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Hey guys, I’m seriously in the market for a 1968 442 automatic preferably in Red. In searching, While I don’t prefer vinyl tops, I’ve taken a good look at 2 of them. Strangely on both I found rust pushing through where the vinyl meets the chrome over the windshield. I saw a bit of non smoothness under the vinyl going down the post alongside the windshield on one. If a car is appropriately priced, I may be able to invest in repairing that but I fear it could be really bad all over the roof. Has anyone had any experiences with rust under vinyl tops? At this point I’m staying away from Vinyl tops to be safe. Any advice is appreciated. —Billy
I can't believe no one has weighed in on this, but YES... vinyl tops on old cars often = rust underneath. Depending on where the car has spent most of it's life, this is a common issue. In fact, if you search the threads here, you'll find numerous posts about this very topic, including a recent one in the General Discussion forum.
Thanks , yes both cars I considered purchasing had rust bleeding out between the vinyl and the chrome. I just wonder how often is there a major problem under the vinyl. I’ve seen photos of rust under vinyl examples on other cars where you see the bubbling pushing up the vinyl. That’s where you see an obvious problem. I’d very much like to fix this and have another 68 442 out there in top condition. Is it worth removing the headliner to see if it’s severe? -Billy
If the car has a vinyl top, you should assume there is rust unless proven otherwise. This is a common problem on these cars, and welding in new metal is the only permanent fix. Removing the headliner may not show you anything, since the metal is double wall at the edges where the rust is most likely. Even cars without a vinyl top are prone to pinchweld rust under the stainless trim around the front and back windows. This is an unfortunate byproduct of the method used to retain the trim - the clips scratch the paint at installation and the trim traps leaves, debris, and moisture by design. This is a photo of my "rust free" Vista Cruiser that came from Reno, NV. Not exactly rust belt territory. This was not visible until I pulled the trim off. Uneducated or outright lying sellers will tell you that water leaks only mean the window needs to be resealed. Don't believe it.
Here’s the little rust spot I saw that makes me wonder how bad it is under the vinyl. —Billy
Here’s thecrust that makes me wonder how bad it could be under there.
If the car has a vinyl top, you should assume there is rust unless proven otherwise. This is a common problem on these cars, and welding in new metal is the only permanent fix. Removing the headliner may not show you anything, since the metal is double wall at the edges where the rust is most likely. Even cars without a vinyl top are prone to pinchweld rust under the stainless trim around the front and back windows. This is an unfortunate byproduct of the method used to retain the trim - the clips scratch the paint at installation and the trim traps leaves, debris, and moisture by design. This is a photo of my "rust free" Vista Cruiser that came from Reno, NV. Not exactly rust belt territory. This was not visible until I pulled the trim off. Uneducated or outright lying sellers will tell you that water leaks only mean the window needs to be resealed. Don't believe it.
Joe. Even though your car is a high desert car if it ever made it's way to Idaho it could be exposed to salt off their roads. Lots of rusty cars up north. Those trim pieces are salt brine catch pens..... Tedd
Joe. Even though your car is a high desert car if it ever made it's way to Idaho it could be exposed to salt off their roads. Lots of rusty cars up north. Those trim pieces are salt brine catch pens..... Tedd
While I don't know the full history of the car, supposedly it never left CA or NV. In any case, there is no rust anywhere else on the car, only in the pinchwelds around the roof windows. The problem is the design of the clips that hold the trim.
Location: Edmonton, AB. And "I am Can 'eh' jun - eh"
Posts: 24,525
Originally Posted by Billyaxe
Here’s the little rust spot I saw that makes me wonder how bad it is under the vinyl. —Billy
Here’s thecrust that makes me wonder how bad it could be under there.
Yikes! That's a LOT of rust to bubble the top that much. It can be fixed, but that involves removing and replacing the top, plus labor and fabrication. They'd also have to remove the headliner to do a proper fabrication. IMO that's at least a $3,000.00+ deduction from the price of the car. And, I wouldn't put the vinyl back on unless you're going to garage the car, or know the work has been done properly. There's a reason most newer cars don't have vinyl tops...
BTW (and I'm surprised Joe hasn't asked you this) do you have a picture of the car taken from the side??
Location: Edmonton, AB. And "I am Can 'eh' jun - eh"
Posts: 24,525
Is this the car?
It's a nice looking car and has nice finish everywhere I can see. I noted that the original color on this car was not black, but (P) Silver Green with a black vinyl top.
The VIN and cowl tag both support the model as being a 442, built at Freemont California.
Well I have news for you. That car is exactly the same one I posted pics of above. How can I know for sure? I looked at the VIN in the listings. It's the same as the one at GR Auto Gallery who is asking $34,900.00 Check the listing if you want - here it is: https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds...2/2131605.html
I don't think the area you're looking at is a problem, it might be a cosmetic issue, BUT I don't trust anyone who has 2 separate ads going for the same car with different prices. RUN away from this. BTW, there's no such thing as a 'Base 442'. If I was you I'd keep looking.
There has been some cleanup done on the 'expensive' ad, but it's the same car. And that steering wheel is not correct - it's the smaller 'Starfire' wheel that came out in 1975. It was available only on the 'Starfire' coupe and was color coded to the interior. Other than that it's a nice looking car and very well presented.
Location: Edmonton, AB. And "I am Can 'eh' jun - eh"
Posts: 24,525
Billy, all I'm doing is pointing out the obvious. You were looking at one link, I looked at another. By putting them together we found the common thread. If you're in the market for one of these cars, may I suggest you monitor a site called Oldsmobile Central? It's run by a member here (Joffroi) and lists only Oldsmobiles for sale. Here's a link to that site: OldsmobileCentral.com
You probably know the 68 and 69 share much of the same body, just have different front end and rears. I used 1968 and 1969 as the years to search and then selected 442. It came up with a surprising number of offerings and some of them were RED and reasonably priced! You didn't specify if you were looking for a convertible, holiday coupe, or sports coupe.
August 9th, 2018, 05:07 AM
You didn't specify if you were looking for a convertible, holiday coupe, or sports coupe.
