kevdog442

I see this a lot. Cars that are meticulously restored, down to the smallest details, then they put the valve covers on the wrong sides. Am I missing something? Do they not notice the notches?

MDchanic

Guess they're not that meticulous...

- Eric

oldcutlass

Since there is enough clearance, it really does not matter,

oldstata

Maybe they didn't install them I know my buddy's has been helping with my build and he has fixed a ton of little detail items that I would have missed

redoldsman

I would differ with you on that Eric. If they are restoring a high dollar car like a W30, they should have enough sense to have the valve covers on correctly. This makes me wonder about the ability of the restorer. Maybe they don't know squat about Oldsmobiles.

Oldsguy

It just looks wrong to me.

pogo69

I think some people just do not know what the notch is actually for

Greg Rogers

I saw a really big bucks Vista Cruiser at a show the other day with the roof rack on backwards..... DOH!!

ELY442

X2, every car show that i go, they always put it on the wrong side.

junior supercar

I've seen some very well known restored cars (70 W-30s usually) with $80K, $100K or more put into them and they put on a 71 "Keep you GM car GM" decal on the air cleaner. You did all that research yet you f'd up the air cleaner decal D'OH!!!

or maybe the wrong oil fill cap on your 70.

or a parts store battery, at least put a topper on it

the list goes on, as I'm sure others can relate to

Koda

They'd figure it out in a hurry if that car had the accessories the notches were meant for.

I do not expect a restored car to have original marked batteries, hoses, belts, or tires. To me, a modern battery, an aftermarket overflow tank, and correct application replacement wear parts mean the car is on the road, having fun.

kevdog442

What's really funny is the caption at the top of the photo. I cut it out of the original picture, and if you can't read it, it says:
"Yes, that big red wire belongs there. Engine is factory correct"
So they researched enough to make sure the battery cable was right but missed the notches.
Btw, this was on Hemmings website as an informative on the 442.

auto_editor

I've been writing about this subject for years now. Between 2001 and 2008 nearly everything shiny with a big name on it sold for huge money, but when the music stopped, people found out about things like VINs being able to tell your "Hemi 'Cuda" started out with a six-banger and that the "one-of-one" magical mystery muscle car you paid a fortune for was actually a one-of-none "phantom" machine.

Then the market started to recover, and every time a car sold for decent money, restoration shops (or home garages) rushed like crazy to throw one together so as to get a taste of those new dollars. But think about it: just how many experts are out there for any given car? And if they're acknowledged to be the best, they've already got a full plate. So then begins the rapid slide down the scale of knowledge-vs-availability, until you find someone who says "they've worked on that kind of car before" or "used to own one just like it" and you turn the project over to them despite the alarm bells you hear.

But you get your car back all nice and new, with no parts left over and no apparent faults, so you put that in the win column. And so long as you never plan to show or sell it, you'd never know the difference. But as someone who knows more than a few folks who've lost six-figures-plus on cars that were either fake from the start or screwed up by their "restoration", I can only point out that people these days are paying #1 fully-restored money for "barn finds" that are more rat droppings than metal for that very reason. [Either that, or they have marque experts--or for Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz cars, the factory--inspect the car BEFORE they buy it.]

The good news for most of you guys is that you're smart enough not only to notice mistakes like reversed valve covers, but to automatically wonder what else they got wrong that you CAN'T see and walk away. Whether you think it's better for the proud owner to know his new baby ain't the picture of perfection he thinks it is before you go, well, I'll leave that to you...

aliensatemybuick

What a waste of money. Though a small waste of money compared to buying a crappy tar top battery so you can get some more points from the "man with the clipboard".