Dave here is a pic of our Ram Air 4 speed Twilight Blue 442 with the SSII wheel look which is my personal favorite for that year.
Jim, that is gorgeous. Very rare, too. You wouldn't think they ever made a non-W30 442 from what you see today! Kinda like a small block Camaro or Challenger. I remember that article, just didn't put 2 and 2 together as to who owned it jnow. Like the body stripe. Really sets off the lines. Those SSII's look gorgeous on there. When Olds added the N67 option (body colored SSII wheels), we rarely saw any of the N66 grey SSI's anymore in the plant. Brillliant marketing move as it cost us the same to paint body color as it did the grey. I painted the original N66 wheels on my 68 to match the body color (Ocean Turquoise) and ran it that way for almost 20 years. (Actually it sat in the garage most of that time.) I went back to the grey when I switched to wider tires (60 series) and 7 inch SSII wheels. They look really great with that color, in fact only colors I don't like on SSII wheels are white (sorry Indy Pace Car guys, you too, Noel) and that dreaded Sebring Yellow with no trim rings. Barf....... :laugh: :laugh:
My friend has a cutlass with a candian style paint scheme, and similar rims. I couldnt post the pix, they are about 2kb too big. I could post them with someones help possibly. I love how the rims have the huge indent on the outer side, for the trim ring. VERY nice indeed.
I think the Olds 455 is this car was only rated a few tics less than a W30. I suspect the jetting, the cam, and the al intake was the bulk of the difference.
Car companies were known for "stretching" their hp ratings on the standard engines and understating the real hp on the hot dog cars like the W30, W31, RAIV, LS6, etc. Easiest way to do it is pick an RPM below the peak and use that as the rating point. That way it's not really lying. :bglasses: Big difference in the ports in the heads, too. Lots of horsepower there. Nothing that couldn't be put into the stock C,E, or G and Ga heads by someone who knows what they're doing (not me, that's for sure), but that would be cheating! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Nice car.
I will have to defer to higher authority Dave H. on that. Seems wide to me but let's hear what the man who was at Lansing then says.
14 x 7 wheels actually measure 8 inches wide overall, just like the diameter measures 15 overall. The wheel is defined at the fictitious centerline of the bead seat of the tire. If the tires are off the rim, look for a stamping inside that reads 14 x 7 JJ or JK. Olds never made or used an 8 inch wide wheel. To my knowledge only one was a 15 x 8 Corvette. If the center ornament is held on with 5 screws, those are very good wheels and came on 1970-1973 cars (SSII). If the center ornament snaps in, they're probably 78-87 (SSIII) from a G body. They are much more plentiful and pretty cheap right now. They also had 15 inch versins of these wheels in both the bolt on ornament (SSII- 1974) and the snap on ornament (SSIII-,1975-1977). In the eighties they had a chromed version of these SSIII wheels in both the 14 x 6 and 15 x 7 sizes. The 15 x 7 were used on the 83-84 Hurst Olds and also the later 442's (85-88, I think). They are very popular and quite valuable in good condition. See if you can find a stamping on the rims (if they don't have tires on them), and how the center ornament is attached (snap on or bolted on). :bglasses:
Jim you know Buicks but there is a big difference in the performance of a 442 and a W-30 especially in 1970. Come visit and I will prove it to you with a 71 .
Hmmmmmm.........I always thought SSIII designated snap on center ornament, not body colored painted wheels. o No: o No: o No:
I think they went to SSIII title when they intro'd color keyed....would need to check some 71 literature. 70 grey wheels were SSII's I think
70 Grey wheels were definitely SSII's, but painted ones also had the same bolt on ornaments. We received the wheels in black from the supplier (usually Motor Wheel, and eeery wheel got painted. Even the black ones. I never heard the designation SSIII until after I left Olds in 1974. First encounter was the new 76 Supreme. We ordered wire covers (wife's choice) but think the dealer refferred to the N67's as SSIII's. Side note (like I always do...... :laugh: ).. The wires were stolen off it when the car was 2 months old. Van full of kids hot the parking lot, got 4 sets and took off. Wife saw it from the window of the office where she worked. My insurance company (Kemper BTW) told me to get a quote for replacements and proceeded to send me a check for about 1/2 what the quote was for a new set. Check was made out to me and the Olds dealer, so I couldn't just cash it and go buy some from a junkyard (or another thief). Parts guy at the Olds dealer said he had a set of 15 inch Olds rallye wheels in the back he'd been trying to move and he'd put them on the car with trim for that check (about $200). Insurance also said they wouldn't cover a second set. Didn't stay with them long after that. No brainer. When I picked up the car I looked at the wheels. Genuine 1969 Hurst wheels with the chrome outer rim (didn't take trim rings). I couldn't stop smiling! :bglasses:
Jim, when that car appeared in the magazine, it had the correct stripes, right? And it was based, perhaps, in Rhode Island?
Yes It was painted with laquer and after 15 years it checked out. So I had it repainted in base coat clear coat and changed it to the W30 style stripe for looks.
