Newbie Olds 260 question?

[classic gbody]

Thanks to the last few post, good informative post. To jetset thanks I was kind of curious if this thing would now be a dog at highway speed with a four speed. To the post about it being a "real 442" I have no idea, the fifth digit is a "F". The only number I have found on the block is directly in front of the intake above the water pump and it is 5577512B. The pictures of the two motors the guy took for me look exactly like my motor. It would be odd if someone "cloned" this car lol, they did a very nice job laying out all the stripes if they did. I put some pics of the car in the new user section, you guys see what you think

VIN F is a 260 so your car is a clone. People go through great lengths to create clone cars. A nice paint job is not all that hard to do if the right person is laying it down. Your VIN should start with 3K47R

Look at this as well

http://engineguy.com/1982-77-oldsmobile ... vin-f.html

I also just took a look at the pics. 100% clone I hate to say it. A true 1980 442 was a VIN "R" and had the paint scheme of a 79 Hurst Olds and NEVER came with a vinyl top.

1980 442

http://home.comcast.net/~deaner-d/

Yours is a 80 Cutlass Calais.

Nice looking car though.

 

[1bad79]

fox80 im currently building a 461c.i. aluminum headed bbo and I have 4500.00 in it you can build an olds for a reasonable amount and make great reliable power

 

[jae]

I think you guys may be confusing the '79 - '80 H/O with a 442 (that car from the link was NOT a 442, it is an H/O). Just as many think ALL 442s are W30s. Some of these people don't even know there were W31s (small-block) cars. True, if you had a VIN with the "R" code, that was for the Olds 350-R, with "R" meaning "Rocket", but it does NOT mean it was a 442. You actually had to go by the option code, not the VIN number. With the '85 - '87 you could go by the "Y" or "9" but you still had to look for the option code, W29 (going by memory.

Didn't the 442 hatchbacks come with the 260 correct? And didn't some come with 4-speeds?

I had an '81 Calais with the 260/TH350, with pretty much every option in the book, including the N76 aluminum wheels, and I have to agree with the OP and a couple others, it was a decent vehicle with good mileage. Was a dog (especially when the A/C was on) performance-wise, but it more than made up with good mileage. I say keep the 260 until it blows then decide your plans with the car and let that lead you to another Olds engine or Chevy or whatever. In the end it's your car and your money, do what you want.

Lastly Fox80, Double V may be opinionated but the real know-it-all (but didn't know anything) was finally kicked off a few months ago, and trust me, that guy was the biggest lying, non-knowing b@stard many of us ever had the displeasure of dealing with.

 

[Fox80]

Thanks everybody, so I guess it could be just a stripe package, and I know a paint job can do anything to a car trust me I worked in the busiest bodyshop in our area for 12 years. And I can say without a doubt the only parts of this car that have been painted are the header panel, hood, and drivers door down to the molding. The blue stripes are all vinyl, and the would take a lot of work to measure that all out and get the wheel arches correct. That to me seems like a lot of work to make one of these cars into a 442. I guess either way it doesn't matter to me for what I paid for the car it seems fine by me. As far as doublev I'm sure he knows stuff, but I was pissed because I started this thread to see if anyone had a top end, no where did I say if you guys owned this car what would you do? I was looking for parts not a 260 bashing session. I for one don't care if the motor is junk or not, its not like I built it lol. Now this has taken a cool turn, and has me wondering how this car came about, or if it truly did come like this new. Anyone else can chime in, if it his a clone it won't hurt my feelings, but it would be nice to know because honestly I'm not a big fan of the stripes anyway

 

[classic gbody]

I think you guys may be confusing the '79 - '80 H/O with a 442 (that car from the link was NOT a 442, it is an H/O). Just as many think ALL 442s are W30s. Some of these people don't even know there were W31s (small-block) cars. True, if you had a VIN with the "R" code, that was for the Olds 350-R, with "R" meaning "Rocket", but it does NOT mean it was a 442. You actually had to go by the option code, not the VIN number. With the '85 - '87 you could go by the "Y" or "9" but you still had to look for the option code, W29 (going by memory.

Didn't the 442 hatchbacks come with the 260 correct? And didn't some come with 4-speeds?

I had an '81 Calais with the 260/TH350, with pretty much every option in the book, including the N76 aluminum wheels, and I have to agree with the OP and a couple others, it was a decent vehicle with good mileage. Was a dog (especially when the A/C was on) performance-wise, but it more than made up with good mileage. I say keep the 260 until it blows then decide your plans with the car and let that lead you to another Olds engine or Chevy or whatever. In the end it's your car and your money, do what you want.

Lastly Fox80, Double V may be opinionated but the real know-it-all (but didn't know anything) was finally kicked off a few months ago, and trust me, that guy was the biggest lying, non-knowing b@stard many of us ever had the displeasure of dealing with.

JAE, the car in the link IS an 80 442 and NOT a Hurst Olds W30. Hurst was NOT an option in 80. The "R" in the VIN indicated a Hurst or 442 in 79-80 Calais Body only because the 350 Olds was only avail with the Hurst or 442 option package. Yes the 260 and 305 was available in 78/79 in the 442 so the Fastback Salons are the exception to this.

