I have recently purchased a Beautiful 69 442. I have spent a good deal of this morning reading posts of Vin # decoding, but did not find any answers to my question. My question to the many Olds experts here is: Is there any way to find what Options my car was originally produced with.Body by Fisher reads as follows.
ST 69-34487 BF 03231 BDY
TR 933 B80 69 69 PNT
04B 142597 660709

No other tags or build sheets have been found yet.

Car has 400 BB, 4 speed (Close Ratio), AM/FM stero, Rally Pac gauges with Tic Toc Tach, AC, Power Steering, Power Brakes, SSII wheels(14 in) Bucket seats w/ console. Can't thing of any other present options at this time.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Jerry

 

Sorry, but that info is really not in the VIN or cowl tag, and records no longer exist. The only option even listed on the cowl tag is B80, the bright drip molding. Unless you find a build sheet, you are out of luck. Of all the Oldsmobiles I've owned, I've only found two build sheets, one in a Fremont car like yours and one in a Framingham car. Both were on top of the gas tank.

 

Thanks Joe for the fast response. You have told me what I was afraid of. I do intend on removing the tank in the near future so maybe I'll get lucky. Not betting on it but stranger things have happened.
Jerry

 

Here's what your trim tag does say.


ST 69 = style/model year = 1969


34487: 3 = GM division = Oldsmobile, 44 = model series = 442, 87 = body type = holiday coupe


BF = assembly plant = Fremont, CA


03231 BDY = Fisher Body number assigned by Fisher Body; has no relation to your VIN


TR 933 = interior color and front seat type = blue interior with bucket seats


B80 = option code for exterior drip scalp mouldings


69 69 PNT = lower and upper body colors = platinum for both


04B = time build code = April (04), second week of that month (B), 1969


Your VIN should look like 344879Znnnnnn where n = a six-digit sequence number assigned at the assembly plant


There are ways of telling if certain items are original to your car. The VIN derivative (39Znnnnnn) will be found on your engine block on a raised pad on the driver side of the block below and slightly forward of #1 cylinder. The same VIN derivative will be stamped vertically on the driver side of your transmission housing.


There is a pamphlet published by SuperCarsUnlimited in Beaverton, OR, titled "4-4-2 By The Numbers" that will tell you a lot about your car. You can order it from their web site (www.supercarsunlimited.com) if you like. Their motto: "4-4-2 is all we do"!


I also highly recommend purchasing a hardcopy version of the "1969 Oldsmobile Chassis Service Manual", a hardcopy "Body By Fisher 1969 Service Manual", and a 1969 4-4-2/Cutlass Assembly Manual. All are invaluable in learning about, and conducting maintenance and repairs on, your 4-4-2.


Randy C.

 

Platinum with blue interior. Sounds like an unusual and sharp-looking color combo.

 

Thanks Joe
I think this car is sharp. It's almost exactly like the one I owned in 1969 except that one also had a blue vinal top. I have a couple pics in another post here. I'm not very computer literate or I would attempt to post additional pics.

 

Are you sure it has a M21 and not M20?

 

I believe that it is a close ratio M 21. The #'s on the gear set are 3A72 GM ZG 337. If anyone can de code these #'s, then I can know for sure.
I may attempt to convert to a M 20 later on. I like the wide ratio much better.
Jerry

 

The rear gears you have tend to be M20 gears but that's in the Pontiqc world, and I don't have any docs to reference at the moment.

Edit: meant to say the tranny with AC tend to be M20 for Pontiacs.

 

Per the 1969 SPECS booklet, M21 was not available with A/C. 3.23 was the standard rear axle with M20 and the steepest gears you could get with A/C.

 

Thanks for the print out. I was scheduled to receive my manuals today but the good ole post office sent them to a complete different city so who knows when I may get the manuals now.

 

Received my Chassis Service Manuals today so maybe I won't be asking you guys to do research for me that I can now do myself.
Thanks for the info you guys gave me Now I just need to learn how to use this site much better.
Jerry

 

I now must agree with the experts. I must have a M 20 diff. I thought with the way it winds thru the gears that it had to be close ratio, but I stand corrected. I guess that my memory is failing me in regards to how my original 442 drove in the 60's and early 70's.
Sure sucks getting old
Jerry

 

there are numbers on the side of the trans, start with a P and usually end with a letter (A M20, B M21, C M22), that will help decode what it is. That doesn't guarantee what is still inside however, but we would know what it was originally.

 

Thanks, next time I put the 442 on the lift I'll check all identifying numbers. I have my 67 Camaro convertible on the lift right now.