88 Brougham wire wheels and blown head gasket

[lbiason]

I have an 88 Brougham with a damaged front end and blown head gasket that I'm restoring. I found an 88 fender, and am now pulling the bumper, headlight surrounds, grill and other front end pieces from an 89 (the grill's different but should fit right?). In the same boneyard is another 89 that has chrome wire wheels. They look original, just a small amount of rust with a cadillac emblem in the center of the wheel, smaller than the emblem on the wire wheel covers of my 88. Will they fit? Anything I should be concerned about regarding changing to wire wheels?
When I get the head gasket repaired, I'm considering adding dual exhaust and changing intake manifold and carb to Edelbrock, but I've read a few things that say the new manifold won't make much difference if I don't change the heads to the 180 hp version. True or not? thanks, luis biason

[CaddymanTom]

I think I can help you with the wheel question. I switched my reg wheels to original real wire wheels last year. No issues at at all. Just make sure you take the wheels lug nuts as they are hard to find. I have an 87 and mine are off a 90 Brougham. Good luck

[90Brougham350]

Ah man, another set of wire wheels. With only a little rust they should clean up real well. We'll need pictures, of course!

[Johnny Bravo]

Originally Posted by lbiason

When I get the head gasket repaired, I'm considering adding dual exhaust and changing intake manifold and carb to Edelbrock, but I've read a few things that say the new manifold won't make much difference if I don't change the heads to the 180 hp version. True or not? thanks, luis biason

Not only won't it help, there will be a major mismatch between the E-Brock intake and the small port 7A heads.

If your going that route you'll need 5A heads from any 1980-84 Olds 307, plus the matching cast iron exhuast manifolds. Not that hard find in the junkyards, probably cheaper and easier to buy a complete used Olds 307 or 1977-80 350 engine.

By the way, the E-Brock performer intake is no better that the stock A4 intake and Quadra-jet carb, save your money.

[lbiason]

Thanks for the input; that's what I've been getting on other 307 sites. We'll see how much damage / work is necessary with the new head gaskets. At that stage, I'll either shop around for the 5a heads or get a new used motor. luis biason

[lbiason]

Thanks. After spending 4 hours taking the rest of the front end / clip, including the bumper shocks, I tried pulling the wheels. no luck - because the special lug wrench wasn't in the car. If I can find the wrench, I'll try to pull them this weekend. luis

[lbiason]

Brian: If I can find the special wrench to pull the lug nuts, I'll pull the wheels over the weekend. Found everything I needed to repair the body front end - replace, to the paint shop and then to mechanic for the head gasket. Should be up in a month and will then post the pics. thanks, luis

[1990CaddyBrougham]

if you cant gget the wheels off. And they have the center caps i will buy them off you. Thats the only thing im missing for my wheels.

[lbiason]

Sorry I didn't see your message earlier. The wire wheels looked ok but the only problem seemed to be the center caps. there were only 3, with one missing. The remaining 3 were chipped and plastic was cracking. If I go back out to the junk yard during the next month (my cars in the shop getting body work now), I'll double check for you and let you know.luis biason