The G T O Tiger Times the Voice of the G T O and Pontiac Enthusiast in Central Pennsylvania
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May 2019 Volume 24 Issue 5 The G T O Tiger Times The Voice of the G T O and Pontiac Enthusiast in Central Pennsylvania like the early days before so many restoration parts President ’s Corner were available, you must go out and find what you need to keep these things going! Don ’t forget we have a bunch of events on tap. April 27 th , 2009. A day that will live in Pontiac Please let us know if you plan to attend the factory infamy. Pontiac ’s official last day. Sometimes it can tour at R.E.M. in a few weeks! be difficult to come up with topics to write about every month, and sometimes things just fall in your lap. This week while scrolling through Facebook I Brian was reminded of this ominous anniversary, and it hit me that it has already been 10 years since the last Pontiac rolled off the line and the brand ceased to exist. My how time flies! So far it seems that the Pontiac spirit is still alive even with no support from the mother ship GM. It ’s now up to us the enthusiasts to keep the legend alive, and that is where we come in. As one of the many active clubs out there, we need to be out there giving history lessons at car shows and cruise -ins. The next generation may never know such a brand existed, just as many kids today have never seen a car with a cassette deck (much less an 8 track!), crank windows, manual seats, or even manual transmissions with that extra pedal on the left! If a younger person shows interest in the hobby, take the time to talk to them! They will never get involved if we don ’t take the time to teach them how cool the Pontiac brand was, and still is! Even the newer cars will feel the pinch of Pontiac being downsized. As most of you know I have a 2005 GTO that I bought new. This spring while awakening the car from winter storage the car started having some peculiar behavior and randomly shutting off. Long story short, the computer needs replaced. Guess what? That part and many others are no longer available from GM new or remanufactured. Sources for cores are drying up because as luck would have it, I have a 1 year only computer that was only used in the GTO and 2 other cars that are just as scarce. After an extensive search I found 2 options: find a used computer (not easy as most of them go along with the engines and wire harness for engine swaps) or go to the company that bought out all GM ’s inventory when they discontinued them, and pay 3 times what GM was charging just a few months ago. What ’s it going to be like in another 10 years trying to keep these orphan cars going? Hopefully the aftermarket will provide! Until then I think I will start stocking up on parts to have just in case. Just The GTO Tiger Times, A 2006 -18 GTOAA Award winner for Chapter Newsletter Excellence SVGTO.COM January 2018 Club News May 2019 If you have never taken the tour before, I Meeting Notes 04/13/2019 would encourage you if it fits into your schedule. In attendance: Random Pontiacs Meeting Adjourned Bob Krewson Alan Haynes Brian & Holden Little Don ’t forget the 2019 GTOAA Convention Doug, Laura, and Rueben Warble is coming up June 25th -29th in Rich & Darlene Slarb Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Marlyn & Kim Runk Jim Eyer Visit the Convention page at Ed Sloan GTOAA.org The April club meeting was held after the cruise to Gary Cave ’s. The meeting was For more information contact: just a brief update on where the club stands on some of the upcoming events. John Becker @ [email protected] Phone: (513) -615 -8524 For the ERC is August: Bud Krebs @ [email protected] Awards are in the works and should Phone: (859) -816 -9219 be in hand soon. Todd said they should be done next week. Host Hotel DoubleTree by Hilton Lawrenceburg 51 Walnut St, Lawrenceburg, IN 47025 Bob was in contact with Scoops Ice Phone: (812) 539 -8888 Cream and they will be on hand for Friday night (8/16) for our show with a food truck (including ice cream of course!) I’ve asked the officers to reach out to any car related businesses for goody bag stuff and raffle items ATTENTION! Be sure to check out the Alan to follow up with hotel to check on the room block If youwebsite have comments about, or suggestions to The next event is the REM Tour on www.svgto.comhelp improve The GTO th Tiger Times, please Saturday, May 18 beginning at 10am. contact