 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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 Bare steel bodies are cool to look at, but it's time to start the bodywork phase on the S71 Olds. This time, we sprayed the underside of the car with PPG DCX 1791 etch primer and then DP90 epoxy primer. Our painter Randy uses SATA spray guns and 3M safety masks and gloves with this stuff. DP90 is black and tough, so it will form the base on the bottom of the car body. The next step is to brew up some DP60 - a blue version of the same stuff - to shoot the inside and outside of the body. Then the filler work begins!
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 We completed most of the metal repairs on the "S71" Oldsmobile, but we knew there would be a few more surprises when we got the car body back from the media blaster. Sure enough, the paint stripping process revealed a couple small holes in the floor, but nothing major. This car was treated to both plastic media blasting and glass bead, and you can see the difference in the clean steel left behind.
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 The original dash panel was pretty rusty on our 1971 Olds "S71" project. These cars tended to hold water and moisture under the stainless windshield trim, and that would cause big rust holes to form under the trim, and then the driver's feet would get wet. The sheet metal to repair this area is not yet reproduced, so we contacted Desert Valley Auto Parts to have a section removed from a rust-free parts car to install in our Oldsmobile.
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 The quarter panels were next on the list of repairs on the "S71" Olds project. We were contemplating this area for a while, as the original steel had some rust in the wheel well lip and along the bottom edge, but it was otherwise in great shape. We elected to do a minimally-invasive repair and use part of a replacement quarter panel skin from YearOne to do the job.
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