Western MA 442

[bfurches]

Hey guy, my name is Brandon and I am new to this forum.

I am from Western MA, and I just picked up a 1986 Oldsmobile 442 in trade for my s10 yesterday!
The car is far from perfect, but its a good starting point for what I want to do.

It is a real 442 (code 9 307, 8.5 open rear, w42 and f41 rpo) t-top car.
84k miles, and I drove another 200 since picking it up in Worcester yesterday.
The body is ok, but far from perfect. The previous owner let some trade school students do the body work and primer, so it will need some attention there.

My plans are to get my motor and trans into the car, set everything up so its running perfect, then maybe over the winter go back, disassemble and start some more restoration oriented stuff (body mounts, body work, and etc). I will drag this car pretty regularly, and enjoy it on all the nice days.
-------------------------------------------------------------

On a side note, Oldsmobile has been a big part of my family for a long time. My family owned and operated W.H. Fenton Oldsmobile in Westfield, MA. They operated during the hay-day of the 60's and 70's when in my opinion some of the greatest Olds rolled off the assembly line. My grandfather is still in business today renting, leasing and selling used cars at a small lot in Westfield. I found a stash of his old "Fenton Olds" dealer stickers and stuffed one on the trunk of my 442.

 

[bill]

Welcome! and great ride you have got there! Good to hear about the Oldsmobile heritage you have in the family. My Grandfather had several Oldsmobiles, including a 1941 REO Speedwagon, which is who started the company. R.E. Olds was a great visionary and built cars and trucks to last. Its a real shame that the company no longer exists, but as long as there are people like you and I around, it will not be forgotten! Good luck with the build and it looks like you have a good car to start with, which is a big plus.

Bill

 

[454cutlass]

looks good... welcom to the forum .....you going to race it at lebanon valley

 

[bfurches]

Yes Sir!

I raced my 4 door caprice there a few times last year before I got rid of it...

Thanks for the welcome guys.

 

[trevorjm]

Nice car bud, I'm in Medford. Looks like you have a good start on the car already!

 

[bfurches]

thank you!
medfords not to far away. lot of local g-body guys...

 

[dogsht]

Welcome and what are you going to put in her? How did that Caprice run and what did you have done to her? Looks like she is off to a good start.

 

[bfurches]

Welcome and what are you going to put in her? How did that Caprice run and what did you have done to her? Looks like she is off to a good start.

I have a Vortec 8.1 (fuel injected 496ci) from a 2002 HD truck im stuffing in the 442. I am building it as 100% street car (not a race car with a street car body as seems to be the new fad lol).
Its my opinion that the 8.1 is sorta looked down upon, but it will bolt right into that chassis and with a little tune with a stock motor it should make decent power (a little spray on top will put me right where I want to be).

My caprice weighed in at 4040 with no driver, had a mild 350/th350 combo and ran 12.3x @ 114 regularly on a small shot of spray. It was a summer time daily driven pump gas fuelie iron headed 350 lol.

 

[dogsht]

Very cool. And unique. The 8.1 is an excellent choice for a strong yet reliable & docile street car. Strong as in very hard running. At one time GM had three versions of that motor. The somewhat weak (relative term) truck version the stronger boat version and the stronger still race boat version.

I always thought building a hard running street car with some of the best available parts would be a cool project. The longer stroke, fuel injection, and the overdrive transmission that probably came with it could make for an ideal high performance street car setup. For the benefit of other readers the benefits of the longer stroke and bigger cubic inch being that he can cam it & port the heads greatly adding to it mid & upper range power and still have plenty of low end grunt with no need the crutch it with race fuel a big converter and extra low fuel hogging rpm screamin gears.

Where is it you want to be? What are your goals for this car?

 

[Fader]

Welcome to the forum… I have never owned an s10, but id buy one today if I could trade it for a low mile 442…sounds like you got a plan…going from a 350 in a Caprice tank to an 8.1 in a 442 with 8.5" rear end should yield nice results…