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Hello,
New user here with my first Olds 442…seller swears it’s a real W30..but we all know that story. Most of the required components but none of the documentation otherwise I’d had to pay a lot more. Anyway, this car is sweet inside outside and underneath. Very good restoration on it. I do have one questions that I’m hoping to get some help on. I have a small leak where the speedometer cable goes into the gear housing unit and am looking for information on the correct replacement part(s). I don’t know if it’s better to just buy the rebuild kit with the seals or try to source the entire unit. I’m not sure what tooth ratio to get either. It has a TH400 and is automatic. I’ll also be needing a new speedometer cable as the current one was installed incorrectly and ended up laying down on the exhaust on my 2 1/2 drive home…yep I drove it home. What length would I need?When I drove it home the speedometer showed I was going about 5 mph faster than the app Waze showed me going. Maybe due to oversized tires?
Yeah I thought that might be the best way to go as a cheap start, not that the part is expensive. I also thought that while I'm at it I might change the tooth gear (not sure of its official name) just to get the MPH reading correctly...but then again oldcutlass said its only 5 MPH. Acceptable margin of error.
Hello... I have to say. How beautiful is that car in that color with ZERO side stripes? Oldsmobile A body body lines are the sexiest period. Beautiful car. Drive it. Enjoy it. Thanks for sharing.
Great looking, wonder why the aftermarket AC compressor was installed on the opposite side from factory.
When I installed the Vintage Air on my car they offer brackets to mount the compressor on either side. Seeing how the alternator brackets for a A/C car are easy to find, and there is a market for the pass side alternator brackets, that’s a change I would have made during the installation.
If you go to TCI site, there is a page to calculate speedometer gear tooth counts. You need to know the rear end gear ratio, tire height, and preferably the existing drive or driven gear gear tooth count.
Play around with entering different drive/driven tooth counts until you come up with a combination that has a tooth count as close to a whole number as possible. For example, it may say you need a gear with 33.7 teeth. You can’t get a gear with 33.7 teeth, it will be either 33, or 34. In this example, 34 would be just a bit more accurate than a 33.
As for your speedo housing leak, go to your nearest transmission shop. Those seals are included with every transmission rebuild kit. They aren’t used in transmissions for 4x4 trucks (the speedo gears are in the transfer case for a 4x4) most likely the shop will have a box full of those seals. You can fit 2 of the seals that go inside the speedo housing, the converter be the speedo gear goes thru. Occasionally, you will find the plastic gear stem worn where the seal rides. Adding an extra seal ensures the replacement seal rides on a portion of the year shaft that isn’t worn.
Robt1970: love your car. i just purchased a gold 1970 442 and after seeing yours I think i will remove my wing! It would be nice to remove my side stipes also. Have fun with it!
Gears are 3.42, Penn Grade 1 SAE 30 and it is carburetorated.
Does the engine have an oil pressure gauge that shows the actual oil pressure? I would be curious to see what PSI it has once on a long drive with 30 weight oil.
Typically most Olds 455 engines run larger main bearing clearances due to the large mains and the "flex" of the crank and block from the heavy cast/nodular iron crank, long stroke and 2 bolt mains. Running it "tight" on the mains will give it more oil pressure but at the demise of possibly spinning a main bearing. Bill Trovato likes to see .0035 + on the mains (.0045 to .005 on the rear main), if my memory serves me right, don't have his book in front of me right now. One definitely does not want to run < .0025 main bearing clearances on a stock bottom end 455. That's a ticking time bomb.
I would run 15w-50 Mobil 1 and get around 20 psi hot at idle and around 50 psi hot at RPM cruise/WOT. When tested with 30 weight oil, it would only get 10-15 psi hot idle and around 40 psi hot at RPM cruise/WOT.
Did the buyer give you any spec sheet on the engine?
Do you plan on installing the Gear Vendors? You'll have to shorten the driveshaft of course.
Robt1970: love your car. i just purchased a gold 1970 442 and after seeing yours I think i will remove my wing! It would be nice to remove my side stipes also. Have fun with it!
You will have 4 holes in you trunk if you remove the wing due to the pedestals. You would have to fill them, sand and paint.
The wing actually provides down force when at speed. #savetheW35wing
#ditchthewing
If it came on it originally then ok. I think the Oldsmobile A body look so so clean. The wing breaks up the bodyline. Hate me all day that's cool. Plenty of people love the wing. They hate calling it the wing. I like towel rack. Ha ha. Hey we all like what we like. If you are on the love the wing side so be it.
Love both of your cars. Two of the best color combos ever on a 70 Olds. Can't say enough about either one. In the eighties out here there was a local guy named Wayne. He had a 70 in that turquoise. Pictures don't do it justice like in person. Beautiful car.
Nugget Gold another special order color is the same. When I was a kid there was a guy that had a 70 W-31 Nugget Gold car. Four speed. Slotted aluminum mags. I watched that car smoke so many.
You will have 4 holes in you trunk if you remove the wing due to the pedestals. You would have to fill them, sand and paint.
The wing actually provides down force when at speed. #savetheW35wing
Thanks Pettrix: Probably wait till I have some other paint corrections done. Paint job is pretty good but there are some areas like door jambs that could have used a little more attention so probably have them re-done when remove wing.
Nice! It's good to see Gold paint being resprayed on these cars. I had a 1970 Cutlass SX 455 convertible in 1975-6 in dark green with gold interior. As usual I'm an idiot and sold it. The family that bought it where I traded it still has it. They repainted it to the original metallic Gold. I never knew it was factory Gold. But that was the 70's. Can't recall a lot of details but had a huge summer of fun with that car.
Tried to buy it back a few times. Not for sale. I totally respect that. I'll keep on the lookout for others or learn to be satisfied with the 1972 442.
