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

August 17, 2000 - I added another vintage road test article to the Media Reports section. This article from the May 1967 issue of Popular Mechanics. In this very informative write-up, the editors at PM compile questionnaire results received from owners of the 'new' 1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass. You can find out what their likes and dislikes were, what age-groups purchased what specific models and what options they chose to outfit their vehicles, and the exact nature of their 'new-car blues'.

August 10, 2000 - There's a new addition to the Media Reports section...this time it's a review of the '67 442 from the December 1966 issue of Car & Driver magazine. [ Click here to view. ]

I also updated the Media Reports listings page to show you what's coming up for future updates. There is definitely more in store. I'll try to keep steady progress going, but with certain events coming up, I'm not going to make any promises.

OH!!...I almost forgot! I'm going to be heading to the 21st Quad State Oldsmobile Show in Cedar Rapids, IA on Sept. 22-23 if everything goes right. If I do make it, I guarantee there will be a LOT of stuff added to these pages, especially in the pages of Famous Oldsmobiles, specifically the Hurst Hairy Olds and (hopefully) the Lutz and Lundberg altered-wheelbase funny car. Another Road Gems car club member and I will be entering the club car (a customized 1973 Olds Delta 88 convertible) to the Quad States show, but hopefully I'll be able to spend most of my time getting pictures and other stuff to include in these pages.
For more information about the Quad States show, visit the Oldsmobile Club of Iowa's website.

August 7, 2000 (noon) - ANOTHER road test has been added, this one actually more of a review. This 4-page article was printed in Musclecar magazine, publishing date unknown, but within the past few years. (If you happen to know the date and volume/issue number, please let me know.) This review was all about the '67 W-30 option for the 4-4-2. [ Click here to view. ]

Also, I noticed that my previous daily hit count record on Project 442 Clone was blown out of the water yesterday! The previous record of 39 hits in one day was completely eclipsed by a grand total of 56 for August 6th!

August 7 (9:30 PM) - Wow! Today was even better than yesterday! 58 hits! I will admit, I have been doing a little advertising in the newsgroups and messageboards, which is probably how you came to find this website in the first place, and why the hits are increasing. Well, I hope I'm giving you worthwhile reasons to return.

August 6, 2000 - Added yet another vintage road test....this one from Motor Trend Magazine dated October 1966 (mentioned in the list in the July 31 update below). It has short reviews of the 4-4-2 and Cutlass Supreme, with special mention given to the Turnpike Cruising package. The original article also included reviews of the '67 Toronado and 88 series, but are not included on this page. [ Click here to view. ]

August 3, 2000 - It's finally done!!
The Road Test Magazine article I mentioned in the last update (below) is finally up and ready for perusal. I must warn you, however, that this is an extremely graphics-intensive page, since I tried to include as many of the original photos from the article as I could fit. (I only left out a few inconsequential shots.) Therefore, please be patient while this page downloads. All graphics ARE verified as on the server, so if any broken image icons appear on this page, just hit your Reload/Refresh button to re-request the page. Also, I've optimized all graphics for fastest download. With my 56K dialup (actually hitting about 35-40K) it actually only took about 50 seconds....but it's most definitely worth the wait! [ Click here to view. ]

If you're a regular here, than you know I'm also the webmaster for the Road Gems Car Club, sponsors of the Last Fling 'Til Spring Car Show (the largest one-day automotive event in the Midwestern U.S., featuring 600-700 cars). The show is coming up next month, so my duties as webmaster as well as helping with the judging and results might take me away for a short while towards the end of September. In the meantime, I'm going to try to get at least one, maybe two, more vintage 442 road tests transcribed and posted.

	July 31, 2000 - Just a quick note to let everyone know that the 35-page *Road Test Magazine* review is almost done. I have a few more pictures from this article that need to be scanned in. My 11-year-old daughter was visiting me over the past two weeks, so I wasn't able to get a lot done on it (priorities, you know!), but it should be up within the next week. Then I'll get be getting started adding the following vintage magazine road tests and reviews: Popular Mechanics - May 1967 - "What Cutlass Owners Say About Their Cars" Motor Trend - October 1967 - "Driving the Hot '67s - Olds 4-4-2" High Performance Cars - April 1967 - "1000 Miles in a 4-4-2 Olds" Musclecars Magazine - "Ram Air Rocket" (An article specifically about the '67 W-30 Ram Air 442) I've also just ordered the April 1967 issue of Car Life magazine which includes a review of the Turnpike Cruiser option, several other 1967 Motor Trend issues containing reviews, and the 1967 Car and Driver Yearbook....and more are in the works!

