tomyturbos

Pics can be found here:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?...jg&usp=sharing

[edit]THIS CAR DOES NOT HAVE THE CORRECT HOOD. (Thanks to 2blu442 for reminding me) In other words, she's gonna need a Hood to be 'right'. Sorry for any confusion.

As I mentioned in my first post in the Newb Forum, there's a story to this car. If you want to fast-forward to the good parts, scroll down to where you see =====.

The car was purchased in Feb 1986 by my departed friend Tom --a long-time Olds enthusiast and ASE Certified technician.

In 2010 he did an extensive and expensive amount of work to the engine and driveline, the details of which are found below.

In late May 2011 Tom left the Shop, and in March 2013 he was never to return.

His objective was to make it a 'weapon of gas destruction', a streetable race car.

When he left I took over the Shop for his sake and have paid to store/keep the car for as long. I hoped to bring his dream to reality but fate saw otherwise and so, I'm offering the car for sale.

My asking price is mostly to recoup the costs I have incurred for nearly 5 years.

The car has been offered on Craigslist and has generated interest, but no follow-through.

=====
The engine has never been started since being installed.

Details:
The following is is taken directly from the Owner's Notebook (reorganized).

[OWNERS NOTES]
-Under Hood and Driveline:
400 CID/350HP Stock Spec
-Cylinder Block and Bottom End:
Block Boiled
Block 40 over
Steel Freeze Plugs
Felpro Gaskets
New Badger Pistons w/ Wrist Pins (stock) 10.5
Perfect Circle Rings
Rods resized
Crank turned
Perfect Circle Main/Rod Bearings
TRW Oil Pump
Erson Double-Row Chain/Gears
Cam Bearings
Crane Cam
Crane Lifters
Crane Pushrods
-Cylinder Heads and Top End
Crane Rockers
Heads planed
Exh ports welded and planed
Hardened Exh Seats
Valve Guides and Seals
-Trans
TH400
6 Clutch Drums replaced
Chevy Valve Body (I assume this is the TH375 Taxi version but can't say for sure)
[/OWNERS NOTES]

-The Tub:
For a car this old it is in exceptional shape. A magnet was run over the whole car and the only significant body repair was found behind the Driver's door and over the same wheel. (No surprise finding it there!) One other place some 'cancer' was found was in the rear section. It is not structural.

The repair is pictured as well as can be shown.

Floors, Trunk Deck and Cowl are solid.

-Interior:
Here we have an open book.
No seats.
Door cards and Rear Panels exist but are in poor condition.
Dash Pad exists but is cracked.
Instrument panel and any other Dashboard stuff... You probably need to look elsewhere, but there is a 442 Glove Box Door in matching color.

There's more parts -inside and out-- that I haven't even sorted out yet.

I welcome questions but please realize that I need to see $3k from this car so I'm not giving it away (it was originally marketed at $3.5k and got reaction). I can wiggle but I'm old and not as flexible as I once was. So please keep this in mind if you're making an offer.

Thanks for looking!

2blu442

Just an observation, it looks to have a 1971 nose on the car. But the rear bumper is correct for 1970. Please double check the title/vin to assure its a 1970. Good Luck with your sale! John

tomyturbos

Whoopsie!

I forgot to mention that the Hood is wrong. It's a '71-'72 hood. But the car is definitely a '70.

I'll edit the earlier post to show this.

Thanks for the reminder.

2blu442

OK, and its more than just the hood. The core support where the grills go is also 1971 and one photo shows the crush bumps on the fender, which also came out in 1971. I suspect the whole nose was swapped over. It all bolts up fine and many years ago I put a 1970 nose on a 1971 as I liked the look better. John

tomyturbos

Hmmm...

It does have a big Radiator (which I also forgot to mention before). Could that be the reason why the Core Support is different?

tomyturbos

Allrighty then.

I have looked into the issue with the nose of the car and while I am not an Olds guy, it appears that the Fenders, Grille and Headlight Nacelles are 1970 but both the Hood and Bumper are '71 or '72.

I have not yet unraveled the mystery of the Core Support.

joe_padavano

Let's try again.

The hood and bumper are 1971/72 parts.

The front fenders are 1971/72 as evidenced by the dimples along the hood opening, however the trim on the leading edges of the fenders appear to be 1970 chrome parts painted black (it's tough to tell in these photos).

The grilles appear to be 1971 Cutlass, although they could be 72, it's hard to tell with the black paint and shadowed photos. They are NOT 1970 grilles.

The stone shield is 1971/72 (1970 would have had a tooth attached to the hood).

The headlight doors and trim are 1971/72. (can't tell which since the trim was painted flat black).

This means that the core support MUST be a 1971/72 for these parts to bolt up. There isn't a photo with an angle that lets you tell which year it is, but my money is on 71 to match the grilles.

tomyturbos

Thanks for the input. As said before, I am far from an expert on these cars. The simple answers to 'what did you do to change the car' unfortunately went to the grave with the guy who did the mods. Answering these questions is part of why I am here.

From what I can tell the chrome (now blacked out) trim on the Fenders can't fit on the facelifted car from '71+, much the same as with the Hood. Correct me if I am wrong but I think both the Hood and Fenders are a completely different stamping for the two years.

Grilles and inserts... It appears he swapped what was needed to make the Hood and Bumper work despite the hood not having the 'surround' for the Nacelles. So it would appear that it was cobbled/hybrided, but I don't think this includes the Fenders. Your mileage may vary.

That said, look at the replacement cost of of what is here:

Holley 750 Dual Pumper
Edelbrock Manifold
Mickey Valve Covers
VIRGIN Engine Rebuild
as well as a Frame, (mostly) rust-free Tub, etc, etc.

Yeah, it all needs work to pretty everything up but that carb would cost $500 by itself to replace.

Adding these things together quickly comes to my price point.

Am I crazy? Should I just send this thing to the Shredder and cut my losses?
Should I take it apart and sell everything separately?

joe_padavano

Go back and read what I wrote above. I've given you the model years of the parts.

Again, go back and read what I wrote. There parts are all from the SAME year car, and that is not a 1970 model. The only thing that's cobbled is the blacked-out trim on the leading edge of the front fenders. That is 1970 trim. The 1971/72 trim is smooth to match the leading edge of the hood. Bottom line is that the whole nose was changed, likely due to an accident. The 71/72 fenders are dimensionally identical to 1970 fenders. The only difference is the dimples on the inner flange. These were added for the 1971 model year to provide crumple zone for added crash survival.

It's a bunch of non-matching parts, and there's rust - besides the obvious patches, look at the base of the windshield and the rear edge of the trunk opening. A rebuilt engine that's been sitting for years may or may not have rust in the cylinders. The carb is pretty crusty now. Etc, etc.