IGO200

John,
Is there any truth to the ceramic pump seal story that we heard back then?

JohnZ

I don't know, Jim - I hadn't heard of that one. I do remember clearly that all '73 Chevrolets got the coolant recovery system (which was an absolute necessity on the Vega), and it went into production with full knowlege that it infringed on the existing patent; that's how important it was. The coolant recovery system and the larger radiator solved the chronic cooling problem (which was the root cause of the engine problem). I remember all that stuff like it was yesterday - I was the Vega Launch Manager at Lordstown.

wmf62

lol... in hindsight, you should be ashamed...

Bill

JohnZ

Yes, that was one of the contributors to the coolant loss problem, but it was far less serious than the head gasket issue; the seal was a supplier quality issue, not a design problem.

The engine design problem was Ed Cole's insistence on an iron ("Heron" head, with intake and exhaust valves in-line and intake and exhaust ports on the same side of the head) head on an aluminum open-deck block (Chevrolet didn't design the engine - Corporate Engineering Staff did, under Cole's direct supervision, and punted it to Chevrolet before any durability development was done). Chevrolet HATED that engine - we called it "The world's tallest, smallest engine".

The first thing Chevrolet did after having the engine dumped on them was to design a SOHC crossflow Hemi aluminum head, which was 26# lighter, made 40 more horsepower, and had the same coefficient of expansion as the block; it was called the "L-10", and 12 were made (see photo below). Ed Cole (then President of GM) refused to approve the funds to produce it, as "You already have a cylinder head" (the iron one, which he designed). Had the L-10 head gone to production, there wouldn't have been any "Vega engine stories".

jim lockwood

From Jimmy's dusty man-cave:



This plea went out in the Feb/Mar 1975 issue of Corvette News. Does that fit the timeline of the lawsuit and/or was the listed GM contact an attorney?

Expiring minds want to know....

Jim

IGO200

Wow John, THAT'S a rare picture! Thanks.

PAmotorman

i sold several set of iron plated pistons to carl foltz many years ago. he was collecting all that old can am stuff. his son runs a cylinder head shop in mich. someplace. i have the instuction manual on how to set up those can am engines on my computer.

JohnZ

The suit was filed in the Fall of '72, right after the 73's were announced, and was settled about six months later.

JohnZ

The L-10 head was almost a duplicate of the classic Ferrari V-12 outside-plug design; I had one in my company car for a month or so. I have the drawings somewhere in my archives.

jim lockwood

Well, now that's just odd.

I was told by someone long forgotten now that the reason for the request in Corvette News was that GM owned the patent on the idea of a coolant recovery system and needed some examples to prove that GM was the first to reduce the idea to practice.

Now I don't know what to make of the CN request.

Jim