[Ben M.]

And yes, I believe the tariff and import\export laws on engines started changing in that timeframe. I don't think the 6 being available was part of that, it's the Chevy 6 they used on everything once the Sprint\OHC6 was gone. I suspect it was more to do with the Canadian car buying public's wants and desires. While folks up there definitely did want (and get) performance cars, bigger engines and fancier packages just weren't part of the general public's buying habits back then. They definitely sold quite a few of these, as I say I've seen 2 and one of them was a daily driver for a guy. Both of them had no options to speak of.

I will say I have a hard time imagining how much "fun" it would be driving one of these cars with a 6 cylinder. They're perfectly fine with a 350-2bbl but a 6 cylinder is a real step down in the torque and HP curve from that. In the flatlands they're probably fine but in the hills or mountains...?

[camerjeff]

Interesting Car Ben, thanks for Sharing pictures of it. and a 2-door! The dash is interesting look like my 71 but has a radio block off plate, My car just has the open radio holes, no sign that anything was ever installed there.

I do remember driving a straight 6 powered 77 Impala rental car back in the day, automatic trans, very slow. I would think the manual trans would help, but the 71-72 cars would also be about 500 lbs heavier. Either way I don't think I would enjoy the experience. But I don't know how much slower they would be than the Buick 4.2 L V6 cars made in the early 1980's.

[camerjeff]

I see it does not have a "Certified" Speedometer strange as that was the only way they could "Clock" a speeder back in the day.

[camerjeff]

Small bit of Progress this week, the shop is going to pull the engine and clean it and the engine compartment up, and repaint both. The engine only has 36k miles on it, and the only oil leak I could fins was a small leak on the drivers side valve cover. So no plans on rebuilding the engine at this time. They are also going to replace all the fuel hard lines and flex lines. I will have to see if I still have some 1971 to early 73 Pontiac Light Blue engine paint in the stash.

[camerjeff]

The shop pulled the engine and trans, they will reseal the external seals on the transmission, and clean and repaint the engine. Good news it looks like it still has the original transmision in it. The TH400 code PH decodes to 71 455 4-bbl Police HD as far as I can tell for the 1970-74 model years.
The 5-blade Flex fan just looks odd to me.

[camerjeff]

Some shots of the engine out on the stand, some progress