chevrolet 6 cylinder engines

[Tom Geiger]

If you want to have people scratching their heads, put this one in your Nova! I believe you can make this by slicing 2 cylinders off a six!

[azers]

Ah, i believe thats the venerable old 2.5 iron duke 4 cyl that gm used in their nova II'S and nova line. They are also a popular motor for marine applications.

[W Humble]

Not exactly the I.D. -- but very interesting engine; lots of details available on Hemming Motor News forums recently.  The Chevy II four was never a big seller in 1962-4, and the V-8 Novas (deluxe package for C-II) were hotly anticipated.  

[Mark]

The Chevy II/Nova was available with the four through 1970.  Few people ordered them though, and dealers generally wouldn't stock them.  They were also used by Kaiser Jeep in the CJ-5A postal Jeeps.  AMC bought Jeep in 1970 but used stockpiled parts until they ran out.  Those postal Jeeps with the Nova four also had a Powerglide transmission with a really small torque converter, and a narrow Dana 44 rear axle...a few people dropped small-blocks into them...

[Casey]

On 2/3/2013 at 12:18 PM, charlie8575 said:

For reference, here's a good picture of the integral-head 250 head in bare cast iron.

While the link is still viable, here's the image directly uploaded:

 

The forthcoming 1/25 AMT #1201 '63 Chevy II Nova 400 Wagon kit will include an inline Chevrolet six-cylinder engine, like the original, but not quite exactly the same.

[W Humble]

I honestly think I've only SEEN one C-II four banger 'in the wild'.  The Pontiac Tempest four, now...  got '62 LeMans ragtop, four with four-barrel.

My original point was that in Greenbergs kit review he mentioned that the vacant engine compartment of the model could be filled with the six from the 1960 Chevy pickup kit, but that was the old 235 cu.in., not the C-II/Nova 194 (later 230-250) engine, thus would be incorrect as a factory-stock build.  Might have made an interesting swap, at that, but the SBC was what we all were anticipating, not more sixes.  Never cared much for the C-II/Nova line myself, tho we had a low-mileage '67 (4-dr, 250/three-speed) example for over 20 years.  A real underachiever in most categories.  The SS V-8, however...   Wait; I thought they were homely!  IMHO

[W Humble]

Casey, that design seems like a horrible idea, to me.  CHEVROLET INLINE SIX-CYLINDER POWER MANUAL, by Leo Santucci (& Bill Fisher) is a great resource for building Chevy sixes, but in truth, it refers mostly to the high-deck truck versions that make the max power. (California Bill's Automotive Handbooks, Tucson, AZ)  I met Bill when I signed the contract for my book HOW TO RESTORE YOUR DATSUN Z-CAR, back in 1984; very interesting hot-rod pioneer.  

I've been considering how to convert TWO AMT Chevy 216.5 cu.in. sixes into a Franken-V-12...  Fisher heads, etc.!

[Mark]

The small Ford inline six (144/170/200/250) all had the intake manifold cast as a unit with the cylinder head, as did some Nash (pre-AMC) straight sixes.  No problems from a durability standpoint, the only gripe came from people wanting to hop them up.  The Nash six intake was open on top, a flat plate was then bolted to it and the carburetor bolted to that.  Those guys just made a new plate to fit multiple carbs.  Ford and Offenhauser offered a kit for the Ford six, where you had a couple of flat spots milled on the integral intake, and a couple of holes bored.  Bolt-on flanges (separate pieces from Ford, Offenhauser's was a single piece) allowed for two more carbs to be added.

Ford of Australia did manufacture those engines with a separate, bolt-on intake manifold.  But the North American engines always had the integral intake.

[W Humble]

I think it was Holman & Moody that did the Falcon kit; was in HRM.  Maybe Bill Stroppe?

Not much access to ports!  A lot of casting fuss just to avoid gasketing?  This IS starting to sound like a Hemmings forum!

