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From: Hank Dozier
Email: dozierhc@aol.com
Remote Name: 192.75.238.204
Date: September 12, 2002
I think your friend suffers from the UAW "line experience". Sorry to hear he has this affliction! The Canadian polys did have some issues, but nothing like what your friend describes, and I think the plant line failures he must remember were no worse than Ford's and GMs in those days. The engines were pretty much "bullet-proof" if they were maintained, and of the Big 3, only Chrysler used the roll-filleting of cranks as a standard practice. The cams WERE an issue on the original 331s at launch, but better oils and lifters solved this. Old polys (like hemis) suffer from poor crankcase ventilation, especially if low speed city-driven. This caused sludging and premature bore wear (and somtimes ring sticking if driven infrequently). Put a modern PCV system on the engine (or drive then above 50 for a few miles regularly) and that reduces this phenomena. The weakest point of polys and hemis is the valve seat on unleaded fuels. But no weaker than their counterparts. Whether it is a Canadian poly (277/301/303/313/38/326) or US engines, the material selection was high quality for both, and I think their longevity, especially in the "drive it and forget it" mode that a lot of them experienced speaks for itself. I think you need to ask your friend for specific examples of the failures he stated. Response might be enlightening for us all.
