Your car looks AWESOME! Great work!
Thank you for sharing the build and including all the issues.

 

Tom,
Thanks for the kind words.. Posting the build through the ups and downs has been very therapeutic. Thanks for taking an interest and following along.

 

Keep going Rick, great work, still an inspiration!

 

Finally had some time to install the carpet. It fit fairly good but I'll be pulling it back out to add some jute underneath some areas. I put the sill plates on for no other reason than I bought them over 2 years ago and just couldn't wait any longer. They will be removed and put back on the shelf until the interior is totally complete.

For anyone thinking about tackling this for the first time, I would say go for it. It's just a little time consuming but rewarding when it's finished. This was my first attempt and it turned out pretty good. If I would have had the old carpet to use as a template it would have been much easier.

Test fitted the OPGI speaker kick panels. They had to be trimmed but they look like they'll work. I'll probably beef em up with some Dynamat. They will get dyed gold with some other misc. pieces that still need color. Not sure I really like them but I want front speakers and don't want to cut into the doors.

Waiting for my shifter to come back from the chrome shop. Hopefully it will be this week, then I can do the final fitting of the console. Last time I played around with it, the shifter was hitting the boot surround when I put it in 4th gear. Might have to relocate the front mounting bracket or make a wider one so I can scoot it towards the back seat a tad.

 

That is looking really good Rick, I'm stuck in neutral with my own so seeing yours is giving me motivation to find some time to get to work on mine. Very nice job.

 

Great job Rick! You are almost home.

 

Thanks Tom....I found that when I stall out I pick something real easy to get completed and that seems to give me motivation again. Keep at it and keep us posted with your progress.


Thanks Troy....I am getting closer. Spring will be here in no time and I really want to start logging some miles.

 

Rick,
Is that new carpet or the original? If it's new where did you get it and what color is it? Looks to be the same stuff I need for my Cutlass. Thanks. Oh great job by the way. I am considering a '70 442 at the moment.

 

I bought all the interior including the carpet new from Legendary. The link below shows red carpet but there's a little gold sample as well that you can click on.

Good luck finding your 442!

http://www.legendaryautointeriors.co...LD/detail.html

 

The 442 is looking great, keep up the good work. Let me know what you decide with the rims when you get to that point. Thanks

 

I am going to keep the aluminum SS1 wheels and tires that came with the car for now. I'm going to keep an eye out for other rims so I can switch them up when I get bored. Here's what the other options are:

1-Standard painted rims with poverty caps.
2-SSIII's painted body color
3-Centerlines....As fat as I can stuff them in the back and skinny in the front.
I've always loved the look of these on race cars.

 

Got the shifter back from the plating shop. They did a nice job considering the gouges it had.

 

I always liked the SS-II rims with the argent color on the '70 cars, especially when done in the original flat type paint. They have a nice contrast with gold and other bright type colors.

Please let me know if you find a trim ring that fits on the aluminum SS-1 rims. I can almost get one type to set properly, but it will not go the final quarter inch. The aluminum rims will look almost identical to the steel SS-I rims if a trim ring will fit.

Otherwise, I will need to look a good used set of the aftermarket 15x7 SS-1 rims, which should take the factory trim rings. Staying with the SS-1 rims since that was the rim type ordered with my car.

 

I decided to take a shot at installing the headliner. I watched a couple of videos and headed to the shop last night.Spent about 4 hours taking apart and cleaning up all the bows and tack rails. Made sure I marked everything before I pulled it apart. Well, almost everything. I marked the holes and bows on one side figuring they would be the same from side to side. When I reassembled them today, I'm pretty sure some of the bows used different holes from one side to the other. The bows form a little wear pattern in the holes. I stuck them back how I think they were installed from the factory. I can adjust once I start stretching the fabric. Spent another 4 hours on it today to get it to this point. I'd go broke if I was doing this for a living but so far it's not been too tough. Stay tuned.

 

There is a lengthy headliner install thread in a different forum. It may help you.

