330oldsmobile

I was looking to get the oldsmobile 442 and w machines restoration guide by motorbooks workshop but noticed it had some bad reveiws. Just wondering if anybody has it and how much info does it have? just dont want to spend 150 dollars if its not good info. Thanks Zack

Bluevista

150 bucks!
I paid 20 bucks for mine 5 years ago.

Each year/chapter has a short history of the car and what they came with, spotter tips, black and white photos with captions. Otherwise it's all copies of dealer literature and service manual pages or charts.
It has lots of that type info for each year all in one place but it doesn't tell you much about actual restoration, nice to have for researching things.
For comparison the GTO Restoration Guide has part numbers, photos, assembly manual info, service manual stuff, parts catalog listings and illustrations, and what the factory finishes were, GTO guys don't call it "The Bible" for nothing.
I have two copies, one for the garage and one for my library.

rocketraider

If that's the Pat Sullivan book, it has a lot of known inaccuracies. Pat and his Dad are good guys, his Dad was parts manager at Black Cad-Olds in Greensboro NC for many years, and the book was as accurate as it got when it was published, but a lot of info has surfaced since then.

joe_padavano

Sorry, Glenn, but even when the book was first published, identifying a 1971 W-30 as a 1969 was wrong (see photo at the top of page 130) and didn't require any new info. Same goes for photos of Faux-Four-Twos where the numbers on the fenders don't line up.

442much

Check out the library for the book and get what other info you need here...$150 for a book? Sorry, that's too much in my book.

oldzy

It's ok I guess. Does not really help me too much with a Cutlass Supreme though. $29.95 here.

vette442

I've had this book for almost 20 years.The biggest inaccuracies that I've seen are in the photo captions, and they sure picked a mediocre example for 1972. On the plus side, there is a ton of good year-by-year literature reprinted there as far as options lists, production numbers, option codes, etc. I've answered hundreds of questions for myself and other people using this book. It all depends on how you expect to use the book. It's not much of a restoration guide though - that's what an Assembly Manual is for.

Terry

firefrost gold

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