OLDSmobility.com - The 1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass and 442 Resource -

April 05, 2008 - Yeah, I'm sure many of you thought I'd pretty much abandoned this website and my '67 project altogether....and basically, I did....for nearly seven long years! A lot has happened. I got married, had four kids, and got sidetracked with another automotive project during that time. Back in 2002 I'd rented a much larger shop, a 40' x 48' steel building, in which to do my tinkering and got involved with several Ford truck projects: the frame-off restoration of a '67 Ford F100 SWB pickup and the 'fixing-up' of a '68 SWB choptop rat-rod, with a 7" chop. I started putting together a '67-'72 Ford pickup website, and the reception it's gotten has totally floored me! The site, FORDification.com, has been growing at a phenomenal rate since I posted the first page in June 2003 to more than 300 pages of tutorials, specifications, diagrams, etc, and as I type this the forums have more than 3600 registered members...and the site's even been featured a half-dozen times in nationally-distributed custom truck magazines.

However, a month ago I received word that the owners of my shop had decided to sell it, and since they were asking more for it than a new one would cost to erect (and they GOT it!), I'm being forced to put everything into rented storage units until I can find another shop to move into. In the meantime, my wife and I are looking for a small rural acreage in the area with a big farmhouse for the kids and a shop for me to play in.

At my house, we do have a small one-car garage. It's not really large enough to put the truck into, so in order to keep me semi-sane and allow me to do SOMETHING automotive-related, I've decided to get back to work on the Olds by putting the frame in there and getting the chassis reassembled in preparation for getting the body put back onto the frame.

When I rented my new shop back in 2002, I needed a way of getting the Olds body to it. Since it's frame didn't have a suspension bolted to it yet, I got inventive. I had a '72 Pontiac Lemans with a rusted-out body, so I pulled the body off that frame and set the 442 body into it, to use as a body dolly. The '72 frame is several inches shorter than the '67s though, so it's a VERY tight fit...but it gets the job done. Once it was rolled into the shop, it got covered up, and there it sat for eight years!

At right is a picture taken a few days ago of my Olds, on the Pontiac frame, after I pulled the car cover off it for the first time in a long time. I'd almost forgotten what it even looked like. You can also see it's original frame covered with dust. I just need to wash 'em up and get back to work!

When I had my Ford pickup's frame powdercoated back in May 2004, I also sent the 442's suspension pieces along for the ride. Unfortunately, I forgot to send the rear springs, so those will probably just get painted to match. These are done and ready for bushings to be installed. I ordered all new polygraphite suspension bushings from PST, as well as new stainless fuel and brake lines and new steering components (drag link and tie-rod ends). These are also ready to be installed.

Then in May 2005 I ran into a slight snag with my truck project and got discouraged, and decided I was going to get back to work on the Olds. Since I needed to get the new suspension bushings pressed into place, I bought an inexpensive hydraulic press from Harbor Freight to get the job done. At right is a shot of it the day I received and assembled it, and got started pressing in the new bushings. You can also see the spacer I fabricated from a piece of steel pipe to use as a brace to keep from bending the A-arms while pressing in the bushings. By the time I got it assembled and got the first couple bushings pressed in, I had to leave for the night....and the next day my truck problem was fixed, so I never finished up getting the bushings installed. And that was the last time I'd even touched the Olds until this past weekend, 3 years later, when I started boxing up Olds parts to put into storage.

So as I type this, that's basically where things stand. I took possession of the storage units today, and over the next two weeks I'll be slowly getting stuff moved from my shop to them. A majority of the 442's parts are either boxed up or stuffed into the trunk. However, I'll be bringing the frame home, as well as all the suspension and steering components and a lot of my tools and putting them in my garage at home, and getting the very-limited space in the garage set up as a mini-workshop. I'll be posting more pictures as well as periodic updates as to the progress....so stay tuned!

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This page last modified on April 05, 2008.