leepear

The restoration is going well on the 1970 442 convertible. It was painted last month and last week the frame was painted (not powdercoated). Although it is at Level One Restoration in Colorado, I continue to be a very hands on customer. I talk to the restorer Gary Riley daily and have found many of the NOS parts that I had not collected in the 80's for the car. Just found a NOS windshield wiper and washer unit. Very cool part that will be NOS and not restored.

We were also able to find a NOS w-27 cover for the w-27 differential and my greatest thanks to Ed Scaff of this group for turning loose of a beautiful steering wheel for a great price. This site has been very helpful both technically and to help with the parts. Brian Trick has even turned me into somewhat of a number guy since I never really cared about all that stuff till I did the restoration. He even has me thinking about doing some work on my 1971 w-30 convt.

I remember the first call from Gary.....you have the wrong water pump on the engine. I had to find not only the correct one but date code too. I will take my 5th trip out to see the car in two weeks and the car will be rolling on the frame! Gary is about four months ahead of schedule and hopefully under budget too. There are some new pictures on the site and many more to come. levelonerestoration.com I even had him video the dyno of the engine. More soon..........Lee

1970 442 convt
1971 442 convt
1970 vista cruiser

1970

stevengerard

looking great, just fantastic, I love the color

68442CONVERTCO

Hi Lee,

I am also in the Denver area. Who did the motor work? I'm looking for a shop to rebuild the 455, that will be going in my '68 442 convert.

Thanks,

Tony

leepear

The engine was built many years ago by Dave Smith in California. You can send Gary a question at gary@levelonerestoration.com and he will let you know some local rebuilders. Lee

68442CONVERTCO

Thanks Lee

leepear

I was in Colorado this week to put the body on the frame. fun fun

Lee

bil

Looks real good,Lee!!Can't wait to see it finished! ---bil

Del70

Nice car. Love the color... I have never seen a convertible with poverty caps. I assume they are original to the car?..

leepear

yes, I have the original dealer order form on the car and it was ordered just as it is being restored. I figured the car deserved to be brought back to the way it was.

Lee

317Cutty

Good Stuff.... Looks like its going to be a really nice ride.

leepear

My 1970 442 w-30 convertible is about a month from completion. Most of the parts have been acquired and the doors were installed last week and top frame was installed yesterday. Chrome and stainless is finished. Most of the work is assembly work and it is great to see it all coming together. I was able to get some of the 1970 sales materials for the display and even bought a correct color diecast model. Very cool that they made a gold with black stripes w-30 convertible. You can see the latest pictures at levelonerestoration.com but Gary needs to add some new pictures.

Lee
1970 w-30 convt 4 speed
1971 w-30 convt 4 speed
1970 vista cruiser bomb

leepear

Fenders and deck lid are installed, goes for top and interior installation next week. Chrome is finished and will be shipped next week. Three weeks from completion. New pictures on the web site.

Lee

442_Mustang

Very nice job. I did notice that when they painted the door jambs they had the latches out. The origional cars I've seen had them painted with the hardware and latch installed. Which way is correct?

RALLYE KID

Lee, Saw your article in Journey with Olds. Looking Good!!!

455forgedsteelcrank

Lee,

Awesome car!!!!!!!!!!!!! bet you can't wait for next month...............

leepear

I have not even seen the article yet. California will get the mail last. You are correct I can't wait to see the car finished. Paying restoration bills is not fun unless you are rich and the money is meaningless. The car will be fun.

Lee

here is a copy of the special california plate I bought in 1978. Nice part of the documentation of the car

455forgedsteelcrank

Lee you have a couple of PM's from the weekend.

tva442

Lee, saw the article also in JWO - very nice! The article said the original owner wanted a stripe delete car, but it came delivered with the black stripes. Will the stripes be going back on? Think I have only seen one W-30 that was stripe delete at that was at the Dearborn Nats in 08...it was also gold, but was a hardtop.
Look forward to seeing the car at the Reno Nats!

leepear

The car will be photographed prior to the stripes so that I will have pictures of how the car would have looked if it was built the way it was ordered (the way Rug the first owner wanted the car). Then the stripes are going on. Latest on the car is top is installed and interior is next. The car will be finished in the next couple weeks with the exception of the stripes which will go on after my visit to Colorado in the middle of June.

