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One quick way as far as eng goes, Look at the cylinder heads and bottom left corner will have a big letter about an inch in height. C,D,E,F,G,H as far as the heads go anyway.
The correct heads for a 71 455 will be G or H(W30)
It is an automatic and when I did the frame check the outer wheel tubs are red the guy painted the engine sides of the tubs black with a bomb can .
Going to get into the engine in the next day or so and find the codes so I can see if its the original motor
If you look under the car, on the passenger side of the trans there should be a metal tag with a 2-letter code (area circled in red below).
IF the code on the tag is "OW" and IF the trans has the correct vin stamped on the driver side (these are big if's given how the car is currently peiced together), the car was born a W30.
Check out this thread to see the location of the vin stamp on the trans. https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...ission-140444/
One quick way as far as eng goes, Look at the cylinder heads and bottom left corner will have a big letter about an inch in height. C,D,E,F,G,H as far as the heads go anyway.
The correct heads for a 71 455 will be G or H(W30)
Drivers side head or passenger because drivers side ill have to drop the alternator bracket to get to the front of that head.
Drivers side head or passenger because drivers side ill have to drop the alternator bracket to get to the front of that head.
It's on both heads, but you might also want to confirm the heads match at some point. Driver's side is towards the radiator, passenger side towards the firewall.
Should be able to see the letter with a flashlight? and pass side looks clear. You could also have a letter J
Doesn't look like that car was set up for ac and that eng is due to alt local. A W30 motor would have an aluminum intake manifold also unless it was painted over? The overspray on the PS pump indicates it was painted prob same time the red fender wells were? The fuel line routing looks to be a little funky too?
Last edited by scrappie; Jul 30, 2024 at 02:23 PM.
A couple of observations. Clarence between the valve cover and brake booster is tight so it appears to be a 455. No notched valve covers so probably not an A body motor. Brackets for alternator on drivers side is for a motor with AC, no AC box on firewall, so this motor is probably a transplant. The manifold is not a painted W30 manifold because the PCV valve would be in the h take not the valve cover.
Last edited by 4speed455; Jul 30, 2024 at 03:24 PM.
I'm thinking big car engine. E heads were on everything except W-30 455s in 68-70. The vin stamp on the pad will tell you year, plant, and model of the block.
The good news is that this engine can be hotrodded easily, and there may have been some of that done to it already.
Got the interior out cleaned up the floorboards got a friend going to set me up with an upholstery guy to recover the seats going to order some new door and side panels the current ones are roached beyond use.
A few areas of concern but not as bad as I thought it would be being half a century old..
I'm thinking big car engine. E heads were on everything except W-30 455s in 68-70. The vin stamp on the pad will tell you year, plant, and model of the block.
The good news is that this engine can be hotrodded easily, and there may have been some of that done to it already.
Yeah I think this guy was ratrodding this car it has a fuel cell and long lug bolts i think he was putting big tires and taking it to the Milan dragway here West of Detroit.
Got the interior out cleaned up the floorboards got a friend going to set me up with an upholstery guy to recover the seats going to order some new door and side panels the current ones are roached beyond use.
A few areas of concern but not as bad as I thought it would be being half a century old..
Progress is always 👍...did you find any paperwork during the teardown?
After a bit of research I think that I have figured out exactly what I have here like a poster mentioned earlier it is a 71 442 confirmed by its vin number with a 1970 442 W30 front clip the engine checks to a 70 442 .
So my plan is to to take the two fenders which are both rotted at the bottom lip and replace them with two fresh fenders and use the 442 badges .
One question is the core support any different in 71 then 70?
You should be able to find a factory air cleaner easily in good shape for cheap since so many people are scarfing up the OAI setups and putting repro OAI hoods on their cars. Those air cleaners have to go somewhere. Yours is about the first 442 I have seen without an OAI hood recently. This is done to all 70-72s, and people do the equivalent with the under bumper scoops to 68 and 69s. The only thing saving 66 and 67 is that no one repros the air cleaners and they go for high dollar.
