My restoration project is once again underway. I thought I would get on here and share a few pictures as I move along with it. The car has been mostly disassembled and the body and frame were seperated for blasting and painting. One of the first of many questions I will be asking is about a marking on the firewall. There is a NN printed near the middle of the firewall that is partly covered by some kind of vacuum part. It dosent look to me like it is a decal, but rather stamped in paint or ink. Do any of you know what this is for? I'll add a couple of pictures. Thankyou for your help, Dan

 

More or less, an inspection stamp...when doing a "proper" restoration, these are usually re-applied with a rubber stamp. You will find, especially on suspension components, "colored markings" or paint daubs. These represented inspection marks as the car made it's way through the assembly line.

 

keep a look out for other markings, did you see anything on the inside of the fenders? or on top of the trans etc.

 

Looks like you've got a nice shop to work in!

Keep the pictures coming!!!

John

 

I think YearOne sells a stamp kit with, what appears to be, the correct letters, font and colors.
http://www.yearone.com/serverfiles/f...+kit&SM=1&SC=3
That's the only one I've seen. Maybe someone more familiar with it has an opinion on it.

 

inline tube has a ton of this stuff include repo suspension tags etc

 

Thanks for the info guys! I'll stay on the lookout for markings and post pics as I can, Dan

 

Hey guys, Havent had a whole lot of time lately to work on the car, But every now and then I am able to dig into it a little deeper. Im almost done with the teardown stage, its gone a little slow so I can write myself notes and take photos for the re-assembly. One question that I have is about the marking on the trans. It has the OW plate on the side, but also has what looks like a 4OW printed on the bellhousing area. Any ideas on what the 4 means? I will post a few pictures of the trans and the teardown. Thanks, Dan

 

Here are a few more photos to share. Lots of parts cleaning in my future. I already painted and finished most of the suspension pieces, spindles, and various other parts and hope to blast and paint the frame in the coming weeks. Also working on painting engine brackets, pulleys and things. Since the car is not a chevelle, most of my friends have very little interest in it, so I will share my progress, with those of you on C.O. !!!

 

Haha! I love you man! I have been trying to find a picture of a bare frame for a while now that one you posted is exactly the angle I needed.

ps. Re: that F head - I don't think thats what they mean by "oil restrictors"...

 

never seen a 4 before the OW on the trans

 

That is nice unmolested 70 W-30, I really like the color option on the car as well. Mike

 

Cars like this are great.That looks like a real nice resto project.

 

Here is a photo of a marking on the top of the drivers side rear frame rail. Looks to me like Y533 or Y333 in yellow. Almost lost it when sandblasting, but stopped just in time to get a picture. I have no idea what it means, Any help? The others are shots taken while I re-filled the blaster! Mov'in forward...mak'in progress...feels good!!! Should be painted next week, if all goes well. Thanks for lookin, Dan

 

Looking good man...

Boy do I need a sandblaster lol!

What are you planning to use on the frame?

 

Some sort of a corrosive resistant metal etching epoxy would be just the ticket. You can do a DP 40 PPG product or of good quality alike. And then scuff it for prep for whatever type of highbuild epoxy primer. You can color that with whatever color until you decide to paint it. I had a gentleman tell me about a product that was made by Sherwin/Williams of all manufacturer's..... It has been developed by them to use on the underneath side of military equipment.

 

That is a cool car... it's going to look great!

 

Neither have I.....wondering what that was about.

 

I can't wait to see some pictures of it! To see pictures during progress is always cool too....

 

I guess the 70 has always been one of my favorites,and that year seems like it is pretty legendary.

 

Years ago, I did a frame up resto on a 72 chevy pickup using Eastwood products and was really happy with the way that frame turned out. I have already cleaned and painted the a-arms, trailing arms, rearend housing, etc. with the Extreme Chassis Black and it seems to be pretty tough. I've heard good things about POR 15 also, but have yet to try it.
My plan is to rack-up the miles when this car is finished, so I'm trying not to "over restore" it to the point where I cant drive it daily.
The 70 has always been my favorite year of 442 also, but after looking in on the other cars in the other build forums, I'm pretty much liking all of them now.
Hey, Thanks guys for checkin out my car and thanks for the complements. I'll keep posting the pics as I can, Dan

 

That is one nice car. The difference between doing a resto on a California car and a rustbelt car is like night and day. It is still a lot of work, but it does not look like you will have to replace any panels or the frame. I love the color and year of your 442. Very sweet.

 

Joe, The car spent quite a few years sitting outside underneath a carport that was a bit to small. The backend hung out and seen a lot of rain. Around the bottom of the rear window and up inside of the package tray has some small amounts of rust, but your right, not as bad as some cars that see heavy winters. The floorboards and trunk have none at all. The rest of the car is very solid and a great candidate for restoration. Thanks for looking, Dan

 

Cool. I would just like to find a 1970 post sport coupe. If anybody knows where a guy could find a solid post 1970 F85 or just a plane jane 1970 post, I would be very grateful. I am looking for a descent body, doesn't have to be anything other than a driver. Thank you, and keep us posted on your 1970 442, awesome machine.

