Not to hijack the original question, but here is a parallel thought I've question I've had in mind for a while.
Why did Chevrolet opt to stay with the low-pressure/ babbit bearing 216/235 for so many years?
Conventional wisdom, both today and apparently at the time....seems to be that full pressure oiling and insert bearings were "better" from a user and maintenance perspective. Both of those features, in one form or another, were common several years before Chevy retired the engine and moved on to the full-pressure design.
Was it purely cost avoidance? Or was there some other motive? Did the 216 hold some little-known advantage over other engine designs of the period?
We can guess though not know.
Waiting for the old tooling and production line to wear out before replacing.
Felt truck buyers were old fashioned, conservative, not accept change well. Thus lose sales.
Keep Chevrolet behind the times so there would be a real reason to step up to the other GM divisions and justify spending more money for a Pontiac, Olds, Buick, GMC.
Preferred to reinvest profits in other ways/divisions. Jeffrey
