mefirst72

Hello

Came across a 68 442 (numbers matching VIN, Engine, and Cowl), with the Dual-snorkel air cleaner setup. The set-up looks right, connected to the air scoops, underneath, etc.

My question is that I believe this was only an option on the W30, or was it?

Not saying this is a W30, just wondering if the option could be original to car, off the assembly? Or was it added latter by a dealer? Has the straight Oil Filler.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

allyolds68

A straight oil filler was just a non AC car. Where was it manufactured? What heads does it have? Does it have a power brake booster? Where is the washer bottle mounted? What color are the inner fenders?

There isn't any definitive way to prove its a W30 without paperwork but the questions I asked above are a start to figure out if it could be.

mefirst72

Thanks for the reply

It's not a W30, I'm pretty sure, I haven't seen any paper work. The engine code 396026G, from Lancing, C Heads (W30 I thought were D?) , No red fenders, Automatic, etc.

Has power brake booster, they added Disc brakes to the front, Water bottle to the left, alternator to the left.

Didn't know that about the Oil filter? That it meant non-air?

So, this is why I wondering about the Dual Snorkel set-up. Could this have been an option, from the Dealer, if you didn't have any of the other W30 Options?

Thanks!

Pat

allyolds68

You could buy any of those parts from GM and add them. I'm sure if the dealer wanted to sell a car bad enough he could have made that part of the deal.


What's the tranny code. OG is the regular 442 tranny, OW was a W30. If this happened to be an OW tranny and the VIN derivative stamped on the tranny happened to matched the VIN on the car that would indicate that it was originally a W30.


I'm sure there are a few indicators I'm missing but it seems so far that you've got a car that had an OAI assembly added to it.

Octania

Pictures.

If the wwf jug is on the CAR's left then it's a homebrew OAI addition.

If the Alt is on the CAR's left then that's AC bracketry. Yet your straight oil fill tube indicates Non-AC.

The most often incorrect detail is the PCV 2-bend steel tube from LH valve cover to air cleaner. See post #11 of:
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...asing-gas.html

which shows a correct non-AC, non-OAI 2-bend tube in place. With the AC air cleaner position or the OAI air cleaner it would look like that except leaning AFT at the upper end.

If you are referring to left and right as the OBSERVER's as they face the car backwards from the front, then please stop doing that. The observer's left and right vary with respect to the car as the observer moves about and changes positions. The CAR's left and right are always the car's left and right.

hurst68olds

These cars are 40+ years old & lots of things change in that amount of time.

My brother added OAI parts to his '68 in '82 from a '69 W30 my uncle parted years before - the '68 received a 455 around '88 (25+ years ago).
& the '68 was a "442 clone" by '82 - it was a 50K mile original owner Cutlass S 350 2bbl 2-speed when he purchased it in '81.

mefirst72

Yep, assume that's the case here. It was just the extent to cut the holes to connect to the scoops, but then again, that's not that big of a deal.

Thanks!

mefirst72

Yes I was referencing from the observers side. Apologies. Lesson learned.

I'll post a shot.

I'm assuming the Dual-Air Snorkel was added on at some point. Maybe at the time of the purchase, or years down the road.

My initial question was really wanting to know if a Dealer would offer, put on, this W30 option "only" on a "not true" W30 car at the time of the sale.

Does that make sense?

Thanks. Appreciate your time.

allyolds68

I don't think that's an original OAI air cleaner. The diameter looks too big and it's got the wrong top. I think someone modified an original 68 air cleaner and added a snorkle


Look at the inside and see if one of the holes looks like it was cut rather than stamped

hurst68olds

Some dealerships would do almost anything to make a sale or make a "lot queen" finally go away. That said, adding an air cleaner & scoops at the dealership would not have had the same "WOW" impact the same parts have today.


& isn't that a '69 air cleaner?

allyolds68

69 would have the thermo valve outboard of the snout

joe_padavano

The air cleaner in the photo above is a 1980s Camaro base with an Olds lid:



Here's the correct 1968 Olds air cleaner:

mefirst72

Thant's a good idea...thanks!

mefirst72

Wow...that's interesting. And now that I look at a number of other 69 442s (online) with the Dual, you see something similar to the 80s Camaro cleaner, on a number of them, rather then the correct 68.

Mike mentioned to look to see if the wholes have been "stamped" out rather then "cut". If they are stamped, then maybe the original cleaner was lost over the years.

I'm not sure it matters either way. I was just trying to get some input on how much of this engine was modified along the way vs, how it came from the dealer.

And, if you saw a 68 442, numbers matching, etc., with this set-up, scoops and all, but wasn't a W30, if that seemed odd?

Thanks again Joe!!

joe_padavano

In 1968 the O.A.I. parts were only factory installed on the W-30, W-31, and H/O. On any other car they were installed after purchase. Most car magazines at the time listed the part numbers for this upgrade.

Octania

Looks pretty good overall though
Power Brakes were not available on the '68 W30.
Enjoy it!


here is another '68 PCV tube pic

10036_68-OAI_PCVTubeInSitu.jpg

mefirst72

Good to know...Thanks for everything Joe!

mefirst72

Hmmm...Thanks Octania