A few weeks ago, I had a 1975 Hurst/Olds project car for sale in the classifieds here. I was not planning on buying anything else right now, but along came RetroRanger's 1985 442. I've wanted one since they were introduced when I was in high school. Well, the H/O sold in time and I was able to buy the 442. I'm in Ohio and RetroRanger's car was in Massachusetts, so I had to figure out shipping. My brother-in-law was going to a wedding in Delaware, so he volunteered to pull the trailer behind his diesel Ram and pick up the car for me!
The car came home Monday and I couldn't be more pleased! It has 119K miles, but the suspension and steering feel like new. Last night, I buffed out the original paint and it shines even more now. I also got some of the electrical gremlins worked out, but there are a few more to fix as time allows. In the past 2 days, I've put about 70 miles on it and it runs great. Here's a few pics of the car in transport and after I got it home and cleaned up. Check out the before and after of the ghosts of lettering and ribbon on the trunk lid! RetroRanger, the hood, roof, and trunk lid all turned out like that.

 

Congratulations and it cleaned up nice.

 

Nice! gotta love the g body styling.

 

Looks good Steve your making me want it back, whens Mac coming back this way LOL

Truth is i bought the car to drive while my 72 gets some stuff done, but next thing you know I got a great deal on another car (not an olds) and the 442 was for sale (I only drove it once and that was home from the sellers about 10 miles away)

I had several inquiries mostly local and from CL but looks likes its in good hands now and the car found the right buyer!!! Enjoy it !!

 

I spent a little time tonight scrubbing and Armorall-ing the interior. What a difference! Can't wait to go junkyarding for parts! Hoping to find stuff used so I don't have to spring for new carpet and door panels. A local yard has lots of G-bodies in a row, so we'll see what they have to offer. Maybe I can get a good driver's window switch.

 

Beautiful G...

 

Congratulations.
The '85 442 is my favorite performance G-body. It doesn't have the silly lightning rods of the '83-84 Hurst/Olds, it has a higher-performance engine than the '86 and '87 442s, and it has a nicer interior (burlwood, etc) than the '87 442.

 

I like it.

 

Update:

1. I got the driver's power seat motor working with some persistence and WD-40.

2. I got the driver's side power window motor working with the same persistence and WD-40.

3. I found carpeting out of a Monte Carlo in a boneyard and installed it today. Removing the driver's seat was a chore! (1st 2 photos show the new carpet, the last photo is the before picture).

4. Also, I've put about 350 miles on the car in the past few weeks! Next chores will involve getting some of the errant gauges working, including the gas gauge and the factory tach. My goal from the beginning was to preserve what could be preserved on this car and replace only what needed replaced. I may look into new seat covers next year or try removing and re-dying what is there. We'll see. This year, I'm just enjoying driving it!

 

Good score on the carpet, looks like the original color too....glad your enjoying it!

 

Thanks, Retro! The carpet actually looks better than the photo. The mark behind the driver's seat is just from my dusty knee print and the other debris is came up with the shop vac.

 

Looks like the car's coming together nicely. Great find on a matching carpet in fantastic condition.

re: dyeing the fabric. Check out Dupli-Cololr fabric and vinyl dye. It works well and there might even be some in your color. I've used their black, and it worked extremely well - no bleeding afterwards or anything. Only downside I noticed is it has a rather strong 'paint' smell for a while if the car is left closed up.

 

Pretty car, always loved the G bodies.


Cheers, Mike

 

Well, it's been over a month and 1,000 miles, and this 442 has been a great ride (same old tires, by the way)! I've had the dash gauges out working on getting all of the gauges working (most are working, I'm going in again soon to get the rest working). Here are some updated photos of the car (the last photo shows my surprise when I took the dash gauge cluster out...remnants of a Massachusetts critter):

 

Looks good Steve,

One time I Had a gti w the gauges out, as I was commuting to work I caught a glimpse of a snake slithering behind the wires. We figured it musta been in my friends tool bag he left out overnight on his porch.

So we left the tb in the car while we were at work, sure enough we got outta work and the snake was in the bag. So we dumped it out so the snake would be outta the car and he could live a long in happy life in the nearby grass. Well we got back in the car and as we drove away the snake quickly slithered out of the grass and under my wheels and that was that.....in your case tho looks like he just left the skin.....ques ominous music!

 

Ha! My wife saw the snake skin in the yard, but it will be a cold day in Hell before I tell her where I found it! She refused to ride in that "ugly old granny car" (all boxy 80's cars fit that category to her) when I first got it home. She's finally riding in it and I don't want to upset the cart.