The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Pontiac Sprint overhead cam 6

Stopped at a grocery store today,and a Pontiac LeMans pulled in beside me. Probably a 65-66 ,sporting the Sprint badge. I have heard about this engine and heard that there was this car in town,but was the first time I had seen it. Did a quick read up on it, 230 cid 2 versions of the eng. One with a 1 barrel carb,not sure of horse power,the 2nd with a 4 barrel carb,hotter cam and split exhat header would put out about 207 hp. Now the gears in my head got going about popping of of these engines into my 54 3100. So my question is, has anyone gone this route with the Sprint engine or, know of anyone who has?

You need to talk to Hot Rod Lincoln about the Pontiac OHC six. I had a general repair shop in the 60's and several customers had the Pontiac Sprint which was the the 4bbl version. They had their share of problems. We have a customer with a 54 that has the GM 4.2 Vortec or "Atlas" dohc I6 that is a real tire smoker, gets 23mpg, and are pretty much trouble free. They're getting reasonable in price at the salvage yards.

Finding one of those engines in rebuildable shape would be difficult at best. They also came in a 250 CID version with a Quadrejet carb. That Q-jet is about as scarce as a chicken with lips, and priced accordingly. Sort of like the dual overhead cam Cosworth Vega engine, the lower end of the 230 and 250 engines didn't like the extra grunt the OHC head could produce. A good hotrod buildup of a pushrod 250 with some skillful cylinder head work would probably leave the OHC Pontiac in the dust, and those engines are cheap and plentiful. I'm considering doing a buildup of a 230 pushrod engine (shorter stroke) with a roller cam, NASCAR tool steel connecting rods, and 3 side draft motorcycle carburetors that will live happily in the 7K RPM range or higher. Like most hotrod projects "There's no substitute for cubic dollars!"
Jerry

They had oiling issues to the cam journals. They are also longer then the 250,230 Chevrolets, at least the intakes are, so fitting them into tight quarters is harder.

Thanx...just a curious thought,more than anything. I don't have a line on one,but I do have a 292 sitting waiting on a tear down for inspection. But should I come across one ....I'd look it over closely.

No, and yes. I know a grumpy old hillbilly that has several of the OHC Q-Jets

Jon.

I had one in a LeMans. Metallic blue with black bucket seats. One of the most quiet and dependable engines I ever owned. Sold it at 130,000 miles to a policeman whose wife drove it for 7 more years. Really good on the highway. Even with the A/C running you could drive all day long at 70 or 75 and still get about 24mpg. John DeLorean was the man behind the development of it. I always worried about the timing belt but never had a bit of trouble. Mine had the pre-cruise control thing. You set it for the speed you wanted and when you exceeded that speed it would buzz loudly at you. Also had a reverb in the trunk for the radio and the air conditioner would blow little ice crystals at you. I recall it having weak front motor mounts. Think I replaced one of those before I sold it.
Jon

There was a guy at the 2018 Syracuse nationals with this engine in a 31 Pontiac coupe. He said he had a barn full of these engines waiting for other projects.

Tom Langdon over at Stovebolt Engine Company ran successfully ran one back in the day in his Anglia gasser "Hold Shot 6" He knows quite a bit about them if you are curious.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/23/09/7d/23097d4cc70f92a5f8ef5ba5006a8ab2.jpg