W-machine that is. Hey Guys! Just wanted to introduce myself to the forum. My name is Jay.. I grew up classic oldsmobiles as that was all my father and uncles drove/raced growing up. Im 32 now and looking to start my resto on my 70 Olds W-30 very very soon, so i will have alot of questions on where to get certain parts... etc. i picked the car up about 6 years ago.. paid 4600 for it. Exterior of the car is in "need of resto" shape, but i bought the car primarily because of how MINT the interior was. The car is gold w/ white stripes. (i was told an odd color for that year???) Interior is white. Car has 30,000 original miles and sat for most of its life. What drew me to it aside from the interior being mint and unmolested was the fact that it had a 4 speed with a bench seat! Hmmm??? After having the car for about a year, i climbed in one day and shimmied the glove compartment door open (didnt get keys with the car, only a title) and inside was the protect o plate! That night i got home and after about 15 mins of phone number/name searching... i called the first number i found and sure a s*it it was the original owner!!!! Come on... REALLY!! Talked to him for about an hour about the car. Verified a true W-30, that he paid extra at the dealer to have a heavy duty clutch, 390 gears, and wait for it... wait for it... a Muncie M22 Rockcrusher!! I was extatic about this. Car had been in the exact same spot from the time he left it. He told me his wife wouldnt let him get buckets because they had kids!! lol. Everything on the car is still there... aside from the original motor. He told me the original motor let a rod go when he had and the same chevy 396 he put in, is still in there now. I lucky for me have the original motor from my fathers W-30 when he was 18. Saved the motor and the hood before he junked the car back in the day. (said it was to rotted). Never the less, that will be the motor going in my car. So how rare is this gold w/ white stripe color code along with a bench seat 4 speed? I personally have never seen another in this color or even a bench 4 speed setup. Looked at all the pics on the internet i could find. Anyone have any input? Thats my story... wanted to share with you.

 

Welcome. It could be nugget gold, galleon gold, or burnished gold, not uncommon. M22 was not available in 1970, and no, you could not get the dealer to special order it, it would be a M21, standard for 1970 W30 when a 4spd was ordered. 3:91 gears were available as an option.

 

Watcha gonna do with that 396? I have an old chevy truck out here

 

Um pictures needed!

 

Welcome, cool story, and pics are a requirement under penalty of death and loss of first born child.

 

Welcome aboard Yes pics are a must Great story and it seems you have great Olds history with your Dad as well

 

Oh and Dan (1969w3155) is right. The M-22 didn't debut until '71 with Oldsmobile. Do you have any documentation that came with it? I wonder what the build date is. That info would be on the cowl tag.

 

I looked for the build sheet as the original owner told me he never looked for it. I assume its above the fuel tank as i looked under the back seat, behind the back seat and under the carpet on the driver side. I will have to look on the tag GAoldsman. What exactly am i looking for on the tag to show me the build date? When you open the hood on the car, as soon as you open it and look up...all the way to the front of the hood there is a date written in what looks almost like a tire crayon and it does end with a 71. The protect o plate is dated 1/23/70 so it seems it was an early car. When i get the car up on the lift... i will have to verify what trans is in it. Shurt24 that 396 thats in there is a short block but has been sitting headless for years. It will be for sale as soon as i pull it. Is it worth anything? My uncle got the heads and i know the heads said Hi-Perf on them when i pulled them years ago.

How do i post pics???? Im going to be pulling the car out very soon and getting it into the shop to start tearing into it so i can get some shots of it and post them up.

 

The cowl tag is on the drivers side of the car, stand beside the drivers front fender after you have opened the hood and look to your right just beyond the hood hinge. take a pic and post it here, and we will decipher it.

 

Here is a pic of the location, though a bit blurry, you can see the tag.

 

Thanks 1969W3155. I got a pic of it. Do you have an email i can send it too? Id rather not post the pic with the VIN of the car online.

