mildetfan

Looking to find some information on my 1971 cutlass.
It's for sale, and the people calling are saying that a 71 didn't come with a manual 4 speed transmission.
Did a 71 Cutlass come standard with a 442?
How do you tell the difference if it's is a 350 rocket?
VIN# 336871M121775

Dennis

Allan R

Actually the factory specs / dealer ordering show that Cutlass was a standard transmission car unless you upgraded to automatic. But it was a 3 speed standard.
Most Cutlass models came with a TH350 or TH400 automatic Transmission depending on engine. All models could be ordered with optional engines and the 4 speed manual.

If you've got one with a 4 speed, you probably have a nice car with a 455. Also so it was probably a special order car because not many were produced with the 4 speed. Some of the other guys on this site can probably give you more info on your car. Can you put some pictures up so we can see it?
The VIN coding you have means:
3 = Oldsmobile division
36 = F85 Deluxe (also might be part of 442 designation I think)
87 = 2 Dr Holiday coupe (body style no pillars on door or quarter glass)
1 = 1971 model year
M = Lansing (production plant)
121775 = production sequence.

joe_padavano

Allan has come close on decoding the VIN, but not quite. 33687 is a Cutlass S Holiday Coupe. In 1971, the F-85 model name was only used on four door cars. It is not a 442, since for 1971 that was a separate model with a unique VIN. The engine code is not included in the VIN for 1971, so you can't tell what engine was in the car originally from the VIN (though you CAN tell that the car was originally a V8 car and not a six cylinder car from the VIN).

The base transmission for this model was a three speed Saginaw manual trans with column shift. Optional transmissions were the HD three speed with floor shift, four speed with floor shift, and three speed automatic.

By the way, if by "Did a 71 Cutlass come standard with a 442?" you mean the engine size, there was never a 442 cubic inch engine offered by Olds.

88 coupe

As opposed to a "regular" 350? There is no difference.

The term "Rocket" was a marketing term, originally used to keep the public from confusing the 303 Olds with the 331 inch Cad that was released at the same time.

Or a 442 horsepower engine.

Norm

mildetfan

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto/875378663.html

The upload keeps failing.

mildetfan

Thanks for all the information. We really appreciate it!
From what we pulled off the engine it is a 350 and it does have the aluminum trans that everyone calling was asking about.
We've owned the car since 1985 and haven't had the time or money to get it restored. Now, before putting it back in storage we thought we would try & sell it.

joe_padavano

I don't know who all was asking, but the only four speed ever offered in a Cutlass was the aluminum Muncie. The cast iron Saginaw four speed was never a factory option.

joe_padavano

The question was about determining the engine from the VIN.

88 coupe

Not likely, if the same casting number was used from '68 to '76.

Norm

Chumley

Boy talk about your apples and oranges! I think there is some confusion here as to block casting number, engine size and vehicle indentification number. Everybody is correct, just not on the same page.

Chumley

88 coupe

Since, in this case, the casting number has nothing to do with the VIN,

how can both of these statements be correct?

Norm