and a car to build of course I thought gasser!!! That thought ended soon enough, I didnt want to use leaf springs. So I bought some stuff to do coil overs with four link I think it came out great, looks clean without a panhard bar, and leaves a lot of room for an engine.
Then on to the back, again leaf springs got the thumbs down, Its already a four link car in the back so lets make it work. Lower mounts worked great where they were but the uppers needed raised a few inches. I spent a ton of money on the rear end, didnt realize they were that costly but i wanted it to be strong. Its a gm 8.5 with eaton posi, 30 spline moser axles,5/8 screw in studs, moser bolt in axle ends and bearing, motive 4.30 gear and a girdle cover.
And the stuff I've done in the backround during the suspension process. I have a 455 im putting together for it, cut the floor out to fit the new drivetrain, and bought a transmission. I wanted something strong and something that will let me drive on the freeway with those 4.30 gears, so its not a hamb friendly tran if there is such a thing, its a t56. This is were im at right now. Next on my list is mounting the engine and trans. thanks for looking I hope you enjoyed it.
X2. Olds motor as well. The engine compartment in these cars is a bitch, really small. Nice solution.
It is really small in there, hoping ill be able to fit headers and a clutch fork In there with the starter and steering on the same side. Ill probably end up going hydraulic with the clutch. I've also been thinking about ways to mount a chevy starter on the passenger side. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Ive been working on motor mounts for it recently, hoping to get them done tomorrow or friday. I have to buy a bell housing so i can bolt up the trans and make a transmission crossmember.
your going to want to move those rear shocks out closer to the wheels if your not changing the rear axle length. learned my lesson on a 70 chevy did the samething . car wobbled all over .
Thanks, I like the "gasser" look but Im trying to build an actual drag car with some classic touches. this is the second time ive been told to move the shocks outward, different reasoning though. Im going to leave them right where they are, I have a front and rear sway bar for it. Thanks for looking
no pics but the motor mounts are done. I'm thinking about making a mid plate to hold the engine in until I get my bell housing.
Really like your car, I've always wanted an Olds powered unibody post F 85. Do you have any details on the motor? I agree with what bbc 1957 gasser says on your rear shock location however. Please keep the build pictures coming. Nice car.
The engine is nothing special, not even done yet. Its a .030 over 455, 9:1 comp, torker intake, im going to get a cam ground and run a centrifugal supercharger.
havent updated in ever! its been on the back burner for about 7 months now. since the last update i decided to go more drag then street. I put a chris alstons back half in, eliminator II 4 link. going away from the t56 in favor of a manual vb th350 and likely a blower instead of centrifugal.
if interested more pics and in depth thread http://classicoldsmobile.com/forums/racing-high-performance/39319-62-f-85-cutlass.html
Very cool build! I always wanted to build a similar car only I was thinking convertible. Mainly because I knew where one was for cheap. Deal never happened your doing a hellufa good job! Joe
nice car.Mom had a convertible in 63..first time I've seen a 4 link set up on a front end looks really good.
Planning on bringing this car home after years in storage. I recently purchased a Vega box from a fellow member, other then that it’s been small progress. It now has a 4l80e, kilduff lightning rods, 15x12 rear wheels( et wheels could not make the wheels I wanted in the specs I needed so I ended up with billet wheels) with 31x13.50 tire, I decided to switch from bbo to sbo( I have a diesel block) but plan on sticking with the 8-71. Not hamb friendly anymore so no pictures and probably the last post I’ll make here but if interested I am a regular on the classicoldsmobile forum( same username).
I’ve been playing with this on and off lately, slowly turning into more of a hamb friendly build. Still has modern wheels and 4l80e, I decided to put my little 350 in it, bought a magneto for it. It has a running engine in it for the first time since I bought the car, fired it up for the first time a few weeks ago.
I actually almost sold it here recently but realized I’d regret it. I don’t have a timeline to finish it but work on it here and there when I feel like it, hardest part these days is spending the money on parts. A couple years ago I bought the rotating assembly to build a 424 inch small block, billet 4” crank, lunati forged rods, custom racetec pistons/rings, blower hub, 4 bolt main caps, etc but none of the shops around me wanted to do the machine work for the main caps so I put that on the back burner and slapped my 350 in
All those 215 parts you have and you went 350 SBO? All good, and good to see you making progress on this one again. Hopefully the 215 still resides in the O.T. German coupe...
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