 

orrrr ... i could do this...

70 34487LANXXXXXX
TR 947 58 58 PNT
0A1

 

Sorry.... Thats 01A NOT 0A1

 

The cowl tag does not have the vin in it. The tag decodes as this: 70=1970 model year, 34487= 442 hardtop coupe, TR 947=interior trim ivory vinyl bench seat, 58 58=paint (PNT), uppper & lower colors, burnished gold , body and top, 01A= build date, 1 is january, A is the first week, a mid year build.

 

3 - Oldsmobile division
44 - model 442
87 - body style 2 door Holiday coupe
LAN - production factory
XXXXXX - body number which is completely different from VIN. It's simply the 'body shell' that Fisher produced for assembly of the car at a specific division. My body number is 442325 which is completely different from the last 6 numbers of my VIN which are 208783
0A1?? You sure? Maybe 01A makes more sense. That's the first week of January 1970. This is NOT an early production car, it's closer to the middle of model year production. Typically the factory re-tooled in late June to start the production runs for the next model year in July/August so there would be inventory arriving at dealerships in a timely fashion.
TR-Trim 947 - Ivory themed interior (would have either black or gold colored dash/carpeting)
PNT - 58 58 means upper and lower body color were both 'Burnished Gold'

Since it's a Lansing car, there is very little to no chance of finding the build sheet. Lansing was very conscientious about removing them from the car after it was built. You may however find broadcast cards with Fisher information on some options.

The VIN of your car is not something really secretive unless you want it to be. I can tell you right now that it starts off 344870M followed by the production sequence that it came down the line. Middle of the year car might be somewhere around 160000-170000? Your VIN will be in the lower right side of the metal dash as you look through the front window of the car from the outside.


EDIT: Dan I see you guys were busy posting while I was typing.

 

You guys are friggin awesome! Thank you for all this help. I apologise, i assumed that was matching to the VIN which i know is located driver side lower dash area, but i never looked to verify if it was the same. My fault. The Complete number is 34487LAN341349. Was there a code for what color stripes the car got? What deceifered whether the car got white, black, etc. Mine has white, which i love on the gold... but just curious.


Thanks again guys!!!

 

Oldsmobile had SPECS books and Dealer selling Guides that listed 'suggested' color combinations for interior/exterior colors.

The SPECS brochure didn't provide the stripe option choices - just the interior / exterior color combos. The Dealer selling guide had a special insert on the front binder cover that listed the stripe colors. Dealers would include that info on sales orders. Otherwise the factory would produce the car with color choices they felt best matched the suggested theme. Burnished Gold would likely have come from the factory with white stripes exactly as your car did - to match the interior color.

Scot knows a lot more than I do about special orders - in fact he has a thread about that on this site. He can chime in to advise you more on the color presentation. Looking forward to seeing pics of your ride. Documented 1970 W30's are very desirable and collectible cars that can command big $$$.

 

TicToctac, are you in West Michigan? The reason that I ask is a '70 W30 in this same color combo was parked on a side street away from a car show that I was at, several years ago, it was a couple of blocks away, and I spotted it, and me and my buddy and his son went and looked at it, it was a pretty straight looking car...with a baby seat in the back! Never saw the owner.

 

We can also decode your protect-o-plate as well. It appears that someone knew what they wanted when they ordered this one new

 

Now where are the pics all these details and no pics is just not right! ;-)

 

Thanks Allan! I was curious about the color combo, but i am extatic the tag numbers read exactly what the car is and what i have. This build i have been pushed off for a number of years mostly because we (my father and i) built a Foxbody mustang to go race with. I wanted to take my time with the Olds and do the car correct and right, not a rush botch job. Literally the only thing the car is missing is the original motor, but i have the original motor from my fathers W-30 442 from When he was a kid thats going in. Couldnt think of a better motor!
The mustang was the car of choice because thats my era of car, and its 1000lbs less then any big olds! lol. Never the less, the car is basically finished, off the trailer on 1 stage of juice the car went 9.24@143mph with a little 363 SBF. But reality is, its just another mustang, and what could possibly be cooler then driving down the road with your old man in a car that is as rare as they come knowing this is what he drove at 18 years old. There is NOTHING cooler. I said if i was going to jump into a build, i want to do it with the right car. I def have it. Someone please tell me how to post pics!! I will take a bunch so you guys can see what im working with!

