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Hi from southern California. My introduction to the Oldsmobile world is through my father in law's 1970 Cutlass. He recently passed, and when the dust settled I was surprised to find out that he left it to me. Apparently since I was the only one in the family who could drive stick he thought I'd take good care of it.
He told me it was a W-31, and I know that term gets thrown around sometimes when cars aren't necessarily W-31s. He bought it new in 1970 and we have the original title, but not the original purchase slip from the dealer. He loved and drove the car, so I know there is a good amount of replacement parts, wheels, carburetor, and intake manifold for starters. So I'm going in knowing that it's not going to be original in lots of places, which is fine by me, I'm just interested in learning about it in its current state.
Good news is that after browsing the forum here it looks like there are a lot of really knowledgable folks who know how to check cowl tags, engine and transmission codes, fenders etc. I plan on looking into all of this, but right now it's currently not running. It didn't sit long enough for there to be a serious problem, but I think it'd be a good idea to have someone take a look. I was wondering if anyone had a recommendation for a good shop that I might be able to contact about having it looked at? I'm in the Los Angeles area in southern California.
Looking forward to learning more and here are some photos after finally getting it to our garage.
Congratulations on the new ride. The right front fender has been replaced, the left fender is a 1970 fender it doesn't have the crumple impact bumps. A picture of the harmonic balancer would be nice to see.
Welcome to the site and congrats on being chosen to be caretaker of your father in laws car. It looks like it has had a lot of performance love applied to it. I wonder if that is an actual Keith Black crate motor?
Nice acquirement and welcome. Being a SO CAL car all its life rust probably isn't a concern.
Before the estate is fully dispersed look around for any original parts and paperwork. Paperwork is very important to prove prominence and proper value for resale and insurance.
Consider the attached read before you attempt to start it and hit the road.
Welcome to ClassicOldsmobile. Looks like the passenger side fender has been replaced.
If it's been replaced, looks like someone gave it a little bump what with the broken headlight trim & tiny fender dent.
Nice to aquire it but sorry for losing your father on the way to get this.
Love the Day 2 vibe! And it's very well preserved.
It looks to be originally sold in California (after Jan 1, 1970) because it has the 3-port carbon canister and an ancient-looking Evap Control instruction sticker on the radiator top plate.
I'm sorry for your loss. Beautiful car! Welcome aboard. We will enjoy helping you you sus out your new ride. Be sure and check out that "Proper storage..." document that DrOlds put up in Post #7. Good info there!!
An automatic T350 trans will have a 2 letter code stamped on the Servo cover( JO) if from a W31, and the partial vin will be stamped on the drivers side pan rail, just behind the shifter linkage. If the partial matches the vin on the dash, thats one more piece of the puzzle
Is the car Rallye Red( Orange, -- on data body tag), ot Matador Red( Fire Engine Red, 75 on body data tag)
From the OP first post: "Apparently since I was the only one in the family who could drive stick he thought I'd take good care of it."
And yet, the underhood shots clearly show an automatic car. Notice the lack of clutch linkage, and the automatic only starter wire tube. Kinda hard to shift a 4-speed with no clutch.
Last edited by Loaded68W34; Dec 23, 2024 at 09:10 AM.
I'm out of town for a few days but when I get back I'll get some interior photos for everyone.
The car is an automatic, but boy would a 4-speed have been fun. I think my being able to drive stick made him think I'd take care of the car, which is the plan!
I'm still looking for a place in the LA area to take it for a tune up. The tools I have on hand are more for wood working than auto repair.
I was able to get some shots of the interior and cowl tag now that I'm back in town. Looks to me to be in pretty good condition. I'm guessing the 442 tag on the passenger side was added by my FIL, and the 442 floor mats. Its got a Hurst shifter, but that seems like it wasn't original. The radio was replaced, and he added a 6-disk CD player. I checked the trunk and it looks like the spare is original, but possibly painted black? I'm not sure if these Super Stock I wheels came black like that or not. The tachometer looks to be replaced as well, and I didn't find any papers in the glove box.
If my cowl tag deciphering is correct it looks like the car is:
ST70-33687: 1970 Cutlass 2-door hardtop coupe
LAN420764: Lansing Michigan Assembly
Trim 930: Black Upholstery
Paint: N/A but it looks to me to be Matador Red
04C: Built the third week of April
I've got a line on a shop nearby that I'm going to put a call in to tomorrow to see if they'll be able to take it in for an evaluation and tune up. Hopefully able to drive it again soon.
Nice car it a Factory Dual Gate Shifter. The shifter has been damaged but if you are careful you can fix the damage. This shifter is known as the His and Her shifter in alot of information. Nice car, sorry for your lost. Take care of the car.
It never had a factory tach. That was a dummy blank or a clock from the factory. This is proven by the idiot lights in the left pod. They would have been actual rudimentary gauges. This means the optional Ralley Gauges were not ordered.
That spare tire is a factory variant of the SS1 wheel. It should be painted black. That's likely what the car wore from Lansing. A trim ring goes on them. I like those wheels.
If the vin starts with 344 its a 442. The cowl tag should say 33687.(edit this is not a 442, VIN should be 336870M)
You may find some factory paperwork hidden under the carpet behind the seat backs under the rear seat etc....Lansing cars are notoriously void of these docs thou...
Nice car. Clean it up fix the small stuff and drive it. Lets see some outside body shots! edit dauh I must be asleep.
Edit this is Cutlass not a 442....I reread post #1
Last edited by droldsmorland; Dec 30, 2024 at 10:02 AM.
Those are correct "LZ" coded Oldsmobile Super Stock I rims.
Looks to be date coded to 3/26/1970 which lines up nicely with the body's build date of the 3rd week of April.
I'd say there's a good chance it's an original rim for the car.
I was able to get underneath today and take a look for the transmission code. Unfortunately, it looks like the cover that's on there doesn't have a stamp. The transmission housing looks like it should for a TH350 from what I can tell, but somewhere along the way it looks like the cover was replaced. I also pulled off the air filter to get the carburetor stamp code. Looks like it was replaced as well as the stamp dates it to 1977.
I'm not too surprised. From what I was told, he used to do some less than legal racing back in the day.
