Upgrading the JoHan '70 442 with engine, chassis etc from AMT '69 442. Anything I need to watch out for?

[Monty]

In theory it seems like it should be an easy swap, but I'd prefer to know if there are any fit issues etc that will need to be addressed to make everything work together.

Also, not knowing a thing about Oldsmobiles, is the AMT engine correct for this swap, and what color should it be?  Seems like there's a lot of contention about whether they're blue, gold or copperish gold.

[Mark]

A guy I used to know was big into Oldsmobiles, and probably did a couple dozen of these conversions.  There might be some interference from the underside of the interior bucket, where the shifter fits in from below.  Other than that and making sure the tailpipes line up with the molded-in extensions, you should be set.

Engines changed little between '69 and '70, use the one that goes with the chassis.  I'm pretty sure the 350 engines were gold, the 400 and 455 were metallic blue.  Someone else will know better and can clear that part of it up.

[StevenGuthmiller]

The swap should go well.

I used the MPC, (AMT) ‘69 chassis and most of the engine under the Johan ‘68 with almost no issues at all.

I’m not 100% sure of the engine colors in ‘70, but in ‘68, the 350 was gold, and the 400 was bronze. 
 

The same goes for ‘69 with the addition of the 455, which was red.

 

 

 

Steve

Edited June 14, 2022 by StevenGuthmiller

[Can-Con]

I'm thinking it depends on the horsepower rating and what the engine's in determining the color. 

The 455 in the Delta 88 I had was gold, like this one,

But I'd say metallic blue for a 455 in a 442 but I have seen them with gold and red too. Maybe the red and blue was a running change as I see more '69s with red and more '70s with blue but I have seen both colors in both years. 

It's kind of a kettle of worms as to the color. but I'd just pick whichever of the 3 you like. BTW, almost all the '70 W30 cars seem to have the metallic blue.

[Bills72sj]

Following. I am about to work on the 455 engine for my 74 H/O. I too would like to know the correct color.

[Can-Con]

53 minutes ago, Bills72sj said:

Following. I am about to work on the 455 engine for my 74 H/O. I too would like to know the correct color.

To quote from the Hurst/Olds Club of America's web page on the '74,

"The engines were a 455 engine with a casting # 396021F or 396021FA, painted Oldsmobile blue or a 350 with casting #395558 painted Oldsmobile gold."

Here's a link to that page. It's in pdf format. There might be some other info there you could use, Bill.

https://www.hurstolds.com/tips/1974 Hurst Spotters tips.pdf

[StevenGuthmiller]

This should help.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Bills72sj]

6 hours ago, Can-Con said:

To quote from the Hurst/Olds Club of America's web page on the '74,

"The engines were a 455 engine with a casting # 396021F or 396021FA, painted Oldsmobile blue or a 350 with casting #395558 painted Oldsmobile gold."

Here's a link to that page. It's in pdf format. There might be some other info there you could use, Bill.

https://www.hurstolds.com/tips/1974 Hurst Spotters tips.pdf

Thank you. The link was an excellent read. I now know my 455 needs to be blue with a dual snorkel air cleaner. It should have the Hurst Dual Gate shifter/ (not sure if/how I will do that). At least I already have the W-30 callout decal correct.

[Bills72sj]

3 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

This should help.

Steve

Thank, Steve. It will. It looks kind of Pontiac's light metallic blue with more of an Aqua tint to it. I have a number of metallic paints stocked up now I can probably get close enough.