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1966 OLDS 442

Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 8:10 pm
by Fred32v
What a fun day today was. 600 miles later.
600 miles later.
600 miles later.
Just the beginning.
Just the beginning.
It's been a very long day, GMJohn drove the whole way.

His fun with this has just begun, stay tuned.

Re: 1966 OLDS 442

Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 10:00 pm
by TireSmoker
Looks great, cant wait to see it in person!

-Dave

Re: 1966 OLDS 442

Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 8:30 pm
by GMJohnny
Ok... So here's how the deal went. We took off on Sunday for Vassar, Mi., a 300 mile drive. We left at
6:00 am and arrived at 10:30. We looked over the car and were very pleased with what we saw. Since I
had pre-determined the price with the owner, all that was left to do was to take it for a test run. The
owner Dan, was at the wheel showing me that it was driving as it should. Everything was going well until
the car suddenly overheated and started dumping radiator fluid all over the place and steaming. To make
a really long story short, the thermostat failed during the test drive. Unwilling to purchase a car that was
overheating, I decided to suggest removing the thermostat to prove that it wouldn't overheat with it out.
We re-assembled the water neck without the thermostat in place and test drove the car again. All went
as planned and the deal was done. Another 4.5 hours later we were home. It was a loooonnnggg day, but
well worth it! The car is not a $60,000 museum piece car. It's a REALLY REALLY REALLY clean 1966 Olds
442 with Tri-Power and a 4 speed. Manual steering and drum brakes round out the strippo package. Of course
I have plenty of things that I want to do to it to make it more of what I want, but it's a great start. First things
to do are to change radiator fluid and thermostat. Then oil change and filter to make sure that I have good
fresh fluids on day one. The engine was just rebuilt, so we will be taking it easy on it for a thousand miles or
so. More to come!!

GM

Re: 1966 OLDS 442

Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 8:49 pm
by GMJohnny
Tonight I changed the radiator coolant and put in a 180* thermostat. The coolant that came out was
like new, but I changed it anyway so the mixture would be 50/50 not whatever was there after we added
a gallon of water. While is was in there, I adjusted the choke rod so the car would start correctly. When
we first started it, I'm convinced that the choke was not working. It was tough to keep the car running
without holding down the throttle a bit. As it turns out, the choke linkage was not bent properly and was
not clearing the intake manifold, so it stuck open. After my slight modification, the car started right up
and the high idle at cold speed worked perfectly. Once the car got to 180*, the car went to idle. PERFECT!
Tomorrow I go do the title work, complete the license plate transfer and sign for the Hagerty insurance.
If I feel ambitious, I'll change the oil and lube the chassis so I know it's done right.

GM

Re: 1966 OLDS 442

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 6:03 am
by GMJohnny
Yesterday I managed to accomplish my tasks for getting the 442 legally on the road. I also double
checked the radiator fluid level and gave it an oil change and chassis lube. There were no surprises
that came with the maintenance. I was able to drive it about 50 miles yesterday without any issues.
It was in the high 80's yesterday and the car never got over 195* which I was pleased with. I haven't
checked the rear end ratio, but if it is the rear end that is "supposed to be" in the car, it will have a
3.55:1 ratio. I'm going to guess that is correct, because around 60 mph or so, you can hear the rpm's.
There's no tachometer in the car, so I'm going to have to get one, but for now it runs, starts and goes.
The next things that need to be checked are the timing and points gap.

GM

Re: 1966 OLDS 442

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 12:55 pm
by wxo
Some interesting info I found on the '66 442:

1966:

Authentication:

No 455's, only 400's.
B heads. Driver's side head will contain a VIN derivative stamping begining with 'V'.
Jetaway "2.5 speed" transmission (marketed that way due to the switch-pitch converter).

Engine Applications: Model Units 4bbl Tri-carb
Standard Club Coupe 647 490 157
Deluxe Holiday Coupe 1217 1039 178
Cutlass Sport Coupe 3787 3404 383
Cutlass Holiday Coupe 13493 12322 1171
Cutlass Convertible 2853 2653 240
Total 21997 19868 2129

Transmission Applications: Model 3spd 4spd Auto
Standard Club Coupe 103 456 88
Deluxe Holiday Coupe 88 798 331
Cutlass Sport Coupe 221 2422 1144
Cutlass Holiday Coupe 297 8025 5171
Cutlass Convertible 62 1448 1343
Total 771 13149 8077

All tripower (L69) equipped 442's were 4-speeds. An over-the-counter 3x2 bbl package was available from the dealer.

Grille was different from other F-85's, small chromed trim vents were placed in front fenders just to the rear of the wheels. For $114 over the 442 cost a tri-carb 360 hp engine was available. Five models were offered with the 442 package.

Engine Specs:

400 cu in, 4-bbl Rochester, 10.50 CR, 350 hp@5000, 440 ft/lbs torque@3600
400 cu in, (3) 2bbl rochesters, 10.50 CR, 360 hp@5000, 440 ft/lbs torque@3600

Transmissions:

Standard:
3 spd manual floor
Optional:
4 spd manual floor Hurst shifter
4 spd manual floor Hurst close-ratio shifter
2 spd auto column

Rear Axles:

Standard:
3.23 3 spd manual or Jetway auto
3.55 either 4 spd manual
Optional:
3.55 3 spd manual or Jetway auto
3.90 all except 3 spd
4.11 dealer installed except in 3.23 axle cars
4.33 dealer installed except in 3.23 axle cars

Performance Data:

"Car & Driver" - ¼ mile in 14.59 seconds at 100.55 MPH. 11.5 MPG (4spd man, 3.55 rear)
"Motor Trend" - ¼ mile in 15.6 seconds at 96.56 MPH. 0 - 60 in 7.2 seconds.