- Eric

 

Thanks Eric

 

Rick, I'm sure with you taking your time it'll come out great. Your car is heading towards completion and once it is done you'll be cruising around and enjoying the hard work you put into it. Looking forward to the finished product.

 

I have been logging some hours here lately so I'm ready for the spring/summer. I actually threw a seat in it Sunday evening and went for a little cruise. It's hard not to drive it when I know all I have to do is turn the key.

 

I posted these in the Interior/Upholstery section but wanted to add them to my build thread as well. Still have to glue up the driver side sail panel. Also need to affix the velcro fasteners on the back side of the panel. Then I have to move over to the passenger side and do the fitting, gluing and fastening to that sail panel. The sail panel areas are by far the most tedious to work on. Especially when you didn't have anything there to start with for reference.

If you see anything that doesn't look right please speak up. I'm pretty much feeling my way through this. Also, if you have experience or tips for finishing out the sail panel areas I would appreciate you sharing them with me.

Little side note: I had to laugh as I was putting this headliner in. I remember my high school 442 had a tear in the liner above the driver side visor. I would stuff all the contraband I didn't want my parents to see up in there. Just like our 42nd president proclaimed, I too, swear I never inhaled.

 

Started installing my stereo equipment. I ended up purchasing a hidden head end unit (Kicker KMC20) that will mount in the trunk. It has a wired control screen that will eventually get mounted in a gauge housing that W70442 (Randy) will be making for me. (My brand new 3 gauge housing I bought from Randy will be for sale).
The head end unit is an am/fm/marine receiver and is also Bluetooth and satellite radio ready. I have 2-Kenwood 6x9 5 way speakers in the package tray and 2-6.5" Kenwood 3-way speakers in the kick panels. Speakers will be driven by a Kicker 300 watt amp. I also have a left over Alpine sub amp and a sub enclosure with 2-10" Alpine sub-woofers. I wanted to maintain somewhat of a stock look in the package tray area. To do this I had to under mount the speakers. I had to cut some spacer rings from MDF board so that the mid-range and tweeters in the speakers wouldn't hit the grills. At first I installed the spacers on the trunk side of the package tray. This gave me the clearance I needed but the jute insulation and the cardboard tray were getting distorted. I ended up cutting the jute away from the footprint of the speakers and installing the spacers between the grills and the cabin side of the package tray. I like the way it turned out.
Oldspackrat hooked me up with some grills that cleaned up nicely but the studs weren't long enough. The pic below shows how I made extensions for the studs. I couldn't find any 8-32 rod couplings so I found some threaded thingamajigs and cut them down to make couplings. A small length of 8-32 rod and we were good to go. Thank goodness for mom and pop hardware stores!

 

Nice job on the rear speaker fitment Rick along with putting together a nice sound system. I on the other hand will stay in the realm of analog sound a while longer before I cross over to the digital side. Great tunes, great ride, great life.

 

Thanks Tom

I love my in dash AM radio and will still use it. However, I've always had a thing for loud rock'in stereos and I just couldn't help myself.

What's going on with your build? Any new progress?

 

It's still slow Rick but I've been able to get sometime on it when the weather has cooperated - no heated garage and concrete floors makes for a tough time to work on it in the winter. I'm working on finishing up with the gas tank (still) and getting the rear bumper ready to bolt back up. I'm looking forward to this spring as I will take a few days off to really catch up on this project - stay tuned.

 

Tuned in and ready for updates!

I need to rattle Troy's cage too and see what he's up to. I was enjoying his Saturday morning visits to the body shop for pics and updates.

 

Nice work on those grills!

 

Cage Rattled!! Unfortunately it's pretty empty right now, not much to report. Only thing I can say is I ordered and received my Coan 2800 stall converter, but haven't mated the engine and transmission yet. Laundry room project at home and my mother is getting her kitchen redone after 40 years, spending a lot of time at Lowes with her.

Body shop, I slipped back into the original rotation. He really wanted to tackle the windshield channel and slipped me a head in the rotation until he got it done.

