So I picked up a 70 442. I'm sure most of you have seen this car in the for sale section. It's the 442 Eric was selling on ebay. I went and picked it up this afternoon and drove it home. Now I have one to drive and so does the wife

Unfortunately on the way home it developed some issues. It was missing real bad but we chalked this up to the dry rotted wires and needing a tune up from sitting etc. It had a small tap to it and we were not sure if it was lifter or spark since the wires were old and rotted. I thought it might be a lifter tap since Eric had just swapped the heads out on it. On the way home the knock finally stopped when I got the car up to highway speeds for a while however the car now spews smoke out the rear like someone poured oil on a fire.

It smokes bad idling or at driving speeds now. I did a full tune up on the car. Points, condenser, wires, cap, rotor, plugs, PCV, Breather caps, etc. Starter went out as I pulled into the driveway so replaced that as well. I put everything on the car and fired it up and it still misses extremely bad. I checked compression and as stated previously it was all fine. The exhaust smalls of just a tad of oil, quite a bit of fuel and funky exhaust. There is no oil in water, car doesn't over heat at all, it actually runs rather cool for a hour and half drive home.

Not sure what to try now as I am out of answers. As much as it smoked on the way home one would think it would have lost either alot of oil or water but both were in the same place as they were when we checked them when I bought it. The oil color is whitish/Gray which would lead me to believe water/Oil but it smells of neither more so rich fuel with a tinge of oil.

I thought when I started changing plug wires I had seen the firing out of order and there was no line for the vacuum advance that this was the issue. However after changing the wires to correct firing order and hooking up a vacuum advance line it did little to rid the rough idle/miss. It did help the power considerably. All the plug after driving after tune up looked normal, no oil, carbon or anything really. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Let the fun begin

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Well ya don't waste any time do ya! lol I look forward on seeing your progress on this one as well.

 

you got alot done already. i sure hope you get it lined out without to much issue. i am sure the carb needs rebuilt after sitting as long as it did. before you rebuild the carburetor i would put a vacuum gauge on it. i think the vacuum will be real low from that cam. if so, you may want to put a softer spring on the power piston when you rebuild the carb. the guy i got it from may have done that but i don't think so.

 

Eric,
Yes sir! That carb def needs rebuilt. It may be the source of alot of the issues and quite possibly the dead miss. Last night after Ic hanged starter we had to pour gas down it to start because it was not getting any fuel to squirt out of jets. I put a half tank of premium in so I know it wasn't out of gas. So I could def see the carb causing alot of my issues right now. The slow starting that I thought was timing off was actually starter going out. I'm happy it made it home and had a little luck it seems. Now with new starter it cranks over like a brand new car.

I pulled the wires off one by one to check for cylinder problems and car changed idle or ran any worse on each pull so I dont think it's an electrical or timing issue. I got a PM from a member telling me to check the brake booster/master for possible sucking of brake fluid back into the intake from a possible bad seal on the master. I could almost see this as the brakes go to floor and barely stops. Matter of fact I can press as hard as I can and the car slows down at it's own pace. I imagine as long as it sat the brakes need a good rebuild at this point and probably bled lines and new pads/shoes. Rotors didnt feel warpped so hopfully there in decent shape.

This could very well be some where to check for the smoking as it doesnt seem to eat any oil or water which confuses me as to where the smoke is coming from. I know it only takes a few drops to create smoke, but this car will clear out a neighborhood in a matter of minutes so I would think it's eating whatever oil it's getting pretty bad.


All in all I am super excited and happy as hell to have bought this car. Gonna be a fun project putting it back together and I am relieved most of the body work is done and looks good. Tires are my next investment as the right front steer bounces like a ball at 70MPH. Shocks and springs will also go on as it rides like a sherman tank on the interstate LOL

 

lol, i don't think i ever had it over 45 in the 2 or 3 trips i took around the block. i would have been a little worried going 70 out on highway 40. maybe some of the other guys can answer this but is it possible that it could have a bad modulator valve on the transmission and suck ATF into the engine?

 

Yea the member that suggested the brake fluid being sucked in suggested the same thing about the modulator valve. The car seems to shift ok, I will say that when I pulled into my neighborhood after leaving the higway it seemed to shift longer than when I test drove or even on way home. It's almost like it was either getting just a tad low or modulator valve wasn't getting enough vacuum.