[ Thanks to Jason Labay, Bob Barry for this information ]

Re: 1966 OLDS 442

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 9:30 pm
by GMJohnny
I really wonder how many 66 tri power cars are left..... I've seen only three come across the
net since I've been looking. This info is great!

GM

Re: 1966 OLDS 442

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 10:14 pm
by Blue_69_malibu
Great looking car, John. It's every bit the 1966 time capsule....so I totally dig it. CPA approved. Very, very happy for you!

Re: 1966 OLDS 442

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 10:29 pm
by wxo
Hey Maverick. Ya think GM would let us weld in a bung and take a crack at those trips? :mrgreen:

Re: 1966 OLDS 442

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 10:42 pm
by Maverick
Not if it takes us MONTHS to sort it out. :roll:

Re: 1966 OLDS 442

Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2017 6:15 am
by GMJohnny
I'm pretty sure that there won't be any pipe torching on this one, but if I ever need it done,
I'll call you!

GM

Re: 1966 OLDS 442

Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2017 6:17 am
by GMJohnny
Blue_69_malibu wrote:Great looking car, John. It's every bit the 1966 time capsule....so I totally dig it. CPA approved. Very, very happy for you!
Thanks, Tony!! Let me know when you're in Chesterland on a dry night --- I'm looking for reasons to drive around!

GM

Re: 1966 OLDS 442

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:30 pm
by GMJohnny
I was able to put some decent mileage on the 442 this week. I'm trying to learn about its quirks
and how dependable it will be. Slated for this week on my day off is timing check ( cranks slow when
warm like there's too much lead ), dwell check and fluid check for the transmission and rear end. I
discovered today that I don't have a key that will unlock the passenger side door. So, I have three keys
for the car -- one for the ignition, one for the trunk and one for the driver's door. This to me is not
smart. I just ordered ( for $47.00 delivered ) a complete set of lock cylinders for the whole car that
will have one ( period correct looking ) key to open all of the locks. Also, the trunk closes nicely, but
it has to be slammed to catch. We will adjust that Wednesday. The car seems to drive well, has great
oil pressure, engine temperature is good, good idle when warm and it started Sunday morning (had to pump it!)
with frost on the ground. The heater & defroster work very well as do the pull vents by your feet. There's
way more learning to happen with this car, but so far so good!

GM

Re: 1966 OLDS 442

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 1:09 pm
by GMJohnny
Fred32v came over this morning to assist in my playing around with the 442 today. We did a few things
to the car and found out a few more that need to be done. We got out the timing light only to find the
timing mark that should've been around 7.5 degrees was up at about 18. There's the pinging noise when
you gun it! Backed it down to where it was on the scale, around 10 degrees. We put a vacuum gauge on
the center carb hose that is supposed to pull the vacuum advance in and got no vacuum. HMMM! Best
thing we can figure is that the base plate gasket in the center carb is blocking the vacuum port there.
Carb has to come off for this to be checked, but I will do that. I checked all of the tire pressures and set
them all at 32 psi. We checked the rear end ratio. It definitely isn't a posi, and it looks like it's not a
3:55 like I thought. It appears to be a 3:90! There's why the fuel economy is so poor! Anyhow, we set the
points gap and checked the spark plug gap as well. I'm pretty sure I will buy a new cap, rotor and plugs
along with a fan belt (because the belt is at the very end of the adjustment in the bracket). A tachometer
was ordered today as well. We did road test the car after our adjustments to the timing and the cackling
is gone and it revs nicely. I still don't have an idea of what the RPM's are, so I'm not winding it all the way
to red line, but it pulls well through all of the gears.

GM

Re: 1966 OLDS 442

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 4:13 pm
by GMJohnny
IMG_20171011_163901_914.jpg
Out to the barn we went today at 9:00 am. On the "to do" list: change plugs, change distributor cap,
install fan belt and install tachometer. So, the first thing we attempted to tackle was the distributor cap.
I took it off and, to make it easy to change the wires over, took it over to the work bench. It took about
two minutes to get the wires off of the (STUPID!) red cap and put them on the new black one. We discovered
an issue with the coil wire while transferring it over. The end that plugs into the cap was half there. So we
decided to install the cap on the car (after re-checking the points gap at .016) and get a new coil wire. We
put new plugs in because the ones that were in the car were a hotter plug than what was called for stock.
The old plugs looked pretty nice on the tips and pretty much uniform in color. The fan belt that I ordered was
too short (Grrrr!), so we set it aside for later. Then we went to tackle the tachometer. The install went pretty
well, and most of the install time was wasted on me hiding wires and making the install look as clean as
possible. I hid wires on top of the steering column and behind carpeting as much as possible in the interior,
and under the hood I used a black wire (the tach wire to the coil comes off of the tach as a green wire) from
the firewall out to the coil so it's well hidden. The install went well and I'm pleased with the look. We went
to NAPA to get a coil wire, but he didn't have an individual wire for sale, but did have a replacement for the
broken 7 mm wire end. Perfect! He also had a fan belt that fit correctly. Once it was all said and done and
all parts were installed, the car fired right up letting us know that our work was done correctly. Finally able
to see what my rpm's are, I set the idle around 750-800, as low as I dare go with the lumpy cam. There's more
work to be done in the upcoming weeks, but progress is being made nicely!

GM