Flint Small Block Castings

[James W.]

Were the Chevrolet passenger car small block enginnes also cast at the Flint Foundary? I'm looking at a '67 L79 equipped Chevelle and want a little info on what the casting number should be.


Thanks,

James West

[Richard M.]

Re: Flint Small Block Castings

Actually, I believe the casting operation was done at Saginaw MI and sent to Flint for machining (for Corvette & some other models). Around 300 per Hour IIRC from John Hinkley's notes in my brain.

I think the Pass car engines were both cast and then machined at the Tonawanda facility, but not sure.

Rich

[Terry M.]

Re: Flint Small Block Castings

Were the Chevrolet passenger car small block enginnes also cast at the Flint Foundary? I'm looking at a '67 L79 equipped Chevelle and want a little info on what the casting number should be.


Thanks,

James West

Jim,
Your Chevelle engine could have been cast at Saginaw and assembled at Flint Engine or it could have been cast and assembled at Tonawanda. Of course the engine assembly stamp will tell you the story.

[Joe L.]

Re: Flint Small Block Castings

Were the Chevrolet passenger car small block enginnes also cast at the Flint Foundary? I'm looking at a '67 L79 equipped Chevelle and want a little info on what the casting number should be.


Thanks,

James West

James------


Block casting number should be 3892657 or, if very late, possibly 3903352.

[John H.]

Re: Flint Small Block Castings

Were the Chevrolet passenger car small block enginnes also cast at the Flint Foundary? I'm looking at a '67 L79 equipped Chevelle and want a little info on what the casting number should be.


Thanks,

James West

James -

I'm not familiar with Chevelle details, but if the '67 Chevelle L-79 had 2.02"/1.60" valves (like it did in the Corvette), the castings came from Saginaw and the engine was machined and assembled at Flint V-8, and was stamped with a "V" prefix.

Tonawanda never made any solid-lifter small-blocks, nor any with the big 2.02"/1.60" valves - they didn't have the transfer station with the cutting tooling for the large valves, nor did they have the station with the large intake valve-side combustion chamber unshrouding cutter that was necessary with the 2.02" intake valve. They only made hydraulic-lifter engines with 1.94" and smaller valves.

[Joe L.]

Re: Flint Small Block Castings

James -

I'm not familiar with Chevelle details, but if the '67 Chevelle L-79 had 2.02"/1.60" valves (like it did in the Corvette), the castings came from Saginaw and the engine was machined and assembled at Flint V-8, and was stamped with a "V" prefix.

Tonawanda never made any solid-lifter small-blocks, nor any with the big 2.02"/1.60" valves - they didn't have the transfer station with the cutting tooling for the large valves, nor did they have the station with the large intake valve-side combustion chamber unshrouding cutter that was necessary with the 2.02" intake valve. They only made hydraulic-lifter engines with 1.94" and smaller valves.

John------


The 1967 Chevelle L-79 was rated at 325 HP but it did have the same 2.02/1.60 valves as Corvette L-79's.

I'm not surprised that all 2.02/1.60 valve engine build applications were consolidated at Flint. The build volume for these engines would have been such a small percentage of total engine production it would not have made any sense to tool up both engine plants for it.

By the way, in 1966 when I was in the market for a new Chevelle, a salesman tried to talk me into buying an L-79 instead of the SS 396 I wanted. I didn't bite, though. I held out for the SS 396.

[John H.]

Re: Flint Small Block Castings

Were the Chevrolet passenger car small block enginnes also cast at the Flint Foundary?

Thanks,

James West

James -

Should have covered this in my original response. The Saginaw Foundry cast, and the Flint V-8 Engine Plant machined and assembled 5,500 small-block engines per day (300 per hour on two shifts); 120 per day of those were for Corvettes, and the other 5,380 went to passenger car and truck assembly plants. Flint V-8 was the sole source of all Corvette small-block engines. The Saginaw Foundry was about 40 minutes from Flint V-8, and an internal captive fleet of trucks ran 24/7, delivering over 50,000 castings per day to Flint V-8.

