83 & 84 Hurst Olds

[83hurst-olds]

I am looking to add a daily driver Hurst Olds to my stable. I see a lot of '84 hurst Olds without the front air dams. I know this is commonly broken off pulling into a parking lot, etc. Or, messed up during a head-on collision. However, it seems there are a LOT more '84's missing them than '83's. Were some made without it? Either way, what is the RPO codes to verify? I know it is a VIN 9, K47 car with 84 H/O paint scheme and hood scoop and rear 3 piece spoiler and of course the all-important lightning rods console and shifters. So, it sure looks like an '84 H/O, but not positive.

So, I know to look for those things mentioned above (though not sure about the front air dam on the '84). I also know about the transmission kickdown switch, dual snorkle air cleaner. It also SHOULD have the 8.5" rear also right?

So, aside from the things listed above, any suggestions? I can list or preferably PM the VIN of the car I want to buy if anyone has the charts to make sure it is a real H/O.

 

[88hurstolds]

84s were less desireable and wound up being drivers unlike 83s which were collected more, thus you will see more 84s in rough shape.
Air Dams are exactly reproduced by Lauren Engineering, http://www.laureneng.com
All Hursts have a cowl tag with W40 stamped on them and a 9 instead of a Y in the 8th diget in the VIN.
83s did not come with RPO trunk tags but 84s did and they will have a w40 RPO on the tag.
84s came with 8.5" rears, 83s came with 7.5s and will have an AK stamped on the RH Axel tube which can be hard to see.
Both had trans tags on the passengers side tail shaft with OZ stamped on them.
They will be stamped with the 3 diget juilan date then two diget year followed by OZ and then the production sequence.
Hursts also have thicker trunk rods to support the deck lid with wing, not all 83s came with Air Shocks and most had aluminum front bumper cores with the Air Dam brackets riveted to them unless there was a mishap and sheetmetal was changed which can be common... bumpers were never chromed as was the rear hood trim and lower windshield trim, front and rear window trim was half painted black. 83 had unique non chromed grilles and headlight bezels and both 83 and 84 had non chromed tail light bezels which are very obvious compaired to painted chrome ones. There was a heat shield installed over the tank lines for the RH tail pipe like the 442s and dual exhaust hangers or the holes at least on the top on the sping pearch if they're gone.
83s had a trans mount welded in on the drivers side of the frame for the Th2004R trans, since 4 speeds were not offered until 84 I believe but I know the frame had to be modified at the factory for the mount since the frames in 84 on had this standard even for three speed cars.
Hurst had unique shift indicators below the tach that look like the column shift 4 speed indicators but have the last 1 spaced differently. Hursts read P RNOD21 while regular column shifts read P RNOD2 1, notice the 1 is spaced further.
Hursts came with 1.25" front sway bars like 442 and GN as well.
There's a few other tell tail signs like no holes for rear wheel moldings and lower chrome moldings on the doors and fenders, unique frame tags on the frame in the wheel well... I think 84 had white Octogons that said HC, can't remember...
There's allot to look at to tell if your buying a rebody or a clone but if you have any doubts it's probably not original.
There was allot of items never offered on 442s or any other Gbodys to set these cars apart, crawl around and pick the car apart.

 

[mheath717]

What exactly made the '84s less desirable? I have heard a couple of people say that to me over the years. But why is that? Is it because of the color scheme? I guess more people would rather have a black car. Or maybe its because its the 15th anniversary edition. But I mean the '84 even has the 8.5 rear going for it.

 

[keith455]

I think you're right about the 15th anniversary edition and people decided to collect them. Personally i like the 84 color's better.. well not the interior color.. I wish gray was an interior option on the 84's

 

[83hurst-olds]

One thing I have noticed is that it seems the front headlight bezels are different in a lot of cars. THe two cars I believe are correct, have a blacked out bezel area around the head lamps, but the very front of that bezel, has a 1/4" forward-facing chrome part. Other variants I have seen is the standard chrome cutlass bezel and a full blacked-out bezel. I personally believe the latter two are cover-ups.

THanks for the info and the link. I remembered someone making them, but couldn't remember who. Most people don't even notice the front air dam (instead notice the flashy graphics, hood scoop, and spoiler), but I think it really adds something subtle to the car. I might actually do drop spindles on this one if I get it since I won't worry so much about tearing up an aftermarket air dam as I would the nearly-impossible-to-replace original.

Yes, I personally prefer the '83 only because of the color scheme. The '84's do have the 8.5 rear, as well as the din and a half radio (sure beats the track bar). I too am a fan of the sand interior colors.

