HAFROD

I am building MY version of a Hurst Olds 442. I am shaving all the lower chrome strips off. I am painting it black on top with gold on bottom. The gold is the paint code for a 79 Hurst Olds. I bought chrome ralley wheels from an 87 Cutlass and put on new raised letter tires and bought the gold 442 decals for an 86-87 442. It will appear stock but will have other Olds add ons. I am excited about this build! I'll keep ya updated as I go.

HAFROD

I'm going to repaint this car lot badge and reinstall!

Pfiffle

Those are cool cars. I HATED them back in the day but now everywhere you turn there's a 68-72 442 or W-30. And as I get older I appreciate the oddballs more. That really is the reason I'm into these 1973+ cars. What do you have in there a 260? 231? Gonna go bigger? Better gears in the diff?
Tom

FlatOut442

At least it looks like the body is solid. Always a great starting point. Also, if you need any photos of a 442 to go off of, just search my picture site. The link is: 1978 Olds 442. If you go there & click on any picture, at the bottom is an option for original size pics. I have a camera that takes really big pictures. Sadly though, my 442 needs plenty of restoration too.

Olds64

I bet that is a fun project. Good luck! Keep us posted.

HAFROD

I bought all new rubber and felts, raised letter tires, 442 decals, carpet kit, repop seat covers for a 78 Malibu(Salon not available) they are the exact same seats. I bought all the black and gold paint too! Yeah, I've drank some NOS!!!!! She had a little rust under the trim but wasn't nothin' a little sheetmetal wouldn't fix! The drivers side was the roughest so that side got worked 1st. Now I got the hood, nose cone, and pass side to go. I'm planning on painting it next week! DSC03793.jpg DSC03795.jpg

HAFROD

FlatOut442

Holy crap! Paint next week! Sounds like you have a lot of free time or had a better base to start with than we thought.

HAFROD

It's in pretty good shape overall. This is what I do for my living - buy it, build it, ebay it!!!!!!!! I don't have any kids, been married for 16 years, and my wife likes me to stay home. She has a VERY good job and works alot of hours. So basically I'm a househusband/car builder. Here's a pic of my last G-body I built. I did it all except stitch the seats!!! I blocked out the body 4 times!!!!!! rearside.jpg

HAFROD

I restored this one and sold it back to the original owner!!!! It was my fourth GN and every one of them I said I was keeping! I guess I like the green stuff too much! DSC01697.jpg

Oldsguy

I can tell from the pictures that show your repair/fabrication work that it will turn out well. And the pictures of the other projects you have done verify that as well. But, don't advertise it as a 442 when you sell it, that wouldn't be nice.

HAFROD

I'll keep it in mind! I always show the build pics of the cars to the buyer. I'm sure he or she would figure it out when they see the before pic and that it doesn't have a rally gauge cluster!!!!!!!!

FlatOut442

And here I thought you were another 9-5 worker that was doing this project in his spare time. HA ha ha.

HAFROD

Well, here's an update. The weather has been pretty rainy so I have lost a few days work on it. I noticed the floor was a LAKE after the rain storm. The heater/AC box was leaking around the mounting flange. I removed it to reseal. The doorjambs were a mass of runs and seam sealer. I stripped them to bare metal and bought a couple tubes of seam sealer. GM sure leaves em a little wavy from the factory! I did ALOT of straightening on their panels. Here's some pics! DSC03844.jpg DSC03846.jpg

79442

mine didn't have a rally cluster in it from the factory.

HAFROD

It has rained for 2 more days in a row here!!! Today I got the pass fender and hood chemical stripped to bare metal. I found some hail damage in the roof so that got fixed. I'm getting very close to paint but took on a side job to buy some vintage fenderwell headers for my new project- 55 Chevy 2 door post GASSER. I got to finish my 55 Hardtop 1st though!!!! Here is the side job, a 56 that I'm putting new wiring in.

HAFROD

Here's the firewall on my 78 Olds Salon. A little hammering, welding, and grinding. I picked up this old emblem at the swap meet and moulded it on. I smoothed the entire edges all the way around. This is still roughed in. I will sand and featheredge everything real nice when the primer drys! Whatcha think????

HAFROD

The emblem looks like its stamped into the metal in person!

z11375ss

You have an incredible God given talent. I wish I could do things like that and I bet I'm not the only one thinking this. Great work. Keep us posted, I want to see the finished product!

Ndn_GivR

thats cool! I saw one of those but it was a Turbo, with turbo graphics, it was a 3.8, the first 3.8 turbo cars were Olds Omegas.

HAFROD

Well, I decided to get back on the Olds so here are some updated pics. I have NOT clear coated it yet and have some touch up to do before I do. I decided to run the stripes through the jambs for a more COMPLETE look.

csstrux

Very nice work.

HAFROD

Wow, I last posted in 2008. I had traded the salon off for a 57 Chevy. I ended up buying it back in the same basket case shape it was for $300. The guy had traded off the chrome ralley wheels and new tires, he used all the new rubbers and felts on a Malibu, and the 4 speed is gone. He was going to send it to the crusher till I said hell no. I don't know what it is about this car but I like it. I think because it's different. I had painted it black and it just needed put together. Now from sitting and a car cover rubbing the paint, it needs resprayed. The title is still in my name but out of date since 09. This weekend I'm going to get back to it. I got a 350 Chevy engine (it was a Chevy 305), and a 2004R and crossmember from a friends Monte Carlo SS. If anyones interested in the build, I'll post some pics tomorrow.

oldsguybry

Awesome Car ! I hope you mean money when you refer to the green stuff

HAFROD

Have not updated in a while but have got a lot done on it. I've completely changed my mind on a few things including color. Decided to keep it 4 speed manual and bought a new Hurst shifter and linkage kit. The original color is russet met. and I got some base coat called indian bronze pearl. Really close to it. I want the car to appear stock but have subtle changes

HAFROD

Since I had mismatched woodgrained panels, I actually tried my own woodgraining with paint. I scotchbrited all the dash panels and sprayed them with SEM light oak. After that dried, I used Rust Oleum leather brown brush on enamel. I brushed it on heavy and then wadded up a Lowes plastic sack and blotted the dark brown. It kinda looks like woodgrain and I love it. When it dried, I used a chrome/silver paint pen on the edges and put on 4 coats of urethane automotive clear out of my gravity feed. I'll have to use a small sponge sanding block with 1000 grit to get it flat. Then I'll have to reclear them. So here they are but not blocked yet.

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HAFROD

Since my buddy had got rid of the stock chrome ralleys from an 87 Cutlass, I decided to just roll with my original ones. I blasted them and painted them with the indian bronze pearl. I put on brand new chromed stainless rings. I polished every one of the stainless triangle trims on my buffing wheel. Took a couple hours but happy with the results. I polished up 4 nice used center caps and put on new 442 logos.

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BlueCalais79

Quite a good job and different too, the silver edges came out well which is a job in itself. That silvering pen also works well & looks good on those vent deflectors to be reinstalled. Before I found NOS ones, doing that was a good substitute. I found the left I/P deflector in with the light switch was the hardest one to find NOS. The others pop up on occasion.

BlueCalais79

Where did you get those chromed stainless rings, they look great!

HAFROD

I had traded for a 350 from a 70s model truck. When I tore it down, it was in excellent shape. All standard but 2 bolt mains. I took the stuff to the machine shop for checking and he said he would not bore it and just polish the crank. He was impressed with the lack of wear and so was I. He hot tanked it and put in new cam bearings. I brought it back home and 3 stone honed it and then ball bead honed it. I polished the crank myself. I ended up using X bearings to get it in spec. Its all together with new rings, bearings, Cloyes timing chain, Summit cam kit #1103 444/466. I put on a freshened up set of center bolt heads from an 88 truck. I used a Weiand intake for the center bolt heads. Not going for big power just want it to sound good and pass a car if needed. I'm going to use the pulleys from an 87 IROC with the wider belt and v-belts for the other accessories. Here it is painted body color

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HAFROD

I got them in Tulsa at Hub Cap Kingdom. I believe they have an ebay store too if you need to get a set

HAFROD

I blasted the front of the chassis that's visible, ground off the slag, and wiped on some body filler to smooth up the top rails a bit. I sprayed it with DP90 and left it alone. I love the sheen. I put in new a-arm bushings, ball joints, shocks, brake hoses, reman calipers, new brake pads, new rotors, and bearings. I painted the a-arms gloss black so it didn't look like I painted everything together. I removed all the metal lines and flushed them out. I then sanded them and painted them stainless steel Dupli color. I used a front sway bar from an 87 SS Monte with Energy poly bushings.

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HAFROD

The tie rods were still tight so I blasted them, painted them cast coat, painted the sleeves gloss black, new Energy poly boots, new zerks, and some new grade 8 gold cad bolts. I like using different colors on my chassis' to break it up for detail.

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HAFROD

I had a rear end from a 78 or 79 Malibu police car. It was badly pitted from rust so I removed the 2.73 limited slip posi and gears and put them in my rear end. It had a 2.73 but was a peg leg. I put in new axle bearings, seals, pinion bearing, shoes, and wheel cylinders. I even used the posi tag on one of the bolts. Also used a pair of F-body aluminum drums.

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HAFROD

I got REAL lucky and found a 79 Salon at a salvage. The salvage is making it into a dirt track car. I bought all the window stainless trim, all the glass except windshield, and other smalls. If the side window ever got broke, I'd be out of luck but having these will be nice for future accidents or possible theft/vandalism.

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HAFROD

I have restored a lot of smalls since its been cold. Lots of polishing and repainting made the stuff look new again.

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HAFROD

The tail lights are from a 79 Salon and they cleaned up very nice. I polished the chrome, repainted the inside bucket with chrome spray paint, polished the lens', used foam tape from Lowes for a new seal, and polished some stainless stock looking screws.

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HAFROD

I hate the protruding threads from the gas pedal sticking through the firewall. I welded bolts to the back side and used nylon lock nuts to fasten it. I put a dot in the middle of the head on the bolt to find center outside to weld it.

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HAFROD

I found aero mirrors off an 87 Caprice has the same door skin angle as the Salon. I drilled new holes and welded up my old ones. They will look really good on it. One of them subtle upgrades no one will notice.

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HAFROD

Turn signals was a problem. Not available no more so I improvised. I used ceiling light tile from Lowes and epoxied it on after re spraying the inside chrome.

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