oldspackrat

Here are some pictures of a friends '70 convertible. When he found it, there were sx emblems on the fenders. Here is what I've found.
One fender has been replaced, one is a '70 & one a '71-'72. It has a E headed 455, correct A body exhaust manifolds & valve covers, th400 trans with what looks like the original style vacuum modulator, washer jar on the passenger side fender well with correct clips holding it in place. One hole in the drivers side fender well has what looks like factory applied goop/tar/?? where the washer jar would be mounted if it was a 350 car. Larger battery tray. Correct kickdown switch on the gas pedal. It looks like there was a plug in the firewall where a kickdown cable would have been if it was a 350 trans. If your car came with a th400 trans, it is downshifted via the switch on the gas pedal, hence no need for a hole in the firewall for a cable.
I haven't checked the vin on the engine block to see if it matches the cars vin yet, but based on what I know about these cars & have seen so far, I believe it to be a 1970 Cutlass Supreme convertible with a factory installed 455 & th400 trans. Without paper work, I can't say for sure it's an SX though.
One weird thing about the drivers door. What's left of the blue sticker shows the vin & it matches the car, but the door doesn't have the holes drilled for the convertible only anti rattle door shims. The other part of the shim is on the door jamb, but not the part on the door? Maybe the door was switched along with the sticker?? I have not had any luck removing those stickers in one piece.
Also, no big block fender braces & no lower rear control arm braces? It does have the boxed control arms & sway bar though. I know someone could have easily swapped a 455 for a 350, but the battery tray, washer jar & kickdown cable all point towards a factory install. Not many people are **** about switching all of that stuff also.
It has later year sport mirrors on it.
I know the paint is not what some people would prefer, so let's get that out of the way right now.
The car was hit hard? on the passenger side rocker panel, near the firewall & needs quarters, & some floor patch work.
Owner is thinking about selling it & if he does, I'll move this thread to the cars for sale forum.
http://s856.photobucket.com/albums/a...20convertible/
Your thoughts?

Allan R

The SX badges look like they were added by someone at a later date, they are in completely the wrong place for a factory install. All your comments about the switch from 350 to 455/400 seem to be valid observations. Can you check the engine stamping pad to see if the VIN digits match the stamping? I think you're right that someone is just trying to pass it off as an SX clone.

MDchanic

Man, that looks a lot like the one I drove in college - no interior and all!

Cool car - I'd drive it just like that and P everyone off.

SX? You got me.

- Eric

Rocketbrian

You are going to have to check the VIN number on the block and compare to the number on the dash pad. I can't see anything wrong with the SX emblem. I have an SX and it looks to be in the same position as mine. Convertibles do not have big block front fender braces, I am unsure about the rear braces.
That shade of blue, Twilight blue, was a gorgeous colour when new. A friend of mine had a 70 SX W32 hardtop in that colour with a blue top and the light blue interior. Your friends certainly appears to have a genuine SX though. Also check the VIN on the drivers side of the transmission and see if it matches the dash and the blue door sticker.

1969w3155

Yep, a good color when new. My brother bought a '70 Twilight Blue SX convrt. back in 1974, with a blue cloth bench interior. Too bad he put it in a ditch.

stevengerard

even the 1970 assembly manual states the drivers side wheel well needs to have goop placed in the pre-drilled holes for the washer fluid jar if the car has a 455 so that is normal. Check the trans tag Some SXs received a different trans tag forgot what letter maybe OD instead of OG.

Believe it or not no convertibles whether they had 455s or 350s received the fender braces. I put them on mine anyway because they should have them but they didn't.

Emblems looks spot on to me

GTI_Guru

Just from my recent research on the '70 455 I have, but I believe all the 68-72 455's were suposed to be painted red? If this one is blue, that strikes me as being a newer "smog" engine (Unless it happens to be a Toronado unit, but the color looks of to me for that)

Engine ID particulars found here:

http://www.442.com/oldsfaq/ofeng.htm

The pertinent parts being:
CID Year Bore Stroke Vin Color (sorry, can't get these columns to line up correctly...)
455 '68 - '72 4.126 4.250 W Red; Toronado & 1970+ is metallic Blue
455 '72 - '76 4.126 4.250 S,T,U,V,W metallic Blue

High compression 425s and early 455s were painted red and the air clearners were an orange/red, definately a different shade from the engine. Low compression 425s had black air cleaners.

Lots of good info on that page (and subsequent links) for IDing exactly what you have.

The dead giveaway will be the block ID# to check the matching VIN, but I believe you are right and that it's not going to match. The other stuff in the engine bay you mentioned: washer bottle, battery tray, etc. You already know the fenders were swapped from another vehicle. Most likely these parts were put in at that time from a whole/partial doghouse swap from another car (big block?) and that's why things aren't making sense under the hood. That would explain the inconsistencies. Check closely for frame damage to the front end, as I would guess the original doghouse was mangled enough that a previous owner had to swap it out.

-Jeff

vette442

Actually, the SX badge on the passenger fender is in the correct location. They are not centered, they are under the "ss" of the Cutlass emblem.

If the VIN stamps on the 455 and TH400 (with OD or OG tag) match the car, the odds are extremely good that it's a legit SX. Out of a few hundred of these cars that I've researched and logged for the registry in the past 12+ years from ads on 442.com, Ebay, Hemmings, traderonline, etc., so far I've only found two '70 Supreme hardtops with factory-installed 455s that were not SXes. Let us know what turns up when you check the numbers.
Terry

vette442

All 70-72 455s were the shade of blue that you see hiding under the grunge on those valve covers. 1968-69 455s were red in full-size cars and Hurst/Olds.

70Post

The only side you have an "SX" emblem on is the side that has a possible replacement fender on it (it's a ridged fender and the D side is a flat fender). So....any minor "variances" in placement may have been from a body repair place drilling holes to install that emblem.

Looks real to me. Factory just missed a step most likely on the door wedges...lunchtime bell rang, ran out of door wedges, who knows?

Also - here's a good example of a big block, non-ac, non-fan shroud top plate 3 core radiator setup.

Allan R

Sorry Terry, I was looking at a comparison shot of another couple SX's but from the drivers side. It's the same thing as the placement of the "S" on the 72 Cutlass S.

m455sx

the placement of the sx starts at the first s of the cutlass script.

droptopron

That is the color my car is supposed to be. I wish it still was.
Not your friend's doing but the paint on that car now is horrendous.

m455sx

The only way to tell for sure is the build sheet and or original invoice.

MDchanic

Sorry, Jeff, as has been said, non-Toro big blocks were all red until 1970, when all big blocks went blue.

Not as much good info on that page as it seemed. It's the scourge of the interwebs - bad information that looks good!

- Eric

GTI_Guru

Good to know.

Aaaand that makes me question the red '70 455 I have in my garage now too. Guessing it's a repaint, and who knows what else went into it. Full rebuild or just a cosmetic makeover. I'm torn between tearing it down to be sure or just selling it outright...

Oh well. Proceed with the SX/non-SX discussion. No hijack intended.

-Jeff