Not sure where to start but I just purchased a 69 442 4 speed all original except the engine is a 69 350 and I'm pretty sure it's a W-31 350 has the balancer but the slobber jet is gone and there is a holley in its place i took the car on a short drive down the road and although I've had a 70 and a 71 350 than ran good! this thing fresh out if the barn with just new tune up parts and some fresh gas out of a 2 gallon can strapped to the rad support is a TIRE FRYER!!! first 3 gears any other things to check for i dont want to take the heads off the engine to measure the valves i want to be curtin before i post the engine for sale as it is not correct for the car i plan to restore the car to drive and eventually resell any thoughs from the experts? And if indeed it is a W-31 350 what is it worth??

Thanks Ryan

 

Unfortunately, you have no idea if it is a W-31 motor or not, unless you can match the VIN derivative to the VIN of a known W-31, or if you have a numbers-matching JO-code TH350 to go with it. The balancer can be put on any 350 and frankly the balancer by itself is probably worth more than the rest of the motor. You'd need to pull the heads to measure the valves (and have no proof that those are factory-installed valves or added by a machine shop). You'd have to measure the lobe geometry of the cam to prove it's a correct 308/308 cam. The missing carb is unfortunate. Does it have the correct distributor?

 

I just checked the distributor and it's a 1111930. I would imagine it was out of a 4 speed w31 because it's a 4 speed now but I know that doesn't mean anything for Curtin.

 

If it is a Service Replacement W31 short block there are special codes on the ear of the block.


I can take a look and compare to mine if you want.


ryan1969chevelle@gmail.com




Ryan

 

Actually, I misspoke on the distributor. Unlike the big block cars, W-31s did not get a unique distributor. 1111930 is correct for a W-31 but also for every other 350 4bbl that year.

 

Thanks Ryan I just got number of the side of engine and its 39M186530 im 100% on 39M18 90% on the 6530. Well that's good to know the distributor is right I thought it was supposed to be 1111975. Does the w31 cam have noticeable sound? The motor sounds like it has a cam in it nothing radical just a slight tone to it the car has 2 1/2in duals with flowmaster 40 series mufflers too so may be my imagination too!

 

'975 is the service distributor number, '930 is original. The 308/308 cam in the 350 will make itself known. This is why you couldn't get power brakes or A/C.

 

Ok good to know I'm gonna go in with a bore scope to as what pistons look like . What is the balancer alone worth if it turns out to be a flop

 

If I can prove its a w31 engine now what's it worth I'm not looking to get rich on it but if like to use the money to put the right motor back in the car i need other parts for the car also. The motor looks too untouched to be fake I'm pretty curtin it's real I'm not new to this sport. I just found the ad in the car alone with the build sheet of the owner 18 years ago so I'm going to contact them tom for more info

 

 

The chances of it being a w-31 engine are very small since there were not many of them, the ones that died are gone, and the ones that survived are probably known about and kept in their cars. You'd be much more likely to see a W-31 CAR with a non-original engine than another Olds with some W-31s engine.

The 400G was an okay engine (that's what goes in your 69 442 stock). Someone probably either blew it, or thought they could do better, took any old Olds 350 and made it run like a raped ape with some hi po parts like that balancer and probably a bunch of aftermarket internals. And this is fine, sounds like the car runs well and you may just want to leave it as is until the right engine comes along.

It's much better to be skeptical, with an outside chance of being pleasantly surprised if it did turn out to be a W-31 engine, than be mistakenly certain before you know for sure.

 

[QUOTE=Koda;1075716]The chances of it being a w-31 engine are very small since there were not many of them, the ones that died are gone, and the ones that survived are probably known about and kept in their cars. You'd be much more likely to see a W-31 CAR with a non-original engine than another Olds with some W-31s engine.

The 400G was an okay engine (that's what goes in your 69 442 stock). Someone probably either blew it, or thought they could do better, took any old Olds 350 and made it run like a raped ape with some hi po parts like that balancer and I'm just stuck because we all know that the balancers the money for the engine but I don't want to sell the balancer off the engine if the engine is a w31 engine nor that I want to advertise that it is without taking it apart to see if it has flat tops in to measure the valves in to see if there's other pieces to the puzzle that would probably a bunch of aftermarket internals. And this is fine, sounds like the car runs well and you may just want to leave it as is until the right engine comes along.


It definitely is possible without a doubt that somebody decided to hop up a 350 but why anybody would put that balancer on a 350 doesn't make sense to me because there's no performance value by using it there's no horsepower to be gained by using that balance over a regular stock balancer and the fact that the engine has three different colors of paint on it and everything looks untouched down to every Nut and Bolt the car has been sitting from the owner that I bought it from to the owner that he bought it from is 20 years and I actually got some kind of a break I hope anyway I found in the glove box of the car the original news paper ad that the car was originally listed back in 98 I called the guy today and talk to his daughter the guy is 65 years old and his health is not in very good shape right now she or he is supposed to be calling me back when they get a chance so I guess we'll see where it leads I've looked everywhere on the internet to try to get some kind of a value on an original w31 balancer and I can't find anything I'm not looking to get rich off this I'm just looking to put the money back into the car I know somebody that has a 400 out of a 69 442 I appreciate everybody's input thanks guys

 

Come up with a price yet?

 

I'm still thinking about it a friend of my dad really wants the body I will know what is gonna go on in the next week or so. I'm likely gonna freshen the engine up anyway with new lifters,gaskets and a paint job just because it hasn't been run for so long if I sell the car i will list the engine first for sale if I can't get what I think it's worth or close to it I will put it in my 71 442 till my new motor is done. But you are the first to show interest 69 blue! Your first on the list I'll be in touch if it vets to that point pm me your interested in talking further

 

agree on the balancer price

also, it will be very very difficult to determine if that engine originally came from a W-31. Once it's rebuilt some of the W-31 specific things are gone. based on the VIN sequence number, it would be a rather early car as I know of several in May and their VIN sequences are in the 380K/390K/400K range

 

Thank you Joe for the input! Pm me your email or personal and I'll send pictures I will get some for you it looks to be in very nice shape but engine is still in the car so I will do my best.

 

Junior when I said go over it I mean just what I listed the motor sounds and runs great a and has 60psi cold and 35 hot it's just been sitting so long it bas a slight lifter tap with age and all it's not uncommon. If I can't get the tap to go away all I'm changing is gaskets lifters. As far as proof all I have is the guy was restoring 15-20 cars a year at the time he bought this car and a 68 442 conv he said he bought both to get the 68. He said he didn't have the car long and sold it but he said he remembers being told it had a rare w30 engine in it when he bought it. So that's what I got the hang my hat on as of now. I have some interest in the car and the motor so will see what happens. I greatly appreciate everyone's input on this thank you all!!!

 

69 blue sent you a pm

 

69 blue resend your pm something got messed up thanks