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I am in the process of restoring a 69 442. This is my second restoration. My son and I restored a 67 Mustang (his choice) as a father/son project when he was in high school. The 442 is “my” car. It’s a numbers matching 4 speed with console, 3.42 posi, rally gauges and non-power drum brakes. It has no power steering, or AC. It’s red with a red interior and vinyl top. I have, what I think is a broadcast card (photo). The body is in pretty good shape; floors and trunk are solid. There is some rust through on the lower rear window channel and a small hole on the cowl by the lower left of the windshield. I expect when I have it blasted that there will be a few more spots. It came with a running mid-70’s 455, J heads using the original 400 manifolds and carb. I have the numbers matching 400 G block which was mostly disassembled. I included a photo of the car as I bought it (photo).
I purchased it a few years ago, stored it for a while and spent the last 2 years taking it apart, including lifting the body off the frame (1 spinning cage nut in the left rear). I’ve been a daily reader of this forum since I bought the car and thought I’d share my progress with you guys as I complete the car.
The overall plan is to build a fun street car that is basically true to the original with a few upgrades for comfort and safely. To me, this means all new brake parts and a disc brake conversion, new suspension parts using the original control arms with new bushings, and upgrading to power steering. I hope to use the numbers matching 400 block but, if it has problems, I plan to use the 455 with the 400’s intake and exhaust manifolds and C heads.
I’m doing the work in my 2 car garage. I have a storage lift on one side and the 442 is on the lift (photo). I bought the lift as part of the Mustang restoration. This spring, I bought a blast cabinet from TP tools and installed it in my garage. My plan is to work on the chassis, then engine/drive train, then body and then interior, which is the approach I took with the Mustang. I like to assemble as I restore so I get to see some progress along the way on a project that will take years!
I started on the chassis last fall. I had the frame powder coated and installed new brake and fuel lines from Inline Tube (photo). I had the front control arms powder coated with new bushings and ball joints installed by Glenn Lever in Rochester. I learned about Glenn from you guys. I bought new springs from Eaton and a disc brake kit from Inline Tube. I assembled the control arms, springs and spindles last fall using a homemade spring compressor based on ideas from the forum. Then I shut down the project for the holidays.
I am now in the process of assembling the front suspension. I’ve bought a new Moog center link, tie rods and idler arm from Rock Auto. I restored and reused the steering arms along with the new brake parts from the disc bake kit. I’m planning to install the original manual steering box for now. I spoke with Chip at Power Steering Services (another forum referral) and he told me to wait on the power steering box until I was close to having an engine with a pump to connect to it. He told me that a PS box without fluid in it won’t last too long. Once the engine is ready to go in (next year?), I can swap it over and install the pump. I bought Bilstein shocks to get some modern performance and some gray shock paint to tone down the bright Bilstein yellow (photo).
That’s it for now. I plan to give updates in the Major Project section as I go and I know I’ll be asking questions in the various other sections as I complete the project. Thanks for your time and input.
Sorry about the photos. It’s my first post and I thought I didthe link to Picasa correctly. If you right click and open the link they work. I’ll try to resizethem and attach.
I can’t believe it’s been 9 years since my first post on my 69 442 restoration. I’ve made some progress but is slow going.
-Working with Brian Trick I rebuilt the original 3.42 posi rear end. Had the rear end and suspension parts powder coated and replaced all the bushings.
-Replaced the frame mounted front to rear brake and fuel lines.
-I had the body blasted, all rust spots repaired and sealed. Put it back on the frame with new body mounts.
-Next step was to have the numbers matching 400 rebuilt. Basically took 2 years to get it right. I had the engine rebuilt using original C heads, exhaust manifolds, and original intake and original carb and distributor rebuilt by Everyday Performance. Pistons are .30 over with a 9.5 to 1 compression ratio. Shop installed a Comp 42.600.J cam, AKA a Thumper. They told me I would love it, I hated it. I didn’t like the Idle or the sound and I wouldn’t be able to run power brakes. I spent a summer trying to get the quadrajet to tune with the lumpy idle.
