Pontiac OHC 6 Sprint engine first run

This was a terribly hacked together engine I bought to rebuild for my Firebird. Finally back together and running as it should. This is a 250 cu inch OHC 6 cylinder with 215 stock HP. I ported the head and exhaust manifold for a little more power and had the deck and head milled for slightly higher compression.

[@davebruton5731]

The. Little Engine That Could ! Thanks , to Clifford for their intake and exhaust manifolds . These , quiet little motors , were surprisingly fast in a Firebird !

[@Youngberg1000]

Wish I never dumped mine for a used 326. At the time a valve job seemed expensive. But that was a great engine. Sell me yours!!

[@AZ-JKUR-HR]

Love taking our family's 67 Firebird ohc6 1bbl auto to car shows. People are floored to see a 6 in there. Gets more looks than a 400!

[@olzkng]

Absolutely true! My friend has a gorgeous 69 Firebird convertible with the 1 bbl OHC6 and people go crazy at car shows when he opens the hood! It truly does draw more attention than a V8! These are so uncommon today a lot of people have never seen or heard of them.

[@TestECull]

It's kinda funny that the shortblock in this video and the shortblock in my 71 C10 are identical. In theory there's nothing stopping me from tracking down one of these heads and all the support parts to go with, bolting it onto my shortblock, and in effect creating a 71 C10 Tempest even though they were never originally sold that way.

[@ard206]

Your killin me! ..I had one in a 67 Lemans 230 Sprint, it was my second car I ever owned... 4 barrel, split manifold and a 3 speed on the floor... I used to kill the 78 and later Firebirds and Camaro's... they'd be pissed when they see what was under the hood.... I miss that car, with the tech of today that can be a bad motor. It would rev to 7 grand, but they had a valve floating problem like all the Pontiacs back in the day.... Crazy how the cam was built into the valve cover

[@olzkng]

Must’ve been a fun car to drive!

[@loops44]

I had one too. Used to like revving it up to around 5,000 and then open the 4 barrel. Quite a nice little engine.

[@dfb1111]

Wow, Great running motor and it looks super clean also! Glad you were inspired to resurrect an OHC-6 Sprint.

[@2A.Isaach]

Bad ass buddy! Good to see the build come together. Can't wait to see it in the car!

[@olzkng]

Thanks Isaac! Hopefully it’ll be a fun ride with this engine!

[@harrylaws2260]

I had one of those engines in a 66 lemans 250 ci fast as small block chevy very quick good handling car

[@jamesrobertson7906]

My 66 Tempest had that motor and a 4bbl. It was a surprising little beast. I loved It for 8 years and traded it for a El Camino in 84. Hindsight I would much rather have the Tempest

[@Oldbmwr100rs]

Real shame this engine was dropped, it could have really saved GM a lot of problems in the 70's with their fuel economy ratings. Really nice engine, too.

[@buckshot4223]

Had 1 in 80.. In 64 tempest demo..12:6:1 3 speed 4:11 rear. Very fast up to 110

[@martentrudeau6948]

The engine sounds smooth and nice, it's a beautiful job.

[@olzkng]

Thank you very much! And thanks for watching

[@martentrudeau6948]

I think the Pontiac 250 OHC Six was a great idea, I don't know why we Americans didn't buy a lot of these engines, it looks great and had decent performance in standard factory form. -- If someone who knew how installed headers, turbo and fuel injection that Six would be a serious performer.

[@gettothepoint9968]

Damn! Runs beautifully. I’m jealous! Got one in my 68 bird but nasty tick. First cam lobe worn badly. I think it’s coolant vapor from that front passage. Some pitting on the cam housing side. Was thinking of having it milled but not sure how much can be safely taken. No real knowledge of these engines that I can find in local shops. Any resources you can share? Particularly regarding cam regrind/replace. Thx for helping to keep these motors alive.

[@olzkng]

Woodland Motorsports has most everything for the OHC6 engine. They have a Facebook page and a website. He just had camshafts reproduced for these engines again too. You should join the Overhead Cammers Club Forum page on Facebook or go on their website forums.maxperformanceinc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=496. You can also check out www.tapatalk.com/groups/sohcsix/. Hope it helps!

[@frankschwartz7405]

GM was WAY ahead of their time with this engine. Why was it dropped? Just think if they had produced cam heads for the SBC.

[@brettbeez]

Nice!! How did you set the timing? I just got a convertible 67 lemans with an ohc6 i need to adjust the timing.

[@olzkng]

The ignition timing is just like most engines; timing light on number one cylinder and rotate the distributor wherever you need to put it to get the timing where you want it to be (I put mine at 12 BTDC). The cam timing isn’t too tough either. I believe your engine is just like mine so the notch on the cam gear points straight up to a notch in the steel timing belt cover, the harmonic balancer should point to 0 on the timing marker and the accessory drive gear notch should be in line with the lower half of the timing belt cover edge (if it were a clock face it would be pointing at about 2 o’clock). The accessory drive notch isn’t critical all it does is put the distributor rotor where you want it to be for number one cylinder on the cap. If you have any trouble let me know and I will help as best I can. If you’re not a member of the Pontiac OHC Cammer group on Facebook you should join it. There are so many knowledgeable people on there with lots of info. Thanks for watching my video!

[@brettbeez]

@@olzkng I'm going to try it out. Thanks for all the info. I wasnt sure if it was like most engines when timing. My brother actually posted a video 12 years ago of his built ohc6 with a mana frey on it (tri power) factory style.

[@olzkng]

@@brettbeez wow I’ll have to look for that video! Sounds cool

[@pitdawg6418]

Those had no business in the muscle cars!

[@craigbenz4835]

Milk crates?

[@olzkng]

Yes, to keep the radiator up at the right height while I test ran it and broke it in. Worked well.