My 86 442: update 11/11/14 Auto Gear M22Z
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It's a shame that someone would molest a 442 with a Chevy motor, I put a Chevy motor in my cutty salon but it had a Buick v-6 beforehand. But since your 442 is molested already and you will never ever have matching numbers anyways why not either keep the Chevy 350 or go all out with an Olds 455? There was absolutely nothing special about your original 442 motor except that it is what came in the car, but now that the original is gone, do as you please and have fun with it. This is only my opinion, I absolutely hated my Cutlass with the Buick V-6, got a good deal on a Chevy crate motor (between 350 and 400HP) dropped it in and now absolutley love driving it.
Um actually rick the original 307 from the factory is still sitting between the frame rails, as well as the original transmission, and 8.5 inch posi rearend, all with less than 44,000 miles on them. If you look at my pictures i have posted its clear that there is an oldsmobile engine in there. The only difference is that someone before me removed all of the smog equipment, air conditioning, and computer. The car runs and drives just fine, its just running without all that stuff now.
I was just considering the chevy 350 for now until i can find and build an olds 350 or 455 because I am only 18 years old and money is a little tight and the opportunity to get the motor was given to me.
Oh yeah I almost forgot, thanks Blake for the Link to the gm heritage center, and thanks cutty for the comment 😀
I was just considering the chevy 350 for now until i can find and build an olds 350 or 455 because I am only 18 years old and money is a little tight and the opportunity to get the motor was given to me.
Oh yeah I almost forgot, thanks Blake for the Link to the gm heritage center, and thanks cutty for the comment 😀
Oh sorry I don't know where I got all that. but if you have the factory 307 in it now and it runs fine, I would leave it, but that's me. It sounds like your 442 might be a great candidate for a restoration, but if it were me I'd leave it original as possible maybe build up the original motor a little. Or if you can't afford to do it there is someone who will pay your price for an all original car with low mileage. But I think you'd break all the rules putting in a 455 or even worse a Chevy 350 in that 442. You should do that to some other G-Body but not an original, matching numbers 442. Again only my opinion
If money is tight, I would just run the 307 if it runs OK. With the 3.73's and 200R4, it will still be fun to drive.
The Chevy engine isn't going to be cheap by the time you get everything that you need to put it in - engine mounts, alternator brackets, power steering brackets, and exhaust - plus wiring and other little things that we seem to forget about. It sounds like a lot of messing around if you plan on switching it back to an Olds engine anyway.
An Olds 350 or 403 will drop right in place of the 307 with no modifications. I'd save my money for the Olds engine.
As for your color choice, a friend of mine had an 83 Cutlass that he painted all black with gold 442 stripes. It looked pretty cool, but the black and silver is pretty cool, too. You could paint it all black, and if you don't like it you can always add the silver to the bottom.
Just my $.02. Good luck on the build!
Matt
The Chevy engine isn't going to be cheap by the time you get everything that you need to put it in - engine mounts, alternator brackets, power steering brackets, and exhaust - plus wiring and other little things that we seem to forget about. It sounds like a lot of messing around if you plan on switching it back to an Olds engine anyway.
An Olds 350 or 403 will drop right in place of the 307 with no modifications. I'd save my money for the Olds engine.
As for your color choice, a friend of mine had an 83 Cutlass that he painted all black with gold 442 stripes. It looked pretty cool, but the black and silver is pretty cool, too. You could paint it all black, and if you don't like it you can always add the silver to the bottom.
Just my $.02. Good luck on the build!
Matt
I did and it looks great, I understand that the original 307 wasn't really much of a muscle car engine, but as far as what you did, I would have liked it a whole lot more if you had done it to a regular Cutlass Salon where it really wouldn't matter one way or the other towards the value of the car. Again only my opinion. But you gotta love them G-bodies any way you can get them, they are by far the coolest thing out there for the mid eighties cars. On a different note:I can't figure out how to put pictures in here, does anybody have the solution?
Well guys yesterday i finally dove into my project. I decided to put the new sections of the floor in so i no longer had a fred flintstone mobile. Anyways i used floor pans i bought from sherman autobody fix everything up. It wasnt a whole lot of work and really didnt take too long, maybe an hour to get each side tacked in. I still need to go through and finish welding the pans in but, heres some pics let me know what you think.
new section cut to fit:
my buddy welding on the drivers side while i cut out the passenger side
new section cut to fit:
my buddy welding on the drivers side while i cut out the passenger side
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