Hi everyone!

I have a couple questions followed by a ridiculously long story that my fellow Oldsmobile fans may enjoy.

First, a question. I just bought a correct air cleaner for my '67 4-4-2 (the subject of the story to follow). It sure appears correct except that there is a grommeted hole on the back-side of the snorkle. It came with a breather and hose that connect the snorkle to the valve dover. They also appear to be original equipment. I don't remember my first '67 4-4-2 having this set-up. Other than this, it looks identicle to other 4-4-2 air cleaners I've seen. Could this be from a California car?

Second, I've decoded most of the cowl tag data on my '67, but some is still a mystery (especially the 'M' above the word BODY). I know it's a genuine 4-4-2 (if you read the story you'll understand how I know). If anyone here can set me straight on the entire tag I would greatly appreciate it. Here it is:

M
ST 67-33807 FRA 829 BODY
TR 395-P N-N PAINT
S 2KZ6
4C 5VP


And now, here is my tale. I first shared it with toro68 and then I thought I should share it with the group. I hope you guys here enjoy it. Anyway, here it is:

Way back in the early 80's my best friend bought a 1967 4-4-2 from a local elderly couple who were the original owners. Now at this time I wasn't heavily into cars and had never driven a musclecar. If you're old enough to remember the dismal performance of late 70's/early 80's cars you know what I mean. But if you are too young to remember, take my word for it. They sucked.

Anyway, while out cruising the countryside, my friend asked me if I wanted to drive. I jumped at the chance to drive this neat old car. I'm driving it pretty gingerly out of respect for my friend. After about a mile or so, he impatiently says "C'mon, man, hit it!"

So I floored it.

The trans kicked down into first, the q-jet paused for just a second to gulp in the air now coming in from the secondaries and then she took off....hard! This car was in tune and that motor just loved showing what she was capable of.

I had never experienced anything like that, and I was hooked. My appreciation for musclecars just went off the charts. That afterneen, I bought a copy of the Bargain News and started looking for a musclecar......and what do you think I found? No, not the Olds I was hoping for. I found an ad for a '69 SS/RS Camaro convertible. That was all it said. Asking price? $2,500. I called and an elderly man answered the phone. He bought the car new. He then told me it was a pace car. "What's a Pace car?" I asked. He laughed and explained what it was. He said "It has the big engine and a 4-speed, but it needs a new top and a radiator." "Big engine?" I asked. "396" was all he said.

We talked a little while longer and I told him I was seriously interested in his car. I would goto the bank to get a loan and that I would call him in a couple days and come see it and if it's what you say it is, I'll pay you in cash right then and there. He said that would be fine.

A couple days later, I called him to set up a day to see it and he just said "I'm sorry, son, but a man showed up with cash and a trailer." I was devistated!

I grabbed the new Bargain News, determined to use the loan money to buy me a musclecar. And right there, practically calling to me, was an ad for a 1967 4-4-2 convertible!!!!!!! Just like Jon's car, but the top went down! Asking price? $1,500!
New top, solid body, good interior, unmolested and now it had a new owner!

I loved that car and in return, she gave me the best summer of my life......until I was hit head-on by a drunk driver. I was pretty messed-up and spent a long time in the hospital, but that car saved my life. The drunk was in a brand new F-250 and police said he was going about 50 miles per hour when he crossed the lines. The police said if it weren't for me wearing my seat belt, my size (6'2" 300lbs) and the heavy-duty frame of the convertible, I wouldn't have made it.

I owe my life to a musclecar.

Ever since then I have been on a path that has led me to own nearly 50 (fifty) musclecars over the last 28 years. But I never forgot the ride in Jon's car and how it changed my life. He sold his 4-4-2 in '87 and that was the last we saw of her.

Jump to November 2009. While browsing through Craigslist, I happened to see a '67 4-4-2 for sale locally. I look at the poor quality pictures and it looks like Jon's old car, but that car went off to somewhere in New York. It couldn't be the same car, but man, it sure looked like her.

Since the car was so close and priced very right, I call the seller and make arrangements to see the car. My wife and I drive the 9 miles to the sellers house. It's pitch black and raining when we arrive. The car is in a VERY tight garage and he has to pull the car out so I can look at it.

