If gas evolution is not well in the injection mould, it can also occur silver streak. Solutions Instant: Completely dry the material (High temperature short time drying effect is not good, it is generally dried at a temperature 85℃ for 4 hours). Moreover, increase mould temperature, decreasing heating cylinder temperature, keep warmth of the cylinder injection nozzles. 'What happened was, I was reading about Buster Keaton,' Gene Wilder said. 'About how he did all his own stunts. Like the time he had to stand in exactly the right place for the two-ton building to fall on him and he was right where the window was. So then we were making 'Silver Streak'. There was a national Silver Streak organization from 1968 to 1997. It was officially disbanded at the St. George, UT National rally when only 28 trailers showed up. There is still a Houston area club and they are planning a Regional rally at Burnett, TX between San Antonio and Kerrville this year on May 6, 2000. Since making a winning return at Kempton in a Listed event, Silver Streak has been carried out in the Fighting Fifth before being denied a first Grade Two success in a photo for the International Hurdle at Cheltenham. Welcome to the Silver Streak (aka EV2) project. Its been a long time coming, first started in 2011, but finally, the super efficient 400+ mile per charge full electric Honda Insight-turned 'EV2' is nearly ready to hit the road! With the heart of an EV1 under its hood (GM induction motor pumped up to 200 hp).

• 118: What Happened To The Silver Streak Car
• 118: What Happened To The Silver Streak Engine
• 118: What Happened To The Silver Streak Boat
• 118: What Happened To The Silver Streak Movie

The Pontiac straight-8 engine is an inline eight-cylinder automobile engine produced by Pontiac from 1933 to 1954. Introduced in the fall of 1932 for the 1933 models, it was Pontiac's most powerful engine at the time and the least expensive eight-cylinder engine built by an American automotive manufacturer. During its 21-year run displacement of the 'eight' increased twice as platforms grew. It was superseded by Pontiac's new V8, the 287, in 1955.

History[edit]

The straight-8 was dubbed the Silver-Streak^[1] at Pontiac Division. Powered by the 'eight', a Pontiac was promoted as a likable automobile, with enough power under the hood to get the job done in affordable luxury.

118: What Happened To The Silver Streak Car

However, by the early 1950s, overhead valve V8s from sister divisions Cadillac, Buick and Oldsmobile, as well as new overhead valve V8s from Ford Motor Company and Chrysler Corporation, made the 'Silver Streak' all but obsolete in power, It was a quiet, smooth running engine that served the needs of the 1930s and '40s American consumer adequately for power, if not reliability or economy, but by 1954, the engine was decidedly eclipsed not only by competing auto makers, but by General Motors' own divisions' products as well. Further hamstringing the 'Silver Streak' was the aged, but cheap to produce, flathead configuration. Interesting to note that the Strato Streak V-8 was ready to go in 1953, but was held back by the protesting Buick and Olds divisions. Evidence of this is in the details of the chassis/steering of 1953 and 1954 Pontiac's which were designed for the V-8. The V8 configuration of the 'Strato-Streak' 287-cubic-inch (4.7 L) engine that replaced it in 1955 did away with all the crankshaft and L-head related problems, replacing the Depression era 'cheap 8' with a truly modern, durable but yet affordable design perfectly matched to Pontiac's target market. A few years later (fall of 1956), under the guidance of Bunkie Knudsen Pontiac was determined to change its image into a performance car to boost sales, this led Knudsen to look for further talent, including Pete Estes as chief engineer (taken from Olds division) and John DeLorean as director of advanced engineering, a former Packard and Chrysler engineer. Pontiac became known as a performance division based upon the durable, well performing V8s that came later, all of them based upon the original 287 of 1955.

Market[edit]

Designed and priced for conservative lower middle class buyers, the Pontiacs filled a slot between the popular Chevrolet and the higher priced Oldsmobiles and Buicks.

Design[edit]

The 'eight' was a typical American built engine for its time, a side-valve L-head, or 'flathead', with a chain driven cam. It was naturally aspirated through a Carter 'W' series single or dual-venturi (one- or two-barrel) downdraft carburetor.

Advantages[edit]

Of all cylinder layouts without balance shaft a straight eight design has very low inherent vibration, while the side-valve layout contains the moving parts of the valve train within the cast-iron block, enabling it to be very quiet compared to an overhead valve configuration (as in the contemporary Buick engines). Combined with a substantial exhaust manifold and effective intake and exhaust muffling this can lead to a very quiet vehicle, both internally and externally. At the time of its use a quiet engine was thought to be a mark of quality in an automobile. Bores need be of small diameter to keep the engine length down and so strokes must be long to obtain larger displacements - such configurations (called 'undersquare') exhibit good low-rpm torque and are capable of slow idle speeds, enhancing both drivability and quietness. While Chrysler vehicles had similar engines they were not targeted for the lower middle price range enabled by General Motors' manufacturing expertise and volumes of the time.

Disadvantages[edit]

As with other iron block straight configurations the engine is considerably heavier than an equivalent V configuration, requiring more materials for the crank and crankcase and so increasing overall vehicle weight in even greater proportion. The long crankshaft tends to exhibit torsional vibration modes under high power, while side-valve flathead engines inhibit smooth intake and exhaust gas flow, limiting power. None of these disadvantages were disabling until the 'horsepower race' initiated in the early 1950s ensured the dominance of the overhead valve V8.

Applications[edit]

During its run, the eight came in all Pontiacs, which included the Special and Deluxe (1936–40), Torpedo (1940–48) and Streamliner (1942–52), as well as the first six years of the Chieftain (1949–58) and the debut year for the Star Chief (1954–66).

