442 Emissions labels that make you go Hmmmm...

[69hurstolds]

There was/is an 85 442 moonroof car out there that's been various places on the 'net, black with vinyl burgundy interior, ultra low mileage, and in beautiful condition.

No idea if it ever sold, they wanted $30K + for it. For me, it'd be a stretch to go $25 on this car.

1985 Oldsmobile 442

OFFERED FROM THE ORIGINAL OWNER To create the 4-4-2, Oldsmobile started w...

www.mcecars.com

Very nice example, however, while perusing pictures of the car, I ran across this....

The paperwork, VIN, and everything else on this car says 442. The emission decal, however, does not.

SBF is a VIN Y 307 emissions label. If this car is factory original, which it appears to be, the emission label is the wrong one. It should have SBJ code on it. I know this because one, the label part number is wrong for a federal emission 442, as well as showing the vacuum routing with an ILC, which the 442 uses an electric idle kick up solenoid instead. I doubt if they replaced the label. It seems it's JUST ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF QUALITY 80's GM BUILDS. Which sucked. A weird oddity. Doubt anyone else would have picked up on that, but hey, I've looked at many of these, and I knew right away something was up with this.

 

[Ribbedroof]

I'd have thought that would have been a persnickity item at final inspection before shipment. Maybe shroud got replaced/swapped with a nicer one years ago? Replacement shroud and parts guy ordered wrong label?

Back when we were doing a lot of work for a local dodge/Nissan dealer, we changed a LOT of parts that were damaged while in service department, by a lot porter, or what it took to make a sale that day.

Things like sending a customer's car that they crunched a fender on to us along with a new stock unit same color to swap the fender from so it could get out that day instead of (I'm assuming) telling the customer what happened.

Changing a door some lot jockey bent backwards with a stock unit.

This particular dealer had a LOT of pearl white Maximas that everybody wanted for demos. At one time, EVERY pearl white Maxima they had had been damaged somehow. They wound up having to buy one back because the butchers they had repair it had ripped a hole in the upper rail pulling it instead of replacing it...which was discovered when the customer had a MINOR fender-bende shortly after purchase. My boss's daughter wound up buying one they had on the back lot for pretty cheap. That poor car had been cannibalized badly. It was an SE, they had swapped the spoiler decklid'for a flat one, swapped the alloys for steelies, robbed the foglamps, and a few other bits.

Funny part is, this was during the heyday of VINstrip mania, when people were first hearing about them and looking at them on used cars to see if they had been crashed, Never heard a word about any of the mismatches.

 

[69hurstolds]

I initially thought something got changed. But not sure. The hose strap is there but not snapped into the right place. It does not appear the car had been crunched in the front. But you just never know.

TBH, I think it was a fugg up at the factory. I can't say for sure, but I'm sure whoever was slapping on the decals grabbed one out of the wrong bin or something. Not 100% sure of that. Nobody I know of is reproducing the SBF emission decals, and it does look factory supplied, so if it WAS changed, it was within the first few years of existence. It didn't take long for those emission decals to be discontinued.

 

[abbey castro]

Many places sell the "correct" emission label for a car when it is not the correct one. Something as critical as the Federally regulated Emission data would not be an error by any manufacturer.

 

[69hurstolds]

Many places sell the "correct" emission label for a car when it is not the correct one. Something as critical as the Federally regulated Emission data would not be an error by any manufacturer.

But they don't even make an aftermarket SBF decal. That was my point. I believe this indeed, was an oversight on the assembly line. Trust me, they made more mistakes than you can shake a stick at building G-bodies. Someone just didn't catch this one, IMO.

 

[Mac442]

But they don't even make an aftermarket SBF decal. That was my point. I believe this indeed, was an oversight on the assembly line. Trust me, they made more mistakes than you can shake a stick at building G-bodies. Someone just didn't catch this one, IMO.

Agreed. On the assembly line they have to keep the car moving too, even when low or out of parts. Ive seen parts substituted, missing, etc. I believe Jeep was notorious for this.

 

[69hurstolds]

My 85 442, built in Arlington, did not have the carb return spring (the orangey one, GM part #22515041). And it still doesn't have it, as per factory build. It also had the front hood bumper "locks" left unlocked and after a while, the hood corners started flapping going down the road. That's when I learned about the locks not being locked. It also came with little or no limited slip additive as almost immediately after delivery, it would chunk going around corners. Back to the service department, added some additive, and fixed that. First month there was a screw fugged up or something on the inner seat back so when I moved the seat back forward for the first time, the chrome hinge cover broke right off. They fixed that under warranty. No air in the air shocks, had to check with service department to find out minimum and maximum air pressure as there was nothing in the glovebox or owner's manual. (25# by the way).

G-bodies weren't the pinnacle of quality workmanship.

 

[ssn696]

And here we are 32-42 years later keeping them alive. Plastic dash boards and body parts. Crappy transition emissions equipment and even old school VIN numbers that DMVs don't know how to deal with.

Thanks for the sharp photo in case someone needs the details to maintain compliance.

 

[69hurstolds]

We’re miracle workers.

 

[UNGN]

My '70 'Cuda 440-6 was delivered with a "Dodge" steering wheel.

Many Detroit Auto workers lost the will to live, years ago.