Hey everyone,

I updated my post to reflect that I'm looking for a 1968-1969 Oldsmobile 442.

I'd like to find a car as close to original as possible (by original, I mean as it came out of the factory). I understand that this may be hard to come by. So, I'm keeping my options open and will consider most anything; I will consider non-original and non-numbers-matching cars.

I don't have a lot of money to spend, so a clunker piece of ... will work just fine. Something to keep my occupied while I learn more about these awesome cars and the restoration process.

Thanks guys,
Dustin

 

I'm up here in Canada,so not in touch with the U.S. prices,but I suspect for that price ,you're going to have to do a heck of a lot of "fixin-uppin".Keep in mind that restoring one of these classics will run into the 10's of thousands for parts alone,if you can find them[repop or NOS].I glibly entered into a MILD resto on my 69 442 post coupe,with the mechanics work thrown in for free by a friend,and since Dec.'08 I'm at nearly$3000.00! Don't let that stop you, as I'd LOVE to be working on a W-30 of my own...Be patient,and let the wise ones on this site guide you through the process....Derek

 

Oh absolutely. Here's a better idea of what I would like to do...

1. This isn't an investment for me, it's a hobby. I'm not looking to make money (but if I do, great).
2. I'm expecting to pay anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 for a complete restore over the next 5 to 10 years.
3. I'm not fully educated and informed about the cars, but it's a work in progress and I feel confident that I can bounce ideas off of the knowledgeable members here to save my rear end.

Thanks for the info!

 

I would seriously consider buying one ready to go. You can get quite a bang for your buck right now. You'll have plenty to do just keeping it running trust me. I repalced a fuel pump, water pump, and rebuilt the carb, just in the last week!
Give it some thought.

 

My Grandfather used to say, "Sometime if you get a bargain, you get syphillis."

FYI, Here's a $4,800 near 442 near me that's not a W-30

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/cto/1266121364.html

 

I can certainly understand where you are coming from. I do think your price is way off, even for a fixer upper. W30s of that era just don't go for that money, and the ones that do sell on the low side are usually without any documentation to show they are genuine W30s, which is very hard to prove.
I'd say with what you are are looking for, you'd need 2-3 times the $5k to get started. And if you start with a low end car to begin with, $10k-$20k won't be enough to do it.
Same car without the W will cost you considerably less, and getting a real 442 will be much easier, not that it is that easy "on a budget".
If you really are set on a W30, you may want to consider starting with something else and working your way up. You may find in the long run that you'll be quite happy with something else.

 

Very good to know. I would definitely like to get documentation and stuff like that on a car I purchase. Knowing that it'll be much more expensive to find that on a W-30 is a good thing to know!

I'll check out that link James.

 

About the link - That sounds exactly like what I'm trying to find. Obviously I have little to info about the car, but it does sound good. I'll ask some questions.

Thanks again!

 

Okay, contacted the seller. I asked some basic questions like if there was any rust, how he first found out about the car when he bought it, and if he could take more pictures of the car - wheel wells, trunk, underneath the car, the VIN #s, things like that. (Not sure if a VIN # is like a SSN lol but I've seen people asking for pictures on the forums so I wanted to ask anyway).

Do you think that's a good price for that car? Here's the link that James gave me...
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/cto/1266121364.html

I'll look around, maybe find something closer (I'm in Arizona), but that's exactly what I'm lookin' for so that should help give you guys a better idea. A W-30 would be nice, but I need to be realistic!

Thanks again!

 

I reread that post and I guess the car is partially in pieces. Does anyone know how much work that would entail to ship or tow a car like that? (This is just for knowledge in the future.)

Thx.

 

Wow, that is a great deal especially with all the documentation. The paperwork alone to me is worth $1000.00 of the asking price.

 

I have a real documented 68 442 for sale.
It's rough, needs metal work but is numbers matching.

But hey it's cheap.
Asking 1,400 for all of it.
PM for details if interested.

 

Hi Kevin,

I sent you a PM. Looking forward to hearing back from you.

Dustin