1969 Cutlass 442 - Golden Nugget

[Big Dawg]

Hey everyone,

I have been on the forum for about 4 yrs and would like to properly Introduce myself and my 69 442.

Name is Am, located in beautiful British Columbia...Coquitlam to precise.

I bought my ride in Aug 2012 for a whopping $2500 Canadian. I drove it home and boy was it a rough ride with major mechanical and electrica issues. I knew that I would be doing alot to the car, first I was going to keep it original as possible, but this pro-touring site gave me so many ideas. The car has typical rusting in the fenders and drivers floor pan which will be taken care of after the mechanical and electrical.

I eventually decided to get it mechanically and electrically safe for me to take my family for some drives without worrying about it breaking down.

I didnt have open cheque book so I did things in bits.

2 years ago in March went to the Bahamas for a vacation and came back with a Torn Patellar Tendon playing volleyball like it was 1999. In March of this year my family and I went to Las Vegas for a family vacation and I caught a virus of some and fell into a coma and life support for 25 days at UMH in Vegas and another 2 months in BC Hospital. I lost over 65 lbs and had relearn how to walk and talk and still am going to rehab weekly. I have been off work on disability so I have had alot of time to do the fine things like wiring and I interior stuff as it didnt require too much from me strength wise. Plus it keeps me sane and feeling somewhat normal. It's been tough emotionally and mentally. My wife and kids and family have been my #1 support system and the next best thing is being outside working on my car to the best of my abilities.

First thing I tackled was the brakes and suspension with just regular OEM stuff and got a hold of 455 Olds motor, as i carefully stored my numbers matching 400 (on a pallet sitting in the garage).

I will be posting a bunch of pics I have taken over the years.

Here is the car when I got it home....gave it a quick wash.
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Replaced the brakes and Suspension with stock OEM (as this was what I was thinking of doing at first.

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This was my old tired 400

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[Big Dawg]

So I tackled the motor and transmission next...cleaned up the engine bay as best I could.

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Here are a few pics of the motor in the assembly stages and installed in the engine bay159595159596159594

[Big Dawg]

Don't know what happened but I am unable to add anymore pics...told me to contact the administrator . Will try again tomorrow.

[Larry Callahan]

Don't know what happened but I am unable to add anymore pics...told me to contact the administrator . Will try again tomorrow.

Can you try again? Maybe there was a temporary hiccup? I can't find any reason why you can't upload pictures at the moment. You don't have too many in one post and none of the file sizes are too large.

[Big Dawg]

A couple pics of the 468 Olds installed and of the rebuilt TH400 with a Stage 2 Shift Kit and way beefier internals, also added drain plug to make it easier for oil changes.


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[Big Dawg]

So after a year if it sitting and reading countless threads on here, I decided to change up the suspension and brakes again. Decided to go with disc conversion in the rear and 6 piston 14" wilwoods out front with a Wilwood master cylinder and proportioning valve. Realized the wheel studs were too short after the conversion so went ahead and pressed in longer studs

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Also decided to go with dual viking coilovers front and rear

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[Big Dawg]

Can't figure out why the pics aren't loading the correct way

Also went with tubular upper and lower a arms as well.

The next thing I did was rip the old interior out and wiring harness out of the car. I cleaned up all floor panels and trunk and used a wire brush and got almost all of the surface rust cleaned up. My son and I laid down some POR15 and put in some sound deadner

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[Big Dawg]

The next thing I did was clean up the front grill and go to new headlights, and installed a brand new EZ wiring kit...the old harness was a hack job by the previous owners.

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[Big Dawg]

Next thing I did was tackle the interior, before this I had no idea what hog rings were and how to use a hog ring pliers....but after some blood sweat and tears I can say I am pretty good at reupholstering seats. I used brand new PUI seat Covers and kept the interior looking original as possible with oem carpet as well. Cleaned up all the seatbelts as well.

Before

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After

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[Big Dawg]

Here are some pics with the interior reinstalled


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While I had the dash out I decided to clean up the bezels and levers. I also decided to install a retrosound stereo and installed a.set of 6x9 speakers. Also went with Dakota Digital Dash.

