Oldsmobile 455 W30 in a 68GTO

[M Bay]

I am new at this, proud to join the ranks of GTO owners, recently bought a 68GTO ragtop, and I am afraid to say this to a bunch of poncho guys but it has an Oldsmobile W30 455 in it (I believe 1971). I am thinking that eventually I will go back to a correct motor for the car. I was told tat the motor has 5K in rebuild and performance modifications. The seller said he did not know the details on the internal modifications. I can see it has a 750 CFM Edelbrock, Edelbrock Torker 55 intake, headers and 3” flowmaster exhaust. It is close to being finished. I would like to know what you guys think of the combination and gestimated horse power/torque. :beerchug:

[Laguna454s3]

The 455 Olds is a great motor. It may not be historically correct in your 68 GTO but it was available in the 68 and 69 Hurst Olds when GM put 400ci as the limit on cubic inches for the mid size cars. Also there was a 1hp per 100 pound rule as well. These were GM rules and Olds was the first to break it by sending the cars through Hurst. Sort of like the Royal Bobcats, Motion and Yenko cars.

I would drive it and have fun with it. I knew a guy 20 years ago that had a 68 Barracuda with a Chevy 350 in it. That was a conversation car.

Anyhow for tons of info go to
www.442.com and see the FAQ's pages
www.mondellotwister.com
www.realoldspower.com

John

[72LemansFreak]

I think without knowing your cam specs, compression, etc it would be hard to guess what this motor puts out. 400hp at the flywheel? Either way, I'm willing to bet that you have a frighteningly fast car on your hands! Have fun with it!!

[Uprmich]

My friend has done that himself. 68 hardtop GTO with a 68 Toronado motor with C casting heads. Mild port job, pretty nasty cam, and some other go fast goodies. Car went like a scalded dog. He still has it and we will soon be putting a Pontiac back in it but it is a blast to drive. Enjoy it. :drive:

[BVR421]

W30 ?
I would carefully check numbers, too bad the intake and carb are missing. werent the W30 heads something special too? Like our RamAir heads are?
I suspect the W30 motors and correct parts are something like RamAir IV items are to the Pontiac restorers. BIG BUCKS!! Its not uncommon for a carb and manifold to be worth much more than the whole motor it was found on :LOL
If it proves to be a motor highly desireable to the 442 resto crowd it may pay to sell off the Olds and find a correct motor for the GTO especially given the bizarrely high prices GTOs with the right motor are currently bringing. Wouldnt hurt to verify its actually a GTO either.

[M Bay]

Great feedback, thanks guys, not at all what I expected. Motivational to finish the project.

[olds66]

W30 heads have the own casting letter to ID them. '71 W30 came with "H" heads. 68-69 were "D" heads, 70 was "F" heads. Letter is about one inch tall found on front of left side head near #one spark plug or the rear of the right side head near #eight spark plug. And yes they are worth a lot of $$$$$$$$.

Henry

[M Bay]

Thanks Henry,
I have the “F” heads (70). I would like to know how to check the block numbers. Also, any ideas how much this package might be worth.

[67copperbird]

Unfortunatly the high dollar items are gone. The original w-30 intake is actually no more than a standard intake that was cast in Aluminum. I have seen these in good shape go from anywhere from 500.00 to 1500.00 depending on the condition. The carbs are the same way. They were special to the engine. The block castings for most 455's is the same through the model years. The casting number is by the water pump. Being its a 455 it probably starts with a 3 and has an F or Fa at the end of the number. The cranks are nodular and of good quality. Cast cranks have a "c" shape in the flange. Steel cranks have what appears to be a reverse check mark. These cranks also get good prices. Steel cranks were common up to 68' models. I think even the w-30 motors had iron cranks in 70'. Price wise I couldn't tell you without knowing all the modifications. Lastly, does it have the w-30 exhaust manifolds on it. These get good prices as well. As far as power. I would guess 400 hp. If we knew the flow numbers on the heads, we could probably give you a better guess.

[jfmjr1]

The F heads are worth alot - $1500 - $3000 for the pair - especially to someone restoring a 70 convertible W30, which was very low production car. These heads only came on a 70 W30 (likely equivalent to the RAIII and RA IV cars, but I know Olds' better than Pontiacs). You need to also check the casting numbers over the center exhaust port. Lots of fakes by taking E heads (small valve 70 heads used on 455s) and grinding to look like F heads. Becasue it is in a GTO, probably not fakes as this would serve no purpose.

Check out 442.com in the FAQ section, alot of information to identify codes correctly.

The W/Z manifolds are now repopped so originals have come down in price as well as intake manifold.

The motors are torque monsters!! I have both an Olds and Pontiac 455's and while the Olds seems to have more torque, the Pontiac seems to rev better. Never dyno's either though. Hope that helps

John