Here we GO. My dad's first car was a 1966 442. He was driving that car when he met my mom. 2012 was their 40th anniversary and since we have several other cars that my dad wanted to build my mom wanted a 442 just like they had when they first started dating. My dad found one in 2012 in pretty decent shape. We started tearing it down spring of 2014 and here is where we are today. Everything taken off the car was bagged tagged and pictured. We have completely disassembled the car down to the frame. In the process of this, we found two donor cars and have mostly stripped and catalogued those parts as well. Since the car we are building is not an A/C car, we have started cutting and welding on the firewall for the factory A/C unit off of one of the donor cars. We took the body off of the original frame and set it on the frame of a donor car so we could blast and paint the original frame and start the assembly process. The engine had been completely rebuilt, painted and most of the pully system has been re introduced to the freshened up 400. There will be a lot of pictures to follow, but here are a few. Once I get the pics from the other camera downloaded to this computer I will start updating on a regular basis. I have inquired about a few things on the site so far and the information and knowledge has been exceptional and greatly appreciated. I'm sure more questions are soon to follow, but here is the project we have started.

 

More Pictures

 

Frame and suspension Pieces

 

Thanks for sharing your build with us!
The engine and everything else looks awesome, great job. The parts must have been in good condition even before you started the restoration. I can't see any signs of pitting on the frame or the control arms. Lucky you
Is it a factory 4-speed car?
I'm looking forward to seeing the progress, as I love the 66s!

 

Thank you. My dad and I are doing all the work Ourselves after work and on weekends. Yes it is a factory 4 speed car. The two donor cars we have are automatics. But since we are only using sheet metal and small parts and pieces, that won't matter. So far it has been a really fun build and I am getting to do my first real painting on it so that is a big honor!!!

 

A six pack and a stir stick, man not to mention garage envy.... what a nice project, and really I am envious of the size of the garage... subscribed....

 

Guys:
I know exactly what you are going thru, I am doing the same thing to my 66 Cutlass, I have had the car since 1974, it was my first car. I met the love of my life a couple of months later and we are still together. I guess I have trouble letting go of things I love. I know all the hard work and man hours it takes to do a project of this size, if it can be unbolted, it has been blasted and painted. Hopefully the car will be as nice or nicer than it was new, it will never see bad weather or have a hard life again, Lord knows it has seen it's share of rough times. Keep up the good work, don't cut any corners and be prepared to shell out a small fortune to do it right. The guys on this site have been a BIG part of the success I have had, contact 2blu442, lemonoldsnut, trublu442 and ferndaleflyer if you need anything, they are all great guys to deal with. I am sure I have left out few others, they are here to help you.
Thanks, Ron

 

Very nice work, your never too old for a father and son project.

 

Nice work!
Down to the bare metal, only way to do it.
Was this an original tri-power car?
Was your garage formerly a surgery room?

 

Love it.

 

Nice work. Subscribed.

 

Dan, yes there was some pitting on the frame and suspension pieces, but not too bad. The car looks to have been wrecked from the rear. Both quarters have been frankenstiened back together so that will be a project in itself. We have quarters off of another car with no damage so we will begin removing the quarters off of the car at the seam and replace them completely.
Eddie, thanks we have been blessed for sure. The garage is an old 3 car garage that I used to work on my race cars in. I no longer race though. It started as a 30 x 50 with a/c and we added the additional 20 x 50 on the back. It is sectioned off in the front two stalls together for work and assembly and a third just to park a car in. The rear is sectioned the same way but non a/c and that is where we weld grind and fabricate. The small section in the rear is a paint booth that we are finishing now so we can paint. We hope to have it finished spring of next year so we have a place to paint the car.
Oldcutlass, Yes you are never too old and its great because I just got married and have a new 6 year old son and he is getting into cars and trying to help so my dad now has a grandson and its awesome that the three of us get to do something productive together.
67442nut, no the garage wasn't a surgery room but we try to keep it clean and organized as to not loose anything and have a place to work where you aren't tripping over yourself. No the car is not an original tri-carb but when you run across one in excellent shape its hard not to use it, and yes bare metal. If a job is worth doing, do it right the first time and not only will you appreciate it more, but it will last a lot longer.
Trip, and Tru, Thank you. I'm sure I will be asking some hum dinger questions so get ready for it. Trip I am keeping up with your project as well. The dash looks good. We haven't made it quite that far but when we do, I will be getting with you for some info.

