The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Canadian Pontiac 261 vs truck 261

I know that Canadian Pontiacs in the late 50's and early 60's used 261's. What (if any) differences were there compared to the big truck 261. Is one a better engine than the other? Thanks in advance fellas!

Pontiac 261's had hydraulic lifters, trucks solid. Also the Pontiac's I have seen had the 848 head.

I think the Pontiac 261 had a fiber timing gear. I assume the truck gear was aluminum.

Did the Canadian Pontiac 261 come with an automatic-choke carburetor - what about a foot-actuated starter or a electric-solenoid starter?

Were the Pontiac/truck 261 clutch housings different?

Dave, did the "848" head have the extra coolant passages in the head?

One other difference that I think I have seen people post is the 58-62 Pontiac 261 still had the by-pass oil filter set-up. The USA truck 261 were set-up for full-flow filtration.

Did 58-62 Canadian truck 261s have full-flow oil filtration?

Hy Guys, I just happen to be rebuilding a Pontiac 261 at the moment and I'll try and answer the questions that have come up.
The clutch housings are different between the Pontiac and truck 261s, but only as it pertains to the application, the housings can be interchanged.
The 848 head on this engine does have the extra cooling passages drilled
The particular Pontiac 261 I'm working on did have the bypass oil filtering system, I have converted the block to full flow filtration. My particular Pontiac 261 is a 1957 model so I cannot speak to whether or not the 58-62 Pontiac 261s had full flow filtration, but I don't think they did, hope that helps.

Thanks, Bobb

Hy Guys, a couple of more points about the Pontiac 261s, they all had solenoid type starters, and the automatic transmission equipped cars had the automatic choke carbs, I don't know if the standard shift cars had an automatic choke carb or not, hope that helps.

I suspect all GM cars dropped the manual choke around 1953.