I have a 1985 442, white over silver paint and it's nice but not perfect. Now before I purchase the new stripe and emblem kits I was thinking of adding a couple of things and this is where you guys come in. Can anyone here tell me if the '85 442 ever came with the spoiler on the deck lid or a euro front clip, or both? I'd like to add both but, even if it is only and '85 Cutlass, I still don't want to turn it into something that it's not.

 

The "Euro clip" is the 1987-1988 front end. Not sure about the spoiler.

 

No and no to your questions. As noted, the euro headlights were later and the wing was only on the 1983-84 H/O

 

Joined in 2010... First post 2016.... That's gotta be some kinda record.

Your 442 looks like it's in really nice shape, you rarely see the white ones. There is one for sale locally ( white ) that the seller claims is a very low production in white color, I don't know that but usually I see grey blue or black ones.

While your car may not have come w a rear spoiler I think it would look good on there.

 

Thanks. my car has a rather interesting story behind it. I actually traded a '97 Cavalier Z24 for a pretty rusted out '87 Salon and later bought a solid '81 Supreme parts car. All this time a buddy of mine had this 442 in his impound lot after he was called out to tow it from a DUI call but he had a long wait ahead of him before he was finally able to file for a lost title. In the mean time, I traded my two cars for a '92 Camaro and a couple months after that, I found out the title paper work was in the mail for the 442. I told him I wanted it and had a Camaro to trade him and now here it is, in my garage. Yeah, I joinded a long time ago to get some information and read up on a few things because one day I knew I'd have another Toronado or a Cutlass. As for the euro clip, I kind of thought it was only done after the '85 but I've seen the deck lid spoilers on several 442s but I honestly don't know what years they have been on. As far as I can tell, they've been on the '83 and '84 Hurst and every 442 after that. Like I said before, it is only an '85 Cutlass but I've been told of the 3000 442s produced in '85, it was the only year for white over silver, so it proably actually is a somewhat rare car and I don't really want to add anything to it if it wasn't correct for the year. Thanks for all of the info. I really appreciate all I can get before I start prepping this thing for paint.

 

You say it is only an 85 Cutlass... Do you know who added the 442 color scheme since that would not be correct for the Cutlass model? If it is actually a 442, the engine VIN code would be "9" for a 442 versus "Y" for a Cutlass...

 

The euro front end was only offered on the 1987-88 Cutlass line.

The wing was only factory installed on the 1983-84 H/O and the 1988 Cutlass GT LV2 package. The latter used up H/O parts in inventory as a final blow-out for the RWD Cutlass line. The wing is available repro and many owners of these cars have added them, but they were never factory installed on the G-body 442s.

 

Sorry, it is a true 442, I didn't mean to make it sound like a base model Cutlass there. I just meant it's not as nice as it would have been if it were one from the 60's or early 70's. I just didn't want to add a bunch of stuff to turn it into something it's not. It sounds like the only thing I might add before paint would be the spoiler. Thanks for everyone's input here, you guys are awesome.

 

In my opinion the '85 442 is the pinnacle of the G-body Olds performance cars. (Well, OK, "pinnacle" is stretching it.) The '85 has the better heads and exhaust manifolds and flat-tappet cam instead of the smaller ports, tubular manifolds, and roller cam of the '86 and '87. In my experience it pulls a little stronger. The transmission behaves better than the later 442s, too. It's got the 3.73 rear end, unlike the '83 H/O. And it doesn't have the silly lightning rods the two H/Os had. It also has a nicer interior than the '87. Personally I can take or leave the '87 Euro nose; I prefer the earlier ramp noses. The one great thing the '87 has going for it is the 120 mph speedo.

 

Hey ElDuderino, your 442 is AWESOME!

 

Thank you. I really lucked out when I got ahold of it.

 

Ok, the deeper I look into this car, the more I wonder if it really is a 442. If it's not, it has every detail down to the 442 emblems on the door panels. The VIN comes back as a 3.8, that's what made me start doing a little research. my lable in the trunk is so faded I can't read anything on it but I'm going to attatch the pictures I have. It appears to have a AC kill switch on the gas pedal, it has the dual snorkles and chrome cover on the air cleaner. It shifts like a bandit like the tranny in the '85 is supposed to. it has obviously had some paint work done and nobody put the lable back in the door jam, so I'm at a lose there too.

 

I ran the VIN and came up with the same as you. IIRC you should have a 9 in the VIN. With that

Pat

 

There's no fuzz on this, it is not a 442. The eighth position of the VIN MUST be a "9", period.

 

I realize the dash plate doesn't have a 9 but where else on the car might the vin number be located on these cars? Could some moron have changed out a cracked dash and replaced it with a good one from a v6 car and not switched the vin plate? Everything else says 442, and I do mean EVERYTHING. Not that I really care, because I still like the car and it's in very good condition with just over 72,000 miles on it. It's a great clone job, if that's all it is! Thanks again for all of the help guys.

 

It is what it it looks like a great car just enjoy it.

 

Thanks, I really do enjoy it regardless of what it is(I think my boy enjoys it even more, and he's only three.) I'd just like to find out the real story behind the car because I plan on keeping it. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and I can get it out today and track down some othe vin plates on the car. My curiousity is getting the best of me. Lol...

 

The VIN tag is riveted to the sheet metal cowl, not the dash pad. There are only two credible explanations here. Either someone swapped all the 442 parts onto a V6 Cutlass, or the car was a legitimate 442 that was stolen and had the VIN tag swapped. I suspect the first explanation is more likely, as someone likely had a rusty 442 and got a good Cutlass to serve as a donor body.

 

Considering how these cars aren't exactly worth millions, the value difference between the two is a couple thousand, if that. This is a perfect car to drive hard, and put a bigger engine in if you blow this one.

 

I would agree that it was most likely a donor body swap... Just too bad who ever did the swap did not have access to some factory rivets to swap the VIN as well, not legal I know BUT...

 

I have to admit, the more research I do, the more curious I am. Whatever it ends up being, I'm just going to enjoy it and drive the bejeezus out of it the way it was meant to be driven. I do plan on pulling the backseat out though to see if I can find the build sheet, so I'll keep everyone posted.

 

I don't think 85s even had a build sheet. There should be an SPID sticker on the underside of the trunk lid with the RPO information. Of course, if this car was assembled from two others, then it's possible and even likely that the trunklid from the 442 donor car was bolted to the V6 car.

 

This is the lable in my trunk. Lol... Oh well. Like we've stated before, it is what it is. If it's a clone, it's a damn good one, if it's real, hopefully I'll find the sheet I'm looking for under my back seat like what I found in the old '81 Supreme I had.

 

1G3GK4796FR340651 is the VIN we were looking for. I found the paper under the back seat with the info. on it. I would have to say someone took a wrecked 442 and really liked it enough to rebuild it on Supreme frame. That's some dedication.