I AM LOVING ALL THIS TALK ABOUT THOSE WONDERFUL ENGINES. I have been a fan of GM sixes forever and the 261....... well that is my favorite. Might explain why i have one in my 57 Pontiac. A gun to my head would not make me trade my 261 inliner for any bent eight. You can also try PATRICK'S they carry most of the old speed parts for 235/261 engines. It would cost a fortune though, to have it sent to England. There was mention here that the 216, 235, 261 and 302 are all the same engine. That is not true. The 216 was a babbit filled bearing engine. The 302 GMC inliner was a different block from the 235/261 motor. The 216 was not a good engine to hotrod for many reasons. Bearings and poor oiling for instance made the 216 a weak engine for hotrodding. The 302 GMC truck inliner was a great motor to hotrod but was very heavy. The 261 is superior to the 235, even thou they look alike from the outside. Internally 261 and 235 are two very different engines. The 261 is meatier in the bottom end with thicker rods, after all the 261 was designed to be a truck motor. The 261 also had a higher lift cam, bigger one barrel carb and higher compression than the 235. The ideal 261 would be the American version of the 261 truck engine because this motor had a real oil filter on it as of 1957. Your Canadian Pontiac 261 obviously would just have a by pass oil filter at best but they never came with oil filters from the factory. The 235/261 does not respond well to over carburation. If your 261 is basiclly stock internally then two one barrel carbs is all that will work well. Three one barrel carbs only work well if you have a hotter cam in there. If you have not done it yet, convert the original distributor to PERTRONIX electronic ignition. You use the original distributor and it is a simple bolt in conversion. All the above mentioned engines are very old engines that are before 1963. The generation of engines that replaced them including 194, 230, 250 and 292 inline sixes were as of 1962 onward and have nothing in common with the earlier sixes. These later engines were more compact, lighter, shared some V-8 parts, made good power, were better on fuel and there is a ton of high performance parts available for them. As great as the later inline sixes are, to me they lack the tough classical look of the early sixes. Plus the early sixes had a sweeter sound to them. I get a real kick out of keeping these old inliner motors alive. Cheers. George.
Great info. there George! I love sixes also.
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Prince Edward Island
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.
I AM LOVING ALL THIS TALK ABOUT THOSE WONDERFUL ENGINES. I have been a fan of GM sixes forever and the 261....... well that is my favorite. Might explain why i have one in my 57 Pontiac. A gun to my head would not make me trade my 261 inliner for any bent eight. You can also try PATRICK'S they carry most of the old speed parts for 235/261 engines. It would cost a fortune though, to have it sent to England. There was mention here that the 216, 235, 261 and 302 are all the same engine. That is not true. The 216 was a babbit filled bearing engine. The 302 GMC inliner was a different block from the 235/261 motor. The 216 was not a good engine to hotrod for many reasons. Bearings and poor oiling for instance made the 216 a weak engine for hotrodding. The 302 GMC truck inliner was a great motor to hotrod but was very heavy. The 261 is superior to the 235, even thou they look alike from the outside. Internally 261 and 235 are two very different engines. The 261 is meatier in the bottom end with thicker rods, after all the 261 was designed to be a truck motor. The 261 also had a higher lift cam, bigger one barrel carb and higher compression than the 235. The ideal 261 would be the American version of the 261 truck engine because this motor had a real oil filter on it as of 1957. Your Canadian Pontiac 261 obviously would just have a by pass oil filter at best but they never came with oil filters from the factory. The 235/261 does not respond well to over carburation. If your 261 is basiclly stock internally then two one barrel carbs is all that will work well. Three one barrel carbs only work well if you have a hotter cam in there. If you have not done it yet, convert the original distributor to PERTRONIX electronic ignition. You use the original distributor and it is a simple bolt in conversion. All the above mentioned engines are very old engines that are before 1963. The generation of engines that replaced them including 194, 230, 250 and 292 inline sixes were as of 1962 onward and have nothing in common with the earlier sixes. These later engines were more compact, lighter, shared some V-8 parts, made good power, were better on fuel and there is a ton of high performance parts available for them. As great as the later inline sixes are, to me they lack the tough classical look of the early sixes. Plus the early sixes had a sweeter sound to them. I get a real kick out of keeping these old inliner motors alive. Cheers. George.
-- Edited by long stroke on Saturday 5th of January 2013 01:48:36 PM
Great info. I've driven 230 and 250 inch sixes too and they are great engines but you are right - there's nothing like the sound and the pull of the 261.
Speaking of carbs - I broke the base of mine. Does anybody have a 261 carb they are willing to part with?
My wagon is awaiting some time, (and money), from me but I am back on it, bad year here in the UK for car stuff. Tons of rain and no garage to work in!
I am encouraged by the pic of yours though, thanks! I will also look into that engine stuff you mention.