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[Big Dawg]

I decided to go with an electric fan setup and decided to get Dual Fans from the wrecker out of a 2002 Windstar van....with some minor trimming and some homemade brackets I got it mounted up to the rad and and the rad cover. I set up 2 separate relays. One of the relays is connected to the Fitech Fan Control as I decided to go EFI and one of the relays went to a manual switch under the dash. I also installed a EFI Tank and used a clean Braided line setup with proper AN fittings.

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[Big Dawg]

Here are a few pics of the car on stands after putting on the 20 Boss Riddlers....at first I thought I wasnt goi g to like the look, but now I really think they look good on the car.


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I took the car out for drive a few weeks ago and boy did it have some pep. Lots of power.....chirping the tires in 3rd. Took my wife and kids out and they loved it. My wife said her neck was sore from it hitting the back of head rest when the car was changing gears. My 5yr old daughter calls it a jack in the box car because of the manual roll up windows. My 9 yr son said it was the second happiest time for him, the first was when I came home from the hospital after 3 months.

The best part for me was no leaks or overheating....everything worked as it should and the fans worked as they should. All the electrical worked just the way it should.

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Here is evening shot with my kids in the car....see my daughter wearing her zebra toque...lol.
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Again sorry for the lopsided pics.

Thanks again for all the inspiration and ideas from this site.

Any feedback good or bad would be appreciated.....when the weather is better here I will start tackling the body and start some bodywork and patch panels.

Have a great New Years and please Drive responsibly

[tim222]

The car looks great, I may have missed it but what lower a-arms did you go with?
Also, how do the windstar fans do at keeping the temps down?

[Big Dawg]

The car looks great, I may have missed it but what lower a-arms did you go with?
Also, how do the windstar fans do at keeping the temps down?

I used the Global West A -Arms.........the fans work great....they are a push pull style fan......the fan that is on the fitech relay is a push.....the manual switch operates the pull fan.

The car went over 180 when I had just started in the driveway, the second the fan went on the temp dropped to 169 in a matter of a couple minutes. Than when i began driving with the cool weather the temp went down to 160 and stayed there.

I will going to aftermarket rear upper and lower control arms in the next month, but first will be installing a hydroboost setup out of a 95 Astro can. Just waiting for it to arrive...ebay special.

[Big Dawg]

I got these specs for the Windstar fans from 99-03

Test Results:

2000 Ford Windstar Fan Assembly
left fan: 340ml= 13.3inches
right fan: 390ml=15.3inches

left fan: 60.3cmm=2129.193cfm
right fan: 64.4cmm=2273.964cfm
this was rated at 1935 RPMS
4403.157 cfm total......

ml= milliters
cmm= cubic meters per minute
cfm= cubic feet per minute
conversion from cmm to cfm done by cmm x 35.31= cfm

[Kcrain]

What headlights are those and where did you get them? I have a 69 chevelle with the 4 headlights and selections on the 5 3/4 headlights are slim.

[Big Dawg]

I got them from octane lighting on ebay a couple of years ago...it included the HID kit with it which I did not use....I used the headlights and the bulbs they came with.


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[Chocolate Apocalypse]

Glad you're doing better, great project too...though I am a little biased when it comes to Oldsmobiles lol Mine was originally Saturn Gold with a white vinyl roof and white interior, hoping to get it back to that later this year.

[TimMC]

Looks great. Where are the gauges from.

[Big Dawg]

Looks great. Where are the gauges from.

Dakota Digital.....Matt from Matt's Classic hooked them up for me.

[Dave Pratt]

Glad to hear your health is better.The car looks great I really like the color combo...very cool

[CamaroSS27]

Great work, nice to see an Olds in here!

[Big Dawg]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

[Big Dawg]

Just finished installing hydroboost on the nugget.

