1970 Oldsmobile 442

1970 Olds 442 unrestored survivor that runs and drives surprisingly well.  This is a long time Seattle car.  One family owned most of its life.  Car has been parked and unregistered since 1996.  Clear Washington State title.
It has a new Interstate battery.  The master cylinder was recently replaced.  New front brake shoes installed along with two new wheel cylinders.  Recent oil change and new spark plugs.  Recent tune up.  The transmission fluid is clean and does not smell burnt.  The car does not have any significant fluid leaks.  The headlights. brake lights. and turn signals all work.  Some but not all of the interior lights work.  
The Olds starts right up and runs great.  It doesn't smoke.  The motor doesn't make any abnormal mechanical sounds.  The transmission has firm. positive shifts.  Being a manual drum brake car it doesn't stop like a new car. but for its age it stops reasonably well.  Again this is an unrestored 47-year-old car.  
The 442 has the correct "F" code 455 block with the sequential number stamped on front driver's side of the block (see pics).  It has the correct "E" code cylinder heads.  Correct 1111982 distributor.  Correct notched valve covers.  Correct cast iron 4 bbl intake manifold.  It also has the correct W and Z exhaust manifolds.  The original carburetor is not present.  The car has a new Holley Model 1475 Quadrajet replacement carb.  The Holley was approximately $550.  Most of the entire parts are specific to the 442 whereas big car Oldsmobiles will have different parts even when equipped with a 455 motor.
The transmission is a correct style turbo 400 short shaft and has the correct drive line.  It is not original to the car however.  The proper code is "70-OG". but the car is currently wearing a "67-PS" transmission from a 1967 Pontiac GTO.  The transmission has nice red fluid and shifts well.
The rear end is the correct 12 bolt.  It has 3. 23 gear ratio.  The passenger axle tube is stamped "SE" code (see pic).  This is proper for a 1970 442 with a 3. 23 rear end making it correct for the car.  The rear end looks original all the way down to the brake drums.
The car was repainted by the previous owner in the early 1980s.  It was painted the original Galleon Gold color the same as it came from the factory.  It was sprayed using lacquer paint.  The paint has significant checking due to age and being parked outside.  It would be difficult to bring back the shine of the current paint.  The paint is quite dull at this point.  All of the body panels appear to be original.  I see no evidence of any other paint colors on any of the panels.  All of the cut in paint areas of the panels are the same Galleon gold as the rest of the car.  The 442 is a non-vinyl top car.  The trim tag states both lower and upper body color of Galleon Gold.  The car is quite straight especially for its age.  There is rust at the bottoms of both front fenders.  The braces are solid. but the out sheet metal needs attention.  There is a small bit of rust in the driver's side quarter panel behind the rear wheel opening.  The passenger side quarter behind the wheel opening is slightly worse.  It doesn't need new fenders or quarter panels. but it will need some rust repair eventually.
I removed the stainless trim piece at the bottom of the front windshield to check the condition of the front window channel for rust.  It is in excellent condition with no rust issues.  
The factory W25 ram air hood is in excellent condition.  The original hoods are fiberglass on the top and metal underneath.  The two pieces are bonded together.  The hood does have small stress cracks near the ram air scoops in the front which is very common for ram air hoods.  It has the correct metal wire mesh on the bottom side.  The mesh is correctly spot welded to the bottom side of the hood.  It does appear the hood tongue was bent and one point (this is likely why the original grills were also cracked).  Where the hood tongue is bolted to the front of the hood it also bent the bottom metal part.  It appears they likely bent this back to it's original location.  Again overall the hood is extremely nice especially for the age of the car. but it's not perfect.  The hood shuts well and has excellent alignment. They almost never are especially considering these cars are almost 50 years old.
The doors shut well.  Neither sags. and both close correctly with minimal effort.  The interior is original.  It is the correct gold.  Both front and rear carpets still had the original tags from the factory attached.  I have pictures of the tags.  The seat belts are date coded 1969 (common for an early 1970 car).  The trim tag states the car should have gold strato bucket seats with console which it does.  It has tilt steering.  The tilt is tight and works correctly.  It has convenience lighting group and factory rear window defrost.  I pulled the carpet to inspect the floors and there is a very small rust spot in the driver's front floor board beneath the brake pedal.  It is roughly the size of a US quarter.  The passenger front floor board has just a sliver of rust.  The rest of the floors are rock solid.  The headliner is coming apart at the seems and would eventually need replaced to look nice.
All four windows go up and down smoothly.  The windshield wipers work. but the blades are in poor condition.  The blower heater fan works. but it squeals loudly probably due to corrosion from many years of non use.  The windshield does have a very minor rock chip low and on the passenger side.
