Any experience with this GM engine?

[Turboomni]

Years ago this engine I had read about and I believe was in a Pontiac Tempest. It intrigued me and for a time I went searching for one. I never found or owned one but found it interesting in it's design. Like to know if anyone had owned one and tell their perceptions on it. I saw this at a car cruise in NY state last week and did not know you could get it in a Firebird. Here are a few pics.

 

[Big_John]

It was a one year (1967) deal for the Firebird. That was the base motor. They had a Sprint version with more compression and a Q-Jet carb.

I've never seen one in a Firebird in person, but have seen them in Tempests. I always thought they were pretty cool. Pontiac dropped them when they went to only V-8 engines.

Edit: I should have said the 230 six was 67 only. They did 250 in 68/69

 

[Big_John]

BTW, a quick way to tell a 67 from a 68 Firebird is the 68 has wraparound front parking light/turn signals.

 

[twostick]

230 cube SOHC. Same engine platform as the 194/230/250 pushrod inline 6.

Kevin

 

[LocuMob]

I saw one years ago in a Firebird, never looked under the hood of my Tempests.

 

[65 500]

https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/m...ng---1967-Pontiac-Tempest-Sprint/1281461.html

 

[Big_John]

Pontiac had some wild stuff. In the early sixties, they had the Tempest with the transaxle in the rear, like a C5 Corvette and a four cylinder that was basically a 389 with one side cut off.

Optional aluminum V-8 too.

 

[Turboomni]

Amazing it was produced at all with it's innovation [although not new] when gas was so cheap and V8's were plentiful.

 

[Turboomni]

Pontiac had some wild stuff. In the early sixties, they had the Tempest with the transaxle in the rear, like a C5 Corvette and a four cylinder that was basically a 389 with one side cut off.

Optional aluminum V-8 too.

What car was that with the transaxle in the rear???

 

[commando1]

What car was that with the transaxle in the rear???

61-63
Tempest.

And F85

 

[twostick]

I believe the descendant of that 215 aluminum engine can still be found in Range Rovers.

They had a 421 Super Duty Factory Experimental that was a drag strip terror.

Kevin

 

[CBODY67]

The SOHC 6-cylinder was supposed to be more attuned to similar European engines of the time. Pretty gutsy to seek to set Pontiac more apart from Chevrolet. But "the market" was still with higher power V-8s, no matter how trick the SOHC 6 might have been. Performance needed the 4-speed manual rather than the 2-speed automatic! Agreed, more were in Tempests than Firebirds, I suspect.

CBODY67

 

[CBODY67]

I believe the descendant of that 215 aluminum engine can still be found in Range Rovers.

They had a 421 Super Duty Factory Experimental that was a drag strip terror.

Kevin

The 215 aluminum V-8 was really a Buick design, a pre-cursor to the later Buick 350 V-8, in many ways. There was an Oldsmobile version, with Olds-designed heads and pistons, but the Buick had a tad more power and torque. An interesting story online about how Rover ended up with the motor and a soon-to-be retired Buick engineers to get it produced in England.

Mickey Thompson did that V-8 Tempest. There were car magazine articles on how he got the V-8 in there and what other things he did to that 4-cyl car.

CBODY67

 

[C Body Bob]

61-63
Tempest.

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And F85

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I did not know this

 

[cantflip]

Years ago this engine I had read about and I believe was in a Pontiac Tempest. It intrigued me and for a time I went searching for one. I never found or owned one but found it interesting in it's design. Like to know if anyone had owned one and tell their perceptions on it. I saw this at a car cruise in NY state last week and did not know you could get it in a Firebird. Here are a few pics.


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View attachment 139118

Thanks for the thread... as others have pointed out, GM did some interesting stuff through the 60's. I think all the magazine coverage of the Muscle has overshadowed a bunch of these cool but less valuable models. All the Tempest discussion immediately brought to mind what might be the most technically correct car movie of all time...

 

[BigblueC]

My neighbor had a SOHC Firebird in the early 70's. He, and a few others, claim that the Firebird would outrun the small block Camaros and Challangers up to about 60 mph. He says that the SOHC was "torquey", which I don't doubt. I think the Pontiac SOHC is a good looking engine. I'd like to have one.

 

[barnfind]

Buick 215s had an additional head bolt compared to Olds 215. The Pontiac tempest was even stranger with the transaxle rear end.

My first real resto car was a 63 Olds f-85, one of the few pics I have of it, wished I had kept that one.

 

[66Newyorker]

I owned a 69 Firebird rag top with a SHOC inline 6 cylinder with a powerglide. Was the base version. The Sprint version had a 4 bbl carb and better cam profile. Drove it from Maine to Louisiana back in the early 90s with no issues. One fact about this engine, it was the first production engine with a belt driven camshaft.

 

[BigblueC]

I have some production numbers from my Pontiac Historic Society papers that show how many engines were produced in 67. Pontiac produced a lot more of the ohc 6 than I would have assumed based on how often you see the ohc 6. Just thought I'd share. *the highlight is my car which is not an ohc 6*

 

[72Fury]

BTW, a quick way to tell a 67 from a 68 Firebird is the 68 has wraparound front parking light/turn signals.

The easiest for me is the vent wings that are on a 1967 & not a 68.

I ve seen several of the ohc sixes. Sadly many were pulled to put a v8. Cool engine, but not much aftermarket compared to the slant 6. I think a header & 4 bbl intake & was about it.