 

I have not used por15, but I have heard it is a really good product for doing just what we are talking about. Yes, I would say that is a very good way to restore the frame, or whatever for that matter. I know it works real good on a old battery tray that you can't purchase anymore, it is an excellent product for that for sure. Obviously there is always more than one way to do a restoration of any kind. I think a lot of times, especially now day's, it's just trying to do it right and be able to afford it along the way, so the project stay's fun. I love your car Joe, Mike Johnson


68 442 original 4speed
66 Nova rotisserie/ never again
68 Nova SS

 

I don't know what the 4 on your OW trans stencil means. It is interesting that they used a stencil, though. I have seen an original 69 H/O (under 10K miles) where the trans was not lettered with a stencil. It just had OH hand drawn on it with a brush in about the same location as your OW stamp. In pink, with runs going down the side of the case!

Nice looking car you have. Good luck with the further resto.

 

Where are you located? I may have a car you you would be interested in, I will send a PM.

 

Here are a few goodies I found in the car. The manual, protecto-plate and all of the old registration cards were in the glovebox, along with a bunch of receipts for re-caps, sometimes 1, but usually 2 at a time. Also the broadcast card was under the back seat, a little worn but a nice thing to have. Last is the decal on the drivers side door. I've seen these decals for sale at different places, but, does anyone know where you can get them printed with your vin#'s ? Dan

 

Here's the picture of the door decal.

 

they sell repos, you can use an old typewriter yourself. I've seen someone on ebay who will reproduce them for you but they charge 4-5 times what the sticker would cost you but maybe they use the exact same machine with same font but I have heard an old typewriter works as well someone else can chime in I'm sure.

 

http://www.ecsvin.com/

or....eBay http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/69-70...item4aa591c004

 

looks like your car was built right around the time mine was, I wonder how close our W parts are in build codes, my car was 11C and sold the same day yours was I believe 12/6.

 

Not to jack a thread, but I have read elsewhere that the W-30 did not have a booster for the brakes, but I see in your pic of the intake that you have a vacuum line that will go to the booster, My car has the same set up...I have seen lots of others pics with boosters as well...What is the story? Great pics!!

 

hi, automatic transmissions on w-30 cars were available with power brakes. standard transmission w-30s were only manual brakes because of the aggressive 328 duration camshaft, that did not produce enough vacuum for the brake booster.

 

So.....and please pardon my ignorance....somebody went thru the hassle of adding a clutch pedal and four speed to my car, and others?? The history intrigues me! I know the guys that built this car for racing could have cared less about power brakes, so they would not have added the booster...I have the emblems, the red inner fenders, the f heads, the intake, the OAI....I do not have a console, but I do have a crappy sheet metal box around the shifter.......hmmmm!

 

In my opinion, you're much better off leaving a rough but original blue VIN sticker on your door than getting a new sticker. Less ammunition for W-30 skeptics in the future. Too many nice new tags raise red flags, and your car is a really nice documented original.
Terry

 

hi, definitely all factory 70 442 w-30s equipped with 4 spd trans were manual brakes. a non w-30 factory 4 spd car could be gotten with a power brake set up, because the 455 in those cars used a less aggressive cam profile. is your car built in lansing? some one could have added power brakes or the 4 speed set up to your car.

 

Interesting....Yes, built in Lansing...I was told it was purchased strickly to race, a local Olds dealer sponsored him back then....I will have to keep investigating as to why/how it came to be....Thanks

 

I'm trying my best not to get jealous. It looked like a great car even before you started. Keep up the good work and update us as the project continues.

 

The NN stamp on the firewall was stamped by the Line Inspector at Body Drop. This is when the body came down from the second floor and was mated to the chassis that was built on the Chassis Line on the first floor. After all of the body mount bolts were installed and torqued, the inspector would stamp the firewall in the heater/A/C area verifing the body was secured to the chassis.

Save your money on the tags that In-Line Tube sells. Most if not all the tags were removed, somewhere along the line.. This was strictly enforced by the foremens and Line Inspectors. How would you ike to spend $5,000 to $6.000 for a car in 1970 and it had all those tags! Oldsmobiles were GM s second costly car to build second only to Cadillac!

If you noticed most parts had the code stamped in to the part or they were assembled in "Sub Shops" like the "Kunckle Shop" were the upper and lower frt. controll arms were attached to the spindle with the brk. drum/caliper installed. All of the tags were removed! Yes you will find tags on such parts as the springs and shocks. Can you see them when walking up to to the car? No! Most parts that could be seen or when opening the hood were removed.

As far as the 4 before the OW code that would have been done at the Buick Trans Plant were all auto s were built. So I cannot help with that. I am however wondering why the 4OW is an outline and not solid flat black as I usually saw on transmissions when I was in that area!

Ok, tired of typing got to go!

enjoy!