Russ Esenwine. REM Automotive is located at 20 Landings For the latest information of Drive, Annville, Pa. 17003. upcoming events. [email protected] Next Meeting: The next regular club meeting will be held Saturday, May 18th, at the conclusion of the REM tour in Annville. SVGTO Would like to Welcome new member: Marvin Marsh of Mifflintown, Pa. Joining in early April, Marvin adds two 2006 GTOs to the fold, a Black 6spd and a Red AT. Welcome Marvin! Page 2 Recent & Upcoming Events SVGTO.COM midsized car. Dropping in the regular -production 389 - Mecum Harrisburg cu.in. engine from the full -sized lines wasn ’t an option, as its displacement was deemed too large and it was heavy for the application. As a reminder Mecum signup continues through the end of May. Harold has asked that we have a final count for However, with some reengineering, the existing V -8 de- helpers by then to allow plenty of time to get us the sign had potential. Pontiac had gained experience with badges and parking passes. If you haven ’t signed up reducing the bores in its standard engine when it down- yet, please let us know soon! Your days and times of sized the 370 -cu.in. V -8 in 1958 and the 389 -cu.in. en- availability can be adjusted if needed closer to the date, gine in 1959 to 336 cubic inches, for use in certain GMC the main concern is to get you on the list. trucks. It was also possible to put the engine on a weight -loss program by employing thin -wall casting techniques for the “326” and 389 (and even the 194.5 four -cylinder engine) that saved about 30 pounds over the 1962 mod- el engines. East Coast Regional By decreasing bore size to 3.781 inches from the 4.0625 inches, 336.67 cubic inches could be realized while re- Registration is open for our 12 th annual all Pontiac show taining the 389’ s outer dimensions and accessories. Any in August, now the GTOAA East features required for mounting the engine in the Coast Regional. Head over to the member ’s section of Tempest and Le Mans were also added. svgto.com to register, or use the paper version attached to this newsletter. Despite the fact that this “new ” engine measured 336 cubic inches, Pontiac identified it as a V -326 in marketing materials and on the car ’s emblems. Even contemporary road tests stated 3.72 inches as the bore size. Like the base 389, the 326 employed a two -barrel car- buretor on a cast -iron dual -plane intake manifold, a History of Ponac V8 Delco points distributor, and cylinder heads with Part II (1963 to 1966) 1.88/1.60 -inch valves and 1.50:1 ratio rockers. Different If you had time to read the Pontiac V8 Story – Part I earlier cylinder head combustion chamber volumes were used, this year in our monthly SVGTO Newsletter you will remem- however, to set the desired compression ratio for the ber we stopped Part 1 around 1963 and were discussing the smaller bore size –8.6:1 for the 250 -hp two -barrel engine Pontiac V8 displacements from a mighty 251 cubic inch in and 10.25:1 for the 260 -hp and the 280 -hp H.O. (High 1932 up to the big daddy of that time, the 421 cubic inch. Output). The latter was also fitted with a Carter AFB car- Now was the beginning of what would be to say the least an buretor, four -barrel intake and dual exhaust. A camshaft interesting next few years for Pontiac and their V8 ’s. featuring 269/277 degrees advertised duration Again, I want to recognize www.enginebuildermag.com for their contribution and research with regards to the Pontiac and .374/.406 lift was used for all 326s. The pistons V8 ’s and also www.enginefacts.com for their technical help. were smaller and lighter than the 389 engine pistons, so With so many variations I am confident there might be num- the crankshaft ’s counterweights were reduced, but the bers that are not exact depending on which source you use, stroke remained 3.75 inches and the connecting rods however if you look at all of the different options, at least to were shared with the larger engine. me it is QUITE impressive! For the 1963 model year, approximately 38 percent of So hang on and here we go …As we ended the Part I we were the Y -body Pontiacs built were equipped with the heavi- discussing the 389 and 421 motors and the very last change er -than -the -215 -but -more -powerful -and -affordable was the birth of the 326 which now gets us firmly into 1963 I ($167.40 for the two -barrel) 326 –a statistic that convinc- think … ingly justified the engine ’s existence.