any 442 nuts here know if olds rolled out any 68s with the 455 in them?

 

no

 

Only the 68 Hurst/Olds. It's very easy to prove that the 455 was not factory installed. The VIN derivative on the block will not match the VIN of the car.

 

A very rare non number matching car ...

Would there be Hurst / Olds document showing the c orrect #s for the engine ..?

 

Me and my dad have a 455 bored over 30,000s in the 71 442 w-30 we are restoring

 

Um, what numbers are you looking for? It will be a normal 396021 F block. Heads will be either D heads for non-A/C cars or C heads for A/C cars. The intake is a normal 1968 cast iron 398662 casting. Exhaust manifolds are also normal 1968 X/Y castings.

 

The 455 was available in the cutlass in '71. I'm not sure, but think 69 was the first year though. Corporate mandate allowed a maximum displacement of 400CID in the A body cars up until either '69 or '70 due to the success of the cars like the Hurst. I'm not sure on all the details, but here are a few basics. Others with better memory/ history may chime in on this to fill the holes.

 

69 HO had a 455, the 455 didn't make it into a 442 until 70.

 

That's what I thought, but didn't want to commit

 

The question was about a 1968 442.

 

A:Would it be any specific numbers ...

B:Are those the parts that Hurst would use ...


There were Tempests w/ big blocks that were not available in GTOs'...

 

I gave you the casting numbers and I said they were the ones used on the 1968 H/O. If your question was supposed to be "are there any unique H/O engine identification numbers?", then the answer is no.

 

That's what I was looking for ...

A pal of mine raced mopars and had a set of stamps for the blocks they would send him ...

Didn't Olds ship bare number pad blocks also ..?

 

"Ship" meaning what? (Dealer) replacement blocks had bare pads simply because they didn't come in a car!

 

That's what I'm curious about ...

I'm just glad my engine number matches ....

 

thank you Mr. Padavano for answering my question relating to the 455 option in the 68 442! (and for trying to keep the replies on topic lol)

y'all really ran away with this one!

 

Moving off topic here but I think the original question has been answered. My 442 has the T code in the VIN and has the 455. I am the second owner and bought the car when it was 3 years old and had 29000 miles. I've checked the numbers on mine and spoke with the original owner decades ago. I asked about the engine and wondered if he did anything with it. I didn't want to lead him on. I asked if he had any work done to it. He said "No". But he did recall having an issue about three months into ownership. He said there was a problem with the crank and it was covered under warranty

He said he brought the car back to the dealer and they had it for three days. After he picked it up he said it ran like a "scalded cat". He said he was very satisfied with it and the peformance was awesome.

Now to the point. The casting of my 1976 442's 455 engine is 396021F. The is no small letter A after that. That indicates a 1968-72 block. The pad where the serial number is located says 3635.

In 1979 after I got the car I took it to the track just to see how she ran. On street tires (G70R 15 Uniroyal Steel Belted Radial RWL) I ran a best time of 14.33 @ 97 miles per hour in the quarter mile. After some mods years later (true dual exhaust, ported & polished "C" heads, 9.75:1 pistons, Kenne-Bell cam, lifters etc.) the best time improved to 13.96 @ 103 miles per hour. Cars getting old and I haven't taken her to the track in decades.

So, did my car get a used engine? Was it a factory replacement? What do the four numbers mean if anything? Why would a dealership use an engine from an earlier body style. Thoughts?

 

Great discussion material, Ken. Should be a new thread with an appropriate title so it can be found!
But you knew that, right?

 

I knew that. But I was asking because the topic popped up. I'll start a thread and see what happens.