I have this sad sack of a car I bought primarily for the interior and a bunch of other parts it came with. Before I start pulling parts out of it I thought I should make sure it isn't more than what it seems.
1970 Cutlass S built in Lansing (36870M)
Black bucket interior with console shift (not a dual gate or anything fancy)
Limited slip rear end, factory boxed control arms and sway bar
Original engine with #6 heads
Maybe a W31 balancer? See photo...

The car had some serious reconstruction at some point, so many W31 parts are certainly absent.

- It currently sports a 1972 front end (core support, fenders, hood) with no sign of OAI equipment
- cast intake, aftermarket carb
- Only one gas line however it looks to have been replaced (front to back) not long before I got the car. If a second line had been present, it may have been removed at the same time
- Power boost drum brakes (possibly installed as part of the front end repairs...but I'd say that's a stretch)
- Transmission code appears to be JL219 as stamped on the servo cover. I have to lift the car to see the vin derivative stamp if it's there, and to look for any other ID plates)
- No sport mirrors. Haven't checked to see if the doors might be off the '72 that donated the front end.

I haven't looked for the rear end code yet, nor have I checked the seats for any build sheets. If it actually is a W31 it would be a long, expensive road to return it to it's former glory...that would be for someone else to do. I just want to pull some parts out of it for my other '70. Is it worth the effort to dig any further, or are there enough strikes against it to not bother?

 

I forgot to mention that although it has dual exhaust, it also has a stub of the crossover pipe pinched/sealed closed.

 

I don’t think that’s a w31 balancer.
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...lancer-135471/
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums.../#&gid=1&pid=3

 

I'd have to agree. I was having a hard time finding a good description of the W31, and this one was "sorta like" one, and was different from the others in my shop right now. The smaller diameter portion of the W31 photo does look quite a bit chunkier than mine.

 

A factory dual exhaust car would have a formed cap there, not a fabricated stub pipe.

 

That was my thought when I saw the non-factory looking solution.

This would have been a nice car back in it's glory days, but "just" a Cutlass S.

 

And a W31 balancer looks like this.



As compared to this: