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'64 Olds Starfire Convertible

L78fanatic said:
I remember trying to sell our '77 Olds Cutlass, and I hate selling cars to just about anybody...such a pain! Our Cutlass was perfect and a gorgeous 2 door coupe triple white with freezing A/C (in Florida too!). I had a hell of a time selling it because the transmission had a small fluid leak at one of the fittings...likely a seal because it ran and drove super nice! Anything transmission related will likely scare away just about every potential buyer, honestly. So, I hope you get it to work out so it doesn't turn into a money pit for you! Starfires are nice though...my Brother-In-Law back in the day had a '62 Starfire in white over blue interior that was a fabulous looking car. At night when opening the door all the lights in the interior would make you say "WOW"! At least is did me when I was about 13 at the time...I'll never forget that car...really cool! Good luck figuring this dilemma out and with the sale.
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I had a beautiful, fantastic running 76? Cutlass S (round headlights) in a cream color ext/int with a tan top 2 door coupe, 350/T350 that was our DD that she drove (I DD a 68 F100 short bed) ice cold air, we drove it to Oh twice then my wife (1st) washed it with a Scotch Bright and took the shine off the car but boy was it Spotless LOL, then later she decided to check fluids while getting gas knowing I always did that, well she filled the trans dipstick tube to the very top with Motor Oil, drove down the block from the gas station and the car stopped moving, I traded the car in on a 76 T/A and we DD that for the next 7 yrs till we split
 
Shovelrick said:
I had a beautiful, fantastic running 76? Cutlass S (round headlights) in a cream color ext/int with a tan top 2 door coupe, 350/T350 that was our DD that she drove (I DD a 68 F100 short bed) ice cold air, we drove it to Oh twice then my wife (1st) washed it with a Scotch Bright and took the shine off the car but boy was it Spotless LOL, then later she decided to check fluids while getting gas knowing I always did that, well she filled the trans dipstick tube to the very top with Motor Oil, drove down the block from the gas station and the car stopped moving, I traded the car in on a 76 T/A and we DD that for the next 7 yrs till we split It looked like this one only looked new LOL 😂
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For shits and giggles (and being thorough and informed), I called Ross Racing Engines and spoke to Tony and he explained their entire process. He asked what car it was going into and I told him it's a '64 Oldsmobile Starfire Convertible and he said that's it's a very rare car and not many of them left. He said most were sold up north and have found their way to the boneyard in the form of rusted heaps. The hardtop is much easier to come by and he said those are a dime a dozen, and he said including my car he knows of only 7 '64 Starfire Convertibles existing, and when I told him there was no rust though anywhere and the car was all original (including the paint which need to be repainted), he thought even with the TH400 conversion (which includes everything except the driveshaft), I should be able to get $35k to $40k for it all day long (and possibly even as high as $50k), and it'll most likely be someone from the northern states trying to buy it.

So, that puts a whole new light on things. His setup costs $5,500 (+ the cost of a driveshaft I'd have made) and if I can still get $35k to $40k out of it (profit of about $15k to $20k or better), I think I might pull the trigger and have him do a TH400 (he said they can do a TH350, TH400, 700R4, or a 4L80E, but the overdrives cost a bit more). If I go this route, I'd have a new driveshaft made, and keep the original trans and driveshaft to go with the car when I sell it.

Thoughts? I just want to make sure I'm looking at this right......
 
BTW, a BOP trans would not directly bolt to the 394 as the back of the block is part of the bell housing. What Ross does is pull the bellhousing off and machines a new bellhousing to fit the trans and the block so a standard torque converter bolts to the custom flywheel they machine.
 
kmakar said:
BTW, a BOP trans would not directly bolt to the 394 as the back of the block is part of the bell housing. What Ross does is pull the bellhousing off and machines a new bellhousing to fit the trans and the block so a standard torque converter bolts to the custom flywheel they machine.
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Is $5,500 including labor or is this a kit you have to assemble?
 
kmakar said:
Oh, and new torque converter. Th400 is rebuilt to handle 500hp.
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Is the Slim Jim a 3 spd auto? and would the stock shifter hook up WO mods?, $5,500 and you install seems steep to me but it seems like Everything seems steep to me now a days
 
Shovelrick said:
Is the Slim Jim a 3 spd auto? and would the stock shifter hook up WO mods?, $5,500 and you install seems steep to me but it seems like Everything seems steep to me now a days
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It'd be a replacement and the slim jim is a 3 speed (although a weird one). The shifter is P,N,D,2,1,R whereas the TH400 (and most standard cars) is P,R,N,D,2,1.

Not keen on spending the money, but if it keeps the value and I can sell it in the $40k range, I'm good with it. I'd still rather have a '66 Impala Convertible.
 
kmakar said:
It'd be a replacement and the slim jim is a 3 speed (although a weird one). The shifter is P,N,D,2,1,R whereas the TH400 (and most standard cars) is P,R,N,D,2,1.

Not keen on spending the money, but if it keeps the value and I can sell it in the $40k range, I'm good with it. I'd still rather have a '66 Impala Convertible.
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I had a 65 Impala SS Vert Maroon Blk top & Int stolen in 86, I put a 350 & T350 from a 73 Suburban I had that was a rust bucket but ran good, in 86 cops just thought it was an old car and didn’t care about finding it even though it was stolen by a mechanic I hired to work on the car at his home shop, guy moved out of state, I think
 
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