Did you check the trans tag and trans vin yet? See post #43. As Scrappie said, 70, 71, and 72 all have different core supports. However, 71 and 72 are very similar so if you find a 72 it will work but will not be correct. The photos below show the difference between 71 and 72 (71 front and 72 back). The difference is the little bump on the 72 support.
Did you check the trans tag and trans vin yet? See post #43. As Scrappie said, 70, 71, and 72 all have different core supports. However, 71 and 72 are very similar so if you find a 72 it will work but will not be correct. The photos below show the difference between 71 and 72 (71 front and 72 back). The difference is the little bump on the 72 support.
I did there is a yellow tag but did not see any lettering on it I have a guy coming tomorrow to give me a quote to pull the engine and trans and put them on an engine stand and trans jack ill be able to get some pictures once we get it out of the car.
Going to order a repop 71 core support and replace the current one with that will there be anything needed other then the support itself?
Interior was pretty much obliterated the back bench seat was reduced to springs carpets gone buckets were halfway bolted down build sheet is long gone.
Going to order a repop 71 core support and replace the current one with that will there be anything needed other then the support itself?
Pretty much everything forward of the core support is different; grills, grill mounting brackets, headlight bucket housings (mounts headlight bucket to core support), headlight surrounds, headlight bezels, fender eyebrow moldings, stone sheild, front rocket emblem, front bumper, parking lights, hood edge moldings (above grills), hood. Sure I am missing some stuff, but this is a start to the parts you will need.
After a bit of research I think that I have figured out
👍
It's a 71 442 with an Olds 455, as it should be. That's what counts.
Checking the transmission as Loaded68W34 mentions in post #43 is the final frontier for any sort off W30 validation. But again it's a real 442 so everything else is gravy. Best of luck with her.
P.S. Below from Joe Padavano back in 2006, post #3. To double down on what Loaded68W34 suggested. The transmission could be the key to everything else...
Interior was pretty much obliterated the back bench seat was reduced to springs carpets gone buckets were halfway bolted down build sheet is long gone.
The upholstery pattern is for a '70...the '71 is different so it's likely any paperwork you might find in the buckets would be from the car which donated the front end and engine. I couldn't see enough of the door panels to confirm what year they came out of.
The upholstery pattern is for a '70...the '71 is different so it's likely any paperwork you might find in the buckets would be from the car which donated the front end and engine. I couldn't see enough of the door panels to confirm what year they came out of.
Its clear the former owner mutted together this car ill be doing my best to put it back to how it should look using repop parts not going to find many of these in the junkyards anymore.
Interior was pretty much obliterated the back bench seat was reduced to springs carpets gone buckets were halfway bolted down build sheet is long gone.
Originally Posted by Kingdiamond69
Its clear the former owner mutted together this car ill be doing my best to put it back to how it should look using repop parts not going to find many of these in the junkyards anymore.
You got that right...it'll be a great car when you're done. It's not the first to be cobbled together like that...I had a '70 with a '72 front clip on it. If you get your upholstery and door panels from Legendary, I ordered mine at the end of December and will receive the last of the order next week. (Just an idea of the current wait time).
For the interior go with Legendary Interiors ignition keys and locks go to THEPARTSPLACEINC.COM
You will find a lot of the parts you are looking for.
Alain 1970 platinum 442 4spd factory A/C
For the interior go with Legendary Interiors ignition keys and locks go to THEPARTSPLACEINC.COM
You will find a lot of the parts you are looking for.
Alain 1970 platinum 442 4spd factory A/C
Looking at the ignition and door locks at the partsplace it mentions both older key and red dot ignitions how do I know which one ill need?
Why not use a cut off wheel/tool to cut the excessive length from the studs? I am guessing you are going to replace them in your restoration anyway. Good luck with your project
Why not use a cut off wheel/tool to cut the excessive length from the studs? I am guessing you are going to replace them in your restoration anyway. Good luck with your project
Was thinking about that but I never used a bolt cutter like this was worried about screwing up the threads?
For the interior go with Legendary Interiors ignition keys and locks go to THEPARTSPLACEINC.COM
