What's wrong with this 442

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Hammer442

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Jan 29, 2013
5
1
3
Hi guys,
I'm interested in this 1986 442.

There are a few things that I don't like.
The exhaust is wrong, the mufflers are cheap imports and don't exit like the stock exhaust. Easy enough to fix, but makes me concerned as to what else they used cheap fixes on.

Can you find anything else questionable with this car from the pics?
Thanks for your help
 

L92 OLDS

Comic Book Super Hero
Mar 30, 2012
2,872
3,050
113
West Michigan
Hi guys,
I'm interested in this 1986 442. Can you find anything else questionable with this car from the pics?
Thanks for your help
That’s a pretty solid 442 and appears for the most part to be unmolested. That color is beautiful but The interior color is known to fade very quickly when exposed to The sun.
Compare the top of the rear seats to the rest of the interior and you will see the sun fade.

The images are not high res so it’s hard to see all the details but it looks like the left tail light emblem is faded (New ones can be purchased) and the reverse lights are messed up. 1986 reverse lights should have a red border. Also check them for stress cracks where the license plate lights are.

The steering wheel looks like it’s beginning to turn into beef jerky. The left side looks loose near the spoke. Again, a result of sun exposure and age.

The 442 front license plate bracket is missing.

Overall, not a bad car in my opinion but the asking price is high. Make an offer of 15K?
 
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69hurstolds

Geezer
Supporting Member
Jan 2, 2006
8,089
17,298
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#1 issue. The power antenna motor is broken. :)

The price is a bit high IMO. More like I'd give 19 MAXIMUM. Even that's too high for me, but this looks like one of those consignment cars, so there's going to be fees to pay. 30K supposed miles. Inside, all the chrome has been rubbed off the shifter console top. A 30K car has to be treated pretty rough or someone has to be using cleaners every day on it for it to do that much stripping. The steering wheel looks like either the car sat in the sun all day without cover or manhandling the steering wheel. These are just speculations. Driver side lower door edge has rust. And you can see rust signs dripping out the rear door drain hole. Same with the passenger side door. Mostly original looking under the hood, though. Hoses, belts, and battery changeout expected. The radiator MAY have been replaced due to the original rad overflow bottle's hose connection to the radiator is a worm hose clamp and not the spring clamp. Factory rad overflow bottles have the part number cast into the front of the bottle, over the counter replacements had the number on top. There may have been factory style early on in the parts system, but I started buying them in bulk in 1990, so there's that. Some came with the hose attached, some didn't. WTF.

The car seems fairly decent from the pictures, save for the repaint, the striping job, and the exhaust work. Overspray on top of the rear wheel wells in the trunk and on the windshield washer bottle. You can see the top of the license plate pocket and the surrounding inner trunk panels are a duller maroon metallic than the rest of the car. They just painted the car with the trunk closed. And some places on the trunk and rear bumper cover has bubbles? It could be water bead spots or paint bubbles. Not sure. Reverse lights don't match side to side. Should have red outline on both, not just one. Driver taillight rocket is missing. No big deal. Someone sells them somewhere.

The exhaust exits in the same place, just not at the right angles. AP XLerator mufflers it appears. They make stainless mufflers. HQ in NC, not China, but they may farm that sh*t out, so I don't know. Plus, no cat. It looks like they just taped up around the trunk "Oldsmobile" lettering. Not sure but to me it looks weird. Going to need a new trunk seal. Speedo cable replaced already with one that's shorter than original. Shocks already replaced. Air shocks removed from rear. Seems rather solid underneath. However, with 30K miles supposedly, the 8.5" rear is surface rusty, as expected, but the cover and bolts are all painted nice and satiny black with what appears to be sealer goop squeezing out the passenger side lower area of the cover. Hmmm. Same with the oil pan. It just seems cleaner than the engine block and surrounding lower engine bits. Of course, just a speculation.

I didn't bother to look deeper, but this particular car isn't indicative of a 30K mile car necessarily. It's been rode hard and put up wet for that low of mileage. Too much crap replaced at 30K for it to be 30K miles. Personally, I'd walk on this one for that price.
 
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Oct 14, 2008
8,806
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Melville,Saskatchewan
Yeah, it is probably 130,000 Miles as said. The 442 exhaust is no longer available and no loss IMHO. If Olds would have put on shorty headers, true duals and cats factory, it would have been 200+ hp, impressive for the mid 80's. I would complete the dual exhaust, if it was my car. I like the colour and would need at least 10K knocked off, to even consider it.
 
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ELCAM

Royal Smart Person
Jun 19, 2021
1,114
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Look real close at the gauge cluster, I have a feeling it has been changed and has 30,000 miles. The car more like 80-90,000.
 
