Hi all,

My '69 442 has AC which I want to keep, while adding an OAI setup to. I'm mocking up the air cleaner, AC brackets and exhaust heat stove but haven't been able to get them all correctly in place. I remember a thread on here mentioning an air cleaner with a built in spacer but can't find it again. The main problem seems to be the heat stove; I have the correct ram air pieces but they don't clear the AC compressor brackets, unless I move them behind the compressor which causes misalignment with the air cleaner. How did the factory do this on the '68 Hurst/Olds and '69 W32 with AC? Any advice or pics of how it all goes together are much appreciated. Thanks!

-Jon

 

check this pic out

 

A/C was not available with the 1969 W-32 option.

 

That's not true. Here'a pic of a 69 W32 with air that sold at BJ a while back.
W32 ENG COMPT.jpg

There was a guy on here who I think said he'd restored that car. He was the one who said he had an OAI air cleaner that had a welded on spacer. I don't know if that was OEM or not but when I put the OAI on my 69 it fit better with a 1" spacer. I had a friend of mine make a 1 1/2" spacer and it fits better still. My friend has a wealth of knowledge about OAI cars and he swears an AC car would have had a spacer from the factory. I don't know for sure but I trust his opinion.
Here's a couple pics of my install
IMG_1672.JPGIMG_1669.JPG

I haven't sprung for the hot air stove parts yet so I can't help you with that yet.

 

And of course there has NEVER been a car sold at BJ that wasn't EXACTLY as claimed...

I'm going by the factory sales order sheet, that indicates that C60 was not available with W-30, W-31, or W-32. I welcome seeing any factory documentation that updates that.

 

I wasn't saying auction cars are always correct. I was saying a member of this board said he had restored the car and could speak to it's provenance and authenticity.

By the same token the factory literature is NEVER in question is it Doesn't the factory literature say you couldn't get a 69 W30 with disc brakes? The friend I mentioned in my first post had a 69 W-30 for 15 years and it did have factory manual discs. It's a strange world, things happen.

 

In the nearly four decades that I've been building cars, I've found that people say a lot of things. Mondello once said that headers won't fit Supremes, for example. Because of this, unless there is hard documentation, I take any verbal claims with a grain of salt, particularly if they conflict with published factory data. The Cutlass body numbers on 68-69 442s is a classic example. I would not believe it if it were not published in the Fisher Body manual.

Yes, the factories made mid-year changes, but these were accompanied by letters to dealers, service manual updates, TSBs, press releases, parts book updates, or other factory documentation. As I said before, I welcome seeing any type of factory document that would corroborate the fact that A/C was factory installed on a 1969 W-32. Until that time, I remain skeptical.

 

I believe scepticism is not necessarily unhealthy in our hobby.

 

Thanks all for the help. I thought the W-32 was available with AC but I can certainly see why it wasn't. I'll try a spacer and see how it all fits. Thanks again!

-Jon

 

Joe, was the 68 H/O available with a/c? I seem to recall seeing a hose routed up over the a/c system on a 68 H/O once at an Olds show, and while it looked strange, I never thought about it not being factory because it was on a restored 68 H/O.

It seems like the hose would be kinked a bit, and I wonder if the hose gets squished when the hood is closed?

 

70-72 Chevelle cowl induction air cleaner spacer may be just the ticket. I used one to clear an HEI. Car @ home, I'm @ work but I think it is somewhere between 1 1/2" & 2" tall. It goes right between carb & air cleaner base.

http://www.ss396.com/mm5/merchant.mv...ort=&offset=20

1970 1971 1972 CHEVELLE COWL INDUCTION AIR CLEANER SPACER
Code: ARA-4365
Price: $29.99

 

Yes, it was, and to my knowledge, that is the only O.A.I. A-body that was available with A/C and the duct-style O.A.I. tubes. Of course, the 1970-up W-30s were available with A/C, but those cars didn't use the ducts.

 

Late 70s caddy sevilles with 350 Olds enigne and throttle body had an air cleaner spacer. I have seen a couple different height spacers.

 

Thanks again for the help everyone. I had another thought; would the exhaust heat stove piece from a '68 AC car work (the piece which attaches to the air cleaner)? It looks like it would mate to the piece from the exhaust manifold shroud and clear the compressor brackets. Thanks!

-Jon

 

Hello everyone! I just bought the bronze 69 442 w-32 that comes up when you go to google and press images. For a 69 442 w-32. Does anyone know more about this car? He says its a w-32? It has a/c and factory tilt and front disc.

 

I have Factory info that goes to April of 1969 and NO C60(A/C) on W-30, W-31 or W-32. 1968 or 1969.

 

If you are talking about the car in Long Island , it is a clone.

if this is a different car my apologies

 

As Joe said NO W CAR in 69 came w a/c from the factory
now could there have been a possibility that the dealer installed one .......don't know.

 

 

Would a '68 H/O with AC and OAI crush the OAI hoses a bit with hood closed?

Perhaps

But bear in mind the size of the hoses [plural] vs the acreage of the orifi that all the air passes thru at the carb.

It's not like you are starving the engine for air if the hose deforms a bit.

 

Hopefully not taking this too far off topic (don't think I am), but that 68 H/O W46 engine picture shows the OAI hoses with the big "C" shaped holders on the inner fender as well as those strange springs across them. I've never seen any documentation for those springy things on the 68 H/O and I also believe that actually only installed one of the holders on the left side inner fender for the W46 cars.

