Project 442

[CaptainHenreh]

And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, 
and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, 
one of the four beasts saying, 

Come and see.





Current To-Do list:

1. Remove seats, clean and shampoo carpet
   
2. Remove headliner, re-finish
   
3. new heater core and hose routing
   
4. Align hood and add hood spring
   
5. Tyres
   

[Jake]

Dammit Rex.

[.RJ]

MOAR!

[Kaan]

aviators and slick backed hair. this is too fancy for a mullet.

[JPolen01]

No more fancy Japanese whiskey. This calls for PBR by the case.

[CaptainHenreh]

My first "car memory" is an old one. I couldn't have been more than 3 or 4, and my dad had a Monte Carlo LS 5.0. He'd always had big GM muscle cars. Skylark, El Camino, the Monte. He loved that car, black with porno red interior. 

Later, I found myself growing up in the back of one Oldsmobile or another. The malaise FWD ones. A Cutlass Calais here, a Cutlass Supreme there, mom and dad bought GM until I was well in my teens. When I was 16, I was driving my mother's Oldsmobile Achieva S, with the 3.1 V6, probably made all of 140hp...swerved to miss a deer, understeered off the road, overcorrected, rolled the sonofabitch. Turned her over so gently none of the glass broke, I was trapped inside, just after the apex of a blind corner on a country road. I don't think my mom ever forgave me for that, she lvoed that car.


I have a complicated relationship with Oldsmobile. 


So I've had this itch. I've never owned a muscle car, haven't had anything with a V8 for "fun", and when my wife asked me what i wanted for my birthday, I told her, jokingly, "An 80's Olds 442". 

The 80's G-body was the last of the GM body-on-frame cars, and there were three "performance" models:

The Monte Carlo SS
The Oldsmobile Cutlass 442
The Buick Grand National.

The first two made like a grand total of 180 horse power with their "305 and 307" cubic inch engines, whereas everyone knows about the turbo buick v6. 

They...did not light the world on fire. Hell, the Cutlass 442 was basically just an appearance package, harkening back to a day when "442" meant 400 cubic inches and a 4 speed manual with dual exhausts...by 1987, the 442 meant a 4 speed transmission and a 4 barrel carb. 

But there's potential. And they ain't making any more, ya dig? 



So...I found one in florida. It needs work, but it looks like the body has been off and the floorpans and fenders have been done. Some aftermarket crate motor is in it, meaning I won't feel bad about "ruining" an original. 


Thus begins the project.

---

[Evan]

Yay Rex is back! No more Prius lectures or fuel economy spreadsheets.

Car sounds good :thumbup:

[ScottyB]

first of all, dammit its good to have you back.  thought you rode the spool bus out to Gainzville never to return to the land of hot nasty speed.

second, i think G-body's are cool, i don't care what anyone says, so i'm really looking forward to his.  maybe because i grew up in the 80's.  AND you can actually make them handle with a little work which is neat.  bonus points for the John Player's Special lookalike black and gold theme.

lastly, i also love 442's.  first muscle car i ever really liked.  i remember buying a 442 tshirt at one of those "iron it on" shirt shops in ocean city maryland when i went to beach at 6 years old.  i thought it looked cooler than anything else on the wall.  as proof, one of my favorite models is my 442 pro touring thing that's been collecting dust since forever.  so from one 442 fan to another i wish you lots of burnies and hoonage.

[CaptainHenreh]

Awww, thanks guys.

So let's get to the nitty gritty.

Issues that need to be resolved, in no particular order:

This fucking headliner is trash. I am going to try to do it myself, like we did the jeep that one time but I'm afraid the headliner won't come out with the windshield in. This would be both bad and stupid. 

Window & Sunroof seals could probably be done.

The paint is shit. Florida Sun has taken it's toll.

There's no heat. Whoever put in this motor removed the A/C and just disconnected the heater core. I'll need to pressure test it, but then I think it's just a question of routing heater hoses. I'd like to put AC back in it as well. Maybe. We'll see.

The tires are starting to dry crack. I'd really just rather put on some new wheels (17's?) and get some meat on there but I'm hoping the tires will last that long.

Only the rear speakers work. Fine I guess? For now. 

And that's not even touching braking, handling, or go-ing. Lots of work to do.

[CaptainHenreh]

Add to the "To-do" list:

The freakin speedo definitely does not work. Unless this is the most stable car at speed ever, I'm definitely not doing 90+mph around the back roads of my neighborhood.

The blinker indicators don't work. 


