1 is retired and worked in the St. Catharines, Ontario GM plant that forges/assembles Chevy engines - he worked there from the '50's to 90's. The other was a senior exec at GM Canada. Both I'd say are reputable sources but what info was offered, though worthy, will not bust the myth that Pontiacs - Firebirds or otherwise - had Chevy engines installed. But it may be getting us closer. Here's what I got:
The St. Catharines plants (3) produced these Chevy engines: 283, 307, 327 and 350. These engines were produced for both the Canadian and U.S. marketplace. The plant in St. Therese, Quebec produced body components, etc and all was assembled in Oshawa, Ontario. What couldn't be recalled is if Firebirds were assembled in Oshawa (do we have any Oshawa members here to answer this?). 400 engines were produced in the U.S. for GM Canada.
Some interesting points:
1. Relative #1 said Chevy blocks made in St. Catharines were once painted red and later changed to black when U.S. consumers were asking why some American Chevys assembled and sold in the U.S. had red engines when others were black. Does anyone out there have a Pontiac with an original red engine? 2. Relative #2 said the myth is true. He had a personal experience of driving an early 70's Pontiac Bonneville through upstate New York and stopped for gas and an oil check. The mechanic asked why such a new car would need to have the engine replaced; that it wasn't a Pontiac engine in the car because the dipstick was on the wrong side. Relative #2 explained that it was a Chevy engine installed at the plant. Also, Relative #2 said that Pontiac owners who had Chevy engines installed felt ripped off (they called these cars 'Cheviacs') and that they filed a class action against GM (if true, then this class action would be archived somewhere. I couldn't find it but do we have any lawyer members out there who'd know where to look?).
I did locate the term 'Cheviac' (and 'Pontelet') in a Hemmings book about Pontiacs (see the Table Of Contents in the link). Does anyone have this book who can share its contents? Seems it's no longer in print.