 

Sounds good. I'm full of useless information.

 

Nice job..

 

Very nice!!!love '66s can't wait to see more pics!! It's great to see that you're going to all the trouble of adding factory a/c instead of some aftermarket system! I know the new systems are superior to the originals but they just don't look right, especially under the hood.

 

somehow missed this thread……. nice 66 my favourite year nice manual tri power….

 

Update: Got the new bushings put in most of the suspension pieces. Dad started assembly while I was at the camp this past weekend. We finished the trailing arms up tonight and started putting them in. Disassembled the rear end also today and found Richmond gears in it. After research on the Richmond site we found it had a 3.90 gear. !!!We had to weld up and fix one of the bolt holes on the rear end but she's all good now. Also got the new brake lines in and they look pretty good. About to start clipping them to the frame. Have a long day at work tomorrow but hopefully Wednesday I will be able to paint the spindles and other various items while dad blasts the rear end so I can paint it. The plan is to get all of that stuff painted so it can really cure during all of the Turkey Day festivities. That way we can start next week putting the rear end back to the frame and start putting that new disc brake setup on the front. Also talked with classic auto air this morning and the compressor rebuild, POA valve and filter dryer rebuild should be complete just in time for Christmas. But for now here are a few more pics of the last few days accomplishments.

 

The new rotors and calipers look great inside the wheels wrapped with the new Good Year bias ply tires. That should help with stopping the ole girl. Also got the new brake lines in today and we put the front to rear line in the frame and is ready to be clipped in. I hope everyone has a Great Thanksgiving and plenty of awesome food. Travel safe and I will be posting more after the weekend.

 

Rob, you are exactly right on the A/C. We put an aftermarket in a 55 wagon and nothing fits right under the dash. Nothing but useless modifications. We wanted the car to be factory. It may not be exactly what the vin number says but its what we want. If you're going to do it, do it right. When its done, its going to be something that will last and something that we are proud of.

 

Nice progress so far!! Looks great! I had to weld up my rh lower shock mount also as it was all beat out,probably from the air shocks that were on it long ago. Are you doing 4 wheel discs or just the front? You're lucky to have a complete parts car for the a/c,not a whole lot available for '66-'67s like the '68 to '72s.

 

That isnt a garage, that my friend is a facility
Very nice work so far,

Enjoy your Thanksgiving as well, be safe and looking forward to your progress

 

Post Thanksgiving Disorder... Ate entirely too much food and did very little hunting. Dad came home early and started assembly on frame Saturday night and Sunday. We have worked last night and tonight on it. We are ecstatic as to how it is turning out. Should be putting the front shocks on it tomorrow night and bolting the front tires on it. Pictures to follow. Got all the springs and the steering sector in tonight. Dad came up with an ingenious way to do that without a spring compressor tool. Simple and one person can do it without springs flying all over the place. If anyone would like I can take a picture of this device to help anyone who will be doing the same thing.
Rob, no we are only putting disc on the front, and yes finding one parts car is awesome, but we found two. Both with A/C. We have plenty of parts to assemble all we need and will most likely have left overs.
Eddie yes its coming along great. Thank you. No its not quite a facility but, but it gets the job done.
Here are the latest pics from tonight.
Thanks to all for the kind words and encouragement.

 

Pictures with the springs and steering sector. Before anyone asks, no the backing plate wasn't painted as an accident. That one is pitted and the new one has been ordered. So it will have a nice new one on there soon. Oh and another word of advice. When pressing the bushings in on the trailing arms and bars. Freeze the bushings, that will help. But also cut some shims to go on the inside of each end while pressing the bushings because the ears on the end of each bar bends extremely easy. This will help not only in pressing the old ones out but also putting the new ones in and you won't have to knock the ends back straight.

 

Looking good!!! Keep the pics coming!!!

