ezdoesit2117

I am about to inherit my fathers '69 442. It is all original, as far as I know, except for the rear end and rims. It has been sitting in the garage for about 10 years now and I am interested in bringing it up to working condition. I'm not sure exactly what is going to be needed, but I want to convert it to unleaded fuel. Personally, I'm not a "wrencher." Nor do I have the time right now so I was looking for a guy/shop in the Chicago area that may specialize in 442s. or if one of you had a good experiance with someone that I can be refered to would be ideal.

Any and all advice and comments would be apprecited.

Thanks, Jim.

Oldsguy

Jim, congratulations on your acquisition. You will enjoy owning an Oldsmobile. They aren't as common as some other brands so parts may cost a little more but it is worth it. Converting your car to burn unleaded basically means rebuilding the heads. Unleaded fuel had lead in it specifically for lubricating the upper end, the exhaust valves mostly. So if you have the heads rebuilt you will have to have hardened inserts placed in the valve seat area of the head and then have the seats re-ground to fit new valves. Along the way you might as well have the rest of it done, guides, any springs needed or rockers etc. If you are goint to do that it might pay to have the lifters looked at and replace the camshaft and lifters too. That would be a good time to change the cam profile to a little hotter one if you are inclined to "hotrodding" it. Or, you can simply use a fuel additive that advertises itself as having a top end lubricant every time you fill up and forego all the machine work and drive the car right now. If you plan on keeping the car for a while but don't have the cash to do the heads now then you could plan for the future that way. At any rate, you have at least two options and there may be more I didn't think of. Good luck and welcome to the site.

ezdoesit2117

What about an auto shop in the area around Tinley Park, IL? Anyone have a reference?