It wasn't bad but I could def tell it SHOULD have shifted, didn't and then moments later finally shifted into next gear. It did it one time and chirped tires pretty hard, I kinda figured maybe the PO put in a shift kit? I didnt notice it shifting as long or hard when we drove it down the road together. I even remember remarking how well it shifted and kicked down to lower gear.

The vacuum advance on the distributor was missing. I was wondering why power on higway was a little weak. I also found the plug wires wrong. Cylinders 2, 5 and 8 were going to wrong places. I seen this and was like this has got to be the problem but changing it didn't improve anything other than more power now.

As far as driving 70, I only did that when I got on the interstate. I drove the car all the way back 40 until I hit plainfield and then the stop and go rough idle plus the smoking was making it hard to drive. I turned and went to 70 and got on there and speed limit is 70 so I drove between 70 and 75. If I held at 70 I could see the pass front side bouncing BAD so I sped up and it smooth out a tad so the tires need balanced or replaced. I opt for replace to rid the white walls.. YUK! LOL As far as driving on 40 I kept it at 55 to 60 and it drove fine. It stopped knocking on the lifter at stilesville when I stopped for fuel. After I pulled out of the gas station I noticed the knock was gone and it had a tad more power and acceleration but still had smoke and dead miss.

My plan is to go home and swap the carb from the S onto this to see if it helps. I know the Edelbrock on the S works fine since it runs A1. If it fixes the miss I will move on to figuroung out the smoking. There is no oil in breather, PCV was oiled up but working. I replaced it anyways and put on a new hose. Breater was oil filled and old so I replaced it too. I seen no obvious oil around carb or inside the carb butterflies so it's not getting smoke from blow by. If it's getting any oil, brake or tranny fluid its doing it from the ports. I will pull off those hoses when I get home and see if any fluid is present. Those hoses should be dry as air is the only thing that should be feeding through them.

I'm kinda worried the carb and checking for oil will come back clean and not help miss and if thats the case then it would be internal with a possible valve or ring issue. I hope thats not the case so I have my fingers crossed.

Thanks for all the help.

 

So......I found out the issue! Broken fulcrum LOL

The good...I took a fulcrum off the S temp till I pick one up from Scott or Eric. Car fired up and ran slighly better but still smoking like none other.

The bad... the lifter popped up out of the slot since the pushrod was not in place and now it's some where in the valley. So this lets me know why the car is smoking. The valve is the intake side so it's pulling oil down into the piston. When I pulled the spark plug out it was smoking out the hole like a choo choo.

So I guess I found out the issue and it was nothing super serious. The down side is now I have to pull apart the entire top of the motor apart to put the lifter back in the slot.

 

you should only have to pull the intake. i will look but i may have a set of intake gaskets. if i do i will bring them with me Saturday. it may have popped the keeper out of the top of the lifter.

 

Hey there, I had a bad modulator valve on my 72, it would smoke a lot when just leaving from a stand still after idling ,changed it and smoking problem over .I had all my spark plugs out and the only one that was wet was right where the tranny picks up vacuum from number 3 cylinder,also lost a lot of tranny fluid out the exhaust.Hope that helps ya.

 

We figured out the issue. A few posts up I determined the Fulcrum broke in 2 and caused the miss and oil burning. Appreciate the help though.

 

Correct. We talked on phone but yea the clip I found half of it. Looks like it broke in half and let the lifter separate

Scott didn't have any handy but hopefully he has some in a parts car hes gonna check in morning. Worse case I can possibly swing out tomorrow and grab one from you so I can have a running car for Saturdays festivities.

 

No problem, I did read further up ,just saying if it still smokes after your repairs might be a modulator.Good Luck

 

Car runs under it's own power again. A few late night trips to Napa to get a lifter retaining clip and a couple hours of busted knuckles and presto. Bad part was I had to buy 4 lifters as they only sell them in 4 packs. Car drives fine but it has a rough idle issue I am sure is a vacuum or fuel issue. Everything else is new on the car. Once it gets going it is smooth and has nice power. Idle it is not as rough as it was however it shakes a tad rough every now and then. So now it's on to figuring that out and start to put this baby back together. Lots of new parts to order and some are already on their way.

