[GTO-relic]

Originally Posted by Tom Vaught

So my vote would be, ALLOW THE BLOCK BORE SPACING TO GROW TO 4.8" and forget about the 'rule" that the bore spacing must be 4.625" to be a "Pontiac Engine." I would love to have a 4.8" Bore Spacing, Short Deck, 4.4" bore, 3.5" boosted engine to play with.

old thread, if I can comment:

https://victorylibrary.com/mopar/bore-center-c.htm

if you want a 4.8" bore spacing, get an AMC, Buick, Ford 385 series, Mopar RB/Hemi, BBC, or Cadillac V8. well AMC and Buick are a tad less.
you want to make Marilyn Monroe into a redhead or brunette....
just go out and get a real one.
It's not like the aftermarket Pontiac engines, or GM block, had serious head gasket problems.
if Butler can put twin turbos on them and make over 3000 HP,
how bad can they be.
realize what you're suggesting...well heck why not an early Hemi with a 4.8" bore spacing.
uh...gee...that's already a 2nd gen 426 Hemi.
why not a Ford FE with wider bore spacing ? uh...that's a 429/460, been there, done that...
the engines that could be widened, were widened. 50+ years ago.
cuz it costs a LOT of money!
would you want to finance and pay for this now ? no. here's why-
grow that bore spacing to 4.8" and it will disenchant and abandon 95% of the Pontiac hobbyists, who run stock blocks.
racing Pontiacs are a tiny percentage of the total market, getting smaller every year.
it's a bad business and marketing idea. good thing no one every acted on this dated post, where would they be now.
most Pontiac aftermarket ventures barely recover their initial investment costs, the way it is.
we'll go down fighting with what's left, until they take gas engines away from us in the near future, under the guise of "carbon control"
it's bravado to suggest you need this 4.8" bore space to make some massive power level,
when you haven't yet taken the existing engines available to their full potential ? such as the stock block, IA block, MRE block ?
have you banged 3000HP out of them yet with twin turbos like some others have ?
if you haven't noticed, guys like Big Chief have beaten modern racing engines having 4.84" and larger bore spacing,
using a stock Pontiac block bore spacing in his own engine.
it's not about HP or gasket sealing when the engines are boosted, it's about clutch management, traction management.
the stock Pontiac bore spacing already makes plenty of HP when boosted, over 3000HP.
have you already split 6 aftermarket blocks up the middle from too much power, that you need this wider bore spaced block ?
I guess the heart of my post is, I reject the premise that you are making so much power, as to need anything more than what's available now.
it's like a kid in the backyard shooting blue jays with a BB gun, saying Dad, buy me a 300 Weatherby Magnum, so I can do a number on these tweetys...
if you wanna make big waves, and deep tracks, bolt a pair of iron RA V heads, on the existing MRE or IA block...
no one has done it yet to my knowledge. you can be the first. get your wallet out. build a 540 IA2 RA V engine.