 

I slipped a 1/2 drive socket into the a frames and uppervand lower control arms to keep them from compressing you are 100% right you need something to keep them from bending,nice trick with the freezer, maybe put the arms in the oven bushings in the freezer they should pop right in very nice work so far

 

Ok Guys, It's Friday and its about to get real. Worked again last night and now we have a rolling chassis. The only thing is the rear shocks aren't in yet but they should be here sometime next week. The tires look great on it. In the morning, we will transplant the engine, tranny, and driveshaft. I haven't uploaded any pictures today but I will post them from last night and this weekend Monday to show the transformation. I ordered the exhaust yesterday from Gardner. They claim it to be exactly factory specifications with zero modifications. That is 3 weeks out. So after new years we should be close to having a complete ready and close to running chassis. Starting to get excited but as soon as that's done then the body awaits. That ought to bring us down a notch. Wish us luck this weekend. Thanks guys for the good words.
Thanks Rob... It's moving along faster than expected right now but I'm sure that will slow down in time.
Eddie that would have been a great idea except we painted the arms before putting the bushings in so it would look right. But a good press and some country enginuity goes a long way.

 

Before they call my Number ..I will have a 66 442 ..

 

Ok guys, been working all week and worked all day Saturday. Well atleast until the SEC championship game. We got the tires put on the chassis and some other various things. We've run into some small problems. The oil filler tube is wrong. Found that out while plumbing the fuel lines to the carbeurators. We got the tranny all cleaned up and paired to the bell housing. After putting all that in we found out that the tranny mount decided that it was going to be stripped out on us after we put all of this to the cross member. We got some of the issues straightened out. Its really getting fun now. Here are a few pics

 

Here are pics after the drive train has been installed!!!

 

Wow! Looks great!

 

Very nice, I like the Goodyear tires on there.

 

Car ****, and I am loving miss december lol...that is beautiful , what clutch did I you go with?

Gotta luve a 6 pack and a 4 speed the perfect 10

 

Thanks guys for the good words. Its been fun and productive so far. Now we are at a slow down until we get some parts. Christmas is coming and we are getting pretty busy at work. Gotta make it while ya can.


Ha ha thanks Eddie. I'm kinda partial to Miss December myself. It looks even better in person. We put a McLeod Clutch stock style and 10.5 inch.
Just curious, Does anyone have any pictures of or know anything about the Starter Shield and does the clutch spring fasten to it. This car was without the shield and the retainer clip for the clutch. But like I said some of this car was frankenstiened together and it had an 11.5 clutch in it from a truck. Thanks in advance guys.

 

I'm not aware of a starter shield on a '66 442. The clutch return spring attaches to the side of the starter on a small bracket in the same location that the starter brace attaches at. I have the complete return spring assembly if you need one.

 

The early starter brace was not over an inch wide. The late one (1970s or so) was several inches wide, served as a shield, and had a hole for the spring.

 

Thanks guys, Yall are awesome. Randy, I will let you know as soon as I tell my dad whats going on as to if we need anything. I know we have the spring and the clip where it attaches to the arm. Run thanks for that info. My dad was not aware of that. He couldn't remember if his car had the big shield or not. But he had an early 70's that he knows for sure did.

 

After talking to dad, This car did not have the starter brace. So we are now in need of one. Randy, do you have one or know where we can get one. We have all of the return spring assembly as far as my dad can think. We are just minus the starter brace. If you know something that we don't about that part we are all ears for whatever knowledge you can throw at us. Thanks it advance

 

Since you've done some nice upgrades on your car already,I'd use the later brace/shield. Like run said it has the hole for the clutch spring. I put one on my '68 since I had one for the extra insurance of the heat shield,(that left pipe is so close to the starter), Fusick (& others) sell them both. The thin original one pt# SBS645A/$25.00 & the later shield style,pt#SBS645$28.50 Your "roller" looks great by the way!!!

 

Thanks Rob, Dad ordered the updated brace this weekend. He actually found an original off of one of the parts cars we have. So I guess he will make a decision on which one he will use once he can see how they both go. I didn't see it originally off of that car because they pulled the body off of the frame and set the motor in the back of the shop. Thanks for all the help. I will relay this info to him. Thank you on the compliment. We are just about to a stand still until after Christmas. But early January we will be starting on the major parts of the Bodywork. It's about to get real. Once we get done we will have tons of extra parts. I may have to open a thread on selling stuff.
Thanks again everyone

 

Beautiful work! You and your Dad will have great memories from doing the build together. Just curious though, if you are using a 400 cid and adding A/C, will you need to install notched valve covers?