Quote:
Originally Posted by 77 TRASHCAN
... I have wondered what all the aluminum blocks were intended for, or if Mickey just had the pull to have them made...
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I can only answer regarding the half-dozen Harvey Aluminum blocks (two of which I bought from Mickey and Tom S had at least one). I have copies of documentation of the following:
They were for a 1961 study by PMD to evaluate plated (non-sleeved) bores in aluminum blocks- one of mine had remnants of chrome-plate on the bores, and marks where a thermocouple had been clamped between the deck and a head. It was a failed attempt. Mickey knew about the blocks and somehow(??) acquired them. These blocks were in no way race-oriented, as Pontiac merely loaned Harvey the sand-casting patterns of a 389. The main webs (and possibly the decks) were slightly thickened, but the bare blocks only weigh 69 lbs.