Hi guys! I'm from the States, and I've been around old Chevy's all my life. I've had seven '53 and '54 Chevys most with 235's. My current Chevy is a '53 210 with a U.S. 261 in it that came out of a 1959 2-ton truck.
I have some questions about the Canadian 261's that came in Pontiacs. Maybe someone here can satisfy my curiosity.
What year Pontiacs was the 261 installed in? Did the Canadian 261's have full-flow oil filters, or were they like our 235's and had bypass oil filters? Did the Canadian 261's have the "Captain's bars" cast into the block castings to identify them?
Here are a couple of pictures of my 261 before I put it into my car. The captain's bars are visible above the casting date on this side of the block. On the other side they are visible below the middle intake port. In the second photo you can see 3/4" pipe plugs that are in the oil filter line holes. The U.S. oil lines are 1/2" I.D.
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1953 Chevy convertible with a 261 inline six-banger.
Well of course Welcome as well! Al Taylor and Dave LaCourse are our resident experts on the Pontiac 261 BUT being News Letter Editor for CPSC - POCI I get to write about a lot of things and 261's are one of them.
Years of use in full size Canadian Pontiacs, 1955 - 1962. The engines were slightly modified for more torque and power using a Corvette camshaft from the Blue Flame engine and larger carburetor. Gearing for 261's was lower, numerically higher, so performance at the stop light drags was equal to or better than a similar 265 or 283 V8 car. Oil by pass system as you describe. My Dad's old 261 Strato Chief could hum, he claimed it could peg the 120 mph speedo. being a little whipper snapper I can't say for sure but no one ever passed us on the way to the cottage and I recall dad taking 7 or 8 cars on the old 2 lane Hwy 27 just north of Barrie on the way to Wasaga Beach.
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.
Thanks guys! The 261 isn't too tall for the hood. Its an unusual engine. I bought it in 2003 from a Buick guy who had no use for it. When I pulled the oil pan the bottom end was pristine--you could have eaten off the crank and the pan. If any of you have ever pulled the oil pan off of a 45 year old 235 or 261, you know the inside of the pan is usually thick with black goo and gunk--not this one. I pulled the head and the bores were pretty clean--there was a slight amount of surface rust in one cylinder. No ridge. It looked to me like it had sat inside for a long, long time. There was no paint on the outside of the block, and only slight surface rust there. When I pulled the distributor, the tang was hardly worn. In comparison I've seen the tang's on high mileage 235's that were REALLY worn. My guess is that this engine was pulled from a truck when it had 10,000 to 15,000 miles on it, and then stored until sometime in 2002. I neglected to ask where the Buick guy had gotten it from, but he said he bought it in a pile of Buick blocks in 2002.
Also... when I was rebuilding it I noticed the pistons were armoured--that is they had a ring of crenellated steel cast into the piston right below the bottom ring. Anybody run across this before on a 261?
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1953 Chevy convertible with a 261 inline six-banger.
Thanks for the welcome! I've always like Pontiacs. When I was a boy we could only afford Chevys. My first girlfriend's dad drove a '62 Grand Prix--it was a GORGEOUS car. He would let me borrow it every once in a while to take his daughter out. Fun times!
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1953 Chevy convertible with a 261 inline six-banger.
Check out inliners.org. The info on the "old" sixes is a bit sparse, but there are many who are into them. I had a 56 that I pulled the 6 out of when I was 16 in favor of a high school rebuild(re-ring) 350. Dumb. There's plenty for intakes and exhaust out there too, like Offy and Fenton. Pricey, but very cool. I believe some builders also make tubular headers for your application. Planing the head would also help in the compression department. If using single carb setup, go with a Holley 390 cfm or one of the small Edelbrock 4-bbl. Of course, 3 single throaters would be kickass on a motor with a Wayne side cover. I'm currently building a hot '67 292(2nd gen) 6 for my 64 GMC 1/2 ton, with a bunch of goodies-Clifford intake+Demon 4 bbl, big valves, lump ports, headers, Crane cam, etc. Good luck.
This is not a 261 but it is interesting. I found this under the hood of all things a 1970 Cutlass S a few weeks ago, It was a shock to see a 250 six in there but after the initial head shaking I thought this is pretty darn cool. Its got Clifford split manifold and a Holley 4bbl emptying into dual chrome trumpets like a 442 would have.
I'm running a 235 head on my 261. It is the 848 head, and came off of a '59 or '60 235--I forget which right now. I do have the original 850 head for the 261, but from what I've read the 235 head will make a little more compression.
Thanks for the Inliners link. I have visited their site at times and found their info very useful. I'll check it out again.
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1953 Chevy convertible with a 261 inline six-banger.
I should have mentioned that the 250 6 is the original engine in that Cutlass. Original owner told me he waited 12 weeks after ordering that car for delivery. It would be interesting to see the production numbers on a 6 cylinder Cutlass S.
That 1970 Cutlass S was Hillar's car? That being the case I must have met Hillar back in 1992 when I saw that car at Markington Square (Markham / Eglinton). There used to be a weekly cruise / show thing going on there back in the early 90s, much like the Route 66 deal now. I was impressed by the presence of an Oldsmobile Action Line 6 under the hood painted gold like the Oldsmobiles were. Lots of Clifford stuff on it. When I priced out Clifford headers for my 6 cyl Chevelle they asked $600. I said "No thanks!". Today I have got a hot rodded Chevy inline 6 being readied to go under the hood of my 67 Chevelle. It is a 292 built out of a low deck 250 block for hood clearance with the twin downdraft carbs I will be running. It was an expensive way to go with all the machining, custom rods & pistons... I am ordering a custom ATI damper for it shortly (more buck$).
As for the old 261 sixes, I thought the 261 Pontiac also had hydraulic lifters rather than solid / mechanical lifters like on the 235 & 261 truck sixes. I do remember a friend's brother's 57 Laurentian had a 261 that ran so quietly you didn't hear it running at all (it didn't have the Powerglide whine since it was a 3-speed manual).
-- Edited by CdnGMfan on Thursday 16th of December 2010 03:19:35 PM
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67 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe, Oshawa-built 250 PG never disturbed.
In garage, 296 cid inline six & TH350...
Cam, Toronto.
I don't judge a man by how far he's fallen, but by how far back he bounces - Patton
Indeed Cam the engine is nicely paint gold. Remember Hillar was single, he was the Corporate Lawyer for a well known Canadian Mining Company making a mid 6 figure salary. $600 was walking around money for him.
Great Looking engine btw Cam
-- Edited by 73SC on Thursday 16th of December 2010 04:41:43 PM
except one correction, his Dad bought it. The word Parents is not applicable