As soon as I lifted the hood, I knew that by some miracle, I had found THE car! Minor under-hood modifications we had done all those years ago were still present.

But there was more proof. It was not only the rare post model, but it had all the options Jon's car had:

42 year-old original maroon paint (faded and tired)
New two-tone red interior (Jon had installed just before he sold it)
Air Conditioning
Cruise Control
Reclining Passenger Seat
Vacuum Trunk Release
Power Steering
Power Brakes

I looked behind the license plate and there was the schrader valve for the air shocks in the exact spot we put it. No doubt about it, this was the car that effected me so strongly so long ago.

I made him an offer which he accepted and just like that, the car was mine! Now I had to find out where the car had been all these years. No, it hadn't been in the area all that time. I don't know the complete trail, but I know the car was on ebay at some point years ago and that this guy got it in Florida. This car had been as far away as FL before coming home (I'm in CT)!

Now I think that's a neat story, but there is one more little twist that I sure as hell didn't see coming.

As I was leaving, I gave the seller my full name, to which the seller gave me his full name. Although I didn't know this man, his last name was very familiar. I asked him if, by chance, he was related to a couple other people I know with the same last name, to which he replies that they were his uncle and cousin. I smiled, looked at him and said "Well let me reintroduce my self. I'm your cousin!!!"

What are the freaking odds! We were both blown away by this revelation and spent the next hour catching up on our family histories.

Jon and I are not only still best friends but we both work in the engineering department of the same company. The day the car arrived, Jon was there and immediately inspected and confirmed that it was indeed his old car.

Well that's the story. It's long-winded, but the God's honest truth. Hope I didn't bore you and I would really like to hear your thoughts on this tale.

Thanks for listening to a fellow Olds nut ramble!

Uncle Hulka

 

I must admit, I kind of got Uncle Hulk going on the 442 story, when I told him about a friend of mine, who go this VERY SAME 1961 Starfire back (car he got new).


Question, if you need any a/c work, are you going to tak eit to my father's shop in S .Portland,ME? He has been in the automotive air condtioning business since 1964.
Some classic Oldsmobiles that has been in his shop, 1968 W-34 Toronado(2004), 1967 Toronado(2003), 1965 Starfire convertible(2008)

 

VERY cool story!! Thanks for sharing.
Not only did you get the car you remembered so fondly, you bonded more with your family...
Take good care of that Olds and post some pictures!

 

Great story!

I wonder if the air cleaner you bought was from a '65 442. The '65 442 air cleaner looks very much like the 67 auto piece, but for the hole in the back of the snout. The hole is fed by crank fumes, an early PCV setup ulitizing a vacuum controlled flapper mechanism. It looks like this:



The pic is the underhood of my '65 jetstar I...however the air cleaner is from a '65 442.

As for your cowl tag, I am far form the expert on such matters, so I will leave to the experts.

Enjoy the car!

On Edit: I'll give the code/decode a try:

Assuming its a Framingham-built car, the cowl tage codes may be harder to identify than say if it were a Lansing car.

N-N = Burgandy mist paint (consistent with what you said)
395 = Red bucket seat interior (also consistent)

Also (reasonably consistent with what you have said):
S = Power trunk release
K = Air conditioning
C = Chrome window sill moldings?

 

Very neat......

 

That's a very cool story. Sounds like that 67 442 has come home! It will be a great addition to your family. Now some 20 odd years later you will get the chance to enjoy it once again. Thats priceless. Cant wait to see some pictures.

 

I always enjoy a good story, especially if an Olds is involved.

 

Great story, fate sometime works like that

 

UH, I've heard a lot of very cool car stories over the years (and even have a few myself), but I can tell you for sure that they never get stale, and I never tire of hearing them. Great story even without the cousin connection.
I believe that all of the '66-'67 automatics with the snorkel have the that grommet on the rear side of the snorkel as you describe? There is also a late '67 chrome air cleaner that has no snorkel. And the '66-'67 stick cars got the open element air cleaners.
On the tag decode, its pretty much as Aliens says, but you do have some unusual things there. I presume that the P in the trim code is for the reclining buckets, but I'd need to verify that at home.
The "Z6" is puzzling. Regardless of the Z, the 6 doesn't make any sense there. Can you check both the Z and the 6 very closely? If you have a column shift auto, that would explain the Z, but not the 6.
Yes, the 4C is the sill plates on top of the doors.
5V is the 442 trim, and I believe the P is a repeat of the reclining bucket seat.
The recliners are pretty rare. Do you have headrests?
Those single letters are supposedly related to the month of production, but I have found inconsistencies there.

 

Thanks to all for the very kind words. I still can't believe that I own the car that changed my life so many years ago. I gotta admit; it's quite a rush!

I am glad to hear that it could be from a 66-67 4-4-2, although neither mine not Jon's had that set-up. Somewhere along it's journey home, the original air cleaner disappeared. The original red steering wheel has also been replaced with a correct-style black one (I don't suppose anyone has an extra red '67 4-4-2 steering wheel to sell?).

Aliens picture looks similar, except the grommeted hole is on the opposite side of the snorkle. My snorkle points to the front left, not the front right as aliens does. Maybe it is from a '66 4-4-2? I also have all the options Aliens decoded

As far as codes, everything checks out except mine has buckets w/console. No headrests on the buckets, but it is a reclining passenger seat.

Does anyone have any idea why there is a letter 'M' above the word 'BODY' on the tag?

I'll check again, but it sure looked like Z6. What if it's a 'S'? Would that make more sense?

Thanks again for the kind words. I appreciate them!

Standing-by
Uncle Hulka

 

Cool story! I'm drooling to see some pics of your 442 now (regardless of what it looks like)!

 

Thanks Mike. I'll get my son to come over and take some pictures as soon as possible. But I can tell you right now that it doesn't look as good as your '67!

 

Here are some pictures of the Air Cleaner I was asking about. Hope this helps ID it!

By the way, any idea how many '67 4-4-2's were built with cruise control? Or with a Reclining Seat? Especially in a Post Sedan? Just curious. It wouldn't matter if my car had no option or was loaded with every possible option available. The sentimental value makes it priceless

 

Great story, thanks for sharing it. Let's see some pics!

 

First of all, according to the 1967 Oldsmobile Chassis Service Manual I just received, it looks like the air cleaner IS correct for a 1967 4-4-2 with A/T! That's a big relief!!!

Secondly, here are the only pictures I have of the 4-4-2. I copied them from the Craigslist ad before it was deleted. You can't see much but you get the general idea.

I am also including 2 pictures of the Air Cleaner just for reference.

Can anyone here tell me where I may find an explanation of the codes for my cowl tag?

 

Um, we just discussed them previously in this thread, yes? And you were going to check on the Z6 that didn't make any sense?

 

I have partial breakdown of options by model series for options in 1967. But they are singular numbers, not in combination. So I can tell you that there are so many 442s (which were an option) and so many with with cruise, but not how many had both.
There were approx 2550 model 3800 series (Cutlass Supreme Holiday Coupes, Sport Coupes, and Convertibles) with option K30 cruise control. But not known how many of them were 442.
There were approx 1275 model 3800 series with option A70 reclining passenger bucket seats. (which still may seem like a lot, but that is only 1.4%)

That is as much of a breakdown as you're going to be able to get.

 

Hi Kurt,

I appreciate your help, as well as everyone else here. It's why I love it here. I also REALLY appreciate the option break down. You must have quite the research library!

The reason I ask about where to learn how to identify cowl tag codes, is because I've always believed the old adage:

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

I have lots of original service manuals, parts catalogs, etc., but none of them offer complete code identification. I was hoping someone could tell me what book would carry all the codes and their meaning.

I'd also like to know what the M stamped above the word BODY means. Was it a mistake or does it mean anything?

Thanks again for all the aid. You guys ROCK!!!

Uncle Hulka

 

Uncle Hulka: Absolutely fantastic tale, and loved reading it! Glad you are with us on CO. Now, about those pictures..........

