rollerball

Got the car today…looks and drives REALLY nice…will post more details about it in the next few days. I talked to the former owner and he told me that when he bought the car in 2005 he did not know much about the 442 and did not ask for documentation. But when he got wiser later he went back to the former owner and asked for the build sheet. It turned out the the guy still had the build sheet but that he wanted a cool 1000 Euros for it….so i might be able to still get the build sheet that would maybe prove it is a real W30…would this be a good investment or are there services for Olds like the Martireport for Fords where you could get a copy of the original invoice and build sheet for a much lower fee?

pogo69

nice guy...you know where i would tell him stick that build sheet

rollerball

I thought the same thing…but it would still be nice to be able to prove that the car is a real W30….i guess that the value increase could be more than the fee…

Back to the car: The paint job and chrome are really show quality….drives really well…now it just needs the seats, intake, air cleaner and steering wheel to be VERY nice. I am very happy with it.

RocketDevo

Are You Kidding me POGO, If the guy has a Build sheet that indicates it is a W30 it is worth every penny. There are guys out there that would kill for docs on there W30's, althought it's unfortunate that he wants that kind of money. Believe me if the build sheet proves its real, BUY IT now!

dc2x4drvr

Yah, 1000 EU for a build sheet is outrageous! I wonder if it even exists?

rollerball

…so far this is just a story from the former owner. He wants to give me the phone number of the guy…i will definitely call him and see what happens…since i am not so familiar with Oldsmobiles yet: What should i look for on the build sheet? Does it have to say W30 somewhere?….if it does i will try to negotiate but i am also thinking it might be worth the money...

RocketDevo

Yes, If it is a Broadcast Card it will say W30 in one of the boxes. You will have to verify that the body number on the Card is the same as the one on the Data plate on the car. If it is another form such as order form it will say W30 on it somewhere. I say again having documentation that is authentic is worth the money, otherwise its 442 with W30 options added. Hope this helps. Thanks.

1969w3155

The broadcast card is what you might be able to get from the previous owner, it is the pictured here, you will not get a build sheet from a Lansing built car of this era, they are not available, nor is there any service for Oldsmobiles to obtain those records. The second document shown is a build sheet from the Linden, New Jersey assy. plant, it is an 8 1/2 x 11", again, the build sheet is not available.

rollerball

Gentlemen, thank you for these insights. I have the Vin now: 344871M179436
I checked the hood. The under structure is metal and the skin is fiberglass…seems to be no repro. The red fenders have been covered with undercoating at one time which is now half deteriorated so it seems to have been undercoated a long time ago…i did not get it on the lift so i could not check the tranny. I have found an invoice for a rebuild of the engine from 2003…I guess they added the Holley carb and intake then. Runs very smooth without any smoke…has some power too. Heads are H-heads.

BlackGold

Congratulations on your purchase.

Too bad someone undercoated the plastic inner fenders; at least they won't rust ....

In addition to the Broadcast Card, you might find evidence of W-30 on a window sticker, car shipping order, or dealer order form. Of course, any of these (including the broadcast card) can be faked, so be wary.

While charging extra for documentation when selling a car is being a jerk (since the documents are almost worthless without the car), it's understandable. The docs should be worth something to the buyer, so he should be willing to pay. All's fair in love, war, and capitalism.

rollerball

I see it the same way…i am almost hoping it is not a real W30….because then i could sell the H-heads and use the money to get some real power out of that engine….but on the other hand i have already a few modded fast cars and it being a W30 would prevent me from being caught in the usual escalation of modding a car….it really drives too nice to be "improved"…very smooth…GT-like…a gentlemen's car. That is very nice by itself even if it is not the fastest car out there…so if it is a W30 i think all i am going to do is maybe raise the compression with new low dish pistons and have the heads mildly ported, polished and matched to the new repro W30 intake…i will leave the cam which appears to be stock type judged by its manners which are smooth even with the dominator single plane it has now and i will use all my willpower not to install headers…although that is something a future owner could easily change. Would headers be of any noticeable benefit with a stock cam anyway?

BlackGold

Headers are pretty much always a performance improvement, not just at high rpms but also low. The only time you won't see any improvement is if there's a major restriction or tuning problem elsewhere.

If you rebuild with intent of higher compression, make sure you consider the head gaskets, too, not just the pistons. Most replacement head gaskets are thicker than the original factory. It's real easy to end up with far lower than stock compression if you're not careful.

oldcutlass

Perhaps if you get ahold of the PO with the doc's, maybe he still has the parts you need or can give an explanation on what happened to them.

rollerball

I am still waiting to get his phonenumber...would be great if he still had the parts...

rollerball

Gentlemen, i had a look at the transmission....BINGO!...it has the OW-tag!

rollerball

New seats and aluminum intake have been bought from a friendly board member…matching seat covers and other parts from Legendary…new OAI air cleaner, new valve covers and corner lamp from the Parts place…the original steering wheel came out nice after some cleaning..missing honrbutton has also been ordered....can't wait to put the puzzle together…still waiting for my registration to be able to drive it

DocOldsW30

That is a beauty and in good color. If that is the original Capri Aqua paint it's probably rare.

http://paintref.com/cgi-bin/colorcod...r=1971&rows=50

The 71's are fetching some good money on the block at Barrett Jackson and Mecum. Don't quite know what the fuss is all about as the engine was 8.0 down from 10.5 compression. Yet these are being sought after. Be careful with your dollars.

Doc

rollerball

The good thing is that i have bought a nice 442 that drives almost like new for a reasonable amount of money…i still think it is a W30 but i can tell you NOBODY here in Europe knows what a W30 is or would be willing to pay any crazy money for it…..so in the end it does not really matter….it would only matter if i was ever to ship the car back to the US to sell it there….but for that to make sense the dollar has to strengthen again….who knows if that will ever happen…you know what: I always wanted a 71/72 in this exact color with that W30 look and now i have one for reasonable money that only need a few cosmetic things….if i don´t get into financial trouble i am going to keep it forever…W30 or not...

DocOldsW30

Aren't you lucky you don't have 2 to deal with Obamacatastrophycare!?!

rollerball

Well, here in Germany we have a statecontrolled healthcaresystem like Obamacare since the 50ties....

bwichman

If you are looking for an original W30 carburetor I have one available for sale.

rollerball

What is the condition of the carb? How much would you want for it?