Specifications[edit]

Compression on the 'eight' started at 5.7:1 initially,^[2] and was increased to 6.2:1 ratio in 1934.^[3] In 1940 it was increased again to 6.5:1. From 1952 to 1954 two compression ratios were specified, 6.8:1 with syncromesh (manual) transmission, and 7.7:1 ratio with Hydramaticautomatic transmission.^[4] The engine had a remarkably low idle speed of a 450 rpm with standard transmission and 375 rpm (while in drive) for the automatic;^[5] a modern engine is usually tuned to a minimum 600-700 rpm. The electrical system was a 6-volt primary with a negative ground, and a conventional mechanical ignition, with the firing order 1-6-2-5-8-3-7-4.The Pontiac engines employed a full pressure oiling system and full bearing inserts, unlike its Chevrolet cousin.

Below are specifications as per the model year and displacement, with output shown as horsepower (kilowatts).

'Special'-8[edit]

At the General Motors Motorama for 1954, Pontiac debuted its all new Bonneville Special, a concept car envisioned by head designer Harley J. Earl. The concept was equipped with the 'Special'-8, a high output 268-cubic-inch (4.4 L) engine that was painted bright red and detailed in chrome. This was a unique configuration for the 'eight', installed in the only two Specials ever made. Similar in appearance only, this was a high compression variant, modified with a high-lift cam and fitted with four Carter YH side-draft one-barrel carburetors, the same used in the 1953 Corvette, under open-mesh breathers. Total output was the highest ever for the 'eight', rated at 230 bhp (172 kW), though some estimated it at over 300 bhp (224 kW).^[14] Like the Special, only two were ever made.

Note: Pontiac’s new V8 was being considered for use in the Special but was instead held back by GM marketing. They directed that the straight-eight be used to keep the V8 a secret from consumers for one more year until its debut the following year.^[15]

Footnotes[edit]

1. ^Silver-Streak: The name taken from a body detail peculiar to Pontiacs manufactured from 1935 to 1956, called a 'silver-streak', which is a five-banded, chromed metal band that ran down the middle of the hood and trunk. Born in the Art Deco style of the mid thirties, it was meant as a visual cue to help distinguish Pontiacs from their competitors, and create the illusion of speed.
2. ^ ^abPontiac sales brochure, Pontiac Motor Division, 1933.
3. ^ ^abcPontiac Shop Manual 1934 Models General Motors of Canada
4. ^ ^{abcdefghijklm}Motor's Auto Repair Manual, Sixteenth Edition, Motor.,1953.
5. ^Second Chance Garage A web based, statistical database for mid-century Pontiacs
6. ^Concept Carz Valuable online, statistical database for most classic cars
7. ^'1942 Pontiac Streamliner (Series 26, Series 28, KB Line, Six, Eight) - conceptcarz.com'. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
8. ^'1946 Pontiac 249 Inline 8 Engine Specs'. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
9. ^'1947 Pontiac 249 Inline 8 Engine Specs'. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
10. ^'1948 Pontiac Silver Streak (Torpedo, Series 25 (Six), Series 27 (Eight)) - conceptcarz.com'. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
11. ^'1948 Pontiac 249 Inline 8 Engine Specs'. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
12. ^'1949 Pontiac 249 Inline 8 Engine Specs'. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
13. ^ ^abMotor's Auto Repair Manual, Motor.,1963
14. ^Such as Special owner and concept collector/restorer Joseph Bortz, in a filmed interview viewable at Motor Trend Magazine, available onlineArchived 2006-06-17 at the Wayback Machine.
15. ^'Why the Straight-8?, explained in the same interview above.
16. ^'1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special Motorama - conceptcarz.com'. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
17. ^'THE CARBURETOR SHOP / Chevrolet 1912 - 1959'. Retrieved 23 March 2017.

See also[edit]

'We rehearsed it at 10 and shot it at 50,' said Pryor. 'I was in the doorway, hanging onto Gene's belt, while he's leaning out of the train trying to get the coupling unfastened, and I'm thinking, 'One slip of my foot and good-by, Gene.'

'What gave me a lot of confidence,' Wilder said, 'was that Richie promised me that if I went, he went, too. If I fell off the train and was killed he would throw himself after me.'

'Of course,' said Pryor, 'they had me wired to the train.'

'Ha!' said Wilder. 'Your foot slips and I fall to my death and your parting words are, 'Uh, sorry about the wires, man . . .'

118: What Happened To The Silver Streak Engine

They were talking about one of the most exciting moments in 'Silver Streak,' an adventure comedy that takes place on a train between Los Angeles and Union Station. And when I say Union Station, I mean Union Station, because the train doesn't stop until it's plowed right through the station.

118: What Happened To The Silver Streak Boat

The movie stars Wilder as a meek book publisher who stumbles onto a murder plot, and Pryor as an escaped thief who teams up with Wilder to foil the plot and save the girl. In one scene, as police detectives search for Wilder, Pryor disguises Wilder as a black, using shoe polish and a hat.

118: What Happened To The Silver Streak Movie

'We were worried about that scene, that it might hurt people's feelings,' Wilder said, during a visit he and Pryor made to Chicago to talk about the movie. 'The way it was written, after I disguise myself, a white man is fooled by my disguise. That was bad because then we'd be saying blacks were like that. And so Richie came up with a brilliant structural change, and now the scene gets one of the biggest laughs in the movie.'

'Instead of a white dude being fooled by the disguise,