I print below an excerpt from a submission I have received for the Astro News Flash. Engine colours of Canadian Ponchos have always intrigued me.
I have personally never seen a green 348 in a Poncho, they have all been Chevy orange. Al Webster's perfect 1958 Parisienne that sold for $96,000 in October was orange and we all know Al to be meticulous. All 348 were built at Tonawanda so I suggest it would have been a production nightmare to make them green for the extremely few that were destine for Canadian Ponchos, BUT we also know that Poncho 348's and 409's never had bowties on the valve covers either, then the Poncho small blocks got specific Pontiac Script Valve covers too up to 57, so I am looking for some input on this. We all agree that 58 small blocks were Chevy Orange and 261's were always some shade of green, but 1958 348's green??
Having restored a convertible and now putting the finishing touches on a hardtop I have been involved with this particular model for more years than I wish to remember. The 6 cylinder 261 and 348s were painted green from the factory but for some reason 283s were painted Chevy orange. This differed from previous 265s and 283s of the 55 thru 57 era that were painted green
-- Edited by 73SC on Monday 22nd of February 2010 07:41:54 PM
Ray My original 58 Pontiac that was only 2 years old when I bought it, had a 348 in it and the colour was orange! The valve covers were plain and I had them chrome plated! Bob Crocker.
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1965 Thunderbird Special Landau 10th Anniversary Limited Edition only 4500 built 34,800 miles
I have had further correspondence with the author of the original post. He swears that they were green. If tHat is the case I am thinking early production as has been posted. Who knows the production numbers on the 348 in 58's ? It has to be very low.
Who has seen one? I've only seen one which was orange and on top of that I've only seen one 409 in a Canadian Poncho too so these W blocks are few and far between.
I have put a call into Walter Campbell, Canadian Pontiac Technical Advisor for POCI. Walter lives about 3 minutes from my office but I have never asked him about this because I never heard it before.
I have seen a 307 with Pontiac script valve covers that was still original paint of light green. It was at least '68 vintage, and I don't know what it came out of.
I have seen a 307 with Pontiac script valve covers that was still original paint of light green. It was at least '68 vintage, and I don't know what it came out of.
These are the valve covers from 55/56 top and 57 bottom. Walter confirmed 57 was lime green as shown.
looking at the pics of the 58 getting overhauled, I'll go out on a limb here and say it's a truck engine, and then someone changed out the intake and distributer from a passenger engine, ( notice the orange painted in place on the base of the distibuter ) Truck engines had governer distributers , hence they were changed out usually when dropping into a passenger car.
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later...rog
AADD supporting member !!
I'm a collector...not a builder!!Located in sunny central Saskatchewan at the lakehead!
I was not aware previously that al Canadian 348s were built in Tonawanda as I assumed that they were built by The McKinnon Industries Ltd, St Catherines. Known imported GMC engines had a Pontiac Plant number and then acquired a seperate Canadian nunber. A 348 would be prefixed 'D' and a Powerglide one '9D', though I have no idea what a truck Hydramatic prefix would be. There were no rhd 348s so 'R' prefix.
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Automotive Historian, Author and Journalist Deputy Editor, VINTAGE ROADSCENE Southampton, England
dats cool !! nice vintage Brochure !! smoking guns are good !
If anyone has a use for a vintage TURBOGLIDE....I have one in the shed.. not sure if it works,,pulled many years ago . It's still bolted to a 58 283. It would be almost free , I had paid $100 for the works , cause the guy selling it told me it as a hopped up 327 ...NOT !! He had wanted $500 for it till I showed him the block # was a 283.
Always ...always ..check the numbers.
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later...rog
AADD supporting member !!
I'm a collector...not a builder!!Located in sunny central Saskatchewan at the lakehead!
The 348 engine was first introduced in October of 1957.
The 348 was originally scheduled to be used only in Chevrolet trucks. More cubic inches were needed in the passenger cars so the 348 was used there as well.
In the first year, two versions were available; the 4-barrel 250hp and the 280hp equipped with 3-2 barrel carburetor's. Late in 58, another version was released, this time being the 315hp 348.
The additional horsepower was achieved by using a high lift cam and solid lifters. It also was equipped with the 3-2 barrel carb setup.
The 250hp, and the 280hp were available with powerglide or turboglide transmission, however the 315hp 348 was only available with the 3-speed transmission.
The 4-speed was available for the 59 models. The 305hp version was introduced and was nothing more than the 315hp with a 4-barrel instead of the 3-2 barrels.
Available for 1959 were the, 250hp, 280hp, 305hp, 315hp, 320hp and a 335hp 348's.
The higher horsepower engines were equipped with dual point distributors, improved head's and 2 1/2"exhaust. The carter AFB was also introduced and used on the 320hp.
By 1961, the horsepower was still growing. Now available were the 340hp and the 350hp 348's. This year would mark the birth of the famed 409 engine.
I was not aware previously that al Canadian 348s were built in Tonawanda as I assumed that they were built by The McKinnon Industries Ltd, St Catherines.
No big blocks were ever produced by McKinnon, 396, 427 and 454 all from Tonawanda and in fact 400 small blocks used in Canadian Pontiacs came from Tonawanda too. The 350 was McKinnon's largest small block produced.