[espo]

You mention that you have a '62 Pontiac Tempest with a 4 cyl. engine and a four barrel carb. ??  Is the engine upright or does it lean toward the passenger front fender ?? 

[W Humble]

Leans, of course because it is the passenger's side half of the Poncho 389 V-8!  I wrote the first article on this car for SPECIAL INTEREST AUTOS back in 1077, when I could still interview most of the guys who built it.  Not DeLorean, darn it, but Bunky Knudsen, Bill Collins, Mal MacKellar, Fred Timpner, Hulki Aldikachti (sp?), and also Mickey Thompson!  I drove new ones when I was a lot-bot at the local Pontiac/Buick/GMC dealer, but this is the first I've owned.  As far as I know, it was the only stock four cylinder ever produced with the 4-bbl. option.  (also offered Buick 215 cu.in. aluminum V-8, but less than 2% sold, vs. four.)  Four always equalled the V-8 horsepower; 166 hp. highest, but a special racing version was produced with it's own trick 4-bbl. intake, etc.  166 = 1/2 of 333 hp. GTO mill, btw.  Mine is lower compression version, not 10.75:1 of top offering.

I built a version of the 'AMT '61 Tempest "Monte Carlo" show car, using a genuine '62 AMT LeMans four -- all begun in '62 and only completed sixty years later!!  At GM, Cad used the 'MC' name first, then for this roadster, Pontiac, before it ended up at Chevy.  None actually raced there, but one 421 Tempest could have, able to outrunm Grand Sports Corvettes, and Ferrari GTOs.  I'd attach pics, but I'm not good at that at age 76. Look online; some are accuate.

[W Humble]

I meant 1977; I'm old, but not that old!  Wick

[Mark]

The straight sixes were price leaders, not intended as performance engines (except the Pontiac OHC, which was unsuccessful back then).  The more cheaply they could be produced, the better.   I'm surprised that GM waited as long as they did to cast the intake and head as a unit.  When there is a cheaper way to do something, GM usually led the way in doing it.

Edited September 11, 2021 by Mark
Spelling

[W Humble]

Got that one; I was in high school/college then! *

The Pontiac OHC six was also expected to be cheaper to produce, and light on fuel -- excpept for the HO 207 hp. version.  Hurst and C/D magazine swapped one into an XK-E and ran it at the drags; no slouch!  The smaller DOHC Jag went back in it later, they say. 

I'm sort of experienced 7with the Datsun L24-L28 engine, a pretty hot six that got by with both manifolds on the same side, as well as the L16-L20B fours, having bought a new 240Z in July of  '70, restored it, and sold it back to Nissan USA in '95.  Datsun built a cross-flow head for the L24 for their rally team, but few have ever been seen since then, darnit!  Also, there are a number of Skyline GTR (etc.; not my field ) engines around; a Z-expert friend is building one for his restomod '70 Z.  He just sold his 2.0-L DOHC race motor brought back from Japan.  Bill Fisher and friends campaigned a streamlined Z special at Bonneville; 'Inliners Club', again.

OC, the inline six is and has been a big performance number in the rest of the world, so few V-8's there.  It takes more money to get power from our sixes than need be spent for a SBC or Ford, etc., to say nothing about LS motors.  My modeling thing now is V-12's, easy to cobble up from two V-8 kit engines, usually.  I have a very old HAWK M-B GP car DOHC V-12 that I'd like to have duplicated in resin (can't find anyone to teach the craft to me!!) or 3-D printing.  I want to 'fake' a phantom Miller V-12 for a roadster I'm building from a 1930 Caddie glue-bomb.  Using Bugatti 'mag' wheels; but did you know Harry A. Miller designed the originals (12-spokers) much earlier for his T-N-T racer series cars?  He built a few sixes too. 

*A local guy ran a Willys two-door sedan gasser (C class, I think, NHRA) with a Ford FLATHEAD six, and it did really well too.  Success went to his head, and he succumbed to a SBC  and moved up two classes, with less good result vs. other V-8s.  It was flat-black primer, with a big cartoon buzzard on the deck lid.