I have the Protect O Place GAoldsman... The original owner told me he wanted every "gofast" option he could afford/get back then. His exact words were "I dragged raced that big olds everywhere i went!" lol. So that is why im curious as to what else was an option. I know it has a hood lock inside the car just above your left knee while sitting driver side. I was told that was an option too??? Never the less, you guys are awesome in helping me figure out what it is i have here. I will post the info on the protect o plate as soon as i get home tonight. Thanks!!

 

Magna86, my email is Devils996@aol.com If you can email directions on how to post pics up, or let me know on here how to do it, i will get on it ASAP!!

 

Try this https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...ic-thread.html

 

Here is the info off the protect o plate guys...

02-492 1 15 01-23-70
344870M239664 00005

 

welcome, lots of info on this board and lots of people who can help. The hood lock is a cool option but boy it an be a pain when its not working! Same with the hood pins on the hood.

 

02-492 = Dealer Zone 2 and Code
1 = May stand for Jan 1970 but not 100%??
15 = May stand for 15th of Jan 1970 as far as build date??
1/23/70 = Delivered to the dealer
344870M239664 = VIN
00005 = Miles on vehicle when arrived at the dealer

 

The 1 15 makes sense that it was assembled at Fisher in the first week of Jan per the cowl tag

 

Good eye there Steven. When the hood locks were first mentioned, I thought he was referring to the chrome ***** that go with the W25 hood (seeing it's a W30 car it would come with that) So, is the car also equipped with a T44 inside locking lever/cable system? In 1970 it was a one piece cable so it's easy to replace. 71/72 were the ones with the 2 piece cable under the hood. Always wondered WHY?

TicTocTac Does your car have something like this under the left side of the dash?

 

Yep, that looks like the exact one in the car!

 

Probably it will be black instead of trimmed in Gold though. The ones that were gold were in the high end B and C body cars.

 

So i had a conversation with my uncle today on how im restoring my W-30 and he informs me that he has something for me thats been sitting in my grandmothers attic...... so after hearing what it was.... Attic diving i went and lookieeeeeeeeee what i gotttttttttt!!!!!

 

Hmmm, looks remotely familiar, probably worth a buck or two - I'll give you $50 and I'll even pay for shipping

That is just too cool. Is that from the original engine? - would match the car since it was a January 1970 build date and that's a later manifold with only "OLDS" on it.

 

Cha Ching Now that is awesome right there.

 

Came off my uncles W30. My father told me his intake got sold with one of his other olds 455's he put in his 64 Camino, so i knew that was the only thing i was missing. I have dads original motor from his 70 W-30 and its all there... Block, F-heads, its all there! I was just missing that damn intake.... so today when discussing the build with my Uncle Scott.... he says "You know i have the intake off my W30 in your grandmothers attic". I said ..WHOOO WHATTTTT????? hahahahaha Needless to say it was a great night for me... Chicken Soup Dinner at grandmas and the attic dig for the intake. First 20 mins, i wont lie, i thought it was a lost cause..... but there it was, in a garbage bag in the corner covered buy your typical attic crap. Thing looks brand new for being up there for 30 years!! LOL.

Steven..... could you at least give me 75 for it??? If not... im just gunna scrap it!

 

Welcome to CO! Sounds like a great project, can't wait to see pics.

