j_link

Recently I sold my '69 Sport Coupe and Holiday Coupe projects to kind of scale back a bit. We recently moved and the new house is now one of my projects. I was without an Olds project for all of one day when I started thinking of a '68 442 convertible I knew of that had been for sale for at least a year. I saw it last year on 442.com classifieds and always meant to go look at it but thought I had too many projects as it was.

I called the owner and set up a time to go see it, I was not expecting much from the photos that were sent. As soon as I pulled into the owner's driveway I had a feeling I would be bringing the car back with me.

The owner was 84 and bought the car from the second owner in 1970. It sold at Rector Olds in Appleton in '68 and was local to that area until last Thursday. It had 77k on it original, I don't believe any of the body panels have ever been off of the car. After looking it over and wondering at how smooth it still ran, how nice everything worked, how the doors just clicked shut, I took it for a ride around the block and closed the deal.

I had planned to rent a trailer if I bought it and tow it home, but I was excited and wanted to drive it back, so I left my truck in Ivor's (previous owner) driveway. It made the 150 mile drive back very well. A couple of minor issues came up, the gas gauge did not work, and the th400 was slow shifting into drive (found a rotted vacuum line on the modulator,) and whatever shop that put the new radiator hose on did not tighten the clamp fully. Aside from that the car ran and drove great. I planned to take side roads all the way but after an hour I got on the interstate and cruised with traffic easily at 70mph. The car probably had not even been fully warmed up for a couple of years prior.

When I got it home I changed the oil, there were only 300 miles on the last oil change but the date on the sticker said 2006! I removed the stick on side moulding that the shop put on when it was painted (1 paint job in the original color over the factory paint.) I buffed it and waxed it, added a 442 emblem for the grill that was missing, and drove it another 300 miles round trip to visit family.

There is some rust and filler in the usual places, but the floors are all excellent. The paint is typically terrible, probably Maaco, looks ok from 20ft. It is number's matching, 325hp G block 400, OG TH400, and an open Olds 12 bolt w/ what I assume are 3.08 gears. I have not looked up the axle code yet, but that is what is likely in there, and from how it cruises I expect that is what I will find. Options are power drum brakes, power windows, PO1 full wheel covers, A/C, tinted windshield, lighting package, am radio (with aftermarket and functional FM converter under the dash.)

This will not really be a major build for now, just documenting a low mile and relatively untouched '68 442. I will be detailing it, adding a set of 14x6 SSII wheels I have, maybe changing the radio out for a factory AM/FM, and doing some tuning in the hopes of putting a bit more power to the ground. It runs amazingly, however it is not quick at all. I am guessing 0-60 in about 8.5 seconds, it leaves all of a 4ft black strip on the pavement from a dead stop.

Anyway, onto the photos, these are all prebuffing. I will add more pics of how it looks now over the next few days. Hopefully next week I will have the SSII wheels on it and will get more photos up then.

This is one of the earliest pics I have, side moulding is still on and it has not been washed.

I would be happy to take photos for anyone that needs to see something, much of the car is very well preserved and mostly untouched.

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State of the art sound



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Worst of the rust, looks worse than it is due to the scrape, most of which buffed out.

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oldcutlass

Looks nice, it's a tough choice on how far to take it.

allyolds68

Nice! Isn't lacquer a great product. Try to do that with one of todays crappy rice paper thin clear coats. Thanks for taking those door mouldings off too. Now get some rims on that baby!

m455sx

very cool

rcorrigan5

Wow, that's neat! A '68 4-4-2 convertible with a factory bench seat. I've seen only 2 other '68 4-4-2 convertibles with a bench seat besides mine, and now that count is up to 3! People selling 4-4-2s in the late 80s in Hemmings used to advertise that only 201 '68 4-4-2 convertibles were made with a bench seat. I don't know where that number came from and I don't know where it went. But, the fact is, you just don't see many of them around. Enjoy your new purchase - it looks great!

Randy C.

442craig

Great find! Good Luck!

Craig

j_link

Thanks everyone for the nice comments. Recently I lost a close friend of mine, about two weeks ago actually. This project will be a nice distraction, to give me something positive to focus on.

Anyway, yes hard to know how far to go with it. Everything functions very well and "feels" right. The only thing I have not tried is the A/C, which I won't need, but I won't be surprised if it works. Probably I will continue to detail it, add a fresh carpet set, wheels for sure (hopefully this next week,) factory AM/FM, maybe a Rally Pack. I am also considering freshening up a 455 I have and putting the 400 into storage. If I do this I will make everything look as stock as possible as I don't want to disturb the character of this car. There will be no major modifications, if it does not look original it will not be added or changed. This will be a lot different than my last project. A paint job and some body work will be in order but not for a year at least, possibly longer.

Randy C. yes, the bench seat is unusual, at least in a convertible. I have seen a surprising number of bench seat 442s. But not many convertibles, I like it and won't be changing it. Thanks for posting your window sticker, that is super cool.

Hope to have more pics within 7 days.

sammy

Wow!....nice looking vert Jon...and you lasted a whole day Olds free
Sorry to about the loss of your friend...my thoughts are with you.
Any of these cars I have seen of late around here seem to be bondo buckets..and I have never seen one with a bench.As said, get some nice wheels and enjoy it!.
Wondering if you could measure the distance from the base of the bumper to the end of the exhaust tips for me and post here or email to me. Getting ready to put exhaust on mine and cannot seem to find how far the exhaust tips come out.
I am putting a 455 in the 68 and have pulled the 400...do you have a 455 yet?
The car looks like it will be more relaxing to work on than the others you have had
Congrats!