GAOldsman

Looking great Lee! Awesome car, awesome build and correct to the tee. I see so many restorer's use the wrong color for the engine but this one is dead on. Excellent!!
Scot

leepear

We had the area above the windshield that is covered with vinyl that the paint was matched to also. It was painted at the factory and never saw the light of day again. So the paint is dead on too. It took a few color matches to get it perfect but Gary does not do less than perfect. There will be many surprises on the car that have never been seen before due to the extensive research by the restoration team and myself and the original owner survivor car that was in the shop to help as a reference. Lee

tva442

cool way to do both - the way wanted and the way delivered! thanks for the update.

ROCKET VAPOR

Lee, I noticed that the rear suspension frame braces are gray phosphate plated instead of the more common satin black.

Did the master cylinder get painted black as this has also been talked about around here before.

leepear

Some of the most fun in doing this restoration was the debates between the experts. I have had some very well known experts already look at the car. I have also learned so much.

So when you use the term "more common" you need to realize that on the production line changes were constant. Also if you ordered parts from GM sometimes they came painted when the production line same part was not. Suppliers also varied and the same part was often made differently to the spec. The extra washers under the manifold engine lift loop is one example. The washers were added after a certain production date forward. So it is now expected that the extra washers be on the manifold, my production date is prior to the change. So do I build the car correct or to accepted practices. Just one example of the many items that can and will be debated. I had a survivor car with a close build date next to mine for the built, but I would bet your survivor is different than the original owner car I used.

Lee

ROCKET VAPOR

Mine was built the third week of March in the Fremont plant, not a Michigan built W car.

One very stange thing I have noticed on my car is that the assembly line workers left off the passenger side front fender inner big block brace. This is a original paint car and you can tell that no bolt has ever been in this hole that mounts the brace.

I will get a brace sometime and place it on the car though.

Sometime in the future will you share some of your restorers details with us here on CO???

stevengerard

Lee, when was that change, my car is a 11C build and no washers under the loop just on top but the assembly manual I have does note that there should be four washers (hmm maybe it has the date change in there - I should check that out)

Also what are you doing about the loop, painting it blue, unpainted?

leepear

Loop is blue, I will have to check with Gary on the washer dates.

Your brace missing is easily explained in the following example, imagine in 1970 my car going down the line at the Michigan Plant. Very few 1970 442s destined for California were built in Michigan, just w-30s. Most were going to the east where all of the GM performance lovers lived Detroit, New Jersey, Lansing etc. This weird car comes down the line and needs to get a bunch of modifications for smog stuff, canister, extra fuel line, different gas tank, shave the fin off the w-27 cover, different vacuum line routing. When my car was disassembled for restoration the brackets were piecemeal and not at all according to the assembly manual. These guys just stuck it together the way they wanted to do it.

It will be interesting to see the discussion on the car after its debut at the nationals. I am doing the best I can afford and just hope I do justice to the Oldsmobile name.

Lee

GAOldsman

I have no doubts in my mind that you'll do great at the Nats Lee. There will be some serious competition there no doubt, but as long as you don't over restore you should see some amazing results. With both cars none the less, if you plan on taking the '71 as well. I smell a senior invite in your future and I am envious. Great work and we are fortunate that you are sharing your build with us. I wish I could be there to see the finished product and see the judging process at the Nats. I hope to restore my one family owned Cutlass Supreme to these standards one day soon.
Scot

leepear

On the home stretch on the olds. Going out to Colorado next week to see the almost complete project. I will see some of you soon at the Nationals. This old car has gone from a new car in 1970 to a tired 70k mile shelf in my garage to store junk on and in for 30 years to a great example of what Oldsmobile was in their prime years. If you saw the story in the May JWO magazine you will understand why my whole family will be at the nationals for the completion of this project.

Lee

leepear

I will see the restored olds for the first time at the Nationals. I could not make it out to Colorado and decided the excitement of seeing for the first time with my family will be better than an advance look before the show. So I will arrive on Wednesday and hopefully the car will be there too. Gary has been working hard to bring the old thing back from the dead. I hope those of you that attend will like the car. Pictures will follow after the nationals.