Thx for the msg!  Wick

[Mark]

You're preaching to the choir regarding straight six engines.  I like 'em...put over 200,000 miles on an AMC 258, and have a '62 Ford Fairlane with a '74 250 under the hood.  The AMC rolled across the scale at the boneyard in 1993, still ran great and used maybe a quart of oil in a thousand miles.  But the body fell apart around it (was structurally unsafe) and I couldn't find another body to put the engine in.  If the right one came along, I'd buy it without a thought.

The Ford runs great too, smooth and quiet, power right where you want it for stop light to stop light driving.  I like hearing the "experts" tell me it should have a 302 instead.

[W Humble]

I needed a 1/25 six to build an 'accurate' model of my brother's nice '56 F-100 (a second-owner creampuff with the original 223 cu.in. OHV six) and I just happened to have a 1963 Rambler American coupe, bought in '63, of course; it was a remarkably close approximation of the Ford, even to the grooves in the valve cover, as I recall. Just added a flathead V-8 air filter, and painted it yellow/silver.  The old 223 is a great engine, if treated well; possibly better than the Chevy 235, which was pretty good.  The AMC kit?  Became an early funny car, with 392 hemi from AMT Buick Special wagon kit, and wheels from Munster Coach.  All bought/built 'back in the day'.

[Classicgas]

On 2/3/2013 at 4:11 PM, Tom Geiger said:

http://images52.fotki.com/v639/photos/7/43507/8359702/nova_4-vi.jpg

 

If you want to have people scratching their heads, put this one in your Nova! I believe you can make this by slicing 2 cylinders off a six!

?Ask and ye shall recieve.

[NOBLNG]

I had a few of those Chevy 250s over the years. They were pretty much indestructible! It was often “fill the oil and check the gas”.? A buddy of mine had one that burned so much oil that he would get free waste oil from the local service station.

Edited September 12, 2021 by NOBLNG

[Rob Hall]

Had a few straight 6s over the years...the Jeep 4.0 was pretty durable, put 170k on my '00 GC with that engine..leaked oil a bit past 100k and had many electrical issues, but the engine itself was fine.   Also had a BMW w/ the S52 3.2 straight 6, great engine, and drove a Mercedes W124 300CE quite a bit w/ the 3.0 6...

[W Humble]

I don't know what kit it came from, but I have some misc. parts for a Pontiac OHC 6 in my junk drawers; wish I had it all!  Also some Jag SOHC parts, but no block.'

Pay attention to what is posted about the different GM six families.  Remember, the 194-230-2560 (& 292)cu.in. began in 1962, with the Chevy II/Nova.  Previous to that was the 235 family, which began as a truck engine during WWII, and was of course adapted to the early Corvette.  Built simultaneously until about 1953 (?) was the old 'Stovebolt Six' 216.5 cu.in., a Chevy standby but with dubious oiling which was remedied in the 235.  Before that, there were similar sixes including ones with updraft carburetion. Right?   (The six, nice as it is, in the '51 kits is the 216.5, even with the aftermarket head not accurate for other eras.)

The 230 was used in the A-body Pontiac Tempest/LeMans as a base engine in 1964-65, then replaced by the SOHC six in 1966-67.  How I wanted Pontiac to produce the Banshee 2-seater with the 215-hp. version of that engine, plus 4-speed!!  When I ETS'd from the Army, it was but a misty memory, though the Sprint option had been sold in the Firebirdy those two years.  I bought a new Datsun 240Z; very strong and thrifty SOHC six in a sporty GT package; still have one!  Note: the Sprint OHC is not the same block as the Nova, etc. six; it was a special casting altogether, and distinctive.  Check it on the web.  Olds and Buick; I dunno.

Anyhow, if building 'stock' be sure you have the right block package to begin with, as they definitely look very different, and were even moreso internally.