1964 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442

[MrObsessive]

I teased you guys with a sneak peek photo a while ago, of a kit I was going to start. Well as some of you guessed, it's the very nice resin 1964 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442 from P&P Resin Works. A very nice casting as I saw no air bubbles or a badly cast part anywhere!

Here are some pics of what you get.............

There's also a nicely cast interior tub which I forgot to take a pic of...........I'll be making some changes with that though along the way. I'll be using the AMT '66 Olds kit for donor pieces such as the chassis, interior bits, and engine. I'll also be making my own glass for the kit using clear stencil sheet as my usual practice.

With warm weather here now however, don't look for frequent updates..................yardwork, housework and a full time job (3rd shift) have seen to it that my modeling time is pretty limited.

Stay tuned for an update later though of what I've done to get started with the inner fender wells so far............

Edited May 16, 2010 by MrObsessive

[MrObsessive]

One of the first things I want to do, is to make a reasonable engine bay for the kit. I'm not a fan of the lifeless, round "fenderwell only" look of a lot of the old kits. So here, I'm measuring out a donor AMT '66 Olds kit for use in the '64. In 1:1, 1964-67 GM midsizers all used the same inner fenders as well as cowls and windshield shapes.

Well, comparing this to the '64, it looks as though I'm gonna come up a little short. I'll have to dig up some of my reference photos to see what we can do.

Here's a nice engine bay photo (one of a number I have) of the '64. That air cleaner is going to be a tough one as I can't think of anything close at the moment. Some scratchbuilding is probably in order.

In the meantime, I did cut the entire engine bay from the donor kit. I think that I'll have to separate everything however due to the shape of the '64 fenders, and for it to appear correct in scale.

I did cut everything apart, and I'm "widening" the inner fender wells. I've got my work cut out for me it seems.............

That's is for now folks..............I've got some work to do on the outer fenders themselves according to the 1:1 pics as well as try to test fit the firewall, floorpan and frame so things fit with no drama down the road.

Thanks for lookin'!

[Foxer]

This has the smell of a "what do I do with this resin body now?" program ... and I'm signing up already!

This will be an interesting build to follow .. I'll be here whether I raise my hand or not.

[Alyn]

Always exciting to see you put another one on the bench, Mr O.

That body does look good. I think I'll take a front row seat for this build; slow, fast or otherwise.

[Sully]

Nice lookin start to one of my favorite cars. I also have an air cleaner like is in Steves pic. If you want it let me know.......

Sully

[MrObsessive]

Bill, I think I have another one of these air cleaners kicking around if you want it, although you might have a couple yourself. they're from the JoHan Toronado and Eldorado kit.

Oh okay! I've got one of those! Thanks for jogging my memory Steve!

Now to duplicate that decal................

[george 53]

Bill, i got that same kit from Eric,too. I like the idea of usein the 66 E/C for it, but I'll probably go with the original E/C as it comes. I'm useing a 65 GTO chassis and glass, but the 66 chassis sure sounds like a BETTER way to go. Glad your doin this ol Bud, it'll save ME alot of hassle!!! All I gotta do is watch an learn!!! Thanks!

[Rick R]

Cool!

I owned a real '64 in 1986-7 in San Diego, a 2-door post that had been a drag car years before. It reminded me of an early Z28, but with a huge trunk. Had the peaky 330/310 motor, a close ratio 4-gear, and 4-11 posi, Corvette Targa blue/white painted roof, and a white bucket seat interior. I put a set of take-off rwl Goodyears and Chevy Rally wheels from a new El Camino on it and drove the wheels off it. It was a great car!

Cosmetically the only difference between the Cutlass and a 4-4-2 is the emblem on the lower front fender and one at the front and rear ends plus one emblem on the dash, so if the casting is taken from the AMT Cutlass the emblems can be done from one of the '66 p/e kits. Only other equipment mod would be a rear stabilizer bar.

The resin body sounds and looks great and your build looks like a winner! Any price info?

Edited May 2, 2010 by Rick R

[george 53]

Rick, Eric Jones(Porky) runs P & P Resins out of Mocksville,N.C. He IS a member here, and an ALL around REALLY GREAT guy! I've talked with him on the phone at lenght, an he's just flat out cool! The kit of the 442 is about 40 bucks if I remember correctly. You get everything but the glass an chassis. I just used both from the 65 GTO kit by AMT. But Bill's got a good idea about useing the 66 442 stuff from AMT kit too. Get a hold of him right here thru the forum, He's a great person to deal with, an just a great person! You'll like him!

[Custom Mike]

Bill, I don't care how long this one takes, I'll be here to watch a true master ply his craft. I'm sure this will be a stunning model once it's all done, so take your time, we'll all be watching and wishing we could do half as well as you will!

[Guest Gramps-xrds]

This will be a delight to watch. Those 64s were beautiful cars. I built my son one back in the 80s when he was in high school. I rebuilt the 394 engine for it. Man it would run. I love to have one of those resin body's to make a replica of it. Here's how it turned out.

[Tony T]

Looks like a nice kit to start with. Will definitely be watching this one built by a master.

[Nick Winter]

Bill I have an aircleaner like that if you want it, just PM me, I'll get it sent out.