The olds is equipped with sport mirrors.  This particular style of sport mirrors are often called "tear drop" mirrors due to their shape and were only available as an option on 1970 cars.  They are a fairly rare option.
The car does have a factory tach commonly called a "rally pac. "  I've removed the tach to inspect it and it's definitely an original part.  When ordering a rally pac you also get needle gauges for coolant temperature and oil pressure instead of the standard "idiot lights. "  The olds does not have the needle gauge cluster and instead has the one with just the lights in it.  Either something happened and the rally pac cluster was replaced with a non rally pac one or someone added the tach out of another 1970 car.  The previous owner said the tach was there the entire time his family owned the car.  If it was added it was very long ago.  The tach works.  The lights work in it.  The left gauge cluster only works intermittently.  The gas gauge sometimes goes past full and needs to be tapped to read properly again.  The generator light is on which usually indicates the system is not charging.  I have verified with my volt meter that the car is charging normally.  
The bottom side of the car is very solid.  The frame is not rusty.  It rarely snows in Seattle so the roads are not salted in the winter.  Thus cars from the area don't normally have frame or under body rust issues.  This car is no exception.   The exhaust is very old.  It's still together but nearing the end of its service life.  It currently has glass packs for mufflers.  They are not too loud and the car has a very nice exhaust note especially for stock.
The trunk has most of the original splatter paint intact.  The trunk floor is in excellent shape except for a small area in the very middle of the floor near the front.  It appears someone may have stored a car battery in the trunk at one point where the battery likely tipped over spilling battery acid.  In that small area of the trunk floor it is rusted through.  The other 90% of the trunk floor is very nice except for that particular spot.  There is also a small rust spot on the rear trunk lip just above the rear bumper (see pic).  The trunk lid appears to be original.  There is a bit of rust on the bottom side of the trunk lid when viewing it from below.  The top side of the trunk lid looks nice.
The bumpers are in quite good shape for the age of the car.  Neither is perfectly straight. but neither has major issues.  The chrome is just starting to let go in spots.  There is no rust through on either bumper.  This is superficial rust. The Olds has the correct 442 "cutout" rear bumper.  It still has the factory chrome exhaust tips that accent the bumper.  The front 442 grills have been replaced with new ones.  The old ones were cracked in numerous spots and were generally in poor condition.  
The 442 has SS1 rally wheels.  In 1970 you could order a 442 with hubcaps in addition to either SS1. SS2. or SS3 wheels.  I would say the SS1s are the rarest wheel option and my personal favorite.  These are 14x7" wheels.  The rallys have BF Goodrich P225/70 R14 tires.  The tires are nearly new.  I would say they probably have 90% tread life with no wear issues.  There is a 5th SS1 rally in the trunk that is still wearing a period correct bias ply tire.  The trim rings on the wheels are pretty nice.  Not perfect. but nice.  All 20 lug nuts are new.  All four of the stainless steel wheel well opening trim pieces are intact and are pretty good condition.
The Olds is located about 1 hour south of Seattle.  Bidders are welcome and encouraged to come inspect the vehicle in person prior to bidding to ensure they are satisfied with the vehicle.  The 442 is sold as is with no warranty expressed or implied.  Once you pay for and take deliver of the Olds. you own it.  Returns will not be accept. and price allowances after the fact will not be made.  Please be sure you are satisfied with condition and description of the vehicle before bidding.  If you have other questions you can call me at (253) 948-7756.  I will also try to respond to messages sent through Ebay.  Payment in cash or wire transfer only please.  Due to the high level of fraud with checks and stolen paypal accounts neither will be accepted.  Buyer is responsible for shipping and any associated costs.
Thank you for looking at my auction and good luck bidding!  
VIN:344870z1185603 = Oldsmobile Division44 = 44287 = 2 door hardtop sport coupe0 = 1970z = Fremont. California assembly plant118560 = sequential number
Trim tag:ST 70-34487 BF 01271 BDYTR 934 380 55 55 PNT02D 327842 190497
Trim tag decode:first line: 70 = 1970. 344= 442. 87= 2 dr hardtop sport coupesecond line: 934= gold strato buckets. 380= unsure. 55= Galleon Gold lower body color. 55= Galleon Gold upper body color (non vinyl top car)third line: 02D= 4th week of February build date
Options:1970 442455 high compression (10. 25:1) motor. 365 horsepowerTurbo 400 transmission3. 23 12-bolt rear endFE2 suspension with rear sway bar and boxed lower control arms (also HD front sway bar. HD springs and shocks)AO2 tinted front glassCutout rear bumper with trumpet exhaust extensions Tilt steeringstrato bucket seats with center consolesport mirrorsW25 ram air hoodConvenience lighting group (includes extra interior lights. map light on rear view mirror. under hood and trunk lights)Rally Pac.  Or at the very least the factory tach part of the tach and gauges setupRear window defrost

On May-01-17 at 17:03:16 PDT. seller added the following information:

Added: Video description of the 442

See a video of this item

Also published at eBay.com

Want to buy this car?