Now I still need to get a Fulcrum to put back on the S I stole to get this one running LOL

 

Got alot accomplished today. Rear brakes got fully rebuilt. Front pad's, rotors, wheel bearings were all replaced. Installed new door handles, locks and some time. Switched out to my new tires and spare rims. Which was good because one of the tires had a busted belt inside.

Installed the new carpet, gave the interior a super cleaning. Installed floor seals, window felts, misc missing screws, hooked up radio and door switch for courteous lights. Fixed brake and turn signal ground issue so they now work but still no head lights. Bled the entire brake system but pedal is still a tad funky. Might need to replace the master while Im at it.

It's starting to look like a car again. Going to wet sand and buff this weekend to get this 15 year old new paint job shiny.

 

wow you work fast....take my car for a day ill give you list of stuff I need done that will take me all week LOL

 

Well, some progress over the past couple days. We found out the cam int he car was wrong via a thread I had going in the big block forum. So I ordered a new cam and lifter set, double roller chain, gasket set for the engine, water pump(hoping it's the right size) I ordered for a 70 without AC so it should be the correct size but who knows.

I will tackle the cam install on my 4 day weekend I have coming up. I installed the Tubular control arms over the past 2 nights. I will never in my life change out control arms again. I have a semi broken finger, cuts, scratches, knuckles bare, over 15 hours in the swap, multi broken tools, and lots of swearing just to swap them. On a positive the entire front end is new parts. Control arms, upper and lower ball joints, springs, shocks, rotors, bearings, calipers, ceramic pads, dust caps, tie rods, sway bar bushings, and adjustable sway bar links all are new. Once I have it alinged the handling on this car should increase a ton. It already had pretty good handling I just wanted it tighter with less body roll. Not to mention the springs on the front were using a 1" spacer on the bottom as well knuckles to help left it. The new springs were taller than the old with the spacer and knuckles so the front sag should all but be eliminated now. Swapped the the non working shocks for best Monroes I could find locally.

Hopefully after the cam install this weekend this car purrs. I went with Lunati 60802LK Cam and Lifters set Hydraulic Flat Tappet, Advertised Duration 262/268, Lift .499/.510. It said choppy idle and from the videos I seen of this cam it sounds great and the car it was in sounded like it idle smooth. Anything over what I have no is welcome change.

I'll get some pics of the tubulars when I get home for all you picture lovers.

 

Got alot accomplished this holiday weekend. Luckily my work gave me Friday off so my 3 day turned into 4. Ended up doing quite a bit over the 4 days. Got the cam and lifters, timing chain, air gap, pushrods, springs, rocker arms, carb, HEI, water pump, 4 core radiator, PS pump, Valve covers, Alternator all new and all replaced over the weekend. Motor looks damn good and driving it feels good.

I almost regret doing the HEI for now as with points the car pulled like non other all the way across the power range after the cam swap. I throw on the HEI and now it's sluggish, almost doesn't even want to roast tires any more. No doubt it's due to the plugs being gapped at 30 from points as well as being plugs meant for points. I need to figure out a good plug swap and probably should set the gap around 50ish.

Outside of the I had a few leaks and the radiator blew out at the top some how so had to replace all that. PS pump developed a leak so I picked up a new one of those and an Alternator for good measure. Also put on new back drums, installed new seat covers, installed sport mirror on driver side, installed all new headlights, front hood trim, fender extension trim, all new running lights, turn signals and cleaned the 10lbs of stuffing mickey mouse stuffed in my wiper arm area.

Installed a new Pioneer MP3 player in glove with remote. Installed new 6x9 speakers in rear and ordered new package tray. Ordered new headliner and ordered a new vinyl top. Going this week to have the top, headliner, exhaust all done on the car. Drained and replaced the fluid in the diff as it was making a gear noise. Kinda like driving in reverse on a stick shift car how you can hear the gears? My rear end sounds like that when you let off the gas in drive, you can hear the gears meshing.

Fixed some small paint issues, installed new hoses on the engine. Installed all of the running lights. Hooked up my old timer ooga horn since the factory wouldn't work. Did a few more odd's and ends to the car but those were the major ones. I need to get Scott to change my dash pad out this week and then I will be golden.

 

the hEI will respond better w close to 20° timing and prolly could use a recurve to boot if it was a seasoned unit. The pints were likely 8-12 ° so if you timed them the same that could be part of the sluggeshness

 

It's timed at 20 or better. Was already well seasoned in advancing the timing for HEI. The plugs are the only thing that could be causing it as everything else was done correct. Just didn't have time to get new plugs and gap. Unit is like new so no recurve should be ness on it.

