I picked up, or should say saved a 1966 442 from a raging alcoholic last summer. I did not really get a good look at the car when I bought it but it has turned out to be a decent car so far. The original 400 was gone and it now has a 71 455 in it. The original M-20 was gone and had a th400 in it, which I am literally in the process of putting back in the Muncie. The factory 4 speed console was in the trunk than goodness with most of the chrome which was removed before they tried to start the body work on it. It's a fairly straight car with very minimal rust aside from the trunk pan. There are some wireing issues from years of neglect and hacking I am addressing, and I converted it to power drum brakes for now. I also found all the era correct powersteering brackets,pump, and alternator brackets by luck in a pick n' pull yard. I am very excited to find this forum and all the wealth of knowledge here. I am VERY excited to see a classifieds section so I can piece this back together.

Thanks,
Bryan
Marysville Wa.

 

cant wait to see some pics neighbor

 

Here are a few pics of the day I got it home.

442005.jpg
442006.jpg
442007.jpg
442012.jpg
442010.jpg
442008.jpg

 

It now has the correct alternator brackets locating it on the pass side. It also has the correct power steering brackets and pump, and power drum brakes. New heater core new brakes etc. As I said Im 1/2 way into putting the M-20 back in the car but I ran into a snag. I bought a 68+ 11" flywheel off Ebay it came as a 10.5" so I purchase another I was told was from a 68 442 and it was dual drilled and verified it was 11", yeah its 67- grrrrrr. So now I hunt for a flywheel yet again. I will be pulling the heads off this summer and possibly dropping in some factory hi comp pistons and maybe doing some C heads but that will have to wait until I can at least drive it haha.

Bryan

 

i think i need that flywheel, is it for a 425?

 

Welcome

 

howdy from Anacortes. I like your car

 

Hey, welcome from another 66 guy close by!

Wow, you even got the sidewinder tach! Cool. Looks like a decent start. I like that factory dark green color too! There is a 67 running around here with that color and it really looks good!

I have an extra front hood lip molding if you need one i'd let you have pretty reasonable.

 

stan 65 cutlass Yep its a 67 and earlier flywheel freshly turned and dual drilled for both a 10.5" clutch and the 11".
RAMBOW Oh sweet! I can defiantly use that piece of chrome! I am a bit torn on putting it back to the original Green which I am leaning towards, or the classic yellow.

If anyone happens to have a 68 and newer 11" flywheel in good shape I am definitely looking.

Bryan

 

I think I have the right flywheel for you in my garage. It from a boat never seen hard use. Check to make sure you crankshaft is drilled for the M20. Most automatic cranks were not drilled for one. There are some alternate methods to install a stick tranny to a automatic. I'll find the post and put a link on this thread for you.

 

Cool, when you come down to get Pat's flywheel you can get with me to get that chrome, we live about 5 mins apart.

I'll try and dig up a pic of that 67 painted that DK green and post it for you. Really a cool color.

 

Here is the link

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-question.html

 

Not to butt in on the Washington thread.

But Welcome aboard

Glad you're with us.

 

Oh you guys rock! Please pm me you phone I would love to pick up the flywheel and the chrome today if possible!.

Bryan

 

Welcome to CO.

 

Don't think i'll be home at a decent time today, but i will be Working from home tomorrow and the rest of the week.

I'll PM you my phone number, give me a call when you are down this way and you can come by.

 

Welcome from another felloow Washintonian. I see you are corresponding with Ben (Rambow) I have met and dealt with him before, he's a good guy. I have to ask was the guy you bought the car from named Tom? I don't have many parts for your year of car unless you need a intake manifold w/divorced choke which came off of a 68 Toro. Keep posting pics of your cars progress

 

tsi20gawd,

Welcome,

As you can probably tell I'm also from Washington state, and not too far from you. Shoot me an e mail, listing what you need for your car and I'll try to help you find a source. I have several friends who have 66 parts, that they may be willing to let go of.


Les Putnam
442garage
lputnam18@gmail.com

 

Hey there, Nice car and welcome. good to see another Washington guy. Looks like there are beginning to be a few of us on here

 

Welcome to the site Bryan! Nice project car... and glad you saved it from being abused! Man, I didn't realize how many of you Washingtonians were on the site until now Maybe Boeing was secretly building Oldsmobiles in one of those big warehouses outside of Seattle

 

Bryan,

I sent you a PM on the flywheel with my phone number

Ben (RAMBOW)and I only live a 5 or so miles from each other, I also met John (Olds Luvr) and Less (442Garage) all great guys. I feel a few spring/summer cruises are in the making for a Washington contingent of Classic Oldsmobiles.

Watch-ca think guys?

Pat

 

Pat, You know Im in.... Well as soon as my gas tank goets back in straps showed up today...

 

Welcome to the site! Of all the different 4-4-2 models from year to year, the '66 is my favorite. Have fun with it!

Randy C.
Olympia

 

I met up with Pat last night and picked up the proper flywheel. Thank you for your help guys I cant believe how fast this issue was resolved thanks to your help. I will take some pics of the car in its current condition hopefully with the 4speed back in it.

Thanks again!

Bryan

 

[QUOTEI feel a few spring/summer cruises are in the making for a Washington contingent of Classic Oldsmobiles.[/QUOTE]

That would be Great

 

Nice to meet you and your girlfriend tonight!

I'll let you know about those SSI's when my friend get them to me and tells me what he wants for them.

 

It's a plan then. As we get closer to spring I'll set something up

 

welcome from another washington guy!! im in for a get together cruise this summer!!

 

Shane... How you doin? Car done? can't wait to see it around.

Pat, just let me know when and where...

 

It was great meeting you as well, and thank you very much for the hood chrome! Please do keep me informed on the SSI's as well as the JGC conversion parts. I am very excited to attend some meets and cruises this year and meeting more of our local members in person. This is a much happier and helpful community than I am used to dealing with.

Bryan

 

Welcome TSI

Count me in on a spring get together fellas!

 

Welcome to the site ... my favorite year

 

doin great! car is 98% done..(well its never done) but its turn key right now...till i pull the motor back out..

 

Bryan, on the JGC... Since you said you have a few sources for the boxes, I'll GIVE you the other conversion kit, ragjoint& flare seat adapters if you will get me another box.

Like I said when you were up, I think mine has the wrong input valving because it does not have the increased effort it should, only the quicker ratio-

93-98 jeep GRAND cherokee (must be the grand cherokee)

Preferably from a vehicle with low miles and somethign other than a front end wreck!

Let me know if thats cool w/ you.

I spoke with my friend on the 14" ss1's, and he's going to try and get them to me sometime in the next week or so. Until i see them i won't know what kind of price to quote.

 

Shane, Why do you have to repull the motor?

Rambow, Do you know what is needed to use the steering box out of the grand national? I believe the 442 used it as well 86-87.

Thanks

 

The Grandnational, monte, 442, & camaros & impalas all also used the dephi 800 series steering boxs- so they look the same, and the internals have quicker ratios & increased steering input- but the internal stops are placed wrong for a GM-Abody and you will limit your steering radius by using them.

The JGC swap is desireable because the steering sweep is only 1 or 2 degrees less than the original was, while having the 2.5 turns & increased input feel.

That is where a lot of confusion comes in with these swaps. You -CAN- swap in a box from those other cars and it will feel better... But its really not an optimal swap due to the turning radius issue.

Of course you can tear apart the box and reconfigure the steering stops, or you can just say i dont' care and run it. I ran a Monte box on a 69 elcamino i had for a long time. I thought it was great- but get used to doing 3 point and 4 point turns.

For the right price i suppose its still a heck of a lot better than the stock steering boxes.

As far as what you need... You will need a metric conversion ragjoint that will match between the new 80's style steering boxes input shaft and your 60's steering shaft flange.

LEE engineering sells these, and i beleive there is a certain year blazer that had one that works, you would have to do some research to come up with the part number... its defintely be posted before. Besides that, you will either need to get o-ring to flare fitting convert fittings, as the 80's steering boxes all used o-ring hoses... Or you will need ot get new steering hoses made up matched to your old ones, but with o-ring fittings on the ends.

If you do a search in the steering forum I did a writeup with photos on this when I did it last summer, then you can see what the o-ring to flare conversion fittings look like. It was really pretty easy to do.

edit... adding link to other thread:
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...ap-w-pics.html

 

Thanks Ben,

I have the box and thought I'd ask as it is just sitting arouand. Sounds like the JGC will still be best.

Thanks

 

If you have that box already and you didn't pay much for it, you might consider running it as is, you can defintely live the the reduced steering radius, its only a little annoying. I lived with it on my elcamino for a couple years. The steering feel going down the road more than made up for the annoyance at the reduction in radius.

Also... since you already have it, you could call RedHead steering, they are in seattle and specialize in rebuilding steering boxes- ask them what it would cost to have the stops re-adjusted for an a-body. I'm not sure, but if you don't have any cost into the box, then it might be worth it to pay to have them make it right.

If i remember right, the camaro, monte, GN boxes have an even bigger T-bar than the JGC box, which increases road feel even more(which is desireable, at least to me) So since you already have the box, it might be worth looking into.

My comments are generally aimed at someone looking for a box to swap in & nothing to start with.
From that point of view, i direct people to the JGC boxes because they are plentiful & cheap, as opposed to the GN & Monte boxes which are getting harder to find now, as well as having the wrong steering radius.

Does that make any sense?

I will see if i can find the details on the degree sweep to look for on these boxes, then you can chuck up your GN box in a vice, turn the input shaft lock to lock and find out exactly what the difference in the sweep is. That will show exactly how drastic (or non drastic) the difference in turning will be. Its really easy to check with a cheap kids protractor.

 

Welcome to CO. It's good to see so many 66 442's. Thats the one year you don't see in my area.

 

motor has oiling issues...gonna do a deep pan and new oil pump,,