 

[88hurstolds]

8.5" rears are overrated, I have a 7.5" in my 88 with a 455 and notice no difference when I had an 8.5" in my 84 Calais with a 455.
People need to stop with the hype on 8.5s, they're rare, expensive and should just stay in a numbers matching car.
I've personally seen people rip these out of numbers matching cars to put in their 300hp base model which sickens me. A 7.5" can do the job just fine and is half the price used or better yet you can upgrade it with new components for the same price as a unknown milage 8.5.
8.5s just bridge the gap between 400 to 550 hp from a 7.5" to a 9" and you should definately rebuild one if your gonna push that kind of power.
It's equal if not cheaper to buy a 9" with new comonents than to buy a used 8.5" rear, rebuild it and then only be limited to going past 550hp...
Spend the $1500 and get a nicely built 9", plus it's easier to swap gears...

 

[Chris Van]

You are indeed a wealth of knowledge about the Hurst Olds. Which I do admire very much.... I sure wish I could get my hands on an 83.
However, you really need to get over yourself with these 7.5" rearends. Your post on those are quite entertaining to say the least and I do atleast get a chuckle out of reading them though.

 

[88hurstolds]

You are indeed a wealth of knowledge about the Hurst Olds. Which I do admire very much.... I sure wish I could get my hands on an 83.
However, you really need to get over yourself with these 7.5" rearends. Your post on those are quite entertaining to say the least and I do atleast get a chuckle out of reading them though.

:lol: Do tell, how are they entertaining?
I just don't think its cute that some guy molests a numbers matching car to throw an 8.5 rear behind a 350... 7.5s do the job just right if built properly just like TH2004Rs. Everyone thought those trans' are crap and it is common word of mouth that they won't hold up behind a 455 but look at the Turbo Buick guys.
If you want an 8.5 then fine spend the money, I personally would rather put that money into other things, just don't go ruiening a perfectly nice 442/Hurst/GN/T-type for one AS I HAVE SEEN A FEW TIMES. Most guys out there don't have bracket racers with drag radials and a 500+hp/550+ftlb motor that is gonna shread a 7.5 right up, just mainly weekend warriors and daily drivers which don't require an 8.5 rear.
I sold my 8.5 from my 84 Calais that I got out of a drag car to this older gent that was putting it in an ElCamino with a 305, he wanted it because he heard they were the rear to have. I asked if he was planning on putting a BBC in but he said he was just keeping the 305. I laughed and thought it was funny as hell that he wanted it for his 305 but it bothers me at the same time because that same logic causes some to tear up a nice numbers matching restorable car.
It's kind've like the guy with the video on Youtube that was offroading in a nice 84 Hurst Olds that pissed everyone off sometime ago... :evil:

FE3XClone went with a 9" to save himself the trouble since he was pushing real power and I've talked to a few hardcore racers locally, on ROP and at Byron that just laugh at the fact that people spend $800-$1200 on a used and sometime unknown milage unit they have to dump another $500-$800 into.
nuff said, I'm just repeating myself

 

[83hurst-olds]

8.5" rears are overrated, I have a 7.5" in my 88 with a 455 and notice no difference when I had an 8.5" in my 84 Calais with a 455.
People need to stop with the hype on 8.5s, they're rare, expensive and should just stay in a numbers matching car.
I've personally seen people rip these out of numbers matching cars to put in their 300hp base model which sickens me. A 7.5" can do the job just fine and is half the price used or better yet you can upgrade it with new components for the same price as a unknown milage 8.5.
8.5s just bridge the gap between 400 to 550 hp from a 7.5" to a 9" and you should definately rebuild one if your gonna push that kind of power.
It's equal if not cheaper to buy a 9" with new comonents than to buy a used 8.5" rear, rebuild it and then only be limited to going past 550hp...
Spend the $1500 and get a nicely built 9", plus it's easier to swap gears...

I wouldn't take the 8.5 with silver over black on the '84 in exchange for my 7.5" '83! I was just pointing out what I consider the only good points of the '84 over the '83. If the colors were reversed on the years, then I would own an '84 instead (which I may very well do anyway before this weekend is over - I am going to look at one with money in hand).

88, I too appreciate yours and FE3X H/O knowledge. I am getting there, the more time I spend around and with mine.

 

[mheath717]

Well maybe I shouldn't have said anything about the rear end. It doesn't really matter to me which rear end I have. I just have a mildly built 350 olds, so Im sure I wouldn't ever tear up any type of rear. I just know that they are under both of my cars from the factory. And to SOME people, having that extra digit means a lot.