More Pot-niacs

[Will Owen <nashwill912@domain.elided>]

John Cecil wrote:

> You are correct. Pontiac had a Gilmer belt in the early '60s...It also
had a
> drive shaft which had no CV or universal joints and was designed to be

> flexible enough to dispense with them and used a GM Guibo approach..
My
> memory is pretty hazy on the next point, but it may have used a
transaxle as
> well.

The driveshaft was essentially a long torsion bar, running in a
constant-radius
curve. There was a curved steel housing connecting the front and rear
subframes, and the driveshaft ran in several bearings housed inside of
this.
This was to clear the floor, as the early Tempests used the floorpan and
rear suspension of
the Corvair, and yes, the transaxle as well. John's answer confuses me a

little, as I remember that the only engines offered through '63 were the

original "slant-four," which was half of the big Pontiac V8, and the BOP

aluminum 3-liter V8, both pushrod engines. The car was completely
redesigned
for '64 to share the platform of the Buick and Olds compacts, and I
believe
that's when it got the OHC inline 6, but lost the transaxle, the IRS and
the
curved driveshaft.

(Alfa content) I looked all this up in one of my old Road & Track
magazines...the one that has
an early SZ for $4000 OBO...whimper.

Will Owen
Pasadena, CA
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