	July 23, 2000 - I've added another page to the Body Moldings and Attaching Parts section, this time for the Cutlass convertible. I'm also currently working on another entry for the Media Reports section, this one a comparison test of seven 1967 musclecars, including the 442. This report was published in the June '67 issue of *Road Test Magazine*, and includes quite a collection of photographs, so this project will take a little more time, but it's making progress. I've also gotten my hands on nearly a half dozen other magazine road tests and reviews, taken from late '66 and early '67 automotive magazines, so there will definitely be regular updates as I get these transcribed and posted.

	July 11, 2000 - I've gotten started on a new section for Project 442 Clone: Body Moldings and Attaching Parts. Each '67 model is displayed on a page, with custom graphics showing all the trim and attaching hardware, complete with part numbers. This section will be done a little at a time, as I have the time. I currently have two body-styles done (F-85 Club Coupe and Cutlass Supreme Sport Coupe & Holiday Coupe), with the remainder coming soon.

	July 6, 2000 - I've been watching the visitation statistics (swat the fly) for Project 442 Clone, and man, am I AMAZED! I've set site hit records for three of the last four consecutive days! Thanks, folks. I'm glad I'm able to give the '67 Cutlass/442 fans worldwide a reason to return on a regular basis. Let me know how YOU think I'm doing or if there's something I can include in future updates. As I'm sure you've noticed by now, the site's gone through a major makeover. (Hey, let me know if you think site navigation is quick and easy. With the quantity of pages being added, getting a simple and intuitive navigation system has been at the top of the list of things to ensure for the site.) I think I've added a little something to virtually every page here, so be sure to browse around and check out the individual pages. Plus, I've recently located some additional vintage magazine road-test articles...they should be included on the Media Reports page within a couple weeks...but then again, my daughter's coming to visit for a couple weeks about that time, so I just might be otherwise preoccupied for a short period around that time. ;-) Where am I at the moment with the project car? Well, the frame is 100% stripped and on home-made dollies in my garage. I just purchased a nice water separator for the compressed air system, which will mainly be used for the painting process of the frame and suspension. I think I've decided NOT to power-coat the suspension pieces, since my budget is already getting stretched a little just by what I've had to do so far. I So, the next purchases will be a small sand-blasting unit from Harbor Freight Tools, and a nice paint gun. (I'm currently eyeing a Devilbiss HVLP unit.) Money's a little tight, so it might be another month before I'm able to swing that....but we'll see how the finances go; who knows? Have a good one! :-)

July 4, 2000 - As I write this, it's just a few minutes away from 1a.m. on Independence Day. I've been working hard over the past several weeks to get this site overhauled. Not only did I have a LOT of stuff to add, but I decided I wanted to just give Project 442 Clone a little makeover. Hopefully you like what I've done.

Like I said, in addition to redesigning the site, I've added quite a bit of new content. Rather than listing all the additions, I invite you to check everything out again. I know it's been a while since I've done anything substantial with this site....but I think I've made up for that. I'm going to be hitting the sack in a few minutes, and then hopefully later on today I'll get this posted.

So...take a look around...and be sure to let me know if there's something specific you're looking for. I might just have it!

May 21, 2000 - I spent most of the weekend getting all the new equipment up and running in the shop. Ended up spending almost $150 just on fittings and misc. stuff to get the air compressor hooked up and running. But it's finally fully functional. I also tried out the bead blasting cabinet this afternoon for the first time. It seems to work very nicely, although I ended up having to empty the glassbead out of the cabinet and reseal a few areas, since it turned out the factory sealing wasn't the best. Oh well...

I spent the latter part of this afternoon dropping the front suspension off the frame, which is done. Those parts are ready for sandblasting. I was planning on taking some pics to post, but by the time I got done it was getting too late to get that done, so I'll do that within in the next few days.

Oh, by the way. The Road Gems Car Club (of which I'm a member and current webmaster) has moved to their own domain as of about a month ago. If you've visited the old site and bookmarked it, please be sure to visit us at our new domain: http://www.roadgems.com.

May 14, 2000 - Hey everyone!
Yes, I'm still among the living, and I haven't forgotten about this website. I've had a lot going on, so I haven't had the time to do any updates or additions here. But that all's about to change!