Edit. Turned out to not be the plugs OR the wires, OR timing. The battery went dead on me after 4 days of driving last night. I get jumped, get it home and start the process of trying to figure out why the brand new battery is dead. I see the plug for the alternator is unplugged. No doubt when I pulled the intake off and swung this out of the way it never got plugged back in as the plug was laying under the alternator. I plugged the clip in, charged the battery, now the car acts like it did with the points system right after cam install. Tons of power, pulls hard through power band, idles decent, no more hesitation and WOT no longer sputters as if it was not getting advanced. Funny how running on low battery power will make someone thing the timing or plugs are all off or bad.

 

Got a tad carried away today and ordered some new goodies. This weekend will be fun filled installing parts.

All of which should arrive tomorrow. Nice living 3 hours from Summit. Prices are not always the greatest but they ship fast and I've done business with them for the past 8 years. By the time I am done with this 442 it will be a hell of a nice driver.

My List of goodies

DEI-010110 Exhaust and Header Wrap
Hedman Elite Headers 58158 Thermal Coated
SSBC Sport R1 Rear DIsc Brake Kit W125-26R
Magnaflow Tru-X header back stainless system MPE-15894
Summit Racing Mini Starter SUM-820311
Torq-Thrust M 17" Black/Silver polished wheels 4.5 BS ARE-105M7861B
Metro Weatherstrip Kit MMP-RKB2003-105
Washer Fluid Reservoir since my was dry rotted OPG-CT20307
Taylor Cable Blueprint HEI Distributor 650930


The brake system for the rear was a much needed improvement over drums. No matter what I do I can't get the rear drums to stop making a grinding sound. It's all brand new from drums, to shoes to springs. However after I stop and I go to take off I can hear it grind for a bit. I've tried adjusting all the way out, tried adjusting in until tight but it then drags. I've tried it all and after going to lunch today and hearing it in the drive through I said F it and pulled the trigger on a full rear conversion kit. Went with SSBC kit hopefully it's a decent one. I listed the part numbers in case someone notices something that wont fit and can save me the time of figuring it out by installation.

I also grabbed a new mini starter and header wrap. I know from experience the Flowtechs are super tight fit on both sides of the engine and on my S the headers are almost laying on the starter. I assumed the same will happen with the 455 except I went with a better brand more expensive brand. I read reviews that said the headetrs fit good and without issue or moving the brake distribution block but we shall see. If anyone has any personal experience with these headers on a 70 442 please share with me so I know what I will encounter in my swap this weekend.

I grabbed a new distributor so I can put my current one back on the S. I was going to swap in one from a junk yard back on the S but it appears the bearing is bad. Exhaust system has alot of great reviews and sounds amazing so I went with it over the flowmaster. Well that and I found it crap that the Flowmaster kit I bought for the S with the 350 was 220 cheaper than for the IDENTICAL exhauast except listed for the 442 and 455. The kits appear to be same diameter, length, parts list etc. However the S was only 300 and the 442 kit is 520! Complete crap. So I figured for an extra 163 why not get the Magnaflow as it's complete stainless over aluminized Flowmaster kit. The magnaflow also comes with 4 exit style tail pipe configurations.

The wheels I ordered are 17". I didn't want to really go to a larger rim but I weighed my options. 15" tires are limited around here and alot of places to what size and raised white letters are available. Seems as though 17" tires comes in a plethora of variations and even nice speed rated tires for sub 100.00 range. The raised white letter BFG's are running about 170 locally. I can get 17" raised white letter in many different sizes and many different brands as low as 83.00 and for BFG's 134.00. Just seems like a smarter choice for a driver to go a tad larger of a wheel with a lower tire and fill in some of the wheel well area and look good. The Black on Polished Torq's are awesome looking in a 17" on a 442. Resivoir was dry rotted on the car when I bought it so it was due for a new one.

 

Some random pictures of some work I captured.

First is of the car with my 71 bumper on it until the 70 comes in. Also put the exhaust on the driver side since it was off when I bought car. Started throwing on trim and door handles and locks as well.








New Brake, control arms, springs and shocks all in







Me and my boy on the way to get some parts



Pre cam engine pics




Old timing chain. Can see the slack in picture


Lazy shop dog


New cam, chain, lifters, rods, springs, intake, all installed.


