Lonnies Performance

Almost all "B" heads I see do not have the AIR ports drilled/tapped.

The factory heads on my '66 442 have plugged ports. It was built in Michigan.
Is this an oddity?

VC455

Vehicles made for California delivery had an AIR pump with those tapped heads. It's always a puzzle why some of these parts wind up on a different car, but we are always told the factory did the necessary to get cars out the door.

Lonnies Performance

That was my thought... if it was a California built, I could understand it.
The car was bought new in PA.

Were there any MI assembled cars built with AIR pumps in '66?

joe_padavano

Yes. Lansing plant built cars for sale in CA also. For example, all Toronados were built in Lansing, no matter where they were sold. Joe Donnelly will hopefully chime in, but I thought the 1966 W-cars got heads with drilled ports and plugged holes also. On the other hand, don't put a lot of credence in the "anything could have been built" stories. Usually these are used to legitimatize a one-of-none car. Oldsmobile took great care to fully document any changes on the assembly line. Keep in mind that these cars needed to be warrantied and supported by the dealerships and parts network. A car thrown together with random parts would have been very difficult to support after sale. You will find that any time there was a change to the assembly configuration, it was documented in engineering changes and service guild bulletins. The one classic example I like to use is that late in the 1967 model year, there were about 750 330 motors built using head and block castings from the 1968 350, but with smaller bore. This is fully documented in the Service Guild bulletins and in the parts book.

Koda

I have wondered if there were any other 442 restrictions other than "W-30" that were limited to Lansing.

joe_padavano

Lesser 442s were built in every plant that built A-body cars.