> The weird thing is that as far as I knew, the engine on this coach was unmolested. Although the heads were different castings with different size
> intake valves, they were painted the exact same color and both had the steel shim OEM type head gaskets under them.
>
> Just curious to see if anyone has ever run into something like this before or if any of you GM guys have ever heard of anything coming out of the
> factory like that.
If the K and J heads were both available during your model year I'd say it is a distinct but remote possibility. Each engine would have had a
manifest that describes content for that particular engine as it was assembled, but errors can happen. The castings look the same except for the big
ID letters (and incidentally larger than the casting ID on Chev, Buick, Pontiac of the era), so the operator grabbing the wrong head is a possibility.
I've never been in the Lansing engine plant, but in Flint's plant 36 each head was installed by an operator on opposite sides of the engine so a
single operator did not do both installations. Inspectors are supposed to catch this further down the line, but this may be that rare occurrence
where multiple errors occurred. Once the completed engine was shipped from Lansing to Pontiac it would be unlikely that anyone would notice. Your
evidence of factory paint and gaskets would seem to confirm this error.
--
Chris Geils - Twin Cities
1978 26' Kingsley w/ very few mods; Headers, Progressive Dynamics 9040, aux trans cooler, one repaint in stock colors, R134a, Al rad, 50k mi
> intake valves, they were painted the exact same color and both had the steel shim OEM type head gaskets under them.
>
> Just curious to see if anyone has ever run into something like this before or if any of you GM guys have ever heard of anything coming out of the
> factory like that.
If the K and J heads were both available during your model year I'd say it is a distinct but remote possibility. Each engine would have had a
manifest that describes content for that particular engine as it was assembled, but errors can happen. The castings look the same except for the big
ID letters (and incidentally larger than the casting ID on Chev, Buick, Pontiac of the era), so the operator grabbing the wrong head is a possibility.
I've never been in the Lansing engine plant, but in Flint's plant 36 each head was installed by an operator on opposite sides of the engine so a
single operator did not do both installations. Inspectors are supposed to catch this further down the line, but this may be that rare occurrence
where multiple errors occurred. Once the completed engine was shipped from Lansing to Pontiac it would be unlikely that anyone would notice. Your
evidence of factory paint and gaskets would seem to confirm this error.
--
Chris Geils - Twin Cities
1978 26' Kingsley w/ very few mods; Headers, Progressive Dynamics 9040, aux trans cooler, one repaint in stock colors, R134a, Al rad, 50k mi