Buttoned up. Yes, I know the radiator house is backwards! HAHA It's since been fixed when I replaced the cracked radiator.

 

those black and polish TTs look sweet cant wait to see a pic of them on the car

 

^^ You catch my edit above on the HEI and issues? Turned out to be the dang alternator wire unplugged. I guess I missed it on reinstallation of alternator, pullys and such. Doh!

 

Ambition........You sir have it and I need it! Looking good!

 

ha i didnt see that, makes sense tho another common issue w the HEI swap is leaving the points resistor wire feeding the HEI and the voltage drop kills performance...good find !!!

Now get off the PC and get working on that car LOL

 

Been working on it since I got home today. Eric said something about spraying undercoat in the trunk where the quarters were replaced and then paint over with trunk paint so I did this tonight. 100% better looking. Can't even tell quarters were ever replaced now. Cleaned entire car, hooked up new head unit in glovebox, installed new 6x9 rear speakers, wet sanded and buffed roof, trunk and hood top of fenders. What an improvement it made removing a ton of small scratches. This paint in a sense was still new since it's sat for 15 years unfinished. I also installed new pcv grommet that was missing.

Cleaned engine bay and it now looks 100% better. Bought new floor mats for the interior and installed them. Bought new heater hose valve and then moved the heater hose to correct side of the intake and plugged the opposite side. Went over interior panels and cleaned with Armour all. Did some other misc stuff to it but over all the car is WAY better looking under hood and outside of hood.

Put car on stands to try and isolate the vibration thats present at highway speed. No dice yet as nothing seems bent or loose. Brakes on rear are all new and it's making a grinding sound after I take off from idle. Can't figure it out as it's all completly new parts on rear. Luckily I have the new disc conversion coming so maybe this will fix this crap. just sucks I have to change it to stop it from doing this. Hoping the new HEI I have coming fixes the sluggishness of the current HEI. Still seems that my points dist made the car run 100% better with WAY more power. Can't seem to pinpoint what the issue is as of now. Car starts up fine, if I move the dist even the slightest bit left or right it effect startup. I was thinking maybe the vacuum advance was not working on the HEI or that it's different from a 350 to 455. I'll find out this weekend I guess.

 

Grabbed some more goddies and swapped out my brake kit. Something didn't sit well with the kit I ordered. It said it was made for 8.2 and 8.5 rears and C and Non C clip rears. So on summit they had an option of Base 442 when I clicked on it the only axle type was 8.2 BOP and I bought a kit from there with cross drilled slotted rotors, stainless lines and aluminum calipers 4 piston. Hopefully I got the correct brake kit. The other kit seemed right as it had a pattern to check axle flange and it looked like the same size as BOP cars but I wasn't sure. When In doubt go safe rute so I did. As usual I couldn't resist picking up some much needed other items. Steering box being one of them as of right now I can turn my wheel close to an inch and half in either direction before car responds. SLOPPY!!!

So I grabbed a AGR-292117 12:1 Ratio quick box. Price was a little up there but if you figure 140 for a reman plus 75 core your at 200+ already. For an extra 100 you get a brand new never used quick ratio made for the application.

GMK-401259570P - Grabbed some new backing plates for the front of mine since mine were bent and chewed up some. Decent price on these I believe there Goodmark repops but should work out ok for a driver.

RSD-FH20S - Picked up these stainless front brake lines. The rubber hoses were the only thing on the front of the brakes that I never upgraded so I figured 18 for rubber or 2 bucks more gets stainless flexible so MAW right!

SUM-BK1323-99904 is the Summit brand disc conversion I swapped the SSBC kit for. Hoping this one is a bit better suited for what I need.

 

Woohoo. Arrived @ home just in time for a pretty smokin' hot blonde UPS chick to deliver my goodies. She even gave me her digits!! Well, so I could call her tomorrow and shes going to meet with me to hand deliver the rest of the super pricey goodies arriving tomorrow. I wont be off early and I don't just want a couple K worth of stuff on my porch no matter how nice of a neighborhood it is. I **** you not, I am literally surrounded by 4 cops in my cul de sac. Only my house and 1 other are not in LE. HAHA

Christmas came early!! Goodies!