I've been getting things ready in the shop to finally get back to work on the 442 project, including a new air compressor...finally! It's a nice 60-gallon upright unit, 220V, 6 1/2 HP. In fact, I spent the afternoon today getting it mounted down to the floor. (If I never have to drill holes in concrete again, I'll be happy!)

I've also got a new bench grinder (1/2 hp), engine stand (got the engine torn down two weeks ago), and a small benchtop glass-beading/sandblasting cabinet. After the electrician makes one more appearance at the shop this week to rewire it (new outlets and florescent lighting) all I'll have left to do is install the air lines, water separator, etc.....and then I'll be up and running!

The first step is going to be getting the frame sandblasted and painted, and then rebuilding the front and rear suspension and steering...well, basically the whole undercarriage. Now's the time to do it, with the body off the frame, right?

Anyway, once I start this work, I'll be doing fairly regular updates again, at least to that portion of my site....and any new work done to any pages will be announced here, so you don't necessarily have to go checking out every single page to see if there are any changes.

...let me know how I'm doing, OK?

Saturday, January 22, 2000 - Well, I made it into the new millennium with no major problems, but it's been very busy here. I'm getting my own small business started, and as I'm sure you're aware, this can be very time-consuming. As a result, I've not been able to do any work to this site lately. However, I did add 2 new listings in the Owner's Registry today, so be sure to check them out. I wasn't able to make it to either of the places I listed below on my trip to California (spent 3 hours trying to find the Petersen Museum, and then it was CLOSED!), but I do have a few pics that I'll probably throw up here later on. I'll be picking them up from the developer's this afternoon. I hope to get some spare time soon to add some new things I've run across, but for now, this is just a quick note to let you know I haven't abandoned anyone. :-)

Thursday, December 30, 1999 - (11:41 PM) Just thought I'd make one more website addition, with a quick wish to everyone for a great new year for 2000. Getting ready to go to bed, since I have to be up in 4 hours to catch my plane, bound for sunny Malibu!.....woohoooooo!! I'm gonna be ringing in the new year on the beach!! Gonna see if I can start this new year with a great tan. ;-)
In the week I'm there, I'll be making stops at the NHRA National Museum and the Petersen Publishing Automotive Museum, both in L.A. I hope to have some cool pics to share with you of our favorite car, and maybe I'll to a temporary post of other cool automotive-related stuff I get.

See ya next century!

Monday, December 13, 1999 - This just hasn't been my month! I just noticed tonight that my recovery from the aforementioned hard drive reformatting two weeks ago used an older backup of my website, so when I attempted to do a small update this evening, I had to re-publish my entire website, and after viewing the results, I determined that several of the things previously here were not anymore.....arrrggghhh! I will be reposting these as I rebuild them, fortunately there was not a lot that was lost.

Also, I wanted to report here first that I had a VERY pleasant conversation this evening with a gentleman (who I won't name just yet) who has arguably the largest collection of Hurst Hairy Olds memorabilia in the world. After months of searching for info on this exhibition dragster (see the Hurst Hairy Olds page) and not finding anything, he was contacted by someone I'd contacted, and has very graciously offered to send me a lot of information on both the '66 and the '67 versions, including original black-and-white photography, press releases, etc.....and has also graciously given me permission to post most of these items online here. (Certain copyrighted material will be mentioned, but I won't be allowed to post them.) We had a very pleasant half-hour discussion, and he clued me in to some very interesting and exciting things concerning these cars. And just to let you know, there's going to be something VERY exciting about this exhibition car announced here in the near future, so definitely stop back for updates!! (I neglected to get his permission to say anything yet, but I'll let you know.) I'll have to make a decision later down the road whether to include this information on this website, or actually dedicate an entire website specifically to the Hurst Hairy Olds, depending on the volume of information obtained. Stay tuned!

Wednesday, December 1, 1999 - Jeez, has it really been a month since my last update?? Well, with the Thanksgiving vacation (I was out of town for a few days) and a complete hard-drive reformatting the week before, I've had my hands full. Don't despair, I haven't forgotten about you. Last night I added another 5-page article to the Media Reports page, from a vintage 1967 Hot Rod magazine, where the staff compares 4 different '67s in a side-by-side review. Also, I'm still working at scanning all the pages from an original Cutlass owner's manual, which will be available as a free download here soon. I've got a few more ideas for new pages to be added soon too, but with the Christmas season coming up, I'm not sure how much time I'll have. We'll have to see how things go.
As I'm sure many of you have discovered, I haven't done any work on my car lately, mainly because of too many other things going on. However, I HAVE made up my mind that after the first of the year, the car is going to become my main priority, with eating and sleeping ranking below that. So keep checking back from time to time! It's time to get to work on this beast!!
I also added a new tribute page to the Hurst Hairy Olds exhibition dragster from '66 and '67, the most famous '67 Cutlass/442 of all time. (See the related model kits of this car on the Misc. Collectibles page.) I've accumulated a few things, but this tribute page is in need of more. Any and all contributions will be recognized accordingly. Please contact me if you have anything at all pertaining to this car. Thanks!

