I've got a one-owner '68 442 4-speed convertible (my best friend gave me the car; see my other posts for the story) and after reading the thread about the W-30 power brake availability, I'm curious whether power brakes were available as an option on my 4-speed. The W-30 thread says no because the 4-speed motors didn't generate enough vacuum to power the brake booster. I've already learned, like my buddy who bought the car new told me, that A/C wasn't available on a close-ratio 4-speed convertible. This site is a wealth of good info.

 

I'm posting from my phone so I can't really look at it right now but in your previous thread I posted the order form. You should be able to tell from that. My gut feeling is that it was available on all 4 speeds. Power brakes were only NOT available on the W30 & W31 due to the cam

 

On a regular '68 442 four speed, not only could you get power brakes but power discs as well. Four piston calipers w/ two piece rotors...wooohooo

 

What "W-30 thread" are you looking at, as it appears that you have some mis-information.

The lack of A/C on W-30 cars was entirely due to the lack of vacuum on the 328 degree cam. For the 1968-69 model years, both manual and auto trans W-30s got this cam, so neither were available with A/C (or power brakes). Starting with the 1970 model year, AT W-30s got the lesser 285/287 cam, so there was enough vacuum for those options. How that cam made the same HP as the manual trans motors is a mystery of the marketing department.

None of this applies to your non-W-30 motor, which came with a 286/286 cam. A/C was available with rear axle ratios of 3.23 or lower (numerically). The close ratio MT cars required an axle of 3.42 or higher (numerically) to provide acceptable off-the-line acceleration with the 2.20:1 first gear in that trans, thus the restriction on A/C. It had nothing to do with the motor.

 

It really wasn't a W30 thread. It started out as a thread about whether you could get A/C on a 68 4 speed 442. Some you could, some you couldn't



https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...nvertible.html

 

And as you correctly pointed out in that thread, nowhere does any factory literature say that A/C was not available with a manual trans, only that it was not available with the close ratio trans or with axle ratios of 3.42 and higher numerically. I just don't see any confusion about it - the documentation is very clear.

 

OK, thanks, guys. That clears it up. I've got a '68 close-ratio 4-speed that doesn't have A/C, and my buddy who bought the car brand new told me he tried to get A/C on it, but was told it wasn't available in a 4-speed convertible. Apparently the dealer made no distinction to him regarding close-ratio vs. wide-ratio designations, nor of the rear end gearing ratio.