Hello to all. I am in the early stage of restoring a 69 442 convertable with numbers matching 400. This is my first major project so any advise/suggestions will be most appreciated

 

hello and welcome to CO

my first suggestion would be familiarize yourself w the forum software and categories. You posted under site help which is for help related to the classic olds site.

you may want to start a threead under major builds, that way your questions (and hopefully answers) related to your build are in a central location

people who use the new posts feature will see this but many may not.

second suggestion is to post lots of pictures we all like pics

 

Thanks, Will do. Pics. forthcoming

 

Welcome! Where are you located?

 

Troy Michigan. I bought my 69 from a guy in Ohio a few months back. It came with a 455 in it and the original 400 on a stand. We have it pretty much tore down already. Pulled the engin and trans last Sat. and will hopefully be sending it off to media blast before the snow flys. It's the putting it back together that concerns me. Would like to make some modifications/improvements from original but don't want to compromise the cars value. I'm hoping the guys on this forum can help me make intelligent decisions.

 

Welcome to CO, glad to see another 69 out there.

 

Welcome to this site! It's a great place to ask questions and get quality answers and recommendations as you are putting your 442 back together again. It helped me immensely as I restored my '68 4-4-2 - a Lansing car - I put it back to as original condition as I could get it. I'm starting now on my '69 4-4-2 convertible - a Fremont car - just like you so I will be watching for your thoughts, input and questions as you/we go through this process. I'm doing the same with my '69 as I did with the '68 - I'd like it to be as factory correct as I can have it when it's done.

Looking forward to seeing your pics and monitoring your progress.

Best Regards,

Randy C.

 

Its nice to have contact with people who share a passion for great cars. I'll be posting some pics shortly. I look forward to your thoughts and suggestions. How far along are you on your 69?

 

I'm not too far along on the '69. I kind of put the cart before the horse on that one. I got it painted back in '91 in its original lacquer paint colors but all the mechanicals need to be gone through. If I had it to do again, I'd do all the mechanicals before I did the paint. Anyway, I'm just doing all the exterior attachment stuff now - bumper brackets, back-up lights, parking lights - anything that needs to be cleaned and restored along that area, that's what I'm doing. Eventually, the engine and tranny (THM) will get pulled and rebuilt and then I'll refinish the engine compartment and everything underneath. I still need new carpet and I need to put the interior back together again. The door panels I ordered 20 years ago are not right so I'll have to do that again (they are for a '68 with wind wings, not a '69). It will be a longer process but I'll eventually get it done.

The biggest impediment to restoration with me is cost. I spent all my money on the '68 4-4-2 and my '71 Corvette so it will be just a little at a time with the '69 4-4-2.

Randy C.

 

I think money is always a probleb when it comes to this stuff. What I thought was going to be an easy fix has now turned into a ground up resto. I'm seeing dollar signs everywhere I look. Trying not to think about that! I am however excited about what the finished product will ultimately look like. Still a long way to go though.

 

Cost to restore my '68:

Paint and body work: $15K
Mechanicals: $12K
Parts & Misc: $ 8K
My time: LOTS OF IT! AND AT $0.00/HR!
End result: PRICELESS!

 

Welcome!!!! Nice car to restore!!!