Tuesday, October 26, 1999 - I've made the final arrangements today to treat myself to a little vacation. I've decided to ring in the new year on a beach in sunny southern California! At the stroke of midnight, I'm going to be sitting beside a bonfire on the beach, somewhere in the vicinity of the L.A. area, and then spend a couple days driving up the coast and spending a few days in northern CA, before coming back around the 6th. So, if anyone reading this happens to live in California, and happen to know of any car-related things I could check out while I'm there, PLEASE let me know. I'll be driving up the coast around the 3rd or 4th of January, so I'm not limited by location. If you know of anything, be sure to say something, my itinerary is not written in stone!...heh

Saturday, October 24, 1999 - For those of you have been here before, you've surely noticed the complete visual overhaul the site has gone through. Hopefully this will make you viewing and research experience flow a little more smoothly. More upgrades are planned for the future, so be sure to check back. One of the main changes made, besides the obvious visual upgrade, is the addition of separate pages for the Vintage Advertising, Vintage Literature and Miscellaneous Collectibles, due to the amount of items accumulating on these pages. If you are a collector of any of the items on these pages and see something missing, please contact me. Proper credit will be given to all contributions. Thanks!
I've also been accumulating a lot of Olds memorabilia lately. It's providing a lot of new things to scan and include here, but it takes time. ;-) In other words, this isn't one of those websites which never change. It would be a safe bet to say that there are at least bi-weekly additions to the site.

Monday, October 11, 1999
Announcement for Oldsmobile fans:

After jumping through a few hoops, I have been able to start a new newsgroup for Oldsmobiles, specifically the Cutlass and 442. This newsgroup will give the millions of enthusiasts worldwide an opportunity to learn more about their cars, exchange their views, meet other fans on different corners of the globe, find parts for their restorations, and it would certainly prove to be very efficient in announcing any Cutlass updates e.g.: events, car-show dates, fan-clubs or advertising newly created (Oldsmobile/Cutlass/F-85/Cutlass) homepages. The address is:

alt.autos.gm.olds-cutlass

Be sure to add this to your subscription list, and make sure your news server picks this group up for you locally. Until it gets added to your local news server, you can check this group out at the following URL:

Deja.com forum: alt.autos.gm.olds-cutlass

Happy posting!

Rules of alt.autos.gm.olds-cutlass:
The posting of SPAM is prohibited.
The posting of off-topic material is prohibited.
Cross-posting between related newsgroups is strongly discouraged.
Cross-posting to non-related newsgroups is strictly prohibited.
Binary posts are prohibited.

Read the newsgroup charter here.
Read the original newgroup posting proposing this new newsgroup (dated 10/3/99)

Friday, October 8, 1999 - I added several new things to the '67 Ads/Literature. I've placed bids on about a dozen different '67 Olds Cutlass/442 items on the auction site E-Bay. I was surprised to find them for sale there, but decided to take advantage of it, and collect a little bit of memorabilia. I've already been successful on several items, some vintage Olds ads and a '67 442 model.

Thursday, September 23, 1999 - Sunday was the big car show, and I've spent every evening since working on The Last Fling 'Til Spring Car Show website, getting all the picture I took for the club at the show up online and all the results posted. Results got posted Monday night, the pictures (finally!!) last night. You really should take a look. The '67 Olds I was hoping would attend did not, so I ended up selecting a super-nice 1969 Mustang Mach 1 with a 428 Cobra-Jet as our Sponsor's Choice award. Also, got a new page started here tonight ('67 Olds Literature.)