Joe

 

Chris, on mine the hose gets close to the hood, but it does not touch or rub.

 

Correct, in the 68 PIM there is a note that states the RH clamp is to be left off on the W46 cars. What is really unique is the factory "modification" made to the hot air adaptor that pushes onto the air cleaner snorkel on the AC cars.

 

I thought the 69 W-32 was a detuned W-30 which is were more options such as P/B & AC could be added because of the caming.

 

No, Olds said it was a more "streetable" automatic car. P/B yes, A/C no. All said in the same document. Never intended to have A/C.
Like Mike says, there are some later references that still back the "no A/C". Nobody has come up (or forward with) with any documented change to that. So until someone comes up with documents, or a documented A/C car, there is no reason to believe A/C came on a W car in in '68 or '68. A number of cars ('69s W32s in particular) have claimed to come from the factory with A/C, but none have ponied up with any proof.

 

Wasn't the SX model the continuation of the 69 W-32 for 70 -71?

 

Just so we don't repeat ourselves. Here's the last time we went down this W32 with A/C road.........


It got ugly. But as Kurt said, there was still no proof of a 69 W32 with A/C


https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...4-speed-2.html


for those of you that don't want to wade through the 6 pages of the thread...... the current (and original) owner insisted on A/C (because he ordered it that way) and the dealer installed it.......so to him.....it was "factory" installed

 

No. Read all about the SX.
http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/cgi-b...aldisplayed=50
It was more like the continuation of the Turnpike Cruiser. Then suffering an identity crisis, the W32 SX was introduced still in '70. And that was essentially a 442 without the badges. It was never a step up from the 442 like the W32 of '69.

 

The reason that A/C was not factory-available on the 1968-69 O.A.I. cars was due to the interference between the A/C compressor and the O.A.I. flex hose. The only 68-69 O.A.I. cars that ever came with A/C were the 1968 Hurst/Olds. As noted above, the compressor rubs on the hose and kinks it.

 

Scuse me, Mr. Padavano, but I believe the 69 H/O came with air. Of course, its OAI went through the hood.

I went to the HOCA nationals this summer and saw a 68 H/O with AC and the hoses as above. I'm interested because the 67 442 with a dealer or customer installed track pack could be done on an AC car with the same issue, and, as it is what I will do with mine, I don't know to mod the muffler position and run the hose behind the compressor, or just hop it.

I should see how much room there is under the hood to the compressor.

 

Joe, mine does not have issues with the hose itself rubbing on the compressor and not installing the RH filler clamp like specified in the PIM helps it "float" little more. I put NOS hoses on it in 1999 and they are still fine. The REAL problem with A/C and OAI is like I mentioned above - the hot air elbow - if not modified with a hammer like they must have done on the line in 68 - it hits the compressor bracket and will not let the air cleaner base sit down evenly onto the carburetor. I know this because when I was going through the engine parts during my resto, I noticed that adaptor elbow thing was beaten in on the bottom. A good friend who had parted a 68 442 vert had a intact one, so I threw mine in the trash. Three days before the 99 nationals, I finally got around to getting the hot air system together and voila the air cleaner will not sit down level on the carb because of the problem mentioned above. The remedy - another perfectly good piece smashed in about 1/2 inch on the bottom with a crescent wrench and I was good to go. It doesn't show at all.

 

You are correct. I should have specified that I was only talking about cars with the tube-style O.A.I. and bumper scoops. It's the flex tube that's the problem, not the O.A.I. per se.

 

Hello everyone! This is Sam here. I still haven't heard from anyone on my car purchase? I bought it from Hollywood motors in Babylon New York . Vin number 344879Z12679. Does anyone know any more details about this car? Like I wrote before, if you punch in 69 442 w-32 , mine is the bronze one with the black vinyal top. There's a long write up on it, so if someone could read it and tell me what they think about that! Thank you!!

 

There is also pics where the motor is shown , with the ac from factory and the outside air induction system. The motor is maching! H

 

I haven't had time to check for build sheet in the locations where they say to look, cause of very busy at work and still haven't haf time to safety it. Also would you guys recommend the bilstein shocks and moog springs for this 442?? And if no, why not and which ones would be better and why? Thank you!!

 

okay is this the car from Long Island ?

yes a/c would have came from the factory

 

almost purchased the car in 2008
it is not a real w-32
previous owner added air cleaner and scoops
also car was built in Fremont which there is debate whether W-32's were even made outside of Lansing

 

Koda = "I went to the HOCA nationals this summer and saw a 68 H/O with AC and the hoses as above. I'm interested because the 67 442 with a dealer or customer installed track pack could be done on an AC car with the same issue, and, as it is what I will do with mine, I don't know to mod the muffler position and run the hose behind the compressor, or just hop it."


The 66 and 67 Shrouds(Air Cleaner) had more of a outward inlet where as the 68 and 69 Air Cleaners were more forward. Also 66 and 67 had longer hoses.

 

Indeed sir, indeed. I have a 67 cleaner awaiting rechroming for mine. I shall mock it up sometime to check, and show you all a pic or two.

 

"The reason that A/C was not factory-available on the 1968-69 O.A.I. cars was due to the interference between the A/C compressor and the O.A.I. flex hose. The only [bumper scoop] 68-69 O.A.I. cars that... came with A/C were the 1968 Hurst/Olds. As noted above, the compressor rubs on the hose and kinks it."
=================================
Oh, so, rubbing and kinking the hose was OK for the H/O, but not for the lowly W30 442.

That explains it.