Would an original 1968 W30 car have the notched valve covers or plain ones. I’ve seen Pictures of cars advertised as original W30’s with both styles and I am confused.

 

EVERY SINGLE 1968-72 A-body Oldsmobile with a big block came with TWO notched valve covers from the factory. That includes W-30s, 442s, and even Vista Cruisers. The notches go towards the back.
And for completeness, the 1967 BBO A-body cars got ONE notched valve cover on the driver side.

You will be hard pressed to find any photos of an "original" car on the interwebs, despite what people may claim. Heck, you can't even find a 68 with correct stripes and emblem location. These cars are half a century old. Assume they've been messed with.

 

“ These cars are half a century old. Assume they've been messed with.”

Truer words were never spoken....pretty on the outside, ugly down deep.

 

Thanks for the response Joe. That’s what I thought just wanted to be sure!!!

 

I trust the knowledgeable people here and have installed my notched valve covers with the notch towards the back on my 68 442.
I just saw another 442 which appears to be mostly original built in Fremont.
His valve covers had the notches towards the front which seemed to make sense because of brackets that have close clearance holding the AC compressor and such.
I was about to tell him his valve covers were backwards but wanted to back it up showing him the 68 factory assembly manual. I didn’t find anything in there or the service manual that shows notches on the valve covers.
Is there any documented proof? And can anyone explain why the notches are there on each side in the back? Thank you. —Billy

 

Why is this so hard???

The same accessory brackets were used on full size cars that did not have notched valve covers. The notches go to the back, period. They are designed to clear the 11" brake booster and the HVAC box with A/C, however the notched covers were used on all BBO A-body cars for 1968-72, no matter which options were installed. Note that the 1967 442s (and Turnpike Cruisers) got a single notched cover on the driver's side to clear the new-for-67 11" brake booster. The 64-66 cars used a 9" booster that did not require the notch. The 64-67 HVAC box did not require a passenger side notched cover in any case. The parts book and engine assembly manual clearly show the different part numbers for the notched covers. The 1967 driver side cover is the same P/N as the driver side cover on the 68-72 cars. And to clarify, the notches are not required for clearance with the engine installed, they are required to allow easy removal of the covers with the engine in the car without having to also remove the brake booster or HVAC box.

 

Here is a 1968 factory press photo of the W30 motor. Note the notch at the REAR of the passenger side valve cover.

 

And one more logic test. The 1965-66 442s didn't used notched covers. The 1967 442s used exactly the same accessory brackets, but DID use a single notched cover.
The 1968-70 cars use exactly the same accessory brackets for SBO and BBO cars, but the 350s didn't use notched covers. Why would the BBO need them for the accessory brackets if the clearance is exactly the same? And FYI, those accessory brackets bolt to the same locations on the heads and intake, so clearance is exactly the same.

 

Thank you very much Joe for the detailed description. That tells it all.
I didn’t doubt you for a second, but I just want to sound like I know what I’m talking about when I tell someone their valve covers are incorrect.
Ah! Yes I do now see the notched cover part # in the manual even though the drawing of the covers don’t show a notch.