I'm looking for some history on my 71 442 I recently purchased. I purchased it from a guy in Antioch Illinois, who intern purchased it from a guy in Wisconsin. There's some missmatched parts, some new, some old, so I was just querulous about its history. What better way to find out then put it up to the vast number of 442 guys out there. Thanks guys

 

More pictures

 

More pictures, lol can't figure out how to add all in one post.

 

Well, first of all congrats on the 442 purchase.
That's not much to go on for trying to help with mismatched parts. How about some pics of the front, engine and interior?

What I can see is:
* The bumper needs to be adjusted - it's way too high and close to the deck and quarter finishes.
* the antenna was added by someone. 71 A bodies had the antenna in the wind shield.
* the mirrors are not stock. A nice set of sport mirrors will make that car look right.
* missing the paint stripes that was standard for these cars.

EDIT Just saw the pic of the front end. The headlight bezels are on wrong.

The car has period correct SS wheels with bolt on caps
the stainless roof drip moldings were standard for the car

 

Easy to fix. Here's how you do it.
* clik the 'go advanced' tab
* Press the icon that looks like a paper clip; and A 'Manage Attachments' box will appear
* Choose (navigate on your computer to where the pics are stored) and hit 'open'. repeat for all 5 pics.
* Hit 'upload'. It may take a bit of time depending on your pic resolution. If you have ultra high res, you will have to 'resize' them with your picture editor to a 1024X768 size or smaller for the C.O. server to accept them.
* Close the "manage attachments' box.
* Preview your post and the images will be at the bottom
* Hit 'submit post' and the thread will have the images installed at the bottom. Unfortunately you can only do 5 pics at a time this way.

If you have the pics hosted on another web server?
* Copy the IMG url and Press the icon that looks like an envelope with mountains on it. Paste the URL into that box and hit 'ok'. You can install up to 20 images this way.
* Be sure to preview your work.
* Make sure the images don't carry on across the page, stack them for easier viewing.

 

Thanks Allan.

"What I can see is:
* The bumper needs to be adjusted - it's way too high and close to the deck and quarter finishes.
* the antenna was added by someone. 71 A bodies had the antenna in the wind shield.
* the mirrors are not stock. A nice set of sport mirrors will make that car look right.
* missing the paint stripes that was standard for these cars."

I'm going to adjust the bumpers, front and rear.
I thought they used windshield antenna.
I purchased a set of 71 sport mirror (Thanks rand5204!) to replace the ugly pitted chrome mirrors.
The car has been repainted, unsure of the original color.

The car had a 73-77 dual gate console installed. It kind of worked, but I removed it, except the dual gate and I am working on getting the correct console. Unfortunately they welded the mounting bracket to the floor.

It has a 350 in it, but it came with a 455 (in pieces) thats need to be rebuilt. I don't think its the #'s matching engine.

The front and rear bumpers are new as well as all the tail, marker, and front light.

 

If you give us the info on the plate on the cowl we can tell what the original paint and interior colors were. Look at the fenders just in front of the hood hinges, if you see an open hole, it probably came with a 350. If you see a nut on a bolt, that's the brace used on big block cars. Maybe my monitor's not big enough (I do have bad eyes) but the headlight bezels look OK to me. Congrats and good luck.

 

[QUOTE=frankr442;476635]If you give us the info on the plate on the cowl we can tell what the original paint and interior colors were. QUOTE]

No cowl tag...the plot thickens!

 

[QUOTE=dfire25;476629]Thanks Allan.



It has a 350 in it, but it came with a 455 (in pieces) thats need to be rebuilt. I don't think its the #'s matching engine.


On the drivers side of the block, near where the p/s pump bolt up, there's a boss that would be stamped with the end of the cars' VIN. Hopefully it matches. An original 442 should have come with a 455 in that year. Even if it doesn't, it's not the end of the world. Mine's not original and probably less than half of them out there are. Maybe we could start a survey.

 

I was typing (very slowly) while you posted. No cowl tag huh. Afraid that may be a bad sign. Does the VIN start with 34487--- ? Which would indicate a 442 model. I'm leaving work now and I don't have a computer, so if I don't respond to something, don't be offended.

 

No worries Frank.

The car is a 344 and I do have a clean title for it.

 

Not exactly sure how the law works down there with cowl tags. As far as I know, the cowl and VIN are required to stay on the car to the bitter end. If it's missing it's cowl tag, ask the previous owner if he has it. The cowl tag would also identify what body was assigned to the car by Fisher, and the cars original date build code, Trim, Paint and a few of the options Fisher would have installed. Without a cowl tag, the car is suspect for body swap. VIN's and cowl tags are only riveted in place and are subject to unlawful tampering. Hope you find the tag or the PO can provide you with it. If he has it, I'd be asking why.

The VIN should start out as 344871()######. The bracket is the production plant code, and last 6 numbers are the production sequence it came down the assembly line.

Your 442 would have been born with a 455. Check the block casting and heads. In 1971 442s will have G heads. The block casting will be 396021F Since the engine is out of the car it may be easier to find the stamping pad. When you get the info off that, it will be easier to tell if it's the original block by comparing the last 6 numbers to the VIN derivative.

 

If the car came out of Madison it could be my old car. I had a '71 442 when I lived there. I sold it from an ad I posted on 442.com, I think it went to IL. It still had a cowl tag on it when I had it and it was different colors....

 

I don't think a missing cowl tag is a problem, legally. In all the times I've registered old cars, they want to see a VIN plate, and, where I live now, something called a "Nader" sticker if the car came with one, which is true for vehicles sold in the U.S. after 1975 or somewhere in there . This a sticker on the driver's door pillar or jamb or on the door itself that also has the VIN on it.

http://www.ehow.com/facts_7514795_vin-verification.html


I've never once had anyone ask about a cowl tag. It does not have a complete VIN on it, anyway, and what DMV people want to see is verification of the VIN.


Note also that cowl tags, which were originally held on with rivets, began to be held on with ordinary Phillips screws in the early '70s.

Below is the cowl tag on a '73 Olds. Note the screws holding it on. I don't think manufacturers would use screws if the idea was that the cowl tag should not be removed as using screws makes it easy to remove.

 

That's an interesting reasoning for the type of cowl tag mounting. You're right; the 73 model year was the first one that used that type of fastening.

I was more curious about whether the cowl tag could be replicated if Ted decided he wanted to do a more concourse type restoration. It would be nice to have one that is not rusted, but also to retain it for purposes of authentication.

I agree with you 100% about the VIN staying with the car it's entire life. A member on this site had a 72 CS for sale a couple years back and provided the VIN to me because I was interested in the car. (It was for sale in Canada) The VIN he provided, and was shown in a photo he took, was for a 72 Cutlass S, not Supreme. That set off alarm bells and cancelled any interest in the sale.

 

So I purchased my car from a guy in Antioch Illinois (Santo) who purchased it from a guy (Thomas) in Pleasant Prairie Wisconsin. The car was also previously registered in NY.

I truly think my car sat on the side of a barn somewhere and it was picked for parts until someone decided to put it back together and sell it. The previous owner refused to give me any history on the car, just kept tap dancing around the subject.

I'm thinking of writing the guy in Wisconsin to see if the will give me some info on the car. If he's still around.