Here is the breakdown:

1978:
Hurst was not an option, only a prototype
442 Fastback Salon body only - 260 was available with a 5 speed manual or a 305 Chevy with a 4 speed manual.

1979:
Hurst W30 option available only in the Calais(aka Supreme) body
442 Fastback Salon body only - 260 was available with a 5 speed manual or a 305 Chevy with a 4 speed manual.

1980:
442 W30 option available only in the Calais(aka Supreme) body without dualgate shifter
442 Fastback Salon body didn't carry the 442 option in 80
Hurst W30 was not an option in 1980

 

[classic gbody]

Thanks everybody, so I guess it could be just a stripe package, and I know a paint job can do anything to a car trust me I worked in the busiest bodyshop in our area for 12 years. And I can say without a doubt the only parts of this car that have been painted are the header panel, hood, and drivers door down to the molding. The blue stripes are all vinyl, and the would take a lot of work to measure that all out and get the wheel arches correct. That to me seems like a lot of work to make one of these cars into a 442. I guess either way it doesn't matter to me for what I paid for the car it seems fine by me. As far as doublev I'm sure he knows stuff, but I was pissed because I started this thread to see if anyone had a top end, no where did I say if you guys owned this car what would you do? I was looking for parts not a 260 bashing session. I for one don't care if the motor is junk or not, its not like I built it lol. Now this has taken a cool turn, and has me wondering how this car came about, or if it truly did come like this new. Anyone else can chime in, if it his a clone it won't hurt my feelings, but it would be nice to know because honestly I'm not a big fan of the stripes anyway

In my opinion judging from your pics, someone spent the time to add paint, stripes, hood piece and 442 badges to your car. It didn't come like that new. Check out the breakdown of my last post. You can also do your own research on a 1980 442 on the internet.

 

[Fox80]

Ah like I said it really doesn't matter to me. I will give them credit on the vinyl job, it looks very good for what had to be older technology in vinyl cutting.

 

[Csilvy2000]

G body garage has it right. He's done his research and knows these particular g-bodies inside and out.
Watch his videos. They're very informative.

You've got a neat and clean car. You're happy with it. Enjoy it and enjoy tinkering with it. As far as a factory performance vehicle from these years, the g-bodies had a lot to be desired.

 

[jae]

I think you guys may be confusing the '79 - '80 H/O with a 442 (that car from the link was NOT a 442, it is an H/O). Just as many think ALL 442s are W30s. Some of these people don't even know there were W31s (small-block) cars. True, if you had a VIN with the "R" code, that was for the Olds 350-R, with "R" meaning "Rocket", but it does NOT mean it was a 442. You actually had to go by the option code, not the VIN number. With the '85 - '87 you could go by the "Y" or "9" but you still had to look for the option code, W29 (going by memory.

Didn't the 442 hatchbacks come with the 260 correct? And didn't some come with 4-speeds?

I had an '81 Calais with the 260/TH350, with pretty much every option in the book, including the N76 aluminum wheels, and I have to agree with the OP and a couple others, it was a decent vehicle with good mileage. Was a dog (especially when the A/C was on) performance-wise, but it more than made up with good mileage. I say keep the 260 until it blows then decide your plans with the car and let that lead you to another Olds engine or Chevy or whatever. In the end it's your car and your money, do what you want.

Lastly Fox80, Double V may be opinionated but the real know-it-all (but didn't know anything) was finally kicked off a few months ago, and trust me, that guy was the biggest lying, non-knowing b@stard many of us ever had the displeasure of dealing with.

JAE, the car in the link IS an 80 442 and NOT a Hurst Olds W30. Hurst was NOT an option in 80. The "R" in the VIN indicated a Hurst or 442 in 79-80 Calais Body only because the 350 Olds was only avail with the Hurst or 442 option package. Yes the 260 and 305 was available in 78/79 in the 442 so the Fastback Salons are the exception to this.

Here is the breakdown:

1978:
Hurst was not an option, only a prototype
442 Fastback Salon body only - 260 was available with a 5 speed manual or a 305 Chevy with a 4 speed manual.

1979:
Hurst W30 option available only in the Calais(aka Supreme) body
442 Fastback Salon body only - 260 was available with a 5 speed manual or a 305 Chevy with a 4 speed manual.

1980:
442 W30 option available only in the Calais(aka Supreme) body without dualgate shifter
442 Fastback Salon body didn't carry the 442 option in 80
Hurst W30 was not an option in 1980

I stand corrected - after checking my information the 80 was not an H/O; my mistake For some reason I was thinking the 80 was also considered an H/O; funny thing the '79 almost didn't make it. And to me the '88 is in no way-shape-form an H/O, even when those Aero coupes were registered with Hurst since Olds had no dealings with Hurst for those cars. BUT I am correct in that you cannot jsut go by the VIN code "R" to say cars are 443, W30, W31 - you have to go by the option code(s).