Lee

leepear

Just a follow-up on the restored olds now sitting in my garage undercover. I know a few people were following this post. We had a ball at the nationals in Reno. When the car arrived in the truck my wife and I were there to see it for the first time finished. We had some bonding time and then a swarm of olds nuts came out to check it out.

Gary at Level One Restoration did a great job on the car. From the rush to finish it and the not sorted status we added the stickers under the hood and fixed a few of the easy things. The original dealer license plates frames and Hansel Olds paper plates were added along with a great reproduction window sticker stuck on just like the factory (I only saw taped ones on other cars). I also had the original 1970 California new car sticker that went into the front windshield. My entire family arrived the next day and we took the beast out to the show field for its unveiling. My daughter Maritte would not drive it so she was the passenger and Gary drove it out to the show field.

Lots of very positive comments and a few questioners too. Loved the questioners because they argued some really weird stuff. For example Gary does some of the best tops in the world, and they are based on original material and tons of research. One person had a problem with the tack strip material. As direct as I can quote he said the car was "fabulous" but I needed to change the tack strip and front piece. Another person said my firewall needed to be double flat or a little flatter whatever that means. There were some great comments too the most common were great car and many people could not believe how nice the rear bumper was. It was the only item that I wanted perfect since a wavy bumper takes away from a great car. Not perfect but the best I have ever seen on an olds with no waves in the flat parts and the original line in the center still showing. We won Best of Class with a total of 992 points. Not bad when you consider 3 of the points were for the wrong screws on the trunk moulding, and a couple more for dings in the door sill moldings.

I was invited to display the car at the SEMA show in Las Vegas. That will be the next outing in November. Then it goes back to Colorado for some fixes and heads from there to the Muscle Car Nationals in Chicago. That will take us through the end of the year. No plans beyond the New Year. Thanks for all the help from this group on the project. It came out great! Lee

stlbluesbrother

Congratulations on the restoration. I'm a sucker for gold cars ; let's see some pictures posted soon.

leepear

I have to figure out how to convert my pictures to work on this site. Here are just a couple. Just a note on the quality of Gary's restoration. Look at the picture of the front of the car and the alignment of the hood chrome/fender chrome, bumper and other parts like the tooth line between the tooth and hood, and since it was a NOS hood look at the detail lines in the front of the hood. People noticed this also. None of this type of detail is part of the judging at the nationals but is a tribute to the restorer Gary Riley.

Lee

TK-65

Beautiful car Lee, one of the best if not the best. Can you get me I photo of that window sticker on your car? Id love to show my sticker on the best W30 out there. If they are good enough for you they can go on anything.

leepear

I have not posted an update in some time on the 1970 olds 442 w-30 that has been a part of our family for more than 35 years. My wife and I felt after we finished the restoration of the car we should share it with as many auto enthusiasts as we could afford. Not being a wealthy owner like many of the large collectors we were able to take it to the Oldsmobile Nationals in Reno. After that show we were invited to 2011 SEMA show in Las Vegas. After SEMA the car went to the Muscle Car Nationals in Chicago where it won Best Oldsmobile. The final stop was the Detroit Autorama where the folks at Inline Tube helped me get an invite and great spot too. To complete the mission of sharing our car Hemmings Muscle Machines will be featuring it in an upcoming issue as the feature restoration. We have had a fun run with the car and now sadly the car is in storage. I feel like my mission has been completed as the long term caretaker of a great piece of the muscle Oldsmobile era. Thanks for all your support and kind words related to my car. I know the group can be harsh when a car is not done correctly but you have all been very nice to me and I appreciate it. For those of you that don't know the car it can be seen on the levelonerestoration.com site where it was restored. Lee

Del70

The misalignment of drive’s side hood chrome to the fender chrome is how they all seem to have been built. Not sure if the the hoods are the issue or the fender bolt holes are off at the rad support. That is how they left the factory. - poor gaps and all. Very nice looking car, great color

leepear

Thanks