Olds in the house!!!!

I picked up a 69 442 today for a 5 speed swap. He doesnt like driving it cause it doesnt go down the freeway.

Upon further inspection someone should have there thumbs removed!!!
No vac advance hooked up, missing bolts intake, throttle bracked broke and 2 fans!!

Nice looking Olds.
Lets play a little game. With out Googling it. Who knows waht the 442 designation stands for..
I know for sure because a family member was an Olds engineer at the time.
Here we go...
[P [P [P
Torchie

4 barrel 4 speed dual exhaust

I vote the same way as LB.

4 speed out! Will pull starter and bell housing tomorrow so I can change clutch. Then test fit to see if it needs tunnel modifications!

lowbudget50 said:

4 barrel 4 speed dual exhaust

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Yep. That’s the original configuration. They kept the 442 label even once they started to put in automatics. My high school girlfriends oldest brother drove them as did my next door neighbor .
I guess you will have to call this one a 452 LB
Torchie

That is too nice a car to be in the wrong hands. Some of the best car deals I made were because of yayhoos that didn't know what they were doing.

lazarat said:

That is too nice a car to be in the wrong hands. Some of the best car deals I made were because of yayhoos that didn't know what they were doing.

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Agreed. It sucks people pay money to "mechanics"
Who don't have a clue. This car runs like poo. I mean it starts ok, but it has NO power. That little mustang we just finished would have ate this thing aive!! I think its just running, it seems really lazy. Put some timing in it, Hook up the advance and fix the throttle.

lazarat said:

That is too nice a car to be in the wrong hands. Some of the best car deals I made were because of yayhoos that didn't know what they were doing.

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Agreed. when I was fresh out of high school a girlfriend traded a rotted out barracuda for caprise in great shape that fouled plugs used trans oil and ran like crap. One modulator valve, a set of plugs and wires later and that 403 ran like a scalded dog.

I read once that 442 stood for 400 cubic inches, 4 barrel carb, dual exhaust. At the time GM had a ceiling of 400 cu in on mid sized cars. That was the reason the first GTO's were 389's, and the SS Chevelle's were 396's. Olds just happened to have an actual 400 in their lineup.

lowbudget50 said:

I picked up a 69 442 today for a 5 speed swap. He doesnt like driving it cause it doesnt go down the freeway.

Upon further inspection someone should have there thumbs removed!!!
No vac advance hooked up, missing bolts intake, throttle bracked broke and 2 fans!!

Click to expand...

Gorgeous car but no wonder it didn't run properly... just needs a lil Minter magic rubbed on it!!!

lowbudget50 said:

I picked up a 69 442 today for a 5 speed swap. He doesnt like driving it cause it doesnt go down the freeway.

Upon further inspection someone should have there thumbs removed!!!
No vac advance hooked up, missing bolts intake, throttle bracked broke and 2 fans!!

Click to expand...

Two fans work just fine sometimes, but you don't stack them like that. If he really wants the flex a lite, it should be a pusher on the front.

Wow, there's some sketchy stuff on that car. I bet when you're done it runs great!

Bamamav said:

I read once that 442 stood for 400 cubic inches, 4 barrel carb, dual exhaust. At the time GM had a ceiling of 400 cu in on mid sized cars. That was the reason the first GTO's were 389's, and the SS Chevelle's were 396's. Olds just happened to have an actual 400 in their lineup.

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You're right that GM used to have a displacement limit, however I had heard it was higher but can't find anything to support that. Buick had a 430 CI engine from 67-69, olds started using a 400 CI engine in 1965, and cadillac had the 429 in 1964.

I read the other day that the BOP 455's were just under the limit, but that doesn't account for the 500 Caddy. Don't know. [S

You're right that they changed the definition of 442 when the 400 was released in 1965. That's what I read too.

Trans is in!!!! Not done, but installed!!

Snopro, the limit was only on the mid sized cars. Full sized were the sky's the limit.
John Z. Delorean, head of Pontiac at the time, was the one who pushed the limit first with the 389 GTO.

Bamamav said:

Snopro, the limit was only on the mid sized cars. Full sized were the sky's the limit.
John Z. Delorean, head of Pontiac at the time, was the one who pushed the limit first with the 389 GTO.

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Yeah.That was back before he tried to push Coke... [ddd
[P [P [P [P
Torchie

Torchie said:

Yeah.That was back before he tried to push Coke... [ddd
[P [P [P [P
Torchie

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kenny c said:

Agreed. when I was fresh out of high school a girlfriend traded a rotted out barracuda for caprise in great shape that fouled plugs used trans oil and ran like crap. One modulator valve, a set of plugs and wires later and that 403 ran like a scalded dog.

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I once purchased a 70 Impala convertible with 350 motor. 90 bux.

Car had a brand new top. Body and interior had normal wear. But the car was trying to run but mostly running on two cylinders. These two cylinders were next to each other on the distrib cap, opposite cylinder banks. Very confusing.

Then, after examining the rotor for the 5th time, I discovered that the dark smudge underneath was actually a burn spot. The spark was arcing inside the distributor, but when it got to the space where the vac advance was, bingo, it would spark those two cylinders!

Car hauled ass and it cruised Lauderdale beach all summer before I sold it for a healthy profit.

Bamamav said:

Snopro, the limit was only on the mid sized cars. Full sized were the sky's the limit.
John Z. Delorean, head of Pontiac at the time, was the one who pushed the limit first with the 389 GTO.

Click to expand...

Gotcha