[Guest 85Biarittz]

Will be watching always enjoy seeing your work.

[Harold]

This should be veddy eenterestink...I know you'll do this one to a t. I have asoft spot for these cars, as I once had a '64 F-85 post sedan, 330, Powerglide and a low gear- this thing would fly off the line. The best part was, it looked like a school teacher's car. What a Q- ship .

[noname]

This is a nice choice to build. Pleasing body style, nice grill and a sexy engine. Always fun to watch your WIPs.

[MrObsessive]

Update time!

As I mentioned in another post, I want to use the interior floor and frame out of the '66 Olds kit. This requires however some tweaking and fitting as it's not a direct swap as I'm learning. Some grinding of the rear wheelwells was needed to get it to sit lower in the rear.

One of the disadvantages of kitbashing older kits is there are no positive locating points to put your new chassis or interior.

I needed to determine how far up the chassis floor would have to be, so that the frame rails won't hang down too low below the rockers. If you look at a 1:1, you don't see much of the frame if at all below this area.

While I was test fitting the floor from the '66, I noticed it was a tad narrow for the '64 body. I just added some plastic square rod to tighten things up a bit.

Here's the floor and frame rails test fitted in the body so far to get things lined up wheelbase wise.

Side profile shot to make sure those frame rails aren't hanging down too low.

In another post, I was working on the inner fenders from the '66 kit. I didn't like the "flush" look of the inner fenders against the outer fenders, so I modified and widened them a bit. If you look at 1:1 pics of GM A bodies from '64-'67 you'll see that the inner wheelwells are "tucked in" a bit from the lip of the outer fender flange. This was the look I'm trying to replicate.

I'm going to use the firewall from the '66 kit as well. While not 100% accurate as far as every minute detail, it's better than the original kit supplied firewall which doesn't have much detail for me.

Not to mention it's easier to mate these parts together than to try to mix and match the old with the new in this respect.

Here's a shot of the outer fender lip and flange I mentioned above..................

I mocked up the engine for the time being to get an idea for hood clearance. As the pic shows, I did find an air cleaner from a beat up '70 Toronado builtup I have.

Problem now is if I ever want to restore that Toro, I'll still need an air cleaner!

I replaced the oil fill tube from the kit as I thought it was too short. The engine was painted with Alclad gold and set in the engine again to check clearance with the new oil fill tube against the hood. Also, the intake manifold isn't exactly correct for a single carb 4-barrel for a '64, but this'll have to do as I don't want to raid anymore kits just for the manifold. The air cleaner will be mostly in place so I won't worry too much about looks.

So far so good!

I have decided on a color for the body...............Jade Mist Metallic which is a dark metallic green it appears. I may pick up the color this week from our local paint jobber. After the engine is done, I'll primer and overspray the chassis floor with this color. Interior looks like it'll be white at this point for contrast.

Thanks for lookin'!

Edited May 16, 2010 by MrObsessive

[cruz]

Nice Bill, thanks for sharing, looks to be a great project!!!

[Custom Mike]

Bill, you're blowing me away, and I know you haven't even started yet. This is gonna be great, those extensions down to the fender wells are beautifully done man!

[charlie8575]

Very nice work, Bill.

The dark green and white will look very nice on that car.

Charlie Larkin

[joy]

Bill:

I want to see more and ready to learn

i looks it is going to be a very helpfull work in progress

my HHD is ready to save all the cooming up tips

Edited May 22, 2010 by joy

[george 53]

Guy's while talkin with Jeff an Kevin last nite at our club meeting, they were tellin me that Eric(Porky) might just stop casting CAR bodies, caz he's not sellin many of them, and he might just go over to doin Trucks (Semi's) We CAN'T let that happen! Anyone notice what the price of a 64 Cutlass or 64 Falcon goes for on the Bay?? We can't let QUALITY castings like these just fall by the wayside just because no one wants ta pay for the resin kits! C'mon guys, they're REALLY nice, Affordable(VERY) and practically just FALL together. If ya wanna go nuts like Bill, the base is there, just watch Bill's build up. But if yer lazy like me, these kits are HARD ta beat for the price! Eric went thru ALOT of hassle to get them for us so the least we can do is to buy one, or two, ta keep him doin new ones. I'd hate to lose such a GREAT car caster to the trucker guys! These kits are REALLY nice!!! Try one I GAYRONTEE you'll like it, and be happy, an ya might even get ANOTHER one fer your ol Ma!!! ( and SHE'LL tell ya wat i nice kit it is!!!!)

[Ben]

Lookin really great so far, Bill!!!!! Nice work!

[Eshaver]

Bill, go try and find some of the comments Uncle Tom Mc Cahill said about the 64 Oldsmobile Cutlass as he wrote for Mechanix Illistrated Magazine . if I recall, he really scolded G M over the high lift over in the trunk area . Still, he was impressed with the overall quality and the performance of the car. I used to own a 69 Delta 88 convertable . I really hated to have sold it now . Ed Shaver

[62rebel]

bill, i love to see your name on a new thread, because i know i'm going to see some craftsmanship. the only problem is that i'm so impatient to see moooorrrrreeee....