1970 Olds W 31 Barn Find Uncovered
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- When the son bought his father's house, a treasure was parked in the garage that came with the house - a 1970 Oldsmobile of a very special heritage - an original W-31 muscle car. When the son got online investigating W-31, an enthusiast wound up purchasing the car for a full restoration.
I've always been a Pontiac fan but I LOVE those W-31 350's. Old's pulled out all the stops when they made them. Thanks for the video and for rescuing a true classic from the musclecar era.
All the stops? Take a look at the host of modification that were made to this engine in order for it to succeed in the NHRA "stock" class back in the day. By today's SAE Net HP standards, this engine made no more than 250 SAE Net HP. Tire for tire and otherwise production line stock vs. same, the typical 5 year old Honda Accord V6/automatic would toast this car.
The king of 442’s is and always will be the 1970 WP30 equipped with BOTH 4’s.
@@harddrivin1le-970 Bwhahaha!
Nice! These 1970 Oldsmobiles looked great! RIP, Oldsmobile Motor Division!
In 1976 there was a car lot in San Jose Ca called performance unlimited. A friend of mine used to go there weekly when he came across a Orange with black stripes 70 or 71 Olds W30 drag car sitting in the rear of the lot. It had very low miles and a blown up motor (455). It has been hit in the drivers rear quarter panel. He made a deal for the car and got it home. The engine was intact but had a cracked block from a piston that went through it. He found a donor block and he and his Dad rebuilt the engine and fixed the quarter panel. He got rid of the mag wheels and found a set of stock wheels. He spent the next couple of years putting it back to stock. Really was a nice car.
Hit the ground running.....was Performance Unlimited located off of Stevens Creek Blvd. or San Carlos Street? I remember Bob Shiro Motors, they had a lot of muscle cars back in the day.
@@stanmendoza7871 It was on W San Carlos just over the higway 17 from Valley Fair. I also remember Bob Shiro Motors Stevens Creek at Kiely.
@@rgs4x That's the place I went to in high school.....many years ago. A friend of mine bought a real 1970 Hemi Cuda' there, he still has the car.
Stan Mendoza that’s a bitchin’ ‘Cuda
I knew it was a late 70s/early 80s repaint because my 70 442 is also a code 28 twilight blue and i did my first paint job mid 80s at 15 years old. Local painters supply mixed it and i knew it was a little darker than original but thought it looked better anyway. Love the overall vibe of this car in the vid!
I remembered buying these cars for 350.00 to 500.00 all day long back in the 1980s
Correct, I sold my 1970 W-30 in early 1974 for $850.00 (the oil crisis)
How many 1970 W-31s did you buy for "350 to 500 all day long back in the 1980s?" Production numbers on these cars were quite low, making the car relatively rare by the time the 1980s rolled around.
I bought my 70 455 olds in 1984 for $500
My dad had a 69 W31, Rocket 350. Thing was amazingly fast off the line. he was killing the big block superstars in the 60s street racing.
Nice find. 1970 was the only year with the aluminum w-350 intake. I had an intake and let it go. Also 1970 had large valves (2 in intakes I think) and positive valve rotate-ors. very rare. Most likely the reason for the air bags in the springs was the rear end bounced (alternating) when doing burnouts.
E heads have 2 1/4 " and F heads are 2 1/2 " I had 70 455, E heads, rated 390hp 510 ft lbs of torque rated low for insurance purposes
One of my favorites along with the ralley 350s.
Both very modestly performing cars by today's standards, with the Rally 350 being the slower of the two. The later typical ran lower 15 seconds quarter miles, with the former being good for upper 14s. I have a host of vintage road test results from this period. Even the '69 W-30 442s couldn't get into the low 14s or break 99 MPH in the quarter mile without various on-site tweaks, including removing the air filter element, tweaking the carb (e.g. jets and metering rods) and ignition and in some cases loosening the accessory drive belts. What was "fast" in 1969 is quite modest by today's standards.
It "makes your day"!😊
They are interesting--I have a '70 F-85 W-31, which I bought from the original owner 20 years ago. It's a FUN car to drive. Built for only one purpose.
Wow nice that’s awesome cool I so love these cars there my favorite cars out of them all love buicks and Pontiacs to
We have a 72 Cutlass Supreme Convertible that we are rebuilding. We put the 442 hood on it which looks awesome. Obviously it's not a 442 it just looks really cool. Dual exhaust automatic. If I were rich instead of good looking the car would have a four-speed in it! LOL
Doesn't look like a barn find. More like a garage find.
My uncle has one since the 80'sand has my grandfather's 68 H/O.
