how many "79" skylarks made wiht the 260cu.in. V8 engine

[Guest]

Ive recently found that there was only 608 "79" skylarks made as a two door hatchback. Mine seems to be one of those and some one told me that the engine in the car was only put in a limited number of these cars. So i wanted to find out how many there was actually produced with the engine. <BR> <BR> I will be very thankful if anyone can provide some info. on the car. sk8er2@skyq.com

[Guest]

I never heard of a 260 cu in eng.Where did you get that figure? They had a 231 six & a 305 v8.

[Guest]

I'm not sure if that engine was offered with that car. I know olds made a 260. It was a total POS and god help you if the aluminum intake manifold corrodes and leaks. $500 new from the dealership AND even the cast iron manifold is rare. I don't miss it at all. I think Chevy made a 260, but I'm not sure about that. All I can say is get rid of it whatever it is. It's junk!!!!

[86 2dr.ltd]

Nice attitude AZ Skylark, hope you didnt pay much. At anyrate the Monza came with a 260 V8. I do not know if the Buick got it, perhaps it could be custom ordered with it. I dont know which division produced the 260. Way back after highschool a friend bought one (Chevy Monza) new. It had the 260 and a 4 speed, as well as some kind of astetics package. It was nice and pretty scrappy. He ran it for a long long time,in fact right into the ground. I dont know if the 79 falls into the same body style as the earlier mid-seventies cars. Some rarer engines are hard to find parts for or they are expensive, thats just the way it is. If an aluminum manifold corrodes away it was not taken care of and doesnt make an entire car a POS. Good luck!

[Guest]

I believe the small chevy engine was a 262. <P>I hadn't heard of the 260 engine either, but my engine dyno program gives different specs for both an oldsmobile and a buick 260 V8.

[66400]

Oldsmobile produced a 260 cid engine from '75-'82. It was the same external size as a 307-330-350-403 Olds engine. It's found in some Cutlass '75-'82 and '75-'77 Buick-Olds-Pontiac "X" body cars. <P>My Interchange manual does not show it being available in '78-'79 X bodies. '79 Skylark engine offering where the Buick V6 231 and a Chevy V8 305. Henry

[NTX5467]

The 260 V-8 back then was purely an Olds engine, a smaller version of the 307/350 line. There were some issues with the intake manifolds leaking, but at this time, I suspect an aftermarket manifold or a repair (aluminum welding and reshaping) might be appropriate (the aftermarket intake will need a carb adapter, probably). I never did understand why those intakes were so expensive, but their problems might have been due to maintenance issues too.<P>Chevy built a 262 V-8 earlier on that was unique in that it had different main bearing sizes (smaller) than any other small block Chevy V-8. It typically went in Monzas back then. The CA spec Monzas got 350s for some reason with the 305 replacing the 262 in later years. <P>In the later '80s, there was a Chevy 267 V-8 that was like a smaller 305 and had common internals. The 267 also had throttle body fuel injection when in the Caprices.<P>Naturally, the 231 Buick was probably the best way to go (and I suspect all of the frame rails would accept ALL of the engine variations), but production and marketing issues dictated that a Chevy have a Chevy motor and similar with the other lines too--especially Olds.<P>In the later '70s, Pontiac also had their own 260-something V-8, that was part of the same family as the 301. Those engines were designed strictly for light weight and fuel economy. The turbo 301 blocks had extra reinforcement, but they later were the only block used on the 301s as time progressed.<P>Not to be left out, Cadillac had their HT4100 V-8. "HT" meaning "High Torque". This was the same engine that was available in their large DeVilles, etc. with the 4.1L Buick V-6 available optionally. The HT4100 Cadillac V-8 later was used in the fwd DeVilles and such, growing to 4.5L and then 4.9L in later years. The earlier HT4100s did have their problems, but by the time the 4.5L came around, they were basically fixed. Many 4.5Ls and 4.9Ls were used to replace HT4100s in later years--a bolt in power swap.<P>The 4.lL Buick V-6 also saw use in the fwd Centurys. The reason the front end on those cars was longer was due to the wider width of the 90 degree Buick V-6 instead of the 60 degree Chevy 2.8L V-6 used in other applications on that platform.<P>Back then, the issues were weight and fuel economy instead of power. Look how much more power and fuel economy we have now from the same basic size engines--at higher equipment and repair costs too.<P>Hope this clears up some of the confusion on engine sizes and manufacturing divisions back then.<P>Enjoy!<BR>NTX5467