-I decided I was spending too much time and money on this project to end up being unhappy with the cam so I bit the bullet and changed the cam. I got a cam recommendation from Mark (cutlessefi) to give me a “stock 442” idle and sound with some improvement over stock at higher RPM’s that would support vacuum assist power brakes. Comp Cam 42-221-4. This car will be a driver, I don't plan to race it, I just want to have a little fun driving it. I got the engine back in car with the new cam and I’m very happy with it so far.
-Installed a Grardner exhaust.
- Installed a Center Force clutch, Be Cool OE Series aluminum radiator, Powder coated and installed the pedals and clutch gear.
-My plan for the winter is to get everything ready to: complete the drive train (driveshaft and shifter); install the brakes (disk bracket conversion already purchased); and install power steering (pump and steering box already rebuilt) and do that stuff in the spring/summer.
-Overall plan is to get all the mechanical stuff done, bring it back to body shop for paint and assembly and then do interior.
So, still along haul ahead. Hopefully it won’t take me another 9 years!.
Here is my plan for my 442 for this build season (4/1-10/31). The goal is to be able to back the car off the lift, drive it around the court I live on and drive it back on to the lift under its own power (front clip still off). I’m breaking the project to do this into three groups: Go; Stop; and Turn.
Go includes: changing the break-in for regular oil (VR1), priming the oil pump and starting the engine (done), installing the gas tank, installing the shifter, gas pedal, and drivers seat and installing the driveshaft. Brakes must be done before drive shaft and shifter.
Stop includes: Installing front disk brakes, rear drum brakes (done), power master cylinder and bleeding the brakes.
Steering includes: Installing power steering box, pump, hoses and steering column, replacing tie-rods and bleeding the system.
In theory, I have all the parts to do this in house. Of course, odds are, I missed something. I’m planning to work 1 or 2 evenings a week on the car and will send updates as I go.
I bought the parts from RockAuto. They are all Raybestos except the screws to attach the wheel cylinders and the parking brake rods which I got from Inline. Here are som photos of finished work.
Fixed. Thanks again for the heads up. One of the best parts of this site is having a set of inspectors check your work. Now on to the front disc brakes.
I installed the new fuel tank. I ended up getting a stainless steel tank on sale to go with the stainless steel fuel lines I installed a while ago. A couple of notes:
-I attached all the hoses to the tank before I installed it.
-The flanges on the original tank were bent up to clear the frame rails. The new tank came with the flange stinking straight out. I had to use vise grip pliers to bend it up. It doesn't look as neat as the original.
-The stainless steel straps come flat with just the rear hooks bent in. I copied the original straps and bent hem in a vise to fit. The stainless steel is very stiff so you have to get this right. You can't bend them around the tank as you install.
-Way easier with 2 people and a lift! As I've read in other posts, doing it under the car on the ground is challenging.
I'm not sure I'd do a stainless tank if I had to do it again, but its in and it looks great. For the first time I ran the rebuilt engine off a real gas tank. One more step complete towards moving on its own power.
Finished installing the master cylinder and plumbing. Bled the brakes using a vacuum bleeder (continuous kind that hooks up to the compressor) and an auto brake fluid feeder ( the kind that clamps on to the master cylinder and feeds fluid as is drops). That made it a solo operation and very neat, no spills filling the master cylinder. I highly recommend this approach. I only had one small connection leak at the left caliper banjo connection. Tightened it up, all good, solid pedal. Of course i won't know if everything is all good until i drive the car but all done for now. On to the installing the power steering!
I finished the installation of power steering. Pretty straight forward installation. Also installed the steering column, shifter and drive shaft. I'm ready for test drive off lift and once around the court.
My goal for this build season was to be able to back my 69 442 off the lift and drive down my driveway circle my court and go back up. The test was successful! This is the first time the car has moved under its own power in over 10 years. The next steps are to get it ready for paint. which means getting as much as I can get done in the engine compartment before paint and attaching the fenders and hood. I'm going to try to collect and restore all of the parts to do this over the winter. Here's a photo and video of the test. As you'll hear from my buddies, I decided not to "sign my street" on this go around!
Last edited by 442operator; Nov 10, 2023 at 05:02 AM.
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