Got a Hydroboost out of 94 Astrovan. Sandblasted and primered it and gave it a high gloss paint job. Got some new fittings for the gearbox and hydroboost and made my own hydraulic lines with PTFE fittings.

I ended up using the actual bracket off the old power booster and welded it onto the hydroboost, the way the bolt pattern lined right up. Cut the rod and welded in another 6 inch rod in between that and the coupler that bolts up to the brake pedal.....still have about an inch or 2 of adjustment.

Just have to pump and prime it and get all the air out and top it up with fluid...won't be taking it for a drive until the weather is better here.....our bad weather is rain. Haven't seen snow at all this winter.

Here are a couple of pics,

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[Big Dawg]

Wow been a year already, since my last update.

So the car got a new Heartbeat.....LS, and me health wise got a new Heartbeat as well....had my AORTIC arch and Aortic Valve replaced with a Mechanical one.....just turned 44 today.

Will update soon with more pics. Almost finished changing out the body bushings and next is to fit the new front fenders as well.

Sorry pics are all over the place.....moved the FPR regulator closer to the tank now.....I had just set it there as the fuel lines were closer to fire up the motor from my previous motor. New heater core as well, and Russell Fuel Pressure Gauge on the rails now as well.

Be safe and take care of yourself and your loved ones!!

[deejai35]

Awesome build. What prompted the change from the BBO to LS?

[Big Dawg]

Ever since I got my 69 in 2012 I was on the fence about doing an ls swap. So I started researching and reading on what was all required in A-body swaps. I posted my olds motor for sale before my surgery and got a gentleman with a 68 cutlass convertible that jumped all over it. So I had already grabbed an LS1 out of 2002 for a very good price and started slowly piecing together all what was needed for the swap. I did a valve and trunnion upgrade along with the SUM-8707 camshaft and freshened it up a bit. I removed all the wiring I didnt need out of the wiring harness and the day before my surgery date I dropped the LS in the car.

Here is a quick vid of the first fire up:

https://youtu.be/tdSrXTyCAw0

Just fit up the passenger side repop fender yesterday.....fit surprisingly very good.

[deejai35]

Thanks for sharing. Really cool build. I have been on the fence as well. I have a rebuilt 350 now that has been great for cruising. However, I have been thinking 455 or LS in the future. I saw a 442 with an LSA swap. It changed my life. 🤔

[Big Dawg]

So I was sourcing out a Chrome plater locally and found out it would cost almost 2200 to have both my original bumpers rechromed. I was like heck no.....I seen a couple of youtube videos using aluminum foil to clean up small chrome items so I decided to give it a try. I used aluminum foil dish soup and orange gojo soap.

Here are some before and after pics of the front fender.

[Big Dawg]

Hey everyone,

It's been awhile since i have updated this thread. I decided to sell my LS setup to a buddy that is building a 66 Nova, and decided to go back to a BBO 455. My car is all gutted again as I am taking care of all the rust that was on the quarters, trunk pan, wheel wells and the roof. The repop quarters surprisingly lined up pretty close to the factory ones and the old truck pan has been cut away and the gas tank braces fixed and trunk pan braces replaced. I also ripped the vinyl roof off as there were some bumps that I could feel under the vinyl. I have slowly purchased a alot of new parts for the car. I bought a new hydroboost unit for a 2500 chevy pickup and purchased a Fast Billet mount for it. I will slowly be updating the thread when I have time. I had purchased a 1985 Grand National in Aug 2020, which I drive when the weather is nice and keeps me away from the olds.

Here are some pictures of the block, heads and parts. Have painted the pulleys and brackets black. I will be painting the motor POR15 Olds Gold. I know that is a 350 color, but my Car is going to stay the factory gold with black stripes, so I wanted to keep a bit of contrast between the gold on the motor and body.

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[Big Dawg]

Some more pictures
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[Big Dawg]

Here are couple pictures of the the new hydroboost unit. I have already threaded the pushrod 3/8 24 thread and attached the correct clevis as well, will update those pictures tomorrow. I purchased a new set of power steering hoses as well from a 2000+ Tahoe.

