Since I eat sleep and breath Oldsmobiles I thought I would post some picts of my brother's new ride. He has been searching for about a year for a stick 70-72 442 with 71 his favorite year. Wow seems the prices are really up there for these cars! He finally pulled the trigger on this 72 3 speed stick floor shift. It is said to have 58,000 original miles and has been repainted in the original color. W25 and rear wing are factory items but were added. The original check list dated march 72 came with the car. Among other things the car was ordered with a posi, 8 track, buckets but no console. It is code 56 yellow with black interior and vinyl top and has no AC. He was disappointed in the 350 engine and lack of cutout rear bumper but thought it was fairly priced. It is pretty clean.

 

Neat car. The bumper is in fact correct even though he may not like it. The 3-speed is a rare bird. I like it!!!

 

Nice.

 

Nice car! Manual trans, rallye pack, non-A/C car. What's not to like?

The 3 speed stick is pretty fun to drive - I had a '68 post coupe with that setup.

He'll be itching for nice weather to arrive.

Terry

 

Does anyone know if the little lamp on top of the dash is factory? I think it says fasten seat belts... I will tell my brother the car is getting some praise. Thanks guys.

 

Nice ride!

 

yeah the 72s built in 72 had the fasten belt lights, my late 71 built car did not have it

 

Those "Fasten seat belt" lights on top of the dash only came on late '72 cars that had the Rally pack(Tach & gauges). If you did not have the Rally pack, the "Fsb" was in the bottom of the fuel gauge pod.
I have two early '72 cars, both built before 1-1-72, both with rally pack, & both have the wiring for that light, but neither has the light.

 

Good info, I dont recall ever seeing this light before, this car was ordered in March of 72 and delivered in April.

 

The FSB light light pod is correct, and as mentioned it's only for factory equipped rallye pac cars produced after Jan 1, 1972. The FSB warning is as Scot says for non U21 and U21 cars. The SB warning was legislated and supposed to be implemented and conspicuously visible/audible for cars produced after Jan 1972. As with all transitions though there will be some 72's produced in early Jan that won't have the FSB pod on the dash. That pod on the dash is also the same for the wagons; only the lens will say 'Tailgate Ajar'

The car looks really nice, has some very nice options and the stripes are correct W29 ones. The original hood for the car would also have blacked out 'faux louvers'. If your brother ever finds a broadcast card for this car it should show the W29 option in Box 12 under the heading "COPO & SO". If it came with the 350, check the VIN to see if it starts out 3G87J , or 3G87M. Both of those (2bbl and 4bbl) were true N10 turned down dual exhaust under rear bumper.

I'd be curious to know if his VIN is close to mine which was produced in early April of 1972. My last 6 VIN digits are 208783 and body number on the cowl tag is 442325.

 

Good looking car.

 

Very nice Congrats on his purchase Sounds like a nice ride.

 

Thanks again everyone, but blacked out tail light lens factory?? Wow shows you how much I know... I can get the vin this weekend. Only thing he has is the GM order sheet where you can check boxes for the options... The guy went for a tape player but only an AM radio...

 

Your knowledge is okay. No taillight lenses were blacked out in '72 except for the Hurst/Olds. Your brother's lights should have silver trim.

 

Hmmm, ya never had kids with spray paint living near ya did ya? Yes, you're right. I'll fix that. If it still retained the OEM hood with Faux louvers, THEY would be blacked out.

 

John's a lucky guy! Sweet ride...

 

Allan I didn't know that about the louvers, is that just in the 72 442?

 

Kevin, the W29 option wasn't available until the 72 model year so yup, it would only be that year far as I know. The non W29 cars with faux louvers came with the louvers matching the lower body color accented by the silver reveal trim.

 

Good looking Olds , I do like the colour .

 

nice!

 

The vin is 3G87M2M212321 and here are some pictures of the order sheet. Is it possible to tell what gear is in the rear from this?

 

Well, the gear ratios are listed on the sheet, but none are checked. I am not sure if there was a standard default gear or not. I think that you'll have to see what is stamped on the axle tube.

 

3.23's appear to be the std gear ratio per page 152 of Olds 442 & W-Machines Resto Guide.

 

Thanks, will have to look for code on axle tube as soon as this severe cold lets up.

 

That should be a page from the SPECS booklet.
http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/cgi-b...aldisplayed=50

I'd hate to send anyone to Olds 442 & W-Machines Resto Guide, as full of errors as it is.

 

Joe, that should originally be a column shift 3-spd that was converted to a floor shift.

 

Yep RPO W39 in 1972 would give the 3 speed a floor shifter.

 

If I read correctly M15 (3 spd manual) was checked and also W29. As part of the 442 package (W29) you got W39 which would be a floor shifted trans?

 

yes it is, but that page looks to be copied from original sources.

 

Nope. That's why it is called an "Appearance and Handling Package". It has *nothing* to do with the drivetrain.

 

Have to back up here. Kurt are you saying this car came with a column shifted 3 spd manual trans and someone converted it to a floor shift? I know in 72 the 442 was an option on a Cutlass and not a model. You got the appearance package when you ordered W29.

 

Wow! That is fairly close to the VIN sequence on my car. Likely it was built the week after mine. Is the cowl tag build code 04A or 04B?

Thank you so much for posting pics of that dealer working copy order. Is it a special size or just 81/2 x 11? It's the first one of these working copies I've seen.

It's weird that the F41 suspension is checked off when the W29 option has also been.

 

The order sheet is 8 1/2 x 14. Yes I did notice the suspension for trailering was checked off strange... maybe it included some sort of trailer wiring... dont know. I am not sure about the trim tag... did not look at it last week.

 

That's as good a guess as I can think of. When you get a chance to see the car again, have a look for the wiring pigtail?

 

That's what mine came with.

 

The M15 is checked off. Notice that is no-charge, too. That is the standard trans for the A-bodies: a column shift 3-spd manual.

Bear in mind this is an order sheet. What is on a order sheet does *not* mean for certain that is the way the car came. All you can say is that this is the way the car was ordered.

 

Agreed but w29 is checked and that says included with M15 would be W39 which is the floor shifted 3 speed and not the standard 3 speed column shift.

 

Yup you are correct my friend

 

You are correct. I was thinking the W39 was a shifter and trans option, but it is just a shifter option so it would coexist with the W39. Same transmission, different shifter.