lll442

I have been lurking here and a few other forums for several months trying to learn as much as I can through osmosis. I have reached the point where I need to start asking the first of what is bound to be many questions.

I have a 1970 442 convertible purchased in 1978 while in high school. I had blown the 350 in my Cutlass S and needed something to put it in when it was rebuilt. This was someone else'e parts car (one man's trash...) I have gone through numerous iterations on this car. It has been sitting for almost 18 years and now I want to put it back on the road. It has a 455 of unknown vintage that is ready to be pulled and rebuilt, th400 and 3.23 limited slip rear end. Has K casting heads and W-30 aluminum intake with OAI hood.

Project goal is a street car with around 450 - 470 hp and 500+ torque while running on pump gas. As I recall this block is bored 60 over but other than that I am blank as to what I did to it so many years ago as far as cam, pistons etc.

I have located an engine builder that has been recommeded by a coworker who has been racing for sometime (not Olds). He sounds knowledgable but admits he doesn't know much about Oldsmobiles in particular. Based on what I have read it would be best to work with someone who has been there before. Does anyone know of a reputable (and reasonable) builder in the Austin, Texas area?

I haven't ruled out working with this guy but would need to lean on the expertise here regarding concerns specific to the olds engines. I have the engine ready to pull but thought I should find out if there was a better option in the region.

Thanks in advance for you help.

Oldsguy

Welcome to CO. I can't recommend anyone in your area, never been down there, but I am sure we will do all we can to help you out in your effort to rebuild your engine.

lll442

Thanks,

The engine will only be the beginning. I want to get interior and exterior done as well. Having it all put together at once will be a first. That is why I am sure there are many questions to follow.

I did a search on members and there are twelve listed in Austin. Doesn't mean there is anybody with a recommendation but at least there are some folks down here with me .

Thanks again.

cutlassgal

Welcome to our site! These guys are the best and will help you out. We have a lot of Texans on here - I'm sure they'll chime in!

citcapp

PM Richard (gearhead78) he is located in Texas and can give you some help finding and engine builder. Good luck.

This is a great site, enjoy your stay here

stlbluesbrother

Hi, and welcome to the forum. You really caught my attention when you mentioned 1970 convertible and W-30 intake. Is this a W car? Perhaps you can locate the build sheet. As with most welcome messages, we usually beg for pictures - so don't be shy They also help in assessing issues you may introduce.

You should get in touch with 70Post (first name is Patton). He's an active and very knowledgeable member of this community. As previously suggested, use the private message function of this site to send him an introductory message. If he's available I'm sure he has sound advice.

stlbluesbrother

You should be able to find a casting # followed by a letter (ie: F) on a flat, horizontal area of the engine just above the water pump. Once located you can cross reference the identification to www.442.com/oldsfaq/ofblk.htm to determine year of production.

Also check for the VIN derivative number on the driver's side to see if the engine matches the car's VIN.

lll442

Thank you for the replies. This is definitely NOT a numbers matching car. I added the heads and intake years (decades) ago. When purchased the car didn't have an engine and the trans was in the trunk. I have since added the aforementioned pieces plus the OAI hood and current rear end.

At production it was a fairly plain 442 convertible. Red with white top and interior.

The interior at the moment is actually out of a pace car convertible I came across in the late 70's that had been wrecked. If anyone has a time machine I would love to borrow it and reverse the direction I went with that. Coulda/Shoulda taken the front clip off of my car and fixed the pace car rather than taking top and interior for my 442. Water under the bridge now.

Current drivetrain was built in mid 80's and I don't recall where it came from. Memory is one of the first to go .

I'll figure out how to post some pics in it's current condition.

Thanks again

70Post

I'm no computer expert but to post pics you need to scroll down below the box where you are typing in stuff and you will see a small box "Manage Attachments".....

This is what you click on to retrieve pics from your desktop, camera, card reader, etc and get them onto your thread when you hit "submit".

Look forward to talking with you and hearing about your car...I forgot to mention anything about posting pics in my last PM to you so I figured I would mention it on your thread in case someone else (WITH REAL COMPUTER KNOWLEDGE) needs to help.

Good luck and welcome to a great Olds site!!

70Post

.....BTW......you didn't happen to pick up that aluminum intake over at USA Speed Center (on their used parts shelf) back in the mid/late '70's did you???

If so.....I was supposed to buy that intake!!!!!.....the guy I bought my first 442 from also had a W30 for sale(too "rigged" up for me when I was deciding which one to buy) and told me that he had some "parts he pulled off this other car (his W30) for sale over at USA Speed Center on their used parts shelf".

Bought the '70 442 and later went over to USA Speed Center. Sure enough, '70 W-30 alum intake on the used parts shelf for $50!!!! Too much money for me at the time and too hesitant to start pulling large engine parts and swapping stuff.

Had no real clue back then what all the W-30 stuff was about and $50 was good money back then to a high school kid that just paid $1000 cash for a car....that was A LOT of gas money!!

Always wondered who got that intake

(Note: USA Speed Center was owned by one of the guys I mentioned as owning Austin Performance....the current speed shop here...he's been at it A LONG TIME).

lll442

Thanks for the tip on posting pics. This looks like it might work if the files weren't too big. I was trying to "insert image" in the editor but couldn't figure out how to make that work. Unfortunately all of the files I have right now exceed the size limits. I'll see what I can do to shrink these down.

I wasn't positioned to ****** the intake out from under you or I might have. At the time I was in Houston. Parts were generally salvage yard or aftermarket. For example, my distributor is out of a 75 Vista Cruiser. I think I was running a Torquer intake on it at the time (didn't have the ram air hood). Best as I can recall this W intake was purchased out of Hemmings sometime in the mid 80's.

Thanks

Lamont

lll442

OK, third time is the charm. These would pretty much qualify as "before" pics although it actually looks a little worse because I have started messing with some items such as replacing top cylinders and lines and working on the windows. Hope to pull the engine sometime in the next week.

Thanks for all of the replies. Many more questions to come.

72 w29 all green

You might start getting more responses if you post your questions in the other forums . The car obviously has a lot of potential. I like the fact that it's convertible with A/C...can get very hot in TX.

we jeep inn

Nice looking project. Welcome to CO

70Post

Is that Matador Red?? If so, keep it that color....looks absolutely stunning in that color with black stripes, etc.....really wicked looking in that color combo.

Looks like you have a 4 core top plate on the car from looking at the pics....I figured it would be a factory 4 core radiator setup given the motor and Air Conditioning.