Help Oldsmobile faithful.
I am looking at adding a 1969 F85 post coupe to my stable.The current owner purchased the vehicle in 1980 with the belief that it was aW31 car. He does not have the build sheet. He is way beyond reasonable with his asking price even for a 69 F85. The car is very solid. I could use some help with indentification.
I have a few questions:
The inner black plastic wheel wells have circular cut-outs that have been covered with riveted round aluminum. Would the factory have done this?


I am unable to open the trunk because the lock is jacked-up.When knocking on the trunk lid it sounds paper thin, like a tin trash can, very tinny. I am told this is a possible clue. Is this correct?


The harmonic balancer…..yes the harmonic balancer. The balancer is very thick. What is the thickness of a W31 balancer?


The car does have 4 wheel drum brakes, front and rear sway bars and boxed rear control arms. The current owner indicated the rear end is a4+ ratio. Where on the rear end is the identification code?


The owner indicated that he was told when he purchased the vehicle in 1980, he was told the car was originally a 4-speed converted to anautomatic. It currently has a floor shift non-console bucket seat interior. He changed the bench seat to buckets. The steering column does not show any indication it was a column shift at one time. Was a floor shift bench seat automatic available from the factory?


I popped the back seat in search of a build sheet with no luck. Where else might it be hiding?


Thanks in advance, any help would be appreciated.


Disclaimer: I did a search of the site but didn’t find anything clear to answer my questions.


Thanks again


Scott

 

 

I should have included that the car is Lansing built.... M in the vin#. Thanks for the build sheet info.

 

Standard Olds 350 balancer:



W-31 balancer:

 

Thanks Joe..... This helps.

 

Lansing built! Stop looking! You can try peeling up the carpet on the drivers side by the seat for a Fisher broadcast card.

I am not sure if the W31 is listed like the W30 in box #3 in the second line.

Pat

 

Thanks Pat....will do.

 

Where does the OP say this is a Lansing-built car? Obviously, that's the first thing to look for, as any W-31s must be Lansing-built, but the post doesn't say that it is. In any case, the only build sheets I've ever found were on top of the gas tank, and those were a Fremont car and a Framingham car.

To address some of the other questions, no, there was never a factory AT floor shifter with bench seat. More importantly, a real 1969 W-31 with factory automatic would have a TH350 with a JO code tag and a VIN derivative stamp that matches the car's VIN.

Olds didn't use a "thinner" trunklid on these cars, so rapping will tell you nothing. The "reduced sound deadener" was simply the deletion of the underhood pad on W-cars.

Factory O.A.I. cars would have had 4" circles cut out in the inner fenders just behind the taillights. The cover plates are not factory.

Keep in mind that a lot can happen in 45 years. It was not uncommon for W-car front ends to be installed on regular Cutlii for crash repair. I've seen red W-30 inner fenders painted black and installed on regular cars. I've personally pulled parts from a W-31 in a wrecking yard in the 1970s. At the time, these were just used cars.

 

Thanks Joe......


The vin# is 332779M207074.


It is my understanding that an M vin indicates Lansing built. Is this not true?


Thanks


Scott

 

Correct.

3=Oldsmobile division
32=F-85 model
77=Sport Coupe
9=1969 model year
M=Lansing assembly plant
207074=sequential build number

Apparently this is the week for questionable 1969 W-31s.

Take a look at this thread.

Flat hood or "double hump"?

 

Attached is a photo of the car Joe.....

 

Well, unlike the bogus car at Barrett Jackson, this one at least has the correct hood and a Lansing VIN. As I noted, check the trans and the balancer. Those are your two best sources of "proof". Of course, the Chevy outside mirror needs to go.

 

"69 broadcast cards will not have W31 on them, did not happen until 1970.

 

Joe, I think that you meant headlights, not taillights.

 

Joe, below is the best photo I have of the balancer.....can you tell anything?

 

Unfortunately, the balancer is mostly blocked by the water pump inlet. The more interesting item in this photo, however, is the use of the three-groove A/C pulley with only alternator and no PS pump. That should be correct for the HD cooling configuration, which used the long A/C water pump.

Veddddy interesting.

 

Please tell me more Artie, HD cooling an option or standard for a W31?

 

[QUOTE=joe_padavano;889841]Where does the OP say this is a Lansing-built car? Obviously, that's the first thing to look for, as any W-31s must be Lansing-built, but the post doesn't say that it is.

Post or permalink #3

Pat

 

Standard on a W-31, but of course also optional on lesser Cutlii under RPO V01. Similarly, the 4.33 rear axle was RPO G89, which was one of the axles required with W-31 but also available separately. HD Cooling V01 was required with G89.

The data so far doesn't preclude the fact that this is a real W-31 (again, unlike the BJ car). This isn't concrete proof, but it does look promising.

 

To clarify as Im not as strong on the 69 subtleties as I am with 68:

Double hump hood came on all W31s regardless of trim level and model, right? Was the double hump hood considered a Cutlass S and 442 only hood? And the flat hood was F85 Club Coupe & Cutlass Club Coupe. Need clarification here on what had what. Was there a CS in 69? I believe so, what hood? Flat?

Vinyl roof is not terribly common on F85s, in fact this is the first one I've seen in a few years. So code B-08 was available. This also included the stainless vinyl roof trim. So the F85 body can be void of all body stainless and yet have the vinyl roof stainless. This stainless was present if the painted roof was ordered as well. Not to common either. True or false statements?

W31 Exterior trim options...were there any mandatory exterior trim options on a 69 W31 other than what the body trim level dictated? Of course the humped hood and W31 call outs were there. W31 could be ordered on any body style including one year only verts. Exception wagons and 4 doors.

 

Yes, as documented in the 1969 Assembly Manual.

Correct on all counts. There was a Supreme offered in 1969, it got a flat hood, and per the SPECS booklet, W-31 was not an available option on the Supreme.

Actually, RPO C08 was Rooftop Covering, Vinyl - includes chrome roof drip moldings. $100.06 on the F-85. RPO D99 was Two Tone Finish, Magic Mirror, for $31.07 and did include the same chrome used on the vinyl top, at least at the base of the C-pillars and across the trunklid. Otherwise, your statements are correct.

The W-31 package included W42 dual stripe hood paint, which was not otherwise available on an F-85 due to the standard flat hood.