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Muscle Car Enthusiast - April 2009
SKUNKWORK OLDS - Meet the world's only running aluminum 350 - James
Kryta's so-sweet '70 W-31
By Tom Shaw / Photography by Tom Shaw
Had the muscle
car movement continued to snowball at its late-1960’s pace, we might well have
seen a wave of very exotic engines like a DOHC Hemi, 3-valve small-block Chevy,
and a 4-valve 455 Oldsmobile Hemi. These were all engines being researched.
Unfortunately, the market tanked around 1970, and manufacturers pulled the plug
on further muscle car development. The days of the escalating muscle car wars
were over, at least for the foreseeable future.
Oldsmobile, the GM division that had earned its reputation as the engineering
innovator, might well have broken new ground again by offering an option for
aluminum 350s and 455s. A handful of aluminum block/head/intake sets were cast.
Some were built by Oldsmobile engineers as race and experimental engines, while
others remained as unused spares, kicking around Olds’ corporate complex in the
division’s hometown of Lansing, Michigan.
The unused engine components gathered dust in the Lansing plant as times changed
and market conditions left the aluminum V8s behind. The remaining engines were
ordered destroyed, but some of the engines quietly left the plant and came into
private ownership. There they stayed for a long time.
Finally in 2005, a set of aluminum 350 castings — block, heads, intake, and
water pump — surfaced for sale on eBay, the internet auction giant. James Kryta,
a Detroiter with a fondness for ’70 Olds A-bodies, was in the middle of a ’70
W31 restoration, saw the auction and was keenly interested. James contacted the
seller and made him an offer. The seller, an individual from Lansing, with
strong connections to Olds, turned it down initially, but called back soon after
and agreed to sell the rare parts — all NOS castings that had never been
assembled — to James. Suddenly, his restoration had taken on a new direction.
Instead of being restored as a factory production car, it would become the “what
if” car with an aluminum W31-spec 350 — small-block screamer that Oldsmobile
never built.
The car itself came from Traverse City, Michigan. They learned of it word of
mouth in 2003. The Porcelain White and Twilight Blue Metallic Cutlass Holiday
coupe was almost too good to be true. The good news was that car was an original
W31 Cutlass with M21 4-speed, 3.91:1 Anti-Spin axle, disc brakes, W27 axle
cover, Rally gauges, tach, and not much else. It was even a radio delete car.
Wheels were the standard stamped steel rims in matching Twilight Blue Metallic
with cheapie dog dish hubcaps. The even better news was that the car, fresh from
an estate sale, showed only 23,000 miles, had a rock-solid body, and a
near-perfect original interior.
“It was pretty much take the car apart, paint everything, and put it back
together,” said James’ brother John, who helped in the restoration. The body was
removed, and the car totally dismantled. Each nut, bolt, and part was carefully
cleaned and refurbished, except for original parts that needed only a cleaning.
Extra care was taken with the body. Panels were worked to the point of laser
straightness, and the panel gaps were hand set for a tight, consistent line.
Basecoat / clearcoat paint, applied by Wings Auto Art in Ionia, Michigan, looks
like glass. Six coats of clear were applied, providing plenty of material to wet
sand. Bodywork far surpasses factory standards.
“The body was the only thing that was really over-restored,” James told us. “The
rest of the car has correct, production overspray patterns.”
Beginning with a fresh, clean frame, reassembly began. New suspension was hung
up front, and a refurbed axle was installed in the rear. New fuel lines, brakes
hoses, clips and clamps were installed, along with a fresh set of detailing
tags, and a new emergency brake cable. James had an advantage here, because he
and his brother John own and operate Inline Tube (www.inlinetube.com),
manufacturers of high-quality reproduction hydraulic lines. Nice to see that
they have a genuine passion for vintage muscle cars.
The engine was a unique challenge. Gary Rubrich was handed the job of building
the one-of-a-kind Olds. The car’s original numbers-matching W31 was removed, and
the reciprocating assembly for the new aluminum engine — crank, rods, and
pistons — were machined to fit the block so that no material would have to be
removed from the virgin cylinders. How’s that for Select Fit? Heads were
assembled in the same way, using all factory W31 parts. The aluminum head
castings were identical to iron W31 castings, so assembly followed normal
procedure with full factory parts. The exception is that a snowflake, the logo
of the Winters Foundry which supplied aluminum engine castings for General
Motors, is in place of the normal letter code found on the corner of the head. A
standard W31 cam was installed, and the engine topped with a factory Quadra Jet.
Steel oil pan and valve covers were painted aluminum to complete the effect.
Bosses for all accessories and brackets were in place, and everything bolted up
like a factory production engine.
John tells us that 5-7 sets of these engine castings are believed to have been
made.
“We’ve heard of one other NOS block, and there was one other aluminum engine
that was on display at the nationals,” John explains. “Engine block weighs 68
pounds, heads 22. These heads were even lighter than the Edelbrock aluminum
heads.”
With the engine assembled, James decided to put it on the dyno. It was a
decision that could have grave consequences.
“We were nervous about porosity,” John recalls. “What if we got a block that was
not solid?” The potential existed for the engine to literally fall to pieces
when subjected to the stress of the dyno. These were, after all, experimental
engines.
Dan Jensen, Pure Stock Drags founder, was brought in to lend his considerable
tuning expertise. The baseline pull showed the gutsy small-block was making
380hp — 10 more than the factory W30 455 rating of 370. By 7 PM, the end of an
intense dyno session, 28 pulls had been made, timing was set to 36 degrees, carb
jetting was in the sweet spot, and output peaked at an astounding 415 horsepower
and 455 foot-pounds of torque at 3900 rpm through stocker iron exhaust
manifolds. That’s an increase of 35hp just from tuning. The only hiccup in the
castings was one pushrod hole that developed a coolant leak and needed some
corrective machining.
