Some interesting information on a lot of makes and models. I stumbled upon this a while back and wanted to share. Of course we can also ask our Resident Encyclopedia, Joe Padavano (or is he really an AI in humanoid form....).

https://over-drive-magazine.com/bran...-cars-archive/

 

Nice web sight, thanks for this.....Yes,,Joe be the man for sure, he probably did this web sight.

 

Very cool. Thanks for the share.

 

Nice! Thanks for posting

 

Great info...thanks for sharing.
So based on this, it's saying that only the F85 received the 250 hp version of the L75, and all others got the 270 hp version...is that correct?

 

Great info...thanks for sharing.
So based on this, it's saying that only the F85 received the 250 hp version of the L75, and all others got the 270 hp version...is that correct?

 

No, that is not correct. First, the only "F85" model available in the 1972 model year was the F85 Town Sedan (four door post). Yes, it was available with both the VIN U 250 HP automatic trans engine and the VIN V 270 HP manual trans engine. Both 455s were available in any A-body Olds offered that year, EXCEPT Vista Cruiser, which was only available with the VIN U motor. I suspect this was due to the transmission, actually, not the engine. The Vistas always got the long tail trans due to the longer wheelbase. Apparently the long tail Muncie was no longer being made by then, but the long-tail TH400 was in production for the full size cars. This sort of inaccuracy is the problem with third-party websites like this.

 

And Joe P would be more accurate. The only time you can rest assured Ai is accurate is when it quotes Joe P himself. Which it doesn't as much as it should, at least not yet.

When it comes to modern Olds V8 era, 1964-1990, Ai just needs to study everything Joe P has ever written since the internet became a thing, and i'm not kidding.

It's wrong, but you know that already.

For 1972 the 250 hp 455 was available in every single Cutlass variant available and all variants of 442, save for the W30. Plus the 4 dr F85 which could also come with the 270 hp 455.

So maybe by only they mean the 10 versions of Cutlass plus the "1" F85 available that year.

 

Where did the extra 20Hp for the stick come from? Both were duals, same carb same cam IIRC.

 

Not the same cam. VIN U cars with the 250 HP AT motor got 400117, with 258/272 duration and 44 deg overlap. VIN V cars with the 270 HP MT motor got 409691 with 286/287 duration and 61 deg overlap. Spark plugs were different, initial timing was different, carbs were different ('251 for AT, '253 for MT).

 

Awful lot of "coming soons" on there. I wonder how soon "soon" is.

 

Guys - Bob Gerometta here, the Editor of Over-Drive magazine’s Fact Sheet pages. I am sure you may have seen something on the site that challenges your Oldsmobile knowledge. That’s great - and as you may or may not have figured out – we TRY to base all we’ve posted there on factory supplied information. That’s why there’s a section is devoted to documentation, where you can download that data as it’s all in PDF. We welcome additional documentation to support anything you may have noticed. Of course, during the model year, Service Bulletins, etc. were sent out - either correcting or modifying specs. If you have those, we’d welcome them and will include them in the library and update the pages. I hope you enjoy what we’re doing and find it useful. My e-mail is robert.gerometta@over-drive-magazine. Thanks.

 

Appreciate what you're trying to do, Bob. Just at a glance, here's something you might want to address: compression ratios varied in '68-9. Only the W's got 10.5:1, garden-variety 400/4V and 350/4V had to make do with 10.25, whereas you have CRs listed as 10.5 across the board. A minor nit-pick for sure, but if you're going to be a go-to resource for car enthusiasts, I'm sure you'll want to be as accurate as possible.

You might want to look into hiring people like Joe P. as consultants for each marque to insure a minimum of "truth decay".

 

Hey, Bob. Scroll up and see my comments about the errors in the 1972 Olds info.