shaks 442 clone

i beg to differ the olds motor in my cutlass failed

frostbyte

I want to give a public thanks to J-Chicago for hooking me up with a nice re-chromed front bumper. WHAT A GREAT GUY!!! The bumper will finds its way on to the front of my car first thing in the spring and I have him to thank for it!!!

I do not have any pics of the interior just yet but next time I get to my storage facility, I will get some and post em'.

Under the hood of this beauty is just the stock 350 no fuss no muss. It runs great but nothing fancy so there ain't much to see there. It is a stock air car but I did not get a chance to get it hooked up yet. I wanted a reliable fun cruiser and really don't want a hot rod so I chinced on the motor in exchange for getting the interior re-done to the great aggrevation of my mechanic.

As far as what I have into this car, I think I wound up around 15K. I know that sounds pretty reasonable but a lot of the work was bartered with my mechanic, painter and a local car dealer who I traded work for parts and labor. I am a contractor and they all coincidentally needed my skills as much as I needed thiers at some point during the restoration.

I am torn about the wheels. The set on the car were an ebay purchase (less than 200 shipped to me) but the guy who sold me the original orange bomber has a nice OEM chrome set off of an 80's model cutty that i think would look sharp but not really sure. I also have the original rally wheels but they are so small 14" and narrow 7" that i am not sure I want to put them on the car. Any thoughts???? When it comes to the wheels I am like a woman picking out drapes, very indecisive!

frostbyte

I think the hood was Glasstek if I am not mistaken, my painter has some time (an my money) wrapped up in the hood but it does line up good and closes nicely. It is attached with original hood hinges.

71rocket

I'm a fan of the SS wheels, they have my vote.

shaks 442 clone

is it a full fiberglass hood, or is it a metal undercarage with fiberglass laid over that ?

J-(Chicago)

Thanks for the kind words, and being extremely easy to work with.

frostbyte

Shaks, the hood is all fiberglass, no steel rails. Obviously I wish I could have found a steel framed hood but couldn't find one.

2blu442

I'm partial to the factory Rallys, I just think they look good. Also, I feel using something from the correct period adds to the car, rather than using newer aftermarket wheels. That's just my taste with the 1960's-70's cars. You can have the centers cut out of your 14X7"s and welded into 15X8" blanks if you want to put bigger tires under the car. While your at it you can change the offset to get the look/fit you want in the fenderwell. I tucked 15X10" rallys inside the rear wheelwells of the blue car shown here. My 2 cents. John

shaks 442 clone

where did you get 15x10 olds rallies from blu ?

2blu442

I went to Willamette Wheel in Portland Oregon with a set of 14X6 wheels from a 1968 442. They cut the centers out for me and welded them into a set of 15X10 blanks. I also had them set the offset at zero, they welded it into the center of the 10 inch width. The 1971 Cutlass Supreme has about a 14 inch wide wheelwell at the lip, and a 295/50/15 (about a 12 inch footprint) looked really nice. But when I cornered hard or drove into a driveway that caused the body to roll the inside of the tire rubbed. A 275/50/15 might be just right, with about a 10 inch footprint. This business is in Portland Oregon but I would think you could find a shop in your part of the country that could do it too. John

shaks 442 clone

how much did it set you back blu ?

2blu442

PM sent shak

coopsie442

looks great man! i think you should get a pair of the weld racing rims