n00b question about 79 engines
- Thread starter oldiejams
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I don't know when the switch was made, but early Regals like ours had the Chevy 305 and later years got the Olds 307. Both engines are considered a 5.0 liter.
supercrackerbox said:
Not just "considered" - both ARE 5.0 liter engines. If you do the math, both displacements round off to 5.0 liters.
'78 Regals had the Chevy 305, but that was the last year for the Chevy. In '79 Buick switched to the Pontiac 301, which has been referred to as both a 4.9l and 5.0l. Later came the Pontiac 4.3l and eventually the Olds 307. Buick had ceased production of their own V8 motors by 1980 to free up production capacity for the 231 V6 it was supplying to most other GM Divisions.
A little history lesson for the younger guys:
Historically, GM divisions had engines that were unique to each brand, with the exception of the X-body cars and the Chevy straight 6 cyl. in the A bodies. In '77, when the revised, smaller full-size B body was introduced engine interchangeability became rampant. A class-action lawsuit was filed, primarily intended to compensate the owners of the Oldsmobile and Buick vehicles who unknowingly received an "cheaper" Chevrolet engine in their more upscale cars. GM agreed to either allow the owner to return the car, take a cash settlement ($500 IIRC), or get a free GM Extended Warranty. For a year or so after that, we had to have a customer sign a disclosure on every delivery that read 'this vehicle is produced with a General Motors engine manufactured in a General Motors plant operated by (fill in the blank) division".
Immediately, the GM divisions ceased painting their engines unique colors. All were "corporate blue' and eventually black. Any unique indentifiers such as "Rocket" on the Olds engines disappeared, and the origin of any engine became a secret, to avoid any future lawsuits.
Bill
A little history lesson for the younger guys:
Historically, GM divisions had engines that were unique to each brand, with the exception of the X-body cars and the Chevy straight 6 cyl. in the A bodies. In '77, when the revised, smaller full-size B body was introduced engine interchangeability became rampant. A class-action lawsuit was filed, primarily intended to compensate the owners of the Oldsmobile and Buick vehicles who unknowingly received an "cheaper" Chevrolet engine in their more upscale cars. GM agreed to either allow the owner to return the car, take a cash settlement ($500 IIRC), or get a free GM Extended Warranty. For a year or so after that, we had to have a customer sign a disclosure on every delivery that read 'this vehicle is produced with a General Motors engine manufactured in a General Motors plant operated by (fill in the blank) division".
Immediately, the GM divisions ceased painting their engines unique colors. All were "corporate blue' and eventually black. Any unique indentifiers such as "Rocket" on the Olds engines disappeared, and the origin of any engine became a secret, to avoid any future lawsuits.
Bill
I don't know, I've never looked for parts for a 301. But they're largely regarded as the worst engine Ponitac ever built*, so parts might be hard to find. Upside is, they should be cheap.
*Granted, the 305 is largely regarded as the worst V8 Chevy ever built, but they still built millions of them.
Okay, I had a poor choice of words. :lol:
*Granted, the 305 is largely regarded as the worst V8 Chevy ever built, but they still built millions of them.
joe_padavano said:
Okay, I had a poor choice of words. :lol:
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