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tkruger

Master Mechanic
May 6, 2015
358
310
63
NY
There is a dent behind the passenger rear tire. The rear interior seat and carpet look far more faded than the front seats and carpet, that could be lighting. dash looks to be rising up on the driver's side compared to the passenger side. As others have said the steering wheel looks to have a few miles. Or this has been in the sun for some time and refreshed. Mileage seems iffy. Was it in the sun most its life? Then maybe the UV rays could have taken some toll. No cat would be a big question for me. While the exhaust looks well done no shop in my area would even try a cat delete. That effectively takes the car off the road since it will never pass inspection without one. NY does not have smog but their is a visual inspection that none of the parts have been removed.

Looks like a decent car but not at the price they are asking. For that price there should not be the dents, a cat to pass inspection and a few other bits here and there. Then again perhaps it is better inspected in person.
 
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melloelky

Comic Book Super Hero
Oct 22, 2017
4,136
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mass
#1 issue. The power antenna motor is broken. :)

The price is a bit high IMO. More like I'd give 19 MAXIMUM. Even that's too high for me, but this looks like one of those consignment cars, so there's going to be fees to pay. 30K supposed miles. Inside, all the chrome has been rubbed off the shifter console top. A 30K car has to be treated pretty rough or someone has to be using cleaners every day on it for it to do that much stripping. The steering wheel looks like either the car sat in the sun all day without cover or manhandling the steering wheel. These are just speculations. Driver side lower door edge has rust. And you can see rust signs dripping out the rear door drain hole. Same with the passenger side door. Mostly original looking under the hood, though. Hoses, belts, and battery changeout expected. The radiator MAY have been replaced due to the original rad overflow bottle's hose connection to the radiator is a worm hose clamp and not the spring clamp. Factory rad overflow bottles have the part number cast into the front of the bottle, over the counter replacements had the number on top. There may have been factory style early on in the parts system, but I started buying them in bulk in 1990, so there's that. Some came with the hose attached, some didn't. WTF.

The car seems fairly decent from the pictures, save for the repaint, the striping job, and the exhaust work. Overspray on top of the rear wheel wells in the trunk and on the windshield washer bottle. You can see the top of the license plate pocket and the surrounding inner trunk panels are a duller maroon metallic than the rest of the car. They just painted the car with the trunk closed. And some places on the trunk and rear bumper cover has bubbles? It could be water bead spots or paint bubbles. Not sure. Reverse lights don't match side to side. Should have red outline on both, not just one. Driver taillight rocket is missing. No big deal. Someone sells them somewhere.

The exhaust exits in the same place, just not at the right angles. AP XLerator mufflers it appears. They make stainless mufflers. HQ in NC, not China, but they may farm that sh*t out, so I don't know. Plus, no cat. It looks like they just taped up around the trunk "Oldsmobile" lettering. Not sure but to me it looks weird. Going to need a new trunk seal. Speedo cable replaced already with one that's shorter than original. Shocks already replaced. Air shocks removed from rear. Seems rather solid underneath. However, with 30K miles supposedly, the 8.5" rear is surface rusty, as expected, but the cover and bolts are all painted nice and satiny black with what appears to be sealer goop squeezing out the passenger side lower area of the cover. Hmmm. Same with the oil pan. It just seems cleaner than the engine block and surrounding lower engine bits. Of course, just a speculation.

I didn't bother to look deeper, but this particular car isn't indicative of a 30K mile car necessarily. It's been rode hard and put up wet for that low of mileage. Too much crap replaced at 30K for it to be 30K miles. Personally, I'd walk on this one for that price.
this's the guy rite here^^
 
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PBGBodyFan

G-Body Guru
Mar 3, 2009
792
1,220
93
Wisconsin
I’m not a 442 or Cutlass expert but scrolling through the pics it sure doesn’t look like a typical babied 30k mile car or close, well cared for for sure and for 130k very nice, either 130k or something changed with the cluster or speedo. Not that Carfax shows everything but would be interesting to see and follow whatever was reported for dates/miles.
 

08Malibu

Royal Smart Person
Feb 9, 2014
1,447
3,385
113
North Jersey
It could very easily be a 30k mile car. You guys have to remember these things are getting old. I had a 78 Nova that had an honest 35k on it and the vinyl seat was worn through on the back. This car could also have 130k on it too. A lot of used lot car looking stuff seems to be done to it. So I definitely agree that it’s priced too high. I’m just saying that low mileage doesn’t always mean perfect, climate controlled storage.
 
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Hammer442

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Jan 29, 2013
5
1
3
Great input thank you so much. I've been looking for a solid burgandy/burgandy 442 for a long time, the issue is I really wanted the T-Tops.
However I don't come across many in this color combo, especially in this condition.
 
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