 

Thanks Aron. Crazy time of the year for us around this time of year PLUS Christmas-related crazyness. I'm up at 4:30 AM, get home around 5 or so, gobble down a delicious meal my wife has prepared (despite working a nearly as grueling schedule), a little time on the computer and it's off to bed to do it all over again the next day. I'll get pictures asap but in the meantime, I like the look of your Vista Cruiser. Very nice!

 

My apologies, UH, I misunderstood what you were asking for.
There is not "a" source that carries the codes. They come from multiple places. Even color codes have different sources. I have chip charts with codes for every year, along with dealer showroom product sales and interior albums.
There is no "source out there" for the Lansing accessory code. These have just been compiled over the years by some guys like me. Curt Anderson started collecting and compiling them back in the '70 and '80s (still does) and I've been tracking them since the late '80s.

 

Love the story !!

 

*****UPDATE*****

I checked the cowl tag after work and it sure as heck looks like Z6 are the correct characters.

To confirm it is a bucket/console car.

Man it's cold out tonight!!!

 

Can you send/post a pic?

 

Will do as soon as possible. I don't own a camera so I'm at the mercy of my son.

 

Great Story, weird about the air cleaner though. I don't believe ever seeing that type.

 

Thanks for the kind words, Todd.

I thought I had posted this new info, but I don't see it anywhere. Regardless, I looked in my 1967 Oldsmobile Chassis Service Manual and it does show this air cleaner as being used with 400 C.I.D engines w/Auto Trans. Since no other model used the 400 besides the 4-4-2, I would say this establishes it to be correct for my car. Still, I don't recall having it on mine.

It looks a though the original, correct red steering wheel has been replaced by a correct black steering wheel. Would anyone know where I could find a RED steering wheel for my 4-4-2. I also need the correct valve covers used on my engine. I'll post this in the Parts Wanted section, but I thought I'd ask here anyway.

As Always, thanks for your help!
Uncle Hulka

 

Uncle Hulka, I sent you a PM. As far as the steering wheel goes, a red one may be a tough find, but to widen the search parameters a bit, I am pretty sure a 68 wheel will also work (though you would have to switch the horn-bar inserts and center cap with the ones you have).

 

I just restored a similar air cleaner,
but it was the orange /red color for a 66/67 cutlass 330 Ultra High Comp 4bbl.
Not only does it have the rubber grommet in the snorkel,but it has two 1/8" holes on the left side,looks like there was a tag rivited there from the factory.
If it means anything to anyone..I'll post a pic

 

Hey Squirell,
I'd love to see pics! I'm pretty confident that mine is correct, but I'd feel better if someone said " I bought my '67 4-4-2 when it was brand new and it had that same set-up".

 

I can't say I bought my car with it.
I got it off e-bay.
It was advertised as a 66-67 330ci ultra high comppression 4 barrel air cleaner.
It was not for a 442 for sure,because I sand blasted off the orig orange/red paint myself yesterday.

Does anyone know what the 2 holes are for ?
They fall in the same place my orig air cleaner has the filter instructions.

 

I can't say exactly that, but I can tell you that air cleaner *is* correct for '66 and '67. That is an air cleaner set-up with what is called the K19 "closed crankcase ventilation" set-up. Probably the first air pollution control device that was added to cars. Was a requirement for liberal California in '66. As were the K20 AIR pumps too.

 

Kurt,
any idea what the 2 holes are for ?

 

Kurt, you da MAN!!! Thanks for putting me out of my misery!

 

I can't think of anything factory that they would be for. The "tag" or air cleaner identification would be silk screened, not an attached tag.

 

This is one reason why I visit this and other Olds forums. To read the stories about the individuals and their cars.

Uncle Hulka thanks for the great story.

Now you need to send some photos (see if Jon has some and you get some taken) with your story into Muscle Car Review, Hemmings Muscle Machines, Hemmings Classic Cars or Muscle Car Enthusiast.

 

Very kind words. May I say that your '65 looks mighty nice!

 

Journey with Olds is always looking for Olds related stories.

 

Maybe you guys are right. Maybe I should polish the story and submit it to JWO or a musclecar magazine.

Seriously, do you guys think its a story worthy of a magazine?

 

Yes.

By the way the posted photo of my 442 is from 87 and 92. It does not look like this now. Thanks for the compliment anyway.