Brian Kennedy's '85 Cutlass

This is my 1985 Cutlass. I bought the car in Sep 1991 right after I finished flight school in Pensacola, FL. I was a Marine Lieutenant on my way to flying the AH-1W SuperCobra.
The car spent all its life in Alabama, so the body was in great shape. My wife immediately dubbed the car "Old Blue" as it was old and well, blue. The name stuck and I fell in love with the car while driving out to Oceanside CA and then back to North Carolina for my next duty assignment.
The car was bone stock with a 231 V-6 and not much in the way of power. I needed to bolster the performance through a bigger engine. In 1992, I found an Olds 455 from a 1972 Delta 88 that was now in a 78 Trans Am in Goldsboro NC. I bought it for $100 and spent the next three years on various overseas deployments building this car in my head, on paper and in a Mondello catalog.
I put Centerline AutoDrag wheels on with 295 50s in the rear and 205 60s up front. I had the car painted Blue-Black Sapphire (PPG) by Elwood Williams of New Bern, NC in 1995. Finally, in May 1996, I parked my car (now with no reverse and the engine smoking badly) at the auto hobby shop at MCAS New River NC and gutted the entire car from the rear end all the way forward to the radiator. I purchased all my parts from Joe Mondello and Summit Racing. Wayne and Earl Edge of Edge Bros Machine Shop in Jacksonville NC refurbished, rebuilt and balanced my short block. Wayne prepared the heads with a three-angle valve job, back-cut stainless valves and new guides. I run Harland Sharp Aluminum roller rockers on the heads. The block features windage tray, 10.25:1 forged pistons, Mondello crank, steel rods and an Engle JM 20-22 cam. The induction system is an Edelbrock Performer manifold and a Holley mechanical 750. A GM HEI with an MSD 6AL box produces ignition. The AC and heat had to be cut out to make room for the engine.
The transmission is a BOP TH350 with a 2200-2800 stall 11" Turbo Action Convertor. The rear end is a Ford 9" with 3.00:1 gears and a Chassis Works Ladder Bar setup. GySgt Pate (USMC Ret) welded the rear end in. The exhaust system is a Hooker SuperComp system with mandrel bent 3" aluminum pipe. Some cool guy back in the woods bent it for me, never knew his name. The interior features a stainless dash with a full complement of Auto-meter gauges. Greg Anderson, a friend from ANDYPAC in Cleveland, Ohio cut the stainless steel dash. My Dad, "Wild Bill" Kennedy, applied the Oldsmobile Bronze paint to both the block and the transmission. It looks good, (especially for a Pitt graduate!). If you are interested in putting an Olds big block in a mid 80s G Body drop me an e-mail.