DurasII

Check out what I came across while browsing around the net today. Not sure if it is real or not so let the discussion begin!

https://www.hagerty.com/articles-vid...days-1968-olds

66-3X2 442

Looks like it has Buick wheels on it.

Octania

"was never meant to be sold to the public. It is the only F-85 W-31 that exists because all of the dealers were told to destroy them when they were finished racing them"

ahem, yah, ok

No OAI hose holders
WWF jug on LH side seems incorrect to me

The AL intake would be non-std of course.

It looks like they used the 3/4" rocker cover grommet as a PCV grommet and put a breather in the LH one, rather than use the factory setup.

Very nice, overall.

Anyone here have tips for ruling in or out a factory Ram Rod? Is the 2nd fuel line present with a different clip location, like the '69 clues of fable?

joe_padavano

It does - along with what appear to be a 442 grille and incorrect W-31 decals (red decals at that?). 68 would have had a metal air cleaner pie pan, not a decal. Aftermarket intake.

None of this means that the car isn't real. Race cars were supposed to go fast, not be correct restorations.

cherokeepeople

they do look like buick wheels to me too.but there in lies an issue."if" it was a no option race car wouldn't it have steel wheels with dog dish caps??

joe_padavano

The look like Buick wheels because they are. SSIs don't have curved spokes.

It obviously isn't a paint dab and chalk mark resto. Note the three spoke "woodgrain" wheel, also. Typically if one were ordering a race car, one would get the bare bones, but that was 50 years ago.

And for what it's worth, my 68 W-30 has factory installed PW and PSeat.

83hurstguy

Is that Casey Marks' uncle's old car? There were pics of a black Victor George F85 ram rod from Michigan posted on this site before. Might be how they know the history.

kevdog442

The air cleaner looks home made. You'd think it would have a real one.

joe_padavano

Good catch, especially since repros are readily available. Of course, since the original has the restrictive flappers in the snorkels, replacing them with unrestricted, fabricated snorkels might have been a smart thing to do for use at the track. (And yes, I do realize this photo is of a 1969 O.A.I. air cleaner and not a 1968... )

joe_padavano

And more importantly, no holes in the inner fenders where the clips would have been attached, either...

I'll defer to someone better informed on the factory racing program, but as an example, none of the 1966 W-30 race cars were factory-built W-30s. They were all assembled from parts secured from the parts program. Likely the same thing happened with the 68 Ram Rod cars.

Seff

What's the function of the flappers in the air filter housing, if I may be so bold as to ask?

joe_padavano

That's the Thermactic (?) hot air system that feeds warm air into the engine when it's cold for rapid warm up. All Olds air cleaners from 1968-on have this feature, called the "Combustion Control System" for 1968. The hot air stove over the exhaust manifold warms the inlet air. The flapper in the snorkel is controlled by a thermal sensor in the air cleaner. When the inlet air is cold, the sensor routes engine vacuum to the diaphragm on the flapper, which closes the snorkel and opens the path from the hot air stove. On the O.A.I. air cleaners, the other snorkel remains closed until manifold vacuum drops under W.O.T.

Seff

Ah, makes sense. Thanks.