Im a member on a couple of other forums also, ACura TL and believe it or not Nissan Versa. I inherited my late wifes first car 72 Olds 442 convertible, all number matching and 98% stock. Dead ringer of the blue/white convertible on the cover of the year one catalog. So, I have a question, Im looking to invest some $$$ in this fine car and would like some input. looking at about 10 grand. It currently is the 350/4bbl/170hp/auto/single exhaust/dual ram air. Im looking to pull and freshen the engine/tranny and maybe convert to dual exhaust. Would it be a value of the car mistake to convert to dual exhaust? I would likely change the rear bumper to the dual cutout if I did that. Or, another possibility, convert to dual w/o the bumper change. Im really most interested in getting in the neighborhood of 300hp upon the refresh.

Thoughts/opinions not only welcome, but desired!

 

I maybe wrong, but I thought all the 442's 68 up to 72 had the rear
bumper cutouts with dual exhaust. 350 or 455's. I am not sure how
to get 300 horses out of a 350, but there are some fellas on the
forum that do, that I am sure of. Be sure to post some pics.
If you can find some # 5 heads off a 69 350, that will be a good start
along with a dual exhaust system.

 

Well, trust me, she bought the car at 6 months old from her best friend whose fiance did not want her to have a "high powered" car, which this Olds is not with 170 rated HP. I can also certainly attest my wife had no interest whatsoever in modifying or changing anything on the car, so factory made it that way and I believe I have seen documentation from Olds somewhere specifying this version. I did post some pics and they should be visible.

Heck, Yearone even has a bumper with no cutouts for the 71/72 item B3371R
http://www.yearone.com/serverfiles/f...3)&utm_content=

 

In '72, a 350-powered (or underpowered ) 442 didn't have the cut-out rear bumper.

 

In 1972 the 442 was only a decor package. It became an option on the Cutlass that year.