The shifting is...brisk. I have to think it's just the way it's supposed to be, because shifting from P to R to D is nice and smooth, no thunking or anything, but GET ON IT YOU GOT HAIR ON YER PEACHES OR WHAT and this bitch will chirp the first two (out of three!) shifts. 

It does look the business tho:

   

[Jake]

This is so very not my thing, but I'm glad it is yours and you found what appears to be a good one. Should be a super fun project and I'm looking forward to what you do with it! What do the girls think?

Wikipedia says:
"The 1985 4-4-2 used an OZ code THM 200-4R transmission (as did the 1983–84 Hurst/Olds). Both 1986 and 1987 4-4-2 used the KZF code THM 200-4R. The KZF removed much of the shift harshness of the original OZ coded transmissions, but were still firmer than the run-of-the-mill overdrive transmissions used in the rest of Oldsmobile's lineup."

So is yours an '85? Regardless, it sounds like firm shifts are just part of the fun.

[WRXtranceformed]

Oh man I can't wait to see this one

[CaptainHenreh]

This is so very not my thing, but I'm glad it is yours and you found what appears to be a good one. Should be a super fun project and I'm looking forward to what you do with it! What do the girls think?

Wikipedia says:
"The 1985 4-4-2 used an OZ code THM 200-4R transmission (as did the 1983–84 Hurst/Olds). Both 1986 and 1987 4-4-2 used the KZF code THM 200-4R. The KZF removed much of the shift harshness of the original OZ coded transmissions, but were still firmer than the run-of-the-mill overdrive transmissions used in the rest of Oldsmobile's lineup."

So is yours an '85? Regardless, it sounds like firm shifts are just part of the fun.

Mine is definitely an 87, but someone replaced the engine with this crate 355, and the transmission with what I believe to be a built TH350.


My wife heard me coming from the entry of the neighborhood. "Is that thunder? It's getting closer it's...it's in my driveway. Ok. It's Rex."

[HAULN-SS]

Nice. The most complicated thing do on these cars is suspension due to clearance and geometry issues. See my thread for cliffs notes. The th350 is a stouter transmission. What ratio is the rear? You might benefit with putting a higher diff in depending on how many torques and what trans you end up in. I used to hear fairy tales of people getting 22-25mpg set up right.

[V1GiLaNtE]

The tires are starting to dry crack. I'd really just rather put on some new wheels (17's?) and get some meat on there but I'm hoping the tires will last that long.

AWWWW SNAP. Sexy Rexy is back in the game and this time he's bringing the displacement squad. There is only one appropriate action for the old tires and it better be a fucking viking funeral send-off burnout. 

[Jewels]

This is so very not my thing, but I'm glad it is yours and you found what appears to be a good one. Should be a super fun project and I'm looking forward to what you do with it! What do the girls think?

Mine is definitely an 87, but someone replaced the engine with this crate 355, and the transmission with what I believe to be a built TH350.


My wife heard me coming from the entry of the neighborhood. "Is that thunder? It's getting closer it's...it's in my driveway. Ok. It's Rex."

So I asked Hannah yesterday afternoon what Daddy got for his birthday and Father's day.  She was sooooo excited to tell me that his big gift was a pair of shoes.  Really nice leather ones.  Oh... and a card. 

I suppose she's not seen the car yet, but it was really funny to me, because I figured she'd tell me all about it.  But nope.... but Rex those shoes must be magnificent.

[CaptainHenreh]

So I asked Hannah yesterday afternoon what Daddy got for his birthday and Father's day.  She was sooooo excited to tell me that his big gift was a pair of shoes.  Really nice leather ones.  Oh... and a card. 

I suppose she's not seen the car yet, but it was really funny to me, because I figured she'd tell me all about it.  But nope.... but Rex those shoes must be magnificent.

They ARE nice shoes! 

She has not seen the car, it literally arrived yesterday.

---

WHAT'S IT GONNA BE, SPEED OR JAIL?

[CaptainHenreh]

Lol fucking ashtrays in the backs of the seats but not a cupholder in sight...

[HAULN-SS]

Oh yeah..not a single fucking cupholder. In my auto you can put the drink between your legs....if you end up doing a swap, good luck with that

[Steve85]

I really didn't think we'd see another G-Body in here. Spent half my HS nights out in one variant or another of these. Love the paint scheme and I think it has the best front-end of all the variants! Bonus points for the hi-rise hood - a proper muscle look.

If it's a 355 crate my guess would be one of GMs "ZZ" series with the way that sounds!

I can't believe you found one without cigarette burns in the driver seat