87 442 project

[northern]

Hi guys
New guy with my first g-body and my first project. It`s a 87 442 on a 79 cutlass cruiser frame, the 307 is gone and it now has a healthy olds 350 from somewhere around 72. Been messing with it for about a year now and getting ready to send it to the paintguy.

 

[northern]

Floors sucked
But with a little cutting and welding all things are good again

 

[Fader]

Very cool ! A 442 in norway! Any idea or story behind how the car made its way to you? Does it still hve the kzf transmission & 8.5" rear? Was the original frame rusted out Or why was it replaced? Keep up the ood work!

 

[Fader]

*good work*

 

[Dragonist]

nice olds...first non euro front end car I've like idk why but she is a beaut!

 

[northern]

Thanks! This is going to be my weekend fun car.
Don`t know the history of the car but chances are it was sold new here, gm sold quite a few g-bodys here in the 80s but many of them are rusted away and scrapped by now. The frame was either changed due to rot or to get the car registered as a classic and get the taxcut and cheaper insurance. Still has the transmission and the 8.5 rear, a noisy rear that is but a truetrac and new internals are waiting in the shadows, just have to collect enough courage to do the job myself.

 

[88hurstolds]

Cool car.
Weird story on changing the frame since the frames are just about the same from 78-88 however there is a VIN number stamped on it.
Sounds like the car would technically need to be titled as a 79 Custom Cruiser for the loop hole to work there since there is really no way to tell just by looking at the frame what year and car it came from.

Also, if it's a 79 frame then an extension for the crossmember would be needed since 79-83 frames did not have the mount for TH2004R crossmembers.

 

[northern]

True, the car is titled and insured as the 79 cruiser. I did not know about the crossmember extension but the transmission sits on what appears to be a original 200r4 crossmember so I guess someone down the line modified it.

Prepping for paint takes forever, looking forward to more mechanical stuff.

 

[northern]

Ahh, looks like I`m not the best at updating, but it is more fun working on the car than spending time on the computer. Anyway, progress has been made. Car is now painted and on it`s way back together. Got lucky and found rustfree doors and trunk lid at the junkyard, tired of welding so that was a relief. A lot off new stuff, doorhinges, weatherstripping, carpet, seats++

great junkyard, there is no crusher, so the cars sits there for years

ready for paint

much better in black

the russians sell their tech cheap these days, cheaper than dynamat

 

[littlerascle59]

Very nice... 😀
My buddy in Canada just got his hands on an 87 442 also and wants to go all black with the stripes too.