The Tonawanda Foundry cast, and the Tonawanda Engine Plant machined and assembled 5,500 small-block and big-block engines per day (300 per hour on two shifts); about 50 per day of the big-blocks went to St. Louis for Corvettes, and the other 5,450 of both sizes went to many passenger car and truck assembly plants. The Tonawanda Foundry was on the same site as the Tonawanda Engine Plant, about 100 yards distant.

[Jim L.]

Re: Flint Small Block Castings

James -

Should have covered this in my original response. The Saginaw Foundry cast, and the Flint V-8 Engine Plant machined and assembled 5,500 small-block engines per day (300 per hour on two shifts); 120 per day of those were for Corvettes, and the other 5,380 went to passenger car and truck assembly plants. Flint V-8 was the sole source of all Corvette small-block engines. The Saginaw Foundry was about 40 minutes from Flint V-8, and an internal captive fleet of trucks ran 24/7, delivering over 50,000 castings per day to Flint V-8.

The Tonawanda Foundry cast, and the Tonawanda Engine Plant machined and assembled 5,500 small-block and big-block engines per day (300 per hour on two shifts); about 50 per day of the big-blocks went to St. Louis for Corvettes, and the other 5,450 of both sizes went to many passenger car and truck assembly plants. The Tonawanda Foundry was on the same site as the Tonawanda Engine Plant, about 100 yards distant.

John, those numbers are simply mind-boggling.

Jim

[William C.]

Re: Flint Small Block Castings

It was something to see, Truckloads of blocks coming down to Flint from Saginaw on I-75 every day. Saw a LOT of them during my school years at GMI.

[John H.]

Re: Flint Small Block Castings

John, those numbers are simply mind-boggling.

Jim

Jim -

We tend to focus on V-8's, but there was a separate, but very similar world for the in-line six-cylinder engine, which was still very much a big player in passenger cars and trucks. They were also cast at Saginaw, trucked 24/7 to the old Flint Motor Plant down by the river in downtown Flint, and that plant produced several thousand L-6 engines every day for lots of passenger and truck plants. 1953 was a big year for the L-6 - it finally got full-pressure oiling to the rod bearings, and the old cast iron pistons were finally replaced by newfangled aluminum pistons.


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[Richard M.]

Re: Flint Small Block Castings

John, Thanks for sharing that data and great historical info. Those photos are great!

Rich

[Kenneth B.]

Re: Flint Small Block Castings

Jim -We tend to focus on V-8's, but there was a separate, but very similar world for the in-line six-cylinder engine, which was still very much a big player in passenger cars and trucks. They were also cast at Saginaw, trucked 24/7 to the old Flint Motor Plant down by the river in downtown Flint, and that plant produced several thousand L-6 engines every day for lots of passenger and truck plants. 1953 was a big year for the L-6 - it finally got full-pressure oiling to the rod bearings, and the old cast iron pistons were finally replaced by newfangled aluminum pistons.[ATTACH=CONFIG]53616[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]53617[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]53618[/ATTACH]

Love the pict. John. Especially the first one showing a casting coming out of shake out & gate removal.

[Jim L.]

Re: Flint Small Block Castings

There is so much about the engine factory that just makes my head spin:

The work load of the poor guys who had to stab in a gazzilliion pistons each day
The scheduling and sequencing of parts arrival to permit building all the engine power combinations
How any semblance of machining precision could be maintained in the days before computers
How anyone could rapidly and accurately install and trim the old main bearing rope seals hour after hour

.... and on and on.

[Terry M.]

Re: Flint Small Block Castings

Jim,
You should have seen the Flint V8 stuffing and connecting rod tightening operation. There were teams of, I think, four who alternated pushing in pistons and rods and torquing rod bolts and rotating the crank in a ballet that was mesmerizing. They did all this while walking beside the moving cylinder case. There were four or so teams and one or two on break as I watched. They used Snap-on click type wrenches that they calibrated morning and noon, I was told. When that plant closed they said they had produced 59 million V8s.

Watching that gave one a healthy respect for those who toiled on the assembly line day after day.

[Jim L.]

Re: Flint Small Block Castings

You are describing some serious choreography, Terry. I'd love to see a video......