Awsome new rims. Gonna look baller on the 442


Stainless Magnaflow exhaust system


Blueprinted distributor, Mini high torwue racing starter, header wrap to keep starter cool, and behind all that is my new full car weather strip kit.


Hedman Thermal Coated Headers


And a cleaned engine bay after a decent detail job from last night.

 

Wheels and Mikey Thompson tires mounted, balanced and installed on car tonight. I will get pics tomorrow in daylight for everyone. My quick ratio 12.1 billet gear box arrived tonight as did my rear disc brake conversion kit, stainless still lines flex and complete brake line kit. Backing plates were sent out from manufacturer so I have to wait on those. Summit did send me a free hat. I guess if you spend a few thousand or more with them in a 30 day period it qualifies a person for a free 4.00 hat. *Rolls Eyes* Would rather have a discount than a free hat i; never wear LOL

My holly carb, billet pully kit, bracket kit and head gaskets arrived as well tonight.

The edelbrock heads should be here tomorrow not sure why they never came today. Shows on truck delivery by end of day for today but yet they didnt drop it off with everything else. Not that I would have installed them today there going on the numbers engine and it's still at Erics.

Weekend full of parts to install. Now if I can get it to just run correctly.

 

I bought the "Magnaflow" 2.5 sys also. Everything fit great, a couple minor adjustments, but otherwise fit great. I put it all on my bone stock 350/2v Cutlass "S". I hate the sound of the mufflers, I want to try a different brand of muff. It may be the bone stock 2v carb 350 low compression engine, I just don't like the gurgle sound it makes. I'm not found of flowmasters, but may sound better.
I like Dynomax muffs, which are on my blue car, but it has a complete diff engine.
Let us know how your exhaust sys sound, or supply a sound bite.

Gene

 

I love the sound of the flowmaster thunder 44 series on my 71 S with 350. It sounds deep and rough it's amazing.

I can't wait to get the magnaflow system on the 455 and see how it compares. I will def load up a sound clip!

 

SONOFABITCH these hedman headers are complete ****!!!! Just sayin'

It took forever to get the drivers side on and I STILL couldn't get the very last bolt in. Who in the hell would design a header that the tube wraps in so close that the stud will not slide in??? It's the dumbest design ever. If you are buying headers do NOT waste your money on Hedman. Save and get Dougs, Hookers or even Flowtechs will fit better than this garbage.

Lifting engine on drivers does no good as they bent the tubes in such a way that if the engine is lifted the headers will never bolt on due to hitting the control arm and frame. You have to install it with engine sitting down. Forget a factory start on with these headers. Thank god I learned my lesson with the 71 I bought a mini high speed starter and it was even a close fit between engine and header and it's HALF the size of stock. My thermal coating is all but scraped off. I had to beat, pull, push, tug, lift, and it still would barley go on. 9 hour total for drivers side alone. Passenger was not much better, You have to life complete engine out of bay about 8 inches in order to slide the header in from bottom. You also must remove the oil filter and housing(I knew I would have to do that) but you then have to beat in a spot for the headers where they rub the control arm bracket or they will not go on either.

Drivers side I knew I would have to move the distribution block so I did. However no where did I read or know that it would be this hard to get any of the bolts past center in without a fight. I had to remove booster, master, steering shaft, wheel, starter, distribution blocked moved on top of frame. Luckily I just unbolted clips for lines, bent them around in a way that the block would go on top and then re-fastened the lines and drilled a new hole for block.

If anyone knows of a way to get the last bolt on with Hedman headers I am all ears. There is no room, what so ever. Even if you get a small hand the tube is 1/4 of an inch bent around in front of hole. So even to get the bolt in you have to yank entire header back off and partially insert it and shove some permatex around it to hold it stil while you then re-install so its installed already in hole. I have a bolt sitting back there but it will not tighten down or start due to the **** poor alignment of the holes vs head. Can't move headers up or down as there SMASHED against the control arm. Lifting engine as described above makes it even tighter to move the headers in any direction.

SO when I run the car now it has a bad tap from the exhaust leak due to missing bolt.

I installed the full magnaflo system and DAMN I love the sound. It's quiet as idle except the rumble of the cam. Then when you give it gas its straight powerfull sound. Worth every cent of what it ran me.

