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Also, if the car had been optioned with SS1 or SS2 wheels from the factory, there would have been two clips for holding the lug wrench/tire iron mounted on the up-sloping part of the trunk floor, just below the lip, as indicated in the pic below.
The hounds tooth cover came with the plane steel rim in 68 & 69. Ive seen 69s with the cardboard cover and the full tire cover. I think it was plant specific. What is the 7th character in your VIN #? What is the build date on the cowl tag?
Your car came equipped from the factory with full wheel or dog dish hubcaps or wire wheel hubcaps.
If it was optioned with the SS1 or SS2 wheels it would NOT have the cardboard cover, cover fastener, wing nut or rubber sleeve (arrows),
There is a different type of hold down nut which uses the J hook with SS1&2s. And the jack handle would be moved from the jack rubber sleeve and affixed to the rear tail light panel with two clips...pictured above.
Take a peek in the Fusick or Year One catalogs.
Looks like a damn nice car. Lets see a bunch more pictures!!
Last edited by droldsmorland; February 19th, 2024 at 10:16 PM.
The SIZE of the spare would have been the same as the other four tires on the car. Standard equipment on a 1969 442 was F70x14, which had an 8.30" section width and a 26.24" outside diameter. G78x14 were optionally available. these had an 8.35" section width and a 27.06" outside diameter.
Grandmas 442 sat in her garage untouched for 30 years. 68,000 miles on odo. Since she was was approaching 100 years old, i decided it was time to dig it out, get it running, and give her a ride in it. Turned out to be quite a task. Hauling it to my house to start the process. Rear brake shoes were fused to drums. Had to destroy one of the original drums to get it to roll. Fast forward a couple years, we finally took a ride. She was 99 in this photo. This project took me through covid. Rebuilt motor trans brakes fuel system a/c while trying to preserve originality and appearance. When possible, components were rebuilt rather than replaced.
Original interior is as good as it gets. There was a tear on the far side of the bench. I found a shop that pieced in a new patch of matching vinyl in the interest of preserving the rest of the mint seat cover. Dash carpet and other stuff is near flawless I guess all 4 headlights are original. Car also has original shocks and other relics Grandma was from an era when a person threw nothing away. Floor mats. Driver side has imprints from her high heels that she wore to work everyday. She worked at the DMV (tag office) in rural oklahoma
I got the engine running but then decided to “lift it up a bit” to put a new timing chain on it. At that point, i caught a bad case of the “might as well” and ended up doing an extremely deep dive into engine.
A very expensive “timing chain replacement” completed and runs great. Grandma never knew what was hidden under the valve covers when we finally took the ride
Both the car and grandma are in very nice shape for their ages!! Is she the original owner??
The wheels look correct for a 69 car despite what the jack assembly & stowage stickers say.
Love silver cars. Great you are keeping the patina and originality. Sliver lacquer is a hard color to achieve any kind of longevity.
Did you ask grams about the wheels? Maybe she swapped them out at the dealership before she took delivery?? She was in her mid 40s when she purchased it....cool.
BF = Its a Fremont car. Fremont plant seemed to take a more liberties with plant assembly practices verses say Lansing. Fremont cars seem to have a greater amount of anomalies over other plants.
11D = 4th week of November 68 build date
69 B = 69 Platinum Poly, B = Black top
940 = black vinyl bench seat interior
Steve
I’ve had growing suspicion the car was a salesman’s demo at the one-horse Olds dealer. I’d buy theory that the wheels were added then…before grandma bought it. She wouldn't have cared what wheels were on the car when she bought it…or at any time during her 55 years of ownership. So my guess is the SSII were on it when she bought it…but not on it when it was made.
She passed just short of her 102 bday. Painless and peaceful at my dad’s house where she lived for the last 20 years. So the origin of the wheels will remain a fun mystery.
Thanks. The engine rebuild occupied me well through covid.
So far, haven’t found window sticker or invoice, but best i can tell, she kept pretty near everything she ever owned. We haven’t finished sifting through all the stuff at her house up in Okla. There’s a good chance something’ll show up. She held on to all this stuff for 55 years
Tucked under the carpeting where it meets the rear seat is a good place to look for IBM trim cards. Not too certain about actual build sheets, as I've never found one in nearly 50 years of messing around with these cars.
was my “first stop” when i got the car to my place. Wish i woulda found a build sheet…but nada. Where else might it be ?
Fortunately, due to having the POP and being a 69 with its own model VIN and all that, the build sheet is not needed for anything other than academic curiosity.
Since this is grandma's car, I think you'd be better served looking for an old pic of her car, or her and her car, in her effects in her estate.
Example, I found this picture of my car in my grandma's effects when the car was some six months old. Shows original wheels and tires. Oddly enough, there's also a photo around with my dad's corvette's wheels on it temporarily a couple years later.
February 19th, 2024, 12:04 PM