Friday, September 17, 1999 - Well, the 220V line is into the garage. Once I get the air compressor (hopefully within the next month) the electrician will hook it up and finish rewiring the garage.
Spent some time over the past week adding some more stuff to this site, with the help of some pretty cool people. Thanks, guys!...I will be attending and helping to judge the car show I told you about last week, that's coming up on Sunday, and hope to have at least one more new entry to add to the Owner's Registry page (if they attend like again this year.) I'll be updating the Road Gems' website with plenty of pictures, so please check that out. Also, as an official representative of my employer, I get to choose my favorite car of the entire show, and that proud owner will go home with one of the Monster Trophies and a check for $200. It's going to be a long day, but I'm really looking forward to spending the day checking out some of the Midwest's finest cars, trucks and motorcycles. Around 700 are expected for the show

Saturday, September 11, 1999 - Spent the past few evenings working on a new page of Factory Option Codes (some with pictures). Finally posted them this morning. Also spent some time doing some online promoting of a website I put together for The Last Fling 'Til Spring Car Show, an even put on by the Road Gems, a local car club. In addition to being their webmaster, I'm also a judge for the Harley-Davidson classes.
The electrician finally got the breaker box pit in the garage last night, he'll be contacting the city power department Monday about running the 220V line in early next week.
Spent most of the afternoon on a new page: Cutlass Model ID; be sure to check it out.

Thursday, September 2, 1999 - It finally looks like the 220V is going to be hooked up to the garage within the next couple of days. My landlord wanted to put up some siding on the garage before the city attached a meter to the outside of the building, and he called me at work today to let me know the siding work was done, on the side of the building, anyway. Tomorrow I'll be contacting the electrician to arrange for the city to do their thing, so then he can come in and tie into the existing wiring. I spent a few hours after work this evening doing a little grinding and smoothing on the frame.

Sunday, August 29, 1999 - I didn't get any wiring done this weekend, got sidetracked on other things. Started to strip down the frame, but after making a half-dozen trips to the workbench for various tools, I decided to build a small roll-around tool rack out of an old table laying around and some spare lumber. After completing that, I got to work on the frame, removing the fuel and brake lines, sway bars, steering linkage and box, and shocks. Sat down Sunday evening flipping through the many parts catalogs, taking notes on what parts I'd need and making a detailed list, concentrating on the suspension and brakes for now.

Sunday, August 21, 1999 - I spent a good part of the day working on this website, adding content to the technical pages, adding all kinds of research material for '67 Oldsmobiles, including factory codes for body, drivetrain, paint and trim and making the site more acceptable to different screen resolutions. I will be adding more in the near future, things like torque specs and what-not, and I've decided to take you with me step by step as I do this buildup, detailing each step of the way. For example, as I rebuild my suspension, I'll be detailing the procedures and mistakes I make (what??...moi??...nah!) to help out other budding enthusiasts. Will be dropping off a roll of film to get developed today, which includes the pics of the disassembly up to the present.

Tuesday, August 10, 1999 - I've been doing a little online research into what I'm going to need as far as a compressed air source. I've posted some messages upon a messageboard at autobody.com seeking advice, and from what I've learned, I'm going to have to get a light industrial compressor capable of at least 10 CFM to handle the sandblasting and painting chores. However, the garage is not wired for the 220V this compressor will need (it's barely wired for 110V!!) so I've contacted a local electrician about taking a look at the garage to see what it would take to get it rewired. We'll probably be taking a look at it later this week. After work I went up to the garage's owner and had a talk with him about the rewiring, he's all for it.

Sunday, August 8, 1999 - Finished up the workbench yesterday and got the pegboard up on the wall and started sorting and hanging tools. Today I started getting the front clip disconnected, then decided to go ahead and do it myself. Rigged up a neat little stool on a cart to hold the front end while I lifted the back, and just rolled it back away from the car. Then decided to go ahead and get the engine/transmission pulled out, so they're now on a cart in a corner of the garage. As soon as I get around to getting an engine stand, I'll separate them and do some cleaning and updating on the engine, although there's only about 200 miles (maybe) on the present build which I did several years ago. The car is now ready to have the body jacked up off the frame, so I can roll the frame/suspension out to get started stripping/cleaning/painting that.

	Friday, August 6, 1999 - I rented a small garage a week or so ago, approximately a car-and-a-half unit about 6 blocks away from my apartment. I stopped by the lumberyard yesterday and bought $100 worth of 2x6's to build a workbench. Was there till about 9:30 last night getting it put together. I ran out of lumber, so I went back today and got the rest of what I will need. - I bought a cheap boombox to have something to listen to while I'm in the garage. - Have decided that the first major purchases should be for equipment, specifically a good air compressor, a small portable sandblaster unit (for the frame and suspension) and a benchtop bead-blaster (for cleaning small parts and fasteners). Will get at least the compressor as soon as the updated catalog gets here.

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