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  • 1966 442

    Here is a little bit about my 442 that I have owned for 25 years. I am the second owner; my father in law was the first.
    The 442 was purchased new in the state of Oregon as a family car then spent time in Colorado and Wisconsin before ending up in Illinois. My wife was brought home from the hospital in this car and even though our children were not brought home in it, it was at the hospital when they were born.

    There are lots of stories and pictures around that I will try and dig up. This car has lead a rough life of over 200,000 miles many at the hands of 4 teenage boys. It has been wrecked 3 times once by a 78 Z28 doing donuts nearby, it has been stuck in mud above the rockers after sliding off the road and has been impounded by the police. All of this was years ago when boys could be boys without losing their toys.

    Here is a picture of it traveling from Colorado to Wisconsin in 1967.
    [IMG]http://And here it is today with a 400, M-21 4 speed, 3;91 posi.
    http://i964.photobucket.com/albums/ae129/R442/442/DSCF6541.jpg[/IMG]



    And here it is today with a 400, M-21 4 speed, 3;91 posi.
    http://i964.photobucket.com/albums/ae129/R442/442/DSCF6541.jpg[/IMG]

    I have had the 442 since I was 20 and it has always been a low budget driver going through several used engines and rear ends along the way. It has always been and will always be Oldsmobile powered. It may not be the fastest or cheapest way to go but I wouldn?t have it any other way.
    Three years ago at the age of 42 I decided that it was time to try drag racing with it. The first time out was with a tired 455 that was on its last leg. I was only able to get a best time of 15.8 but I was hooked. I am by no means a drag racer only having been down the track a total of 8 times but I am having a blast doing it and plan to continue to do this and hopefully make it to Drag Week in the future.
    The following winter I was able to get the original 400 rebuilt properly. All other rebuilds were done cheap and easy with new bearings and rings, no machine work at all. The new rebuild included hot tanking, line boring, .040 cylinder bore, new pistons , lifters, roller rockers, timing chain, everything and the entire rotating assemble was balanced.


    Here it is in the car with a Torker intake, VooDoo cam, Hooker headers, 3? dual exhaust and new for this year a 100HP power shot system with a NOS controller.


    This was to be my dream engine. That summer I was only able to get to the track once and it was a very busy day only making 2 passes. My best pass that time was 14.8, my goal with the 442 is low 13's , a 12.9 would make me a very happy man. I think trying to go any faster than that with the original motor and 4 speed we be to much money.


    The dream engine ended after 3,000 miles at the drag strip in Union Grove.


    Everything was good throughout the run with the exception of a missed gear. When I turned onto the return road I heard a very bad sound coming from the lower end of the motor. To the best of our knowledge (the machine shop and myself) I sucked air into the oil system while slowing down after the run. I think its time for a deep sump pan.
    It now sits in my garage waiting for the engine to come back out and find out exactly what happened. This project will be slow going at first, it was unplanned which means unfunded and I also need to get a few other winterization things done before I can tear into the engine rebuild. My best run that night was 14.4 with a missed shift. Like I said I'm still new at this. Hopefully next year I will make it to the track and start heading into the 13's.

    Almost forgot to mention, I still have all of the original parts in case I lose my mind and decide to go back to stock some day.

    I will keep you posted as things progress.


  • #2
    Re: 1966 442

    I love stories like that, too many guys go thru cars like underwear...too few keep them or know thie cars life story....cool car..you muffed a link...here it is

    If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue

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    • #3
      Re: 1966 442

      Great story and that car is gorgeous!
      Escaped on a technicality.

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      • #4
        Re: 1966 442

        Welcome aboard-Beautiful car! and a one family car at that-that is very cool! hope you get it sorted this winter and back to the track in the spring.
        67 Fairlane 434 ci/464 hp/488 tq-RIP
        05 GTO torrid red/red gut, LS2, Auto (my knees hurt!)

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        • #5
          Re: 1966 442

          Great car and a neat story !!

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          • #6
            Re: 1966 442

            I remember when they came out...I was ten. Always liked them. Very nice car, I'd take it any day of the week. Sorry to hear about the wounded motor. Hopefully not too much damage was done. Probably more frustrating then anything else.
            Tom
            Overdrive is overrated


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            • #7
              Re: 1966 442

              Cool car......remember them well from
              back in the day

              First one I've seen with a cowl hood
              Thom

              "The object is to keep your balls on the table and knock everybody else's off..."

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              • #8
                Re: 1966 442

                Originally posted by JOES66FURY2
                I love stories like that, too many guys go thru cars like underwear...too few keep them or know thie cars life story....cool car..you muffed a link...here it is


                Thanks for the help. I new I lost the pic but I couldn't find it. Rookie mistake I hope.

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                • #9
                  Re: 1966 442

                  Nice car! I like the "It has always been and will always be Oldsmobile powered" comment.
                  Neal

                  Drag Week 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

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                  • #10
                    Re: 1966 442

                    nice car, when I was in college I had a chance to buy its twin.. 90k miles, $300.00.... couldn't come up with the money... thanks for reminding me of the regret
                    Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                    • #11
                      Re: 1966 442

                      Great build love the olds BB's

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                      • #12
                        Re: 1966 442

                        Thanks for all the good comments.

                        Heading for the garage today to start pulling the engine. Pictures to follow.

                        Does anyone know how to post a decent quality video? I tried posting a video of my last run at the dragstrip through photobucket but the video was poor and the audio was off. Any suggestions?

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                        • #13
                          Re: 1966 442

                          Youtube is better. Takes forever to load though, at least for me.
                          BS'er formally known as Rebeldryver

                          Resident Instigator

                          sigpic

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                          • #14
                            Re: 1966 442

                            I had a 65 442 it is the only car i regret getting rid of.

                            Mine had 10.5 to one compression piston, headers, a small crane cam, eldbrock manifold and a holley 750, and headers, best run for that car was high 14s. This was back in the early 70s at owsego drag strip in Illinois. It was also blue with the white top.

                            Looking forward to the updates.

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                            • #15
                              Re: 1966 442

                              Well it is out!



                              There was nothing too exciting during the removal of the engine. I've had the engine out five times in the last eight years, hopefully the sixth time is a charm. First I disconnected all the electrical and disconnected the headers from the engine. Then it was time for the bottom



                              I drained the oil, I have forgotten the is step in the past and got a big surprise when I dropped the pan. Then I dropped the starter, disconnected the exhaust, removed the drive shaft and since I am replacing the syncros. at the same time I unbolted the cross member, disconnected the linkage and the zee bar and dropped the transmission as well.




                              Then it was back to the top to remove the fan, drain and remove the radiator, remove the carb, and distributor cap and wires. Once that was done I removed the hood and the motor mount bolts.



                              Here it sits on the stand waiting for disassembly. Disassembly pictures will follow, hopefully this week yet. I still am not sure what went wrong but will find out soon.



                              Here is a video of the last pass I made with this motor. I was racing a buddy of mine in the Nova. I was sleeping at the tree and missed fourth gear but I had a blast.



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