Couple that kind of power to the greatly reduced weight up front, and you’ve got
a W-machine that would be an absolute animal on the road, or on the track.
Final assembly was next. The intake was too tall to use a standard Force Air
breather, so a low-profile, twin-snokel breather from a Toronado was adapted.
Exhaust manifolds, one-off castings with no provisions for a crossover tube,
were used. In keeping with the experimental “what if” nature of the restoration,
custom-length Waldron VOE mufflers were used along with Gardner exhaust pipe. A
driver-operated switch inside redirects the flow path in the muffler for a
louder exhaust note. Bumpers, trim, and fitment got careful attention so the
body parts all fit together with precision. To top it off, an genuine
Experimental Assembly tag was attached to the radiator core support using
factory VIN tag rivets.
The goal was to get it done in time for the ’08 Oldsmobile Nationals in
Dearborn. By mid-July, the car was ready and took its place as the newest of
four cars displayed by the Kryta's. Needless to say, the unique W-31 was a huge
hit.
“We’ve done a few shows,” says John, “and taken nothing less than best of show
or first place.”
We’ve got a hunch there are probably quite a few more trophies in store for it.
In James Krytas’ ’70 Cutlass S W-31, you could see the future. It was a future
that never came, at least not through the usual channels. But had Oldsmobile
elected to produce the aluminum 350s and 455s, the story of the W-machines would
have a wild new chapter.
EXTERIOR TRIM:
This is a
Cutlass W-31Not to be confused with a 442 or W-30. This was the little brother
car that was equipped with the small block 350 and the W-31 option could be
applied to the F-85, Cutlass or the Cutlass S. This was to keep insurance rates
down with a car hiding a few horses under the hood.
ENGINE:
.This all aluminum Oldsmobile 350 cid engine is rated at 415 hp with a
compression ratio of 10.5:1.
SNOWING INSIDE:
The block and
heads bear the snowflake logo of the Winters Foundry, known for casting the
aluminum ZL1 427 Chevrolet engines, L89 heads, and other aluminum Chevrolet
engine components.
At the edges of surfaces that got machined is green machinists'’
dye, applied to make the scribed line more visible. This dye was applied by the
factory, and never removed. The engine was NOS and had never been assembled.
Pistons were machined to fit the cylinder bores, not vice-versa.
Olds applied a tag to the oil filler tube, identifying the engine with a
two-letter code. For this non-production engine, this seemed like the logical
code.
INTERIOR:
This car is a
basic striper with its bench seat, standard cutlass interior with few options to
spare. This car is also not equipped with radio so the dash sports a radio delete
plate. The 4 speed shifter is also a simple boot and handle through the floor.
FROM THE LAB:
This
is
the
same engineer who sold James the engine also had this tag, which fit the
aluminum W31 project nicely.
ESCAPE MACHINE TAG:
This tag was displayed on Olds’ 1970 show cars. Olds Escape
Machine was one of Olds’ marketing themes for ’70. You gotta love that groovy
period art.
1970 W-31Equipment
Available on F-85 Sports Coupe, Cutlass S Sports Coupe and Holiday Coupe
Exterior:
Lightweight Body Insulation
Special W Front Fender Emblems
Dual Intake Force Air Fiberglass Hood
Extra Wide body Side Paint Stripes
Sport Styled Outside Rearview Mirrors
Dual Hood Paint Stripes
Power Train:
Performance Rear Axle Package(G92, 3:42:1, or G88 3.91:1)
Anti Spin Axle Differential
Heavy Duty Clutch
235-hp Force Air Rocket 350 V8 High Compression, with selected parts
including:
forced-Air Induction system
Special Air cleaner
and aluminum intake manifold
Engine Specifications:
’Horsepower @ rpm - 325 @ 5400
Torque @ rpm - 360 @ 3600
Compression ratio - 10.5:1
Chassis
Manual Front Disc Brakes with Rear
Drums
Rally-Sports suspension includes:
Heavy Duty front and Rear springs, Shock absorbers, and stabilizer bars,
heavy duty 14x7 - inch black wall Wide-Oval Fiberglass - belted (PK5 Required)
... includes raised white letters
Available Sports - Car Equipment (options)
Axle, Carrier and Cover, Aluminum
Rear (W27)
Brakes, Delete Manual Front Disc (JL8)
Instruments, Rocket Rally Pac ( U21)
Steering Wheel, Custom Sport (N34)
Tires, G70x14 inch White Stripe Wide Oval Fiberglass Belted (PX8)
Transmission, Fully Synchronized 4-Speed floor Shift (M-20, Wide Ratio, M-21
Close Ratio)... Includes Hurst Shifter
Transmission, Turbo Hydromatic 350 (M36)
Wheels, Super Stock 1 (PO5)
Wheels, Super Stock II (N66)
Wheel Trim Rings, Chrome (PO6)
Sources:
Inline tube - Brake & Fuel Lines,
Parking brake cables, Hoses, Valves, Brake & Fuel Clips, Disc Brakes
15066 Technology Drive
Shelby Twp, MI 48315
586 532 1338
E-mail : Sales@inlinetube.com
Wings Auto Art - Body, Paint, Assembly
Nyle Wing
Ionia, Michigan 48846
PH (616) 523-6200 or (517 290- 0368
E-mail :
nyle@wingsautoart.com
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