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Hello to all the 64 cutlass 4speed and 3speed owners. I am trying to compile information on the frame numbers for these cars. The frame number is located on the driver side frame rail, behind the rear tire. In this location, you will find two lines of information. On the top line is a frame number, followed by the manufacturer (often an "S" enclosed by a circle). The second line of info is the frame production date followed by the shift of production. Please provide a picture of your frame in this area or the information located on the frame in this location. You may have to scrape the frame in this area to reveal the frame numbers. Also, include whether your car is a 4sp or 3sp. Thanks for your help.
An example of what I am looking for. This is from CRH's(member on this forum) 64 442. Notice the frame number on the top line and the S-26 (the "S" on the first line denotes A.O. Smith as the manufacturer); the second line has the date of production and the shift of production (in this case shift 1). BTW, to my knowledge, CRH has the earliest known 64 442 frame to be produced (March 30th 1964).
I have two 64 442 convertibles that I have owned since the early 70's. I could not find the frame info on one due to surface rust. Will check the other next week. It is a second week of April trim tag bodybuild date.
Also a study that I did on OCA data on 71 reported 1964 442's shows the earliest body date as 3A, first week of march 1964, and latest as7D, or last week in July. Data was from survey conducted in late 70's and early 80's, so pre-clone era data. Plus date codes agree well with 3/4 model year introduction.
Thanks for your reply. I see you have been a member of the forumfor several years. Glad my question prompted your first post to the forum. I would like to see your data. Send me a personal message if you care to share the info. I'll give you my email address at that time. There is not a lot of good information on the 64 442. I'm surprised by the early March build. The earliest date in the blueprints/build book was 3/17/64 and this was telling the plants where/how to affix the emblems. So, an early March car could have been a pilot car?
Thanks for your interest . Data from OCA 64 442 survey indicates the early car was produced at Oshawa, Ontario, Canada assembly site! The earliest Fremont car was 3D date code (last week March) and the Lansing earliest in survey was 4A (first week April) however since survey captures only 71 cars, I'm sure there were earlier examples at the Lansing and Fremont sites, if we had more detail on all 2999 cars produced. Also the data showed 7 cars were Fremont, the rest were Lansing produced, indicating Lansing site had bulk of 64 442 output. Also Kudos to prior OCA advisor, Dennis Urban, who was original 64 442 advisor until his passing several years ago, and Dennis bought a 64 442 in 1964 from Olds, a wealth of info on the first year 442 and super guy.
I would like to know the engine code prefix letters from the pad on the passenger side front of the cylinder head. I do not need the production sequence numbers,just the letters.
Begins with T and after the numbers it ends with G. These letters designate a high compression 330. There should be a large number one to the left of the number one spark plug hole.
Begins with T and after the numbers it ends with G. These letters designate a high compression 330. There should be a large number one to the left of the number one spark plug hole.
OK,I know what the service manual says about the letter codes for the 10.25 CR 290 HP engines but how did they distinguish the 310 HP 442 engine? There's some debate about an additional letter for the 442 engine. I just recognized 64442ed,the other contributor to this 64 442 discussion. He has a couple of 64 442's and he's going to check his letters as soon as he can. I'm just trying to learn as much as I can about these cars as I possibly can. There is a known POP that has the same extra letter as my car has. So I'm gathering info from other known 64 442 engines to see what the deal is. I have been told the extra letter doesn't mean anything but Olds used those codes for a reason. They used codes for all of the other 64 engines,so why not the 442 engine? The service manual was printed before the release of the 442 option and the T-G code is for the 290 HP 10.25 CR engine. I'm not being evasive about the extra letter code is,just trying to see if there is another match before I do. Thank you very much for your input.
Last edited by 66-3X2 442; Mar 5, 2016 at 05:31 AM.
Is it known how many 1964 442s were built at the Oshawa assembly plant?
No 442s were built in Canada during the 1965 1966 or 1967 model years.
442s were built at Oshawa in 1968 and 1969.
The 64 442 data survey reported by Ed Vickers and Bob Hamby showed one 64 442 from the Oshawa plant. There could be more. It would be great if more owners reported that info on this forum.
The 64 442 data survey reported by Ed Vickers and Bob Hamby showed one 64 442 from the Oshawa plant. There could be more. It would be great if more owners reported that info on this forum.
Was that 1 car a hardtop, post or convertible? Does the car exist today?
Now that I'm looking in the right spot it was a little easier to find. The undercoat mostly peeled right off. Looks like the Smith folks made the early frames in batches. My 442 also has a 3-30-64 1st shift Smith frame with a third week of April mfg date in Lansing from the body plate on the car.
Be interesting if we could get data on enough cars to establish if Olds produced them in batches too. B09 option had a lot of different parts from the frame up. Might make sense to accumulate them all then run a batch of cars.
Sorry it took so long to get the frame info from my 64 442 Conv. I forgot about it and just saw this thread again. My car is a 04D build date and the frame has a 4-21-64 date code. I couldn't find the frame part # in my parts book either. My car won Best of Class @ the 2016 Olds Nats in Kingsport TN.
Last edited by 66-3X2 442; Dec 24, 2016 at 11:33 AM.
That's a GM frame listed belonging to the El Camino. My convertible has the same frame number. Mine is NOT a 442.
Do you think they used the El Camino frame under the 64 Cutlass/442 conv. cars? If I could get the vin stamping from my frame,they would solve the mystery. That has to be the answer if we have two conv. with the same part #.
I sold this frame a couple years ago. It came out from under a 1964 Cutlass, not a 442. I do have a 1964 Cutlass convertible project car, if it would help I'll try to get a photo of the numbers on its frame. John
I sold this frame a couple years ago. It came out from under a 1964 Cutlass, not a 442. I do have a 1964 Cutlass convertible project car, if it would help I'll try to get a photo of the numbers on its frame. John
John
Was this frame out of a hardtop or conv.? Was it a boxed unit like a conv.? If it was a hardtop,that's strange why it was there.
Mike, it was a convertible, automatic transmission car. The sheetmetal was rotten but the boxed frame was really solid.
I guess that pretty much tells the story about which frame was used under the 64 Cutlass/442 conv. That's 3 cars with the same part # frame and Keener already knowing the part # was an El Camino unit.
Do you think they used the El Camino frame under the 64 Cutlass/442 conv. cars? If I could get the vin stamping from my frame,they would solve the mystery. That has to be the answer if we have two conv. with the same part #.
I believe GM used frames that were dimensionally the same for different division cars. The Chevy parts catalog lists 9773002 as an el Camino frame. However, if you look at Hollander interchange manual, the El Camino frame is listed as number 3876907. i can't explain why there is a discrepancy with frame numbers for the El Camino. One this is certain, based on your vert 442 frame and mine and johns non442 vert frames, it appears they used the same frame. All that was needed for the 64 vert 442 was a boxed frame and frame mount holes for an adjustable pinion angle, which the standard convertible and El Camino frame already had.
