How can you tell if a 455 engine block came out of a 1970 W30 442 with out the car? Meaning you buy a block from someone who says it was a W30 (they claim to have sold the F heads).

Is there anything to look for except the 30Mxxxx below the #1 cylinfder?

Chris

 

The number after the M will be a 1 or a 2. Any other number and it is not from a w-30. More info needed after that to prove it is a real W-30 block but this is a start.

 

AN OW trans with matching VIN derivative would certainly help.

How about "D" stamped near the bores, on the deck surface?

Look for evidence that the motor had Toro or 88/98 motor mounts. A-body used the aft pair of momo holes, and therefore the block drain between the fwd pair of momo holes will have the drain plug. Toro oil filter adapter in place indicates Toro use of course. Is the Engine Unit Number still on the oil fill tube? That plus a Protecto-Plate [yeah, not my luck but hey you never know] would do it [for the oil fill tube anyhow].

 

so teh stamped block witl read 30M1xxx or 30M2xxx.

Whats the difference between the 1 or 2?

What about a block from a 70 442?

 

No trans with the engine. The F heads are gone.

Where exactly is the D located on the bores?

Chris

 

What would a blcok like this sell for with the crank and pistons, fly wheel, water pump?

 

The last six digits are simply the car's sequence number. They started at 100001. The first of those 6 digits doesn't mean anything by itself. I'm not sure why Dave is suggesting that a W-30's sequence number wouldn't start with a "3", given the number of cars that rolled out of Lansing that year. And if the sequence does start with a 1, 2, or 3, that doesn't mean it was a W-30; it could be absolutely any Olds model other than Toronado (Toros were built on a separate line with their sequence numbers starting at 500001).

Cylinder bores and pistons were measured after machining and assigned to one of four classes, A thorugh D, with D being the largest. Normally A pistons were fitted to A bores, etc. It's rumored that W-30s were built with A pistons in D bores (maybe a few other combinations were acceptable) to provide added clearance. However, the piston selection page of the 1970 Engine Assembly Manual makes no mention of any special selection for W-30s. So if it was done, it was commanded through some other channel.

Octania's suggestions are excellent. If you find any evidence that the block was installed in a B-, C-, or E-car, then it's highgly unlikely it started life in a W-30.

 

What should I look for on the oil tube fill?

 

Let's back up.

For the 1970 model year (or any model year for that matter), you CANNOT tell from looking at the block if it came from a W-30, period. You CAN prove that it did NOT come from a W-30, but lots of non-W 455s came in Lansing-built cars.

 

I'm not sure about the 1970 Chassis Service Manual, but the CSM for '72 has a chart which states the following at the bottom: W-30 engines require greater piston to bore clearance (.0025" - .0035") therefore the cylinder is bored "D" size and "A" pistons are used. Cylinder bore size is not stamped on the block. If piston replacement is necessary use size "A.

Eh interesting anyway.

 

I would tell the guy you are sorry but it cannot be proven so its worth about $50 bucks until you see proof which he cannot provide.

 

Correct, but as Joe said, the block cannot be id'd as a W30 regardless. And even if it did come out of a W30 there is nothing about it unique to the W30.

 

Kurt has really captured the heart of the matter. There is exactly NO difference between a "W-30" block and any other 455 block of the same year. That means there should be NO premium on the price, either. The main differences between a 1970 W-30 and a lesser 455 from that year are the heads and (for MT cars) the cam. Note that AT W-30s that year used the same cam as every other AT 442.

 

Well stated.
The only reason it would be worth more than any other such 455 is if the condition is superb, or its factory VIN stamp matches your car.

I would love to find 1968 G-400 engine factory VIN stamped 38M252205

As for the above post stating that the bores "are not" stamped, I can state with certainty that some [perhaps many or most] were. I have seen and photographed these bore size codes. Got caught good once- went to rebuild the engine w/o a bore job, what's this? loose piston? Bore code was "M" or similar- 0.010 factory oversize!

 

If It's in Big Rock It's real.

As far as the bore stamps go, they are not always D. The blocks were all hand picked, but I seriously doubt every w-30 received an all d bore block. but They definitely should all be the same letter, and wouldn't have had one .010 overbore piston in it haha.

 

In my experience- with, as far as I know, all not-W30 factory issue blocks...
The bores are usually stamped A, B, or sometimes C
They will vary on any one block... it is an individual bore size classification more accurate than 0.001".

From memory, I'd say most are B and C, with a few A and one M found so far. The M was indeed a single ten over piston in a factory untouched engine.

Here's some photos. I went searching the old 40G hard drive and collected various stamps into a handu folder- bore stamps, VIN stamps, firewall stamps, etc. For some reason they show up as links to teensy pics instead of the larger photos my computer shows me. I don't see any obvious way to force photos to appear here like I see others doing.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-i...C%27.JPG?gl=US

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-D...e%5D.JPG?gl=US

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-d...%20C.JPG?gl=US

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j...%20B.JPG?gl=US

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-4...ston.JPG?gl=US

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Y...tamp.JPG?gl=US

If the above are useless, let me know and I will try to find a way around the shrinking and linking.

 

OK
figured out that part
however, "click to see full size" shows up here as about 1" square with no detail whereas viewing the file from the computer or via picasa web page it's about 6" wide and I can easily see the stamped letter. No clue how to make it better.