4424me

Hi . I recently purchased a 72 442 without the w-30 so its impossible to know for sure if it is a 442 or a clone but hey, its what i have to work with. First off the "body work" done to it consisted of a can of bondo and thats about it. the worst area so far is the roof skin. the car had a vinyl top on it and the pinholes show the quality of the metal. at this point it looks like a new roof skin in my opinion. i will try and get some pics up later on this afternoon, whats your guys experience with roof skins? how much did a shop charge for the work ?
thanks alot for any help

2blu442

Welcome to the site! I've not replaced a roof skin although I know the topic has come up before. The vinyl roof looks nice but it isn't one of the better ideas for long term life of the car. I believe they make repop roof skin but you might be able to find a parts car with a good roof as another option. What part of the world do you live in? John

Jamesbo

Welcome abaord

Never done a roof skin either. But I do know tthe origional roofs had lead in the seam.

4424me

im in british columbia canada. i see year one has roof skin for around 500 bucks and there is a boneyard a few hours away that possible would have a donor skin. hmmm. at this point im thinking about getting what rust i can get out, some sort of rust inhibiter, and a temp vinyl roof. just something to get the car at a decent cruiser stage until a full resto can be completed. any suggestions?

2blu442

If you don't have a lot of holes clear through I like the idea of treating it with a rust inhibitor. Then instead of another vinyl top what would you think about a skin of fiberglass bondo and paint over that? At least it would be a short term fix until you are ready to replace the roof.

Another thought would be create a parts wanted thread for a roof. I know there's several members in B.C. and the Northwest part of Washington state. If you've got the time and money to do it right then you only have to do it once. You could at least explore that route and see what it would cost before making a decision. John

4424me

thanks for the tips john, it deffinetly doesnt hurt to explore the other options and see how much it would cost to get an origional roof installed. at this point when i can im going to get at the pits with a die grinder to see whats what. here is a pitcture of the car before i have done any work to it.

theoldsrocket

Welcome to the site I live in B.C as well and have a 1972 cutlass

Allan R

I also like the idea of a rust inhibitor (like POR15) if the pits aren't all the way through. Then just build up thin layers of bondo over top and use a sandable primer. Get it sealed up quick because it doesn't take much for moisture to start in on it again.

Where in BC are you? If there are boneyards near to you with any Olds cars, ALL 70-72 Cutlass fastbacks (the base Cutlass and Cutlass Sport (S) all share the same roof line. You might be able to get a whole top off a donor car. When I was last out in BC, I was toolin around the boonies around Sicamous and saw a few fastbacks just sitting in the tall grass. It was a tough to pass up, but I didn't have a truck or trailer to pick them up and it was a long way back to Edmonton.

4424me

kamloops B.C. id love to see come pics of your 72 olds rocket if you have any. As far as i know sicamous has a small boneyard but other than that i believe it is fairly slim pickings around here. it was probably 5 years ago i was there so i have no clue as to if it is still there or not. i sure hope so because being able to find some parts local would be great. the car in your avatar looks awesome allan. another question, the car is not w-30 but does have the boxed control arms, rear sway bar, grilles etc to say it is a 442, i understand it is a cutlass s with the appearance and handling package, sure easily cloned. the question i have is can i consider this car a 442 or would i get hassled over it. thanks

442_Mustang

If you can get an origional roof I'd recommend it. I had the exact problem you did and I know the repop roof skin don't have the little studs for the window chrome mouldings. They can be welded on but the correct location and stuff can be tricky. It is a bit of a pain to trim down to the factory roof seam because of the roller welds in the driprails but I do believe it is a better repair.

Ranzan

Welcome from another BCer
Like a few have said depending on how thin your roof has become you might be able to por it and seal it up..

I have heard of a few fitment issues with the repops but have never seen them first hand but I myself would reskin it .

I see some rocker work in your future by the looks of the pictures
With any project attack one thing at a time and finish it.. it can get overwhelming fast

1ATony

welcome to the site

4424me

thanks. ya the guy before me had cut out a small section of the rocker so as far as that its not a big deal just have to weld a small piece back in. as far as not getting overwhelmed thats what im working on. Im focusing on the roof and working my way down basically. get one thing done and quickly primered then on to the next section to keep it simple. heres a pic of the engine.

Allan R

There are pics of my car on the site which shows the interior, exterior and engine.

You might also find something around Penticton and Kelowna. A lot of that area is typically dry and there might be something local in Kijiji

W30 cars had 455 engines. If yours is a stock 442, The W29 Appearance and handling package would include the F41 suspension. (In addition to the boxed control arms and anti sway bar, you should also have braces coming off the front of the lower control arms that attach to the rear body cross frame.

You can consider the car to be pretty much what you want it to be. Almost all cars can be cloned so don't worry much about that. What matters is how you represent it. No one can argue with you if you represent the car honestly. Unfortunately, without the build sheet or broadcast sheet, there isn't much you can do to authenticate the car unless it was always a Canadian car. GM does maintain a historical archives that you can get information on your car.

BTW, is the OAI hood on your car original or aftermarket? Looks like you have done a fair bit of work, and have a lot more to go. The engine looks like an L32 that someone has played with. The color is wrong, it should be Olds gold. Does the car have a rallye pac instrument cluster? There appears to be gauge senders on the block and intake manifold.

4424me

ok so from my understanding there is no idications of the tags as to if it was the w 29 and f41 packages origionally ? i personally dont feel as it is a true 442 because it does not have the w-30 but merely appearance. i wish i could find the build sheet but it was a lansing car and ive read that not many build sheets were left in the cars.

im not sure on the hood im going to check for the holes on the inside of the scoops, i know its not the original hood to the car but as far as aftermarket im not sure. the work you see in the pics was the previous owner, the first thing i want to do is strip the paint and bondo down to metal so i know what im starting with. once again two owners before me had a performance shop build the engine and painted it the wrong color.

what exactly is the L32 in relationship to a stock 455? and the car does have the rallye pac cluster
thanks for your replies

Allan R

There won't be any indications on the cowl tag or VIN whether it was built as a 442. What you need is the build sheet or broadcast sheet. There could be a couple of broadcast sheets for your car in places you haven't possibly looked. The popular locations are:
1. under a front or rear seat spring (you have to take the seat out to look for it)
2. inside a kickpanel
3. Under the rear package shelf
4. On top of the fuel tank
5. (kind of wierd but under the front carpet)

According to most owners, the Lansing built Cutlass models rarely have build sheets in the car anywhere, but the occasional one shows up from time to time. So, you cannot verify the car is a 442 just by cowl or VIN on a 72 model. If you had the original bill of sale or window sticker, WOW that would do it beyond a shadow of a doubt. But most of those hit file 13 a short time after the car was delivered.

If it was an original hood, it will use stock hinges, have a metal frame, and have a metal mesh tack welded to cover the intake for the OAI airbox. Plus, it will use the stock hood latch in addition to the front tie downs.

Sounds like you have a good plan to strip the car down and find out your best 'starting point'. Be prepared for whatever might have been covered by Bondo. The engine color is an easy fix. If you like the way it's built, keep it that way.

First things first. The 442 in 1972 was, as you pointed out, mostly an appearance package. There were very few 442's that were produced as W30's. The W30 means that the car has a 455, FE2 suspension, OAI hood and underhood components, true dual exhausts with the famous looking rear cutout bumper and trumpet tip exhausts. 442's could be ordered with any of the available Rocket engines in 1972. The most popular was the L32 - the base Rocket 350 with 160 brake hp from the factory. It was a 2 bbl carb with a single exhaust. One of the most widely produced Rocket 350's made. L34 was the Rocket 350 with 180 brake hp, with a 4bbl carb, slightly different cam, but still a single exhaust. So to answer your question specifically about what relationship is a 455 to a L32? They are completely different engines. The 455 was offered in 2 hp configurations for 1972 the L74 (270 brake hp) and L75 (300 brake hp).

If your car was originally equipped with a rallye pac (option code U21) it should also have a 'fasten seat belt' pod mounted on the top center of the dash, right above the center AC vent location. If it is not there, the rallye pac options were added by a previous owner.

4424me

thanks for all the help allan. alright, i was under the impression that the engine was a 455..as that is what i have been told but have not looked into . how can i verify exactly what engine this is?
thanks alot for all your help.

as for the hood, in the engine pic you can see a bit of the mesh, of the little you can see does that seem like what you were talking about?

72 w29 all green

All good info here. Just to add, the L77 455 was the high performance Olds engine for '72. In X-code form (W-30) it was rated at 300hp; V-code form rated at 270hp. Mine's a U-code L75 rated at 250hp.

The Rallye Pack/seat belt pod might not have applied for '72 models that were built in late '71. Mine was built in Nov. '71, has the original Rallye Pack but never had the seat belt reminder on the dash.

Allan R

You can verify whether its a 455 two ways:
1. Look at the front of the engine on the casting just in front of the water pump. A 1972 455 block will be 396021F. The F is quite large, that's why I put it like that.
2. The measurement across the intake to the heads should be around 14 inches

If you check your VIN, look at the 5th spot. It should be a letter that tells what engine came with the car. If you have a H, J, K or M the car came with a 350. If you have U, V or X it came with a 455. As W29 All Green 442 says there were 3 option codes for the 455 in 1972. If you have a TH400 Transmission chances are good that if you have a 455 it will be a U code. The V code was for use with an M20 manual gearbox. And code X was the high output L77.

Very possible. Is the inside of the hood metal framed? If it is, you probably have a real W25 hood. Don't lose it, it's worth BIG money. The screen is functional too. It's there to stop bugs and leaves from entering the air cleaner. Can you post a picture of the inside of the hood taken straight on?

alek72us

well it is a big block u can tell by the G on the head. they didnt put 425s in 72 cutlass's so unless someone else did. its probably a 455.

4424me

alright thanks everyone. i was a little worried there for a minute! the car is a U code so factory 455 and th400 trans. i has a dual gate shifter as well. i figured it was a 455 just when you said it looked like a 350 i was a little thrown off. thanks for the tips on the seatbelts and rallye pac. ill have to check again because im not sure about the light on the dash.
thanks all

alek72us

Does the hood close all the way? i know the hinges are not hooked up. but can u push the front all the way down to turn the pins. if so then yes its a real 1972 oai hood.

4424me

yes if the hinges were hooked up then it would . as is the front will close down far enough for it to latch in the middle and if it were down all the way the pins will work

Oldsguy

Welcome to CO. I got into this thread late but glad you found it is a 455 at least.

4424me

thanks. excited to get working on it but a bit nervous as to what i find.