General thought is no 396 in 65 Pontiac, first year is 66 and looks like 409 went to the end of 65 production unlike Chevy which quit around January 1965 when they went to 396.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Yup I've heard of a couple of 65 with 396's but we have never confirmed that they were orginal installs. The consensus here is that Canadian Pontiacs first got 396s starting with the 66 models as they were so few 409s installed in 65 (like 100 or so) it probably just wasn't worth it to change the line mid year (As well they probably wanted to use up the stock they had so they shipped them to Canada.)
The latest ones we have confirmation on were built in April 65 well after the US switched over so our theory holds unless some one comes up with a real 65 396 car.
I think we satidfied ourselves that 396 engines did not get into Pontiacs on the assembly line. The two most compelling reasons are the late build cars cited by Ken plus the fact that the 1966 sales brochure when discussing engines describes the 396 as "new for 1966".
Howdy same as yours I think, just a bit of snow and usually around freezing.
Spending a lot of time on the 66 Grande finally. Making good progress. Put on a nice dual exhaust as per stock, new rear shocks and an F41 sway bar setup as well and am now changing all the rubber bushings in the front suspension. With any luck the front clip will be back on by Christmas! Just have to patch the bottom of the pass fender and put it all back together.
After that its only wiring, upholstery and then the rest of the body work. Hardly anything!
after last year ill take this, im trying to jugle renovating our trailer and working on the body of my truck some progress but its slow going. i see you guys are one up on me for engine jobs, ive only oiled the 09 up again started to flash over with rust agian, maybe its a hint
Howdy same as yours I think, just a bit of snow and usually around freezing.
Spending a lot of time on the 66 Grande finally. Making good progress. Put on a nice dual exhaust as per stock, new rear shocks and an F41 sway bar setup as well and am now changing all the rubber bushings in the front suspension. With any luck the front clip will be back on by Christmas! Just have to patch the bottom of the pass fender and put it all back together.
After that its only wiring, upholstery and then the rest of the body work. Hardly anything!
No hurry any more Ken!!!
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars