OLDSmobility.com - The 1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass and 442 Resource - My Previous 442 Buildup Photo Gallery

In The Beginning

My love affair with the '67 Oldsmobiles started with this Cutlass Supreme post. I helped a friend, who wanted to learn about cars by working on a project, find and purchase this, but after about 2 weeks, he decided it wasn't what he wanted after all, so I bought it from him and started tinkering. It had been hauled into an impound lot with a blown motor about 13 years previously. I bought it for $300, and started looking for a motor for it while the work was going on. Another friend who had a '72 Vista Cruiser wagon wrecked it, so I paid the body shop who hauled it into town the towing fee of $60 and got the whole car. I pulled the 455 and dropped it in the Cutlass with very few problems. Virtually everything was a bolt-in, except for a shortening of the driveshaft.

I hate doing bodywork. It takes a LOT of patience and I've never been known for that. But in this case, I made an exception.	This engine compartment is painted and about ready for the engine.
The bodywork is basically done, then engine compartment is painted, and it's actually starting to look like it might be coming together.	This was taken on a run to a nearby city to pick up a new hood. I drove the 200 miles back with the hood only latched in the front, no hinges bolted on.
On a parts run to a nearby city to find parts, I just happened to look off to the side of the road and saw what appeared to be another '67 Olds Cutlass. I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me, but made a mental note to look again on the way back. I did, and was very surprised to find not one, but THREE '67s sitting in a field. I spent several hours attempting to track down the owner, and found out he'd bought the cars as a fix-up project for his teen son, who changed his mind, so they'd been sitting there gathering dust and rust for almost 15 years. I made a deal with him and purchased all three cars for $1250.

This picture was literally taken minutes after unloading it off the trailer. Upon closer inspection, I found this body was in better shape than the other '67 I was driving, so the decision was made that this be the foundation of the project, and to part out my driver.

As you can see here, the interior literally had about 4" of mouse sh*t and cockleburrs inside. The field mice had completely destroyed the interior and had crawled into every nook and crevice.

From what you can see with these photos, the car was basically in good shape. There was no rust and only minor dings.

I got started on the monumental task of the cleanup and restoration. Well, "restoration" is a misnomer, since I planned to make this a nice street/strip car, so I wasn't overly concerned with keeping this 100% original.

(Guess I could have turned on some lights for this one!) This shot shows two of the three 442's purchased, along with my daily driver. The third 442 was virtually stripped already, so I just took the parts I needed and left it sitting in the field.

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This page last modified on February 15, 2003.