New to the forum. Lot's of great info here as I have been reading many of the threads on this topic. As many are, I'm trying to verify if this is a true '72 442 W30. It's listed at Flemings Ultimate Garage which I've read mixed things about. VIN 3G87X2M234758. So it has the "X" indicating a 455-4v W30 build. I'm waiting on the numbers from the block. They of course say everything is matching, but I was born in the morning, just not yesterday morning. I owned 3 of these back in the 70's and would love to own one now, but not gonna get ripped off. If the numbers check out, I will go see and drive the car, and get some sort of PPI. I would never buy sight unseen. I own several Porsche's and PPI all of them. This is my first foray into purchasing classic muscle cars so your guidance/advice is appreciated.

Thanks...Joe

 

The X in the VIN is all the documentation you need to have to prove that it is real. Now you need to verify that it is numbers matching since they are asking numbers matching money for it.


Great color combination. Let us know how it checks out.

 

Thanks Dave. They just sent this pic. Not a very good one. Is this the right one? Thanks in advance...JH

 

That is the block casting. You need the VIN stamp on the block pad directly under #1 cylinder (driver's side, foremost).

 

Got it. And for the W30, in addition to the matching VIN, what should the engine code be? I had an old Buick GS and the engine code was "TR" in combo with the matching VIN indicating that it was a GS. Thanks again for the info.

JH

 

Any fine people on here ever dealt with Flemings? Just curious as to quality and trustworthiness. Thanks...

 

The engine code decals are reproduced. There are more "W-30" motors today than Olds ever made.

 

Didn't see anything in the pics to help verify "numbers", but for the money I'd have a huge issue with the stripes. They are awful.

Not sure how you fix that without repainting the car.

Other stuff is fairly easy to correct.

 

Waiting on the pics to verify the numbers. What exactly about the stripes did I miss? Thanks...

 

Well, the numbers don't match on the engine. So the search continues. Unbelievable how they advertise these cars. Fleming's ad described the car as "1972 OLDSMOBILE 442 REAL DEAL DOCUMENTED W-30". Oh well, cross them off my list. Have found another car to do some more research on. Thanks again for the tips and advice! This forum is a wealth of information!

Joe

 

Wait ... what did they actually have for documentation? How important is "numbers-matching" to you, really? It is, after all, a legit W-30 car. Is the engine correct for the application? Can you use the non-matching status to bargain them down?

Just some things to think about.

 

I know it looks like you've already decided to move on, but those stripes are not even close to correct. They are off location, angle, thickness, not even straight where they should be.

The wide stripe should not go all the way down to the wheel opening molding, I could go on.

Someone eyeballed those stripes and didn't care if they were correct or not.

 

Ok, late to the game here and the OP is obviously not going to buy it.

X code VIN not matching the block and trans would pull the price down a fair bit. W30's with PDB's were available if the M40 was ordered. Engine code for this car should be UO and trans should be OW

I do have concerns about the quality of the interior and door/rear panels, 442 badging is simply terrible on the right fender, either the stone shield is not mounted correctly or the bumper is slightly pushed back at the front. Stripes over the wheels are waaay too thick.

Minor things:
442 emblem on dash is incorrect.
missing volume/on/off **** on radio.
deck wing is not factory correct, but could have been added by a dealer or PO.
rs headlight door is on backwards. Should be flipped 180°

Without knowing more about the car I also noted it should be a Lansing production of around last week of April 1972. It also has the 'fasten seat belts' pod on the dash which is correct for that tic toc tach and production date.

 

Thanks for the great info guys. I have moved on from the car in the origional post and am looking at a couple of other cars. I see the striping issues now. Thanks for the sharp eye. The 442 emblem I did notice. As far as the matching #'s, I would like to find one, but realize the $'s to pay for it may not justify my intent for the car. There are just so many car's that have the W30 badges applied without even being close to a decent clone. Would be perfectly happy with a clean 442, +/- the W30. I did come across a partial survivor 442 (not matching W30, but a clone) here:
http://volocars.com/1970-oldsmobile-....tT20Pycx.dpbs

Seems well done and person on phone was very candid about the car unlike the guy at Flemings. Again, thanks for all of the advice/guidance.

Joe

 

Best of luck. Let us know what else you find!

 

Nicer looking car. Only thing is it's labelled as a 442 with W30 add ons. NOT a real W30 in other words, as clearly evidenced by the non dual gate shifter. Red inner liners are repopped (as these are) and so are the W intake manifolds. Can't see the head letters in their photo gallery. Ask what the head letters are, and what the transmission code is. Only thing that stood out as needing attention in those pics is the master cylinder appears to be leaking pretty badly. Overall nice. The upper gage bezel shows nasty deterioration of the chrome surrounds which makes me wonder why it wasn't replaced with new given the rest of the cars overall cleanliness, same with the dash bead molding coming off on the right side. Those are chump change items to replace for the $$$ he's asking.

 

No offense Allan, but just to prevent the spread of misinformation, Dual Gate shifters weren't a default part of the W-30 package. Many did not have the Dual Gate.

Terry

 

Dual-Gates weren't even standard with a console.

 

Thanks for all of the replies guys. Zeroing in on 1970 model year. This is an arduous task but a fun one. Learning a lot and looking at some really cool cars...

 

You may have dodged a bullet - google is always your friend!

http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Flemin...nternet-725666

 

Eh . . . they're like all the other dealers. I've visited once and they're for people who like perfumed pigs.

 

Does anybody know of a musclecar dealer that ISN'T shady?

 

That was painful to read.