New here and need clarification please!

Can someone help me get the details of these 442s down?

I just bought my husband a 1968 Olds 442 W-30 for Christmas. His father, that recently passed, had a 1968 Olds Cutlass RamRod 350. His had the build sheet behind the back seat, showing that it was hand assembled. It was a W-31.

I could not find another car like his father's so I purchased this one that was as close as I could find. I looked up the vin, starting with 344878H, which showed up as a Holiday Coupe. I was under the impression that Holiday Coupes were Cutlass models, not 442s????

Also, I was told that this car is one of 250 made in 68. 400, automatic. All of the options, I'm guessing, are what's confusing me. This car has the Outside Air Intake, scoops under the bumper, tact, etc...I have not attempted to take the car apart yet to attempt to find a build sheet yet.

Any help in finding out more details on this car would be appreciated! I kinda want to know what I'm giving to him so I don't sound like an idiot..lol

So a holiday coupe can definitely be a 442. The VIN starting in 344 definitely validates that. The important part to validate the W-car status is that build sheet. Hopefully you can track that down. Is the 400 block car number matching? You can validate that by looking on the driver's side of the engine block near the front below the spark plugs. The digits there should match the last digits of your VIN.

W31/W30s were the only ones that got those cool air intakes and under bumper scoops along with the red fenders in 68. One odd thing is someone put the W30 emblems on that car. 68s didn't have that.

Hopefully its legit as those are rare! Good luck.

All W machines and H/O were built in Lansing. I believe that your H in the VIN should be an M for Lansing! The air cleaner and aged red fenders are a good sign that It may be a W30. But as mentioned above 400 with a partial VIN matching the VIN on the car. Only way to be sure if it was sold new in Canada (better records) orfind a Fisher body broadcast card with W-30 in the car somewhere in the car. Or if you have an original window sticker.

FYI build sheets for Lansing are rare enough that people claim that they have them for 68-72. I have not seen a legit one yet. We have had some Lansing units with assembly cards, but not a full blown build sheet

34487 is a Holiday coupe 442

Pat

You won’t find a build sheet and the Broadcast card doesn’t tell you it’s a W30 in 68.

You either have to havethe Protect-O-Plate (which has the W30 engine code in 68) or ifyou have a matching OW tranny with the VIN derivative that would be good too. (Or the fore mentioned GM of Canada documentation)

When I run the vin, it comes back to Lansing. What about the other indicators such as the rear end being coded 3:90 positraction? That's kinda hard to change and is special to W-30's. Also the additional W-30 traits, parts, that still have the factory fasteners on them? Any thoughts on that? This car has all of them. Thanks guys!

Yes, the W-30 is totally incorrect. The guy that I bought it from was upfront about that. Those were added by the last owner's son because he thought they looked cool..lol


Joffroi wrote:

So a holiday coupe can definitely be a 442. The VIN starting in 344 definitely validates that. The important part to validate the W-car status is that build sheet. Hopefully you can track that down. Is the 400 block car number matching? You can validate that by looking on the driver's side of the engine block near the front below the spark plugs. The digits there should match the last digits of your VIN.

W31/W30s were the only ones that got those cool air intakes and under bumper scoops along with the red fenders in 68. One odd thing is someone put the W30 emblems on that car. 68s didn't have that.

Hopefully its legit as those are rare! Good luck.

If that is a canadian documented car, I would say thats a mini lottery find there. Did the previous owner make any suggestion that that was possible?

He didn't know. Is there a way to find out?


Joffroi wrote:

If that is a canadian documented car, I would say thats a mini lottery find there. Did the previous owner make any suggestion that that was possible?

DTTackett wrote:

He didn't know. Is there a way to find out

It would have to have been purchased new in Canada. Possible but not likely.

Did you get the original automatic transmission with it? (As I stated above). A W30 has a specific tag (OW) and the tranny is stamped with the partial VIN number. This isn't the greatest documentation however because the tranny tags are reproduced.

Unfortunately there isn't much documentation for 68-69 W cars. The best thing to do is take detailed pics of everything the way it is now. Some 68 W30's have "W30" in chalk on the backsides of the fenders because the fenders got emblems in a different place. The windshield washer hose is run to the passenger side and different firewall holes are tapped to hold it. Documenting exactly what holes are tapped out all helps. The 3.91 rear was optional for the Automatic equipped W30 but it was also optional for a lot of other engine/tranny combinations throughout the Olds A-body line as well so it doesn't prove anything.