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I just rescued a 1966 442 4-speed, post car from a back yard where it had been sitting for 39 years. I just posted about the car in the Newbie section and it was suggested I post it in Major Builds & Projects. One thing I'm curious about that maybe someone could help me with is exactly what transmission my car came with? The car has no engine or transmission but it has a clutch pedal, a factory shifter hole in the transmission tunnel and a Z-bar bracket welded to the frame. It could have had a 4-speed or a HD 3-speed. Is there any way of telling which transmission my '66 4-4 2 had originally?
When I found the car it had no front spindles, hubs, tie rods, rag joint or steering column. I replaced all of that with mostly used parts I already had in my parts stash. I was given a set of four 15x7 steel wheels painted white with 215/70R15 tires up front and 255/70R70 tires on the back. I like the look of the white steelies and am thinking of putting 15x8 steel wheels on the back and eventually dog dish/poverty caps all the way around. While i was putting the front suspension back together I pulled the coil springs out and torched a couple coils off each side. I did this so I could get the spindles to join up to the upper and lower control arms without using a spring compressor. I hate spring compressors. I also wanted an idea of how the car would look sitting at normal ride heigth since there was no engine or transmission in the car. I didn't feel bad about cutting the coil springs because they already had some of those twist-in coil spring spacers that are supposed to help sagging springs.
Most of the parts missing in the pictures (front bumper, grille, headlight trim, trunk lid, etc) are loose and already in the back of my pickup truck. The two big thing I'm missing are the hood and cowl vent. The bottom glass channel on the back window rusted and as a result the trunk floor was ruined. But, the car has been in Arizona its whole life and has a decent body. It was about to be cut up and hauled to the crusher and I just couldn't let that happen. I don't need another project car but I couldn't let it go to the crusher.. I feel as though I'm saving this cars life!
I've been kicking around ideas for the car and I'm tempted to just drop in an Olds 455 and Muncie 4-speed, front disc brakes with dual master brake cylinder, rebuild the front suspension and anything else to make it roadworthy and safe and drive it with all of its patina. I'll probably also give it a bath using Comet and a ScotchBrite pad like David Freiburger does. Or Derek Bieri from Vive Grip Garage uses SOS pads, doesn't he? While driving and enjoying the car I'll work on making it look better as time and money permits. Hey, at least i saved the car, right?
Yes there's a way of telling...and you took a picture of everything but that identifier.
Take a pic of the data plate on the left of the firewall.
In 65, an "L" was the 4 speed, and a "B" was the Dearborn 3 speed.
I'm not sure if those codes are the same for a 66...but someone here will.
You can also get color, paint codes, accessories, model etc. off of it.
As I suggested in your Newbie thread.....tackle the rust. If the rust got through below the back window, water leaked in your trunk and caused problems...how long before you have other leaks and damage.
Use a cleaner/rubbing compound and car polish on the body. You might be surprised how much paint is under the rust stains. You can "fake" patina with red oxide primer where the paint is gone.
Don't believe everything you see on TV. Forget the Brillo pads, SOS pads, Comet, ScotchBrite or other abrasives.
You can probably get by with the "white wheels" and no hub caps on your car. That was also a "fad" back in the 60's. `Good luck.
I got the front bumper and trunk lid with the car. The major pieces missing are the hood and cowl vent. The guy i bought it from is searching through his parts stash for the grille, grille bars and headlight trim. Also, the engine, transmission and shifter are missing. I’ve seen some original Hurst/442 shifters for sale on Ebay. I haven’t done any research yet on shifter linkage yet, but hopefully it’s still available from Hurst.
I got the front bumper and trunk lid with the car. The major pieces missing are the hood and cowl vent. The guy i bought it from is searching through his parts stash for the grille, grille bars and headlight trim. Also, the engine, transmission and shifter are missing. I’ve seen some original Hurst/442 shifters for sale on Ebay. I haven’t done any research yet on shifter linkage yet, but hopefully it’s still available from Hurst.
I have a shifter for it, PM on this id interested. I believe I have the linkage as well
I was excited to learn from the cowl tag that my '66 4-4-2 is a bench seat and 4-speed car. Cool combination I think. I had some 1967 and later dog dish/poverty caps and had to try them on. I like them!
I was excited to learn from the cowl tag that my '66 4-4-2 is a bench seat and 4-speed car. Cool combination I think. I had some 1967 and later dog dish/poverty caps and had to try them on. I like them!
My 66 Sports Coupe was a factory 3x2 and was ordered with bucket seat delete. They gave the guy a credit for the bench seat. Here's pictues of it.
The correct 66 shift lever is a one year only design. (Later year levers will bolt up) I did see that Mike had spotted the 66 style lever also used on some 67 3 speed cars. Anyway the correct lever for your should have the squared off top, and not the tapered top, next to the ball. Yes 99% of the public would not know what is correct. The same is true for the clutch bell crank. There were 2 designs used during the 66 model year.
The correct 66 shift lever is a one year only design. (Later year levers will bolt up) I did see that Mike had spotted the 66 style lever also used on some 67 3 speed cars. Anyway the correct lever for your should have the squared off top, and not the tapered top, next to the ball. Yes 99% of the public would not know what is correct. The same is true for the clutch bell crank. There were 2 designs used during the 66 model year.
I bought a Hurst shifter for a ‘66 442. I’ll attach a picture. Tell me about the 2 designs of clutch bell crank. Was there a difference because of more than one assembly plant or was there a mid-year change? Is this the squared off part of the handle below the threads?
For the clutch bell crank, the parts books list a type 1 and a type 2. (I can only speak the Lansing Plant cars.) I have a friend with one of the first L69 442s made in December 65. He bought it new off the dealer delivery truck in late December 65. His car came with the type shaped like a cross. A similar unit is reproduced and sold at www.thepartsplaceinc.com.
I have a L69 built in the Spring of 1966 also at Lansing. The arms of bellcrank are curved and not straight. They also have bushings in the holes for the push rods. I am unaware of any reproduction of these. You can adapt some early 60s corvette bushings for use in this type.
Sometime mid model year the transition from type 1 to type 2 was made. The two are completely different designs.
There were earlier differences that some real sharp people on here can address. For example, early 66 model year 4 speeds were a weaker carry over trans from the 65 model year. My friends December built L69 had the carry over Muncie.
We may now be deep in the weeds☝️
Last edited by Tri-Carb; Jun 26, 2024 at 03:26 PM.
Man you got a great body to start with on this sports coupe..if it were mine I would paint it the factory color with a white painted top. Bench seat, 4 speed.. be a very cool build.
I like it just the way it is. It would look great with a new aqua interior and the outside as is. The trick will be trying to match the patina for a hood and cowl vent panel.
I kinda like the patina look too and for now that's what I'll go with. And like you suggested I'm going to put in a new aqua interior like it originally had. Someday I'll repaint it the original aqua color but right now my main focus is rounding up the missing parts the car needs and make it complete. Then the next step for the car will be to make it run and drive. Oh yeah, I need to repair the bottom glass channel for the rear window and put in a new trunk floor. It will most likely have a 455 since I have a few of those that are good engines that I pulled out of running cars.
