All,

Im a newbie, and need help figring out if Ive made the right choice. I am in the midst of purchasing a 69 442 convertible. The car definately needs work. It has the original 400 and drivetrain. Im about to pay about 6500 for the car. I need a reality check here. It has rust issues,Mainly on the lower body. but notsure how bad yet (waiting for pics). Ive done restorations before, so I kinda know what Im in for, Its am M code car, no air. Im not sure how rare this is. Any help or advice would be appreciated. Its an ebay buy, got a little pressured and now im having second thoughts....

 

As you may already know, these cars are notorious for rust and can have a lot of hidden rust that the seller has not looked for or is hiding and that is the reason he is selling. Get detailed pictures of the floorboards, in the trunk, in the rear fenderwell area, the cowl and lower front fenders, and the core support. Convertibles are notorious for a lot of leaks and water damage. Make sure the VIN starts with 344, that is the specific body # for 442 ONLY! If it does not have that it is NOT a true 442. Make sure it is the matching #'s 400 motor and transmission. There is a pad on the driver side of the motor under the alternator that is stamped from the factory and will look like: 39Mxxxxxx. The 3 is Olds,
9 is the year-1969
M is Lansing plant
The last six digits should be the exact same digits as the last six in your VIN.
If these do not match, it is NOT a #'s matching car.
I hope this helps you make a good decision on the car, good luck!!

 

MOST IMPORTANT....With any convertable make sure there is no rot in the frame....converts use a boxed frame that is prone to rot because it holds road salt, dirt, and water!!

 

Thanks, The ad said that the frame and floors looked solid. The trunk is shot and will need a new pan. the lower fenders have some holes. the inner rockers are good, there is a hole in the driver side outer rocker. the driver door will need some work as there is some filler. there is holes on the inside of the car where the door hinges are near the floor vents. these arewhat worries me alot. Supposedly, the floor seems solid, with only surface observed from the inside.
The seller seem honest and knowledgeable and seems to know these cars in and out. I guess my question is, how could the trunk be rusted thru and not the floors? Im also wondering what the paint job that was last done is hiding.

The vin is 344 and the seller did verufy the tranny #s match but indicated it was difficult to see the #s on the engine. he stated that it looked like it had never been removed. It appears tha this is in fact a 442.

 

The added info would make me say....RUN AWAY!.....Often sellers are vague because they dont want to scare buyers away....It seems the seller is being vague. The holes near the door hinges tells me its bad.....I can see doors, floors, quarters, etc but when the rockers and hinge posts start rotting its pretty bad. The rot will be twice or 3 times worse when ya start picking at it. Sometimes though rot thru is selective. My nephew once bought a 67 Cutlass convert from the salt belt in upstate NY. The frame was non existant but the floor pans and trunk floor didnt even have a pinhole.

 

I just spoke to him again this evening, Hes goin to take some detailed pics for me, showing me the worst of it. The door hinges arent where it rotted. Its down near the floor below the hinges ehere the floor is curved at the front of the sill plate. 1 quarter sized hole on the pasenger side and a 2 quarter sized hole on the driver side. Apparently, one of the windows (windshield?) was leaking and water ran down there on both sides. He says the windshield frame is another normal rust spot, and on this car there isnt rust there. He still claims the frame is in great shape. I dont hink he intends to be vage, but lack of pictures and my inexperience with this vehicle make it tough to decypher. The car has only around 58k mi on it. he said he'd have the #s verified on the block by a mechanic since its apparently near the firewall behind some bracket and hard to get to. Im thinking it might be worth forfeiting my deposit of 500 bucks to walk away if this turns out bad. expensive lesson.

 

If you have done restorations before you should expect to do a frame-off and look for the worse. If you are trying to turn the car over for a profit quickly then you might reconsider. If you are buying the car because you "have to have it" then you might go for it with your experience. If you disassemble and find you don't need to do a full frame-off then you come out ahead from what you were expecting to have to do. Remember, there is almost always a better car than the one you are looking for out there but finding it takes time and my time is worth SOMETHING....yours probably is too. Just throwing in some pro's and con's about the whole deal. Like you said $500 deposit is tuff to give up.

 

The #'s on the block are at the front, and face the left fender, right where I said they were in my first reply. Do not let this guy mess with you, the #'s are easy to find and are VERY important. The block casting # next to the oil fill tube should be: 396026 G which is a 68-69, 442 specific, 400 cubic inch block. The drivers side head will have a single letter designation at the front, right above where the block stamping is. If it has a C the casting # should be 394548 and is right above the second(394) and third(548) exhaust outlet right below where the valve cover bolts on. If it has a D designation, casting # should be 400370 in the same location as above. Good luck1

 

Decided to let it go, its an expensive lesson, but, I think this one was more than I could reasonably handle. Thanks for all the input. By the way, Never did find out if the #s on the block matched.

 

orange 442 you know your S-it about these cars thanks for the Info

 

Thanks Ozoneblue, I try to learn as much as I can about cars I am interested in. I also like to help people if I can, especially in a situation like this. I hate to see him lose his deposit but, I would really hate for somebody to get taken by someone who may not be giving all the facts needed to make an informed decision.

 

i would give a thousand for it keep the good stuff and part the rest out.
you need to check around the front and back windows for rot, inner and outer wheel wells , any floor cross suppert, and for the fenders you need to look at the inner lower brace by the fire wall if that is gone there basically what i would call junk. then you need to look at the lower part of the fire wall behind the fenders they rot out there as well. hope this helps.

 

I was thinking maybe I should drive out an take a look. Can I send any of you some pics to get your gut feel? Is this car rare enough for me to even be worried about finding another one? The thing Im fighting here is that I know I can get a regular cutlass vert thats pretty solid for a decent price. It seems like the fact that this is a 442 could make it worth the effort. The car is located in CT, maybe someone out there might know the car...

 

I finally got a chance to view my near financially fatal mistake. The car had already been severely messed with. It was actually rotting through its first amatuer restoration. Basically, I feel that this guy was a liar and I probably should have asked for my deposit back. He said no holes inthe floor, but meant the holes had been poorly patched. I could visibly see holes when I looked underneath. so much for "solid" floors. Quarters and fenders had all been previously cobbled. It took me 5 minutes to determine I didnt want any piece of that car. Having been through that type of thing once already, I know it wouldnt have been worth it. Thanks to all for the candid advice.

PS- I did find a survivor in north Texas for the same price, granted, its not a 442, but it's a beautiful convertible cutlass S with little to no rust. It still needs alot, but mechanical stuff is easier and less $$