Nice car
GEEEEEEEEEEE ANOTHER BARNNNNNNN FIND
I grew up in west branch Michigan , my school bus used to drive by this 70 w 31 everyday. I stopped and checked it out a few times as a teenager. Found out years later it was a good friends uncles car and he fell ill and the car disappeared . Always wondered what ever happened to that car.
Very cool!
Thanks Bob. Still trying to figure out what people want to see and the best way to present what material I have. I am getting feedback to simplify, which would make editing much easier.
I know a guy with a W-31, its very nice, but original engine is long gone....but it does have a built 455...465 hp, 510 foot lbs torque. Its so powerful if you are driving at 30 mph, floor it, it will spin tires until car gets to around 50 mph...the torque is out of this world!
I bought mine brand new from the factory with NO STRIPES from the factory. F-85 W31 4sp. Bench Seats all black. I bought mine from Earl Olds in CLEVELAND for $3300. I think there were only 135 made on the F-85 chassis.
You are the original owner?
@@thewriter2549 I was. I ordered the car in Feb. 1970. I didn’t want the W31 stripes, and the salesman, Tony Foos, son of Earl, told me the stripes had to be on the car, because of the W31 package. I told him I wanted to cancel the order, but somehow, he pulled strings to have someone walk the car down the line, and make sure stripes weren’t t added. I picked up the car just after the KSU riots, as I was a student there and classes were cancelled after May4. My car was the 2dr. Sedan, bench seat, wing vent windows, dog dish hubcaps, ‘sleeper’ that I wanted. I put a set of Hooker Headers on, and a Sun Tach on the steering wheel. My Uncle had a 70 Cuda 383 4sp., and I would routinely beat him in drags. I could take Road Runners383’s, but I couldn’t get past the big block GBodies. At Norwalk Raceway, they put me in a class with GTO, SS396, and Roadrunners. I kept the car for 2 years, and stupidly sold it with 20k miles. It was probably a good thing, as I was a musician then, and would probably hurt myself in that car driving home from gigs loaded. Biggest car wise dumb thing I’ve ever done. I tried to buy the car back, and the new owner ran it into a cement retaining wall at 70 mph, and pushed the engine into the front seat. The frame was twisted, and back then, we couldn’t straighten them out like today. I didn’t even have carpeting and it only had an AM radio. Back then nobody new it was a W31 till they caught up to me ant the next light, mainly because of no stripes. They would then see the W31 badge on front fenders and have an “oh yeah moment”. It was so fn cool. It would probably be worth 6 figures today.🥲
I purchased a new one in 1970, mine was very rare, dark blue with black accent stripes.... The 3.90:1 rear axle was not standard...what would you like to know about the w31 ? the ram air mechanism is missing on that car.... they had a dr oldsmobile sticker on the air cleaner... many unique things I remember.. Im 70 now.... my car ran 13.90s at pittsburg international dragway in 1970 (4 speed ) The engine would turn 6800 rpm pretty easy.. I floated the lifters and bent valves at 7200
larkin curtis Pretty sure he said the 3.91 was standard or are you saying yours had a 3.90:1
It didn't run a 13.90 in absolutely bone stock tune, though. These cars were hard pressed to get out of the 14.6 range as they rolled of the showroom floor. Revving these engines to 6,800 RPM plus was fruitless because that's some 1,200 RPM above peak power. One would experience substantially improved results by shifting at 5,800 RPM or so with this engine.
larkin curtis Wrong. The 3.91 rear was standard on the 1970 W-31. There wasn’t a Dr. Olds decal on the OAI adapter. Your dark blue would be the same as this blue; the color is called twilight blue.
larkin curtis thanks, I bought a 70 Coronet 500/383/310 hp++/auto: actually the Dodge/AMC DEALER next to Thornburg ‘s Pharmacy (where I worked) GOT ME INTERESTED WITH a *** AMC RebelMaCHINE, TO A 70 CHALLENGER 4 SPD/SE MAGNUM( to much gas eater,etc): the Ralley Red Coronet was $3100( delivered), and for my wife to drive to Fort Wayne IND : finish Purdue....etc. Actually could,not afford w-31 Loaded, Corvette just out of Pharmacy School.... .... ACTUALLY POWERFUL DODGE, ETC..... WARSAW IND road salt ate the Dodge up...........etc.
I think I know where another one of these are at. It's been in a field I have to pass to and from work for almost 15 years.
Would you email me about this (jerryheasley@gmail.com) and maybe it would work for a story in Hot Rod and a video on UA-cam as I do. You can be a part of the story/video.