I really like what you did with the speaker covers. I had a similar thought when I get to that stage, Now I know how to do it! Looks great, Rick!!

 

Sounds like you have your hands full right now. Hopefully you'll be able to get back on it soon. Looking forward to progress pics.

 

Subscribing, another great looking car resurrected. Fantastic job!

 

X2

 

Yesterday I pulled my 3 gauge housing out and installed the new housing that 70W442 made for me. I know not everyone will appreciate the look but it's very functional and can be removed rather easily if needed. My stereo is complete and sounds great. Everything but the controller is tucked away in the trunk.

 

I'm not in love with the brightly colored, lighted head unit faces that are common today, but overall, that looks fantastic!

- Eric

 

Thanks E. I think I can change the color and the brightness of the display but I haven't really had a chance to play with it yet. I agree they are somewhat annoying.

 

The to do list is getting shorter and my self imposed May 12th deadline should be doable. Here's a list of checked off items from the last three weeks that my buddy John at Dusty Boots Restorations and me have completed.

Installed deck lid numerals
Replaced power brake booster. (Need to return defective one to OPGI. Should be fun.)
Installed new shifter mounting plate. (Shifter handle was hitting console in 2nd and 4th gear.)
Installed new wiper motor, cleaned, painted and greased the wiper linkage.
Troubleshoot why John was getting shocked when he turned the wiper motor on high speed. Turned out the switch was not grounded through the dash ground strap.??? Installed jumper from mounting screw to ground and all is good.(Sorry you got lit up John!)
Replaced a couple of wheel lug studs and all the lug nuts. (Long story)
Replaced push rods...again (Another long story)
Changed oil/filter
Fine tuned motor. John has this thing running really good. Lot's of power, no ticking or pinging. Music to my ears.
Installed OAI air cleaner.
Installed 2.5" exhaust tips.

To do list:

Install rear quarter interior panels
Install ash wells
Install carpet. I already have it pre-fitted and cut.
Install seat belts
Install seats
Order part for horn button plunger and install.
Purchase a spare rim/ tire.
Install bumper jack
Install misc stickers in engine bay, door and trunk area.
Install under hood lamp assembly.
Modify E brake pedal to clear kick panel speaker.

 

Sounds to me like the car's done.

- Eric

 

She's coming along great! You've made a lot of progress since last summer. She'll be ready for the Olds Nationals although it's too far away for me this year (Kingsport was perfect, NM not so much). That was a fun day...

 

Looking forward to the finished product Rick. Very nice work so far, keep it up.

 

If it were like any of my remodeling projects at the house it would be.

Thanks....My wife and I are going to NM but without the car. Maybe 2018???

Thanks Tom

 

Took a little cruise to "cars and coffee" Saturday morning with my son. Had loads of compliments on the car and was feeling great. Driving back home I started hearing a knocking sound. Sounded sorta like "dieseling" but with the ignition on. Didn't have time to worry about it because I had to get into work for a bit. I called my mechanic buddy and took it to him tonight. He's thinking a main bearing may be the culprit so we are taking it to the machine shop that built the bottom end. I've read so many horror stories about these Olds motors being built wrong. I'm afraid I might be another victim.
We drained the oil tonight (has about 50 miles on it and was changed two weeks ago) and there were no metal shavings. The oil seemed to be thin and dirty for the amount of time it was in there. Oil pressure is between 40-50 on startup and about 20-25 when warmed up and idling. Engine temperature never gets over 200. Usually runs about 190. I guess I'll just have to wait until we take it to the machinist on Thursday to see what he thinks.
Keeping my fingers crossed that the motor doesn't have to be yanked and rebuilt again.

 

I hope you don't have to pull the motor and go through the bottom end again. I went through this on a Jeep 4.0 engine that started spitting cam bearings up after 282 miles. I got a warranty replacement engine but had to R&R it. The warranty replacement engine had issues as well. Keep us posted!

 

I hoping too Rick that the motor does not need to get pulled. This is supposed to be the period where you get to enjoy the car after all the hard work you've put into it.