I also got the new carb installed and it is pretty damn nice to drive the car again. The beast will shread both of those Mickey Thompson street slicks at a 35mph punch. Of course thats cause there new and got a coating but it's pretty bad *** to be cruising all quiet and then punch it and hear the roar and see 2 huge black marks in the rear view as the car just scoots. I must say the new rims and the mickeys all the way around makes the car look awesome. Sits just right and not alot of wheel opening and def not lower to ground at all. I love this car

Now to get that damn bolt in. Please, if anyone can offer a suggestion. I am so close to just going out and welding the ******* manifold to the head. Thats how frustrated with it I am. My hands and fingers are RAW from the PITA these headers are. I am half tempted to do a charge back on them and get my money back. I was assured over the phone that these headers on a stock 442 are the best fitting out of all the others and worth the investment. BS..the flowtechs on the 69 442 were cake took me all of 2 hours. BLAH

I'll get some pics of new wheels asap.

 

I install the bolt first, then get the header up and slide them back over the bolt.
Then slide the gasket in.
All you can do is tighten the bolt one flat at a time, from the top.

Gene

 

Yea I tried that. several times. It's not that easy since the movement you have with that side is roughly 1 to 1-1/2 inchs. There is just no movement due to the header being wedged under the control arm. as well as hitting the frame. These hedmans just suck ***. If i install the rear bolt fisrt and then move forward I can't get any of the other bolts in place. I bet anything these asshats drilled the holes wrong. gah

 

If you install the rear bolt first and slide the header onto it and the rest don't line up. They had to have drilled them wrong.
But the whole header must be off, to have that much trouble. You move the brake valve, use a mini starter, they should slide up with a minimum amount of effort, at least the ones I have done.
A lot of work, but send them back. If you can't get that back bolt in, it will forever be a pain in your side.

Gene

 

They def drilled them wrong. I took the headers back off and measured the head against the header and it's 1/8th shy vertical and 1/8th shy horizontal. I took and drilled the hole out some and I finally got it to install. Was still a complete pain as the header hits on the control arm BAD. Now I could bent the tubes(cylinders 3 and 5) at that area but it's dumb that I should even have to. Did the person designing these actually test install them on a 442 or did they just copy some one else's design and call it there own? Curious to know cause they have a TON of room had they just moved those tubes over 1/2". They end up resting underneath the control arm so when you try and tighten the header or even get the header lined up you have no way to really lift it up or down. If the engine is jacked up its even worse of a gap between header and head due to being wedged by the control arm.

Either way I got it on, fixed the nasty tap sound from the leak. Now the car runs SOOOOOO nice. I can hear the cam, I can hear the exhaust. I went around a corner today and got sideways so easy with just a little power and then I opened it up down the street and I had a soccer mom in her minivan full of young boys stop when I got to the parts store and told me they wanted to droll over the car. Said they loved the sideways slide and the sound of the exhaust

 

Shots of the rims. I am going to lower the rear down just a tad more. It had air shocks on it and I have new sensatracs for it just need to swap them sometime. Not to into air shocks on these cars and it rides like a log wagon bad enough let alone air shocks.

Oh, and the spot on the other side was due to both the cars touching. Had to sand and run some glaze over where it took a bite out of the car

 

Next project is swapping out to the billet quick ratio gear box and then the rear brake conversion to disc. Just need to find the time to do all this as well as go get my engines and spend time with my daughter as I have her this weekend and next. I also need to install my seat covers, front backing plates, get the other cutlass ready for pickup since it's sold and and change the oil.

I did isntall the quick mini starter and it's pretty bad ***. Cant even hear the car start and it starts almost instantly now. Car idles rough as in cam rough but it sounds so good out exhaust. I didn't swap my trumpet tips over yet as I need to get them removed from the other exhaust.

 

Picture taken in a flea market parking lot. I am undecided if I want to put the wheel well trim on. Thoughts? The vinyl top goes on this week so that will make it stand out more.





My lovely wife doing work. She removed the rear diff cover, scraped all the old gasket off, cleaned the cover of rust and paint and prepped it for reinstall. Then helped me pull axles so we could do the rear disc conversion until we found out summit screwed us on parts.





Imaging showing from instructions that backing plates should be in kit.



Rear disc conversion to be continued.

 

Be sure to check the axle bearings. make sure the inner race of the bearing does NOT spin on the axle. If they do you will need axle's. Good luck.

Gene

P/S ,What did "Ken" at Summit say or do for you??