Oldsmobile Club of America
P.O. Box 80318
Lansing, Michigan 48908
517-663-1811
www.oldsclub.org
4 4 2 PRODUCTION, ALL VARIANTS:
1968
Sports Coupe – 4, 282
Holiday Coupe – 24, 183
Convertible – 5, 142
1969
Sports Coupe – 2, 475
Holiday Coupe – 19,587
Convertible – 4, 296
1970
Sports Coupe – 1,688
Holiday Coupe – 14,709
Convertible – 2,933
1971
Hardtop Coupe – 6, 285
Convertible – 1, 304
Everything from carpet sets to seat foam and door panels can be purchased today to renew a 4-4-2 inte-
rior; although uncommon, a power bench seat could have replaced standard Strato Buckets when new.
1972
Cutlass S Club Coupe 4-4-2 – 123
Cutlass S Hardtop Coupe 4-4-2 – 7,800
Cutlass Supreme Hdtp Coupe 4-4-2 – 751
Cutlass Supreme Conv. 4-4-2 – 1,041
continues. “Aftermarket performance
parts for Oldsmobiles have always been
plentiful, as are aftermarket restoration
parts for 1970-’ 72 cars; the 1968 and 1969
cars are a bit more difficult to obtain
aftermarket body panels for. As you may
or may not know, there was a strike in
1968 at GM that caused the production
of cars and parts to fall off, making 1968
parts the most difficult to find across the
GM board. Since the 1980s, Fusick Automotive in East Windsor, Connecticut,
has been the godfather to the Oldsmobile
community for providing restoration
parts for Oldsmobile. They have patents
on many restoration parts offered by others. They are the source!”
and convertibles may have floor pan rust
from wet carpeting. Sheet metal repair
panels and entire quarter panels and
floor panels are available from a number
of sources, and most 1970-1972 grilles,
bumpers and trim are reproduced.
Standard instrument panel woodgraining,
bright-trimmed instrumentation and other
upscale interior appointments were hallmarks of
Oldsmobile’s high-end muscle car.
BODY/FRAME
The 4-4-2 variants, like all GM A-body
cars, were of a body-on-frame design. The
standard Torque-beam perimeter frame
was reinforced with welded front and
rear cross-members, but a heavy-duty
boxed frame, standard on convertibles,
was also available on closed cars. Check
the body-mounting frame braces and differential mountings by the rear control
arms; rust repairs are possible, but time
consuming.
Like its Buick, Chevrolet and Pontiac
cousins, the 4-4-2 coupe and convertible
bodies were prone to corrode in the lower
front fenders, lower doors, the lower rear
quarter panels and in the trunk; trunk
floor rust begins when the metal around
the bottom of the rear glass fails, as
Bob noted. Coupes fitted with optional
vinyl roof skins are more susceptible to
this damage, due to moisture becoming
trapped between the vinyl and steel roof,
ENGINE
Non Hurst/Olds 4-4-2s in 1968 and 1969
shared a standard bronze-painted 400-
cu.in. V- 8 that, via its 3. 87 x 4.25-inch bore
and stroke, 10.5: 1 compression ratio, 750
CFM Rochester Quadrajet four-barrel carburetor and dual exhausts, made 350hp
at 4,800 RPM and 440-lbs.ft. of torque at
3, 200 RPM in manual transmission cars;
automatics had to make do with 325hp.
Adding the W- 30’s Force-Air Induction
System bumped power to 360 at 5, 400
RPM. For owners who valued show over
go, an economy-minded two-barrel carburetor version with 9:1-compression and a
single exhaust made 290hp at 4,600 RPM
and 425-lbs.ft. of torque at 2, 400 RPM.
The metallic blue 455-cu.in. V- 8 that was
standard in 1970 sported a 4. 126 x 4.250-
inch bore and stroke, Quadrajet carburetor, 10.5:1-compression and dual exhausts
to make 365hp at 5,000 RPM and 500-lbs.ft.
of torque at 3, 200 RPM. The W- 30’s Force-Air Rocket 455 used cold air induction
through an aluminum intake manifold to
add 10hp at an additional 200 RPM. The
same engine was used in 1971 and 1972, but
a mandated switch to unleaded fuel and
lower compression ( 8.5: 1) meant different power figures: the standard 4-4-2 then
made 270hp (340hp gross) at 4, 400 RPM
and 370-lbs.ft. of torque at 3, 200 RPM, and
the W- 30 dropped to 300hp (350hp gross) at
4,700 RPM and 410-lbs.ft. of torque at 3, 200
22 HEMMINGS MOTOR NEWS • NOVEMBER 2009