[Big Dawg]

Here are some pictures of the panels and trunk pan repair

[Big Dawg]

Here are Couple pics of the 85 GN,

There are a couple from when I pulled the car out of the sellers barn after 18yrs of sitting, hadn't been started in over 12 yrs. Took alot of effort and patience to get it driving amd insured with Collector.Plates on it here in BC. $300/yr for insurance.

This is a rare car in its own rite, there was only 2008 original T-Top cars built in 1985 and it is 1 of 143 Canadian Imports (WE2).

[Turbobuick]

Buicks and Oldsmobiles rule lol!! Beautiful cars and love what you have done with the 69. I like the colors as well. My 1st car was a 72 Cutlass supreme switched to my 1st turbobuick in 1989 which was a 1985 WH1 Ttype. Hot airs can be a PIA feel free to hit me up if u need any advice or where to find parts.

Today I have a ridiculous 87 GN I'm putting back together for drag week events and a frame off pro-touring 86 Ttype. I would love to get another BB Olds maybe 72 HO someday. Actually any 68-72 BB A body would be nice to own again.

[Big Dawg]

Slowly making some progress, got the heads, block, intake, and waterpump painted POR15 OLDS GOLD.....

[Big Dawg]

Some more engine assembly:

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[Big Dawg]

Some more pics:

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[Big Dawg]

Heads are on, valves are set!

Getting closer....


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[jetmech442]

Hey man, not sure how I missed this thread for so long but I'm glad I found it. I love how you painted the outside of the grills/headlinght bezels silver, adds a nice bit of distinction where it otherwise almost disappears. I had a 468 with nearly every goodie from Modello running an 850 Mighty Demon on an Offenhauser intake. I will forever miss the unlimited amounts of torque that thing made. Just 20% pedal off idle was always such a special feeling, cause you knew as you laid into it things were about to get violent.

I moved to an LS also after I had to rebuild the BBO 3 times in the same number of years. I took it to two Olds specialist machine shops to find the problem, in the end I think it's cause I kept shifting at 6k. The LS is great and reliable and has great power up top...just miss the torque lol. At this stage its a better engine as I've moved away from drag racing to autoX and road courses. i

I hope the new BBO treats you well and makes you smile everytime you hit the gas-sounds like you've earned a few smiles. You may want to look into antihop bars(not traction bars)-they increase your anti-squat and plant the tires firmly into the pavement when you launch. That and a good set of Nitto 555R's are what helped me hook up with the 468 :cheers:. Cheers brother.

[Big Dawg]

Hey man, not sure how I missed this thread for so long but I'm glad I found it. I love how you painted the outside of the grills/headlinght bezels silver, adds a nice bit of distinction where it otherwise almost disappears. I had a 468 with nearly every goodie from Modello running an 850 Mighty Demon on an Offenhauser intake. I will forever miss the unlimited amounts of torque that thing made. Just 20% pedal off idle was always such a special feeling, cause you knew as you laid into it things were about to get violent.

I moved to an LS also after I had to rebuild the BBO 3 times in the same number of years. I took it to two Olds specialist machine shops to find the problem, in the end I think it's cause I kept shifting at 6k. The LS is great and reliable and has great power up top...just miss the torque lol. At this stage its a better engine as I've moved away from drag racing to autoX and road courses. i

I hope the new BBO treats you well and makes you smile everytime you hit the gas-sounds like you've earned a few smiles. You may want to look into antihop bars(not traction bars)-they increase your anti-squat and plant the tires firmly into the pavement when you launch. That and a good set of Nitto 555R's are what helped me hook up with the 468 :cheers:. Cheers brother.
:twothumbs

[Big Dawg]

Quick update,

Got the front accessories and brackets all setup. Power steering pump is mounted and a new 150amp Powermaster alternator installed as well, along with the oil pressure and coolant temp sensors for the Dakota Digital Dash gauges. Also setup an idiot light for the oil pressure which will be connected to the check engine light on dash, and have installed a thermostat sensor to engage #1 electric fan.

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