Ted

Aron Nance

I can see why you thought the '68 might be "going home with you when you first saw it"! Drove it yet, and 70 MPH! Sure brings back great memories of Big Red (that we owned for 22 years until the idiot in a Beemer decided to turn left, across me, where I proceeded to T-bone him...both cars totaled, of course). Congratulations on a Great, Good Lookin' Buy! I'm jealous, of course.

j_link

Ted,

Yes, life seemed far too simple for that one day without any Olds projects!

I will check that distance tomorrow, but I am not sure it is exact, the tailpipes were replaced. I did see that measurement listed on CO one time when I did a search for it.

I do have a '71 455 that looks like it was rebuilt. I am going to take it apart his winter and inspect everything. I will freshen anything that needs it and put a mild cam in it. Not sure if I will actually have it in the car this winter or not. I am having a hard time with the idea of pulling an engine that runs so well, despite the lack of power.

Agreed on it being more relaxing to work on. It is just what I need after all of the moving this year, the house project, and the loss.

Good luck on your '68 as well, I will check out your build thread and see how it is coming along.

j_link

Haha, yes, thanks! I will have to post some pics that the last owner sent. They had taken a number of photos of the rust on the drivers quarter and I thought from viewing the pics that it was multiple rusted areas on both quarters. So yeah, was not expecting much, I almost did not go look at it. Glad now I did. I was in disbelief as I looked the car over, thinking "WOW!"

Joffroi

That looks awesome. I'm jealous

eric-s.

Make that 4. I have an ivory '68 442 convertible w/ black interior and top.

j_link

Here are a couple of preview pics with SSII wheels, these are a couple I had lying around, they are 14x7 w/ 235/60 tires. Unfortunately I don't have another pair of the Eagle ST rubber and they no longer make them, or I would just run these.

I will likely refinish the 14x6 SSII wheels I have and run the tires that came on the car, flipped so the blackwall is out. But this gives an idea of what it will look like anyway. More pics to come, paint is also shown here buffed as good as I will get it. I could wet sand it to get it smoother and then rebuff it, but I don't think this paint job is worth the trouble.

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j_link

[QUOTE=sammy;603593]Wow!....nice looking vert Jon...and you lasted a whole day Olds free
Sorry to about the loss of your friend...my thoughts are with you.
Any of these cars I have seen of late around here seem to be bondo buckets..and I have never seen one with a bench.As said, get some nice wheels and enjoy it!.
Wondering if you could measure the distance from the base of the bumper to the end of the exhaust tips for me and post here or email to me. Getting ready to put exhaust on mine and cannot seem to find how far the exhaust tips come out.
I am putting a 455 in the 68 and have pulled the 400...do you have a 455 yet?
The car looks like it will be more relaxing to work on than the others you have had
Congrats!

Ted,

Below is a photo showing the dimension of 2.5" from the far end of the tip to the top inside of the fluted part of the bumper. To me it looks like it is sticking out too far. I have not checked my chassis manual but if you have one it may show the way it is supposed to be. I know on my '69 I thought it looked better with the tips closer in to the bumper, though I don't know if that was correct either.

j_link

Weather was nice enough here today to get some better pics of the 14x7 SSII wheels with 235/60/14 tires. I was not sure how they would look out on the street, I personally think it looks good and I am going to order some tires in this size. I would be open to hearing some opinions. I will still put the other tires on the 14x6 SSII rims I have and will try those too.

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sammy

Thanks for the measurement on the exhaust tips Jon!
I think they look better closer to the bumper also.Just in time , as the 2.5"exhaust is what I am working on hanging.

I think those wheels look good on your car.
I have noticed a lot of the 68 /69 converts look like they are low in the backend..must be a common trait with them. Maybe a liitle higher tire for the back on the same rim?

Ted

OLD SKL 69

Jon,

Nice find. I know you said the paint is a 20 footer, but it really looks nice in the pictures. That's a tough one whether to repaint or not. My 85 Riv Conv paint is basically a 10 footer, and I have thought about repainting it but I like being able to drive it and not worry about a scratch or ding. If it was only for show, then I would repaint when I had the $$$$. The rally's look good to and the tire size looks right on.

Glad to hear you're out enjoying it.

j_link

I should find a nice level place to take a pic. In the latest photos it is actually on an incline with the nose pointed up. It does sit a bit low in the back, but I like how it sits. I thought about running 245/60/14 in the rear to raise it just a bit, and I may still. But one of the things that bothered me the most was trying to get the ride height right on my post car, even after changing the springs I never did get it as low as the chassis manual said it should be.

j_link

Darrell,

Thanks! You are right, it sure looks nice in the pics, I wish it looked as good up close under the garage lights. It is not terrible, but there is orange peal, splotches from bird droppings, runs, overspray, lots and lots of rock chips and door dings. Had it not been for all that I would have probably wet sanded it before I buffed the paint.

I doubt I will ever show it, if it got that nice I would not want to drive it either. Still, I am guessing I will want to get it nicer than it is now... I think part of the reason it looks so good in the pics is because it has never been apart and reassembled. None of the body panels are aligned perfect, but they are still a lot better than many of the cars that were put back together in a hurry that we all see.

j_link

I thought I would add a few more pics, nothing too exciting, except for what I am assuming is a date code painted underneath the air cleaner?

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Correct carb

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G block, have not been able to get a good look at the vin stamp yet.

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