Saturday, November 23, 2013

Unlikely Survivor, Pontiac Astre


The Pontiac version of the long gone and unlamented Chevy Vega. New tech aluminum engine featured coated cylinder bores instead of iron liners. Didn't work, the cylinder walls wore much too quickly with much bad press. 
Unobtainium version was the Cosworth twincam 2 litre engine but the common man who wanted more speed went the traditional hotrodder route, levering in a small block V8.
This ordinary example sits at a Toronto garage, not for sale...

1 comment:

vegavairbob said...

Wrong. They didnt wear at all. and they werent coated. The block was 17% silicon. The silicon was exposed after an etching process. Its 7 on a 1-110 hardness scale. The cylinders could get scored from an overheated engine however.