Nice find. GM stop making the wrong cars!
They're going electric by 2030! 😞
I know what your saying for the factory parts price...
That proper Quadrajet is clearly visible @ 4:27 ... just saying
edit: beside intake, partially obscured by air cleaner housing
TheCanadianBubba You’re correct in that there’s a quadrajet in the trunk, however, it’s not the original ‘255.
Nice try, Bubba, but this guy McKeague is an Oldsmobile W31 savant - just amazing, and he's a young person.
Seriously Jerry... I would bet my eye teeth that is an Olds Q-Jet... the fuel inlet comes straight out the front on those ones.
edit: unless that picture is from before the Holley was installed edit2: did not see the comment from Jimmy McKeague in there.
Yeah, but Jimmy says it's not the original 255.
Was too quick to respond to you and did not notice his comment.
this car has been known about for 20 years.
a friend of mine in Lorain told me about it around 1999.
my friend also found the original 1968 Chesrown Cutlass Ramrod in Lorain,as well.
When did your friend find the '68 Chesrown Cutlass Ramrod? Sounds like a story I might use in my "Rare Finds" column. My contact is jerryheasley@gmail.com
Your friend must be my friend Tweed :)
Sun tach that had been installed in dash ,
Yeah , garage find. I know of a local guy who had found a factory Hemi Cuda 1969 , sitting for 20 plus years. It was a garage Find , not barn
Yea im calling bullshit, there was no Hemi Cuda in 69..
@@kylemortensen407 exactly!!!!!
I know where is one ,but the owner don't want to sale hi say it's going to fix it an it's been 10 year's already 😏😑☹🙁
I believe the W31 package was related to rear suspension being coil arm suspension which a much better than the leaf springs anyday. The pitch angle of the shocks set differently too, just squat right down on the road and grab on.
@RonTownsend Yes, the suspension on the W-31 was coined the rally sport suspension from Olds. It consisted of boxed control arms and a few other suspension / bushing goodies.
A W-31 is much much more than a suspension upgrade. Go research it online.
EVERY Olds Cutlass model (including the W-31) used a rear coil over suspension. Indeed, such was the case for ALL GM A-bodies of that period. Despite being quite familiar with the W31, I've never seen a shred of information suggested that the "pitch angle of the shocks" were any different than those of any other Cutlass. 442 cars came standard with the FE2 suspension, which included upgraded springs, shocks, bushings and the addition of a rear anti-roll bar. 1968 and 1969 W-31 cars did NOT come standards with that suspension and instead used the standard Cutlass suspension, though the 1970 W-31s did come standard with the FE2 suspension and a one year only aluminum intake manifold. The '70 cars were some 150 heavier than the '68 - '69 models, though.
@@brentnagy5913 The W-31 didn't include any suspension upgrade until the 1970 model year. The '68 and '69 cars made due with the standard Cutlass suspension unless the optional suspension (FE2, from the 442) was specified.
I absolutely HATE when someone hemhaws around and won't just say what they paid for something. Just tell the truth. If it was low yay! Gives us all a little hope. If it was a little high so what? It'll catch up they aren't making any more of them!
I understand, but I hate to ask somebody how much they paid for a car.
Not offered with an automatic transmission. 4 speed only. 350 special cam and blueprinted. Available in cutlass S, f85, holiday coupe. Hi rever.... low production run 68-70 only . 4 wheel manual drum brakes.
Brian Scheid Wrong. In 1968, Olds launches the Ram Rod 350 (later changed to W-31 for 69/70). In 1969 and 1970 an automatic could be ordered. Rear end would be a standard TO coded 3.91 12 bolt with a 3.42 as an optional gear from the factory. W-27 aluminum carrier was an option that roughly 300+ buyers checked. This car does not have that. Additionally, just the cover could be had, too.
Also, you’re wrong on the 4 drums. Power brakes could NOT be ordered. Manual front discs are what you’d find on a ‘70.
@@jimmymckeague2402 w31 was an option not a model. Your right on the rear cover w27 cover was not standard. I'd contact Oldsmobile club to double check trans. I could be wrong on that. I owned one going off memory. Take care
@@brianscheid64 W27 came as a option for W30 cars. It would have a special aluminum cover!
W27 came as a option on the W30 cars. It would have a special aluminum cover.
There is a high amount of BS in this story. The front end is not a 1970 front end the fenders are not 1970 fenders . This car was wrecked repainted and developed patina from years of sitting , the motor change was probably done when it was wrecked.
Again whn u find a car and buy or u go and low ball the owner and steal it from them and not say wht u paid for it but take the time to make this video lol