 

Pics of the car im hoping to get posted this weekend!
Nice to meet you OLD SKL 69! A fellow Long Islander. Im in the Port Jeff area.
Steven, thank you for pointing that out! I never put the two together that there were 2 diff intakes! pre Dec 69 had "Oldsmobile" so this would be the correct intake for my car! Big time score.
Im going to be calling a guy tomorrow about a passenger front fender for the car. Question........ Does the 70 W-30 have "ripples" on the fender where the hood sits? the driver fender has them (which i do believe to be original, but not 100%) and the passenger side which i believe the fender was once changed, does not have the ripples. What is supposed to be correct on this car??

Thanks!

 

1970 production had no 'ripples'. The ripples as you call them are designed to allow the fender to collapse in those crimp areas during a frontal collision. If you have 1 fender with the crimped inside, it's been replaced because they weren't introduced till the 1971 model year. Some 1971 models got the leftover stock of non crimped fenders until that factory stock ran out. Most of the 1971 production year and ALL the 72 production year had crimped fenders.

This is a 1970 442 W30. Note: both sides are 'flat'

 

Awesome... thank you Allen! Now i know when im looking for fenders, i know what to get. Any recommendations on where to buy a good solid set? Of course id rather NOS if i could even find a set and im MORE then sure i better have my wallet ready! lol I would take a good set of new repo's but i dont mind paying extra if the repos are a very close to exact match as the NOS. What do you recommend Allen?

Here is a couple shots of the car i took today. Its fairly tight between the 2 cars so i couldnt get any good side shots yet, but you can see how nice the interior is. 37,000 original mile car. What a shame it sat its whole life. 90% of the steel looks great from the outside, surface rust to be expected, but i noticed today the rot is pretty bad around the back window area.

 

Have to ask, why do you say it's 37K original miles? Is there some documentation? Obviously it needs some work. I wouldn't say it sat it's whole life, it looks like someone drove it hard a few times. That lower gage cluster looks a bit like the ones Randy (w70442) makes. The steering wheel is not original either - it's a Starfire (14.5") wheel instead of the full size 15.5" one. Easy to spot because of the stitch and rubber patterns.

Would love to see more pics showing the rest of the car.

re: fenders? Good luck finding NOS 70 fenders. Even if you did, the $$ would be stupid. If this was my car and I was planning to drive it more than show it? I'd just get some fender patch panels and weld them in. I'm guessing the rot is on the lower fender behind the wheel? Patch panel will save you a lot of time in trying to fit replacement repro fenders to the car. The ones that are on it now obviously fit, so you're ahead of the game.

rear window rot/rust is very common. Especially seeing how much is on the front bumper, it will prolly be bad when you open it up. There are a few guys who are parting 70-72 fastbacks and might have the sheet metal if it comes to that.

The front bumper/lenses, grilles brackets etc are all reproduced so no worries there. Should also have a cutout rear bumper if this was a W30 car.

 

When i spoke to the original owner, he said to me... "the car had 37000 miles on it when i parked it" So when i checked the clock after i spoke to him, there was 37,XXX on it. I had no reason not to believe him considering he said he hadnt seen the car in 30 plus years lol. It seems as though no one drove the car after he parked it and it was obviously bought and sold a few times. The doors still close like they are new, thats the amazing part. Never the less, he def drag raced it. He said thats what he bought it for. lol. And yes, there are cut outs in the bumper for the trumpet exhaust. Unfortunately Allen im going to have to replace both fenders. The passenger side one has the ripples, but its hit pretty hard and fairly crushed (which the original owner told me someone tried to steal the car when he lived in the bronx, tied a chain to it and dragged the car out of the parkinglot hitting another parked car and crushed the fender. When they realized they couldnt get the car out, the unhooked and left it there) He verified that!! lol. The driver side fender does have the ripples which means its been replaced and isnt a 70 fender. So either way, ill have to get some new repro ones.

I thought that was your standard "sport" wheel on that car? So that isnt the Optional sport wheel you got from oldsmobile i guess??? Starfire you say... grrrr