This is not your grandfather’s 1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass! Three Pedals, a manufacturer and fabricator of all things pertaining to manual gear selection, gave this Olds a whole new attitude, now dubbing it the ‘Tire Fryer’ aka, the ’24 Karat Olds’ (as named by the owner).
When this Cutlass rolled into the garage over at Three Pedals, it had less than 32,000 miles on the odometer. The paint was 100% original, and the interior was totally rip free and well-preserved. Trouble is, it was a bit lacking under the hood.
The first order of duty was to remove the original engine and transmission, which was replaced with a far more powerful setup. A 7.4L 454ci V8 from the owner’s parted out 1997 Chevy Suburban was given a gold coat of paint and makeover for use in the Cutlass — as a nod to the golden-hued Oldsmobile engines of yore.
This part was meant to be a surprise to the owner, and they captured the reaction on video:
The throttle body fuel-injection was replaced with a Demon 4-bbl carb, mounted to an Edelbrock Performance aluminum intake manifold. Trans Dapt motor mounts hold the beast of an engine in place, and the oil pan had to be changed out to clear the A-body crossmember. The engine is fitted with a custom fabricated idler pulley bracket, designed by the team in-house.
Flowtech headers replaced the stock cast exhaust manifolds, and a custom dual exhaust carries the flow into bullet-style mufflers, then exiting in front of the rear tires. The car is just the right amount of loud, without being totally obnoxious — no matter what you do on the exhaust of a big-block car, it’s not going to be quiet by anyone’s standards.
Backing the engine is a rebuilt turbo 400 automatic transmission, and backing that is a shortened and rebalanced driveshaft with new u-joints. The team didn’t seem crazy about putting an automatic in the ride, after all, the shop is named after the manual transmission pedal setup, but they did as the owner wanted. We hope the owner is saving up money for tires, because he’s going to need it!
Elizabeth is hardcore horsepower enthusiast with unmatched intensity for making things faster and louder. She wakes up for power and performance and only sleeps to charge up for the next project that’s heading to the track. From autocross to drag racing, Elizabeth is there with you, so stay tuned for her unique perspective on horsepower news, builds, tech info, and installs — with her, it’ll never be boring!
