I just recently bought a 71 442, the guy i bought the car from said it may possibly be a 4 speed car and that there were only a small number of those produced in 71, but unfortunately the car doesnt have the original motor so the number on that engine isnt correct, and for more bad news the car is an automatic right now, but it's a really "mickey mouse" shifter etc. Also there is a hole that looks like it is for a clutch petal next to the brakes, so it got me thinking that maybe some genious tried to make this car a hot rod and screwed it up. This is my first olds so i'm looking for some help from a seasoned veteran. thanks a lot
Tom

 

Crawl underneath or look under the carpet to see if there's a shifter hole in the floorboard. If so, does it look factory or not? Should be a slight hump in the transmission tunnel with the shifter hole in it. John

 

If your car was a four speed car, the hump would look like this:



Even if it's removed, you'll have a large hole in the trans tunnel - versus a smaller quarter-sized one - for an automatic shfter cable. You'll probably be able to see evidence of seam sealer around the base of where it was too.
Terry

 

Can someone tell me the correct hurst shifter type for a 1972 442 W30, bench seat car. Thanks

 

The shifter body is a hurst competition plus with an offset. The handle is part number 7305 with two bends in it and an "H" on it. Same on all 70 -72 Cutlass and 442 non console applications.

 

I can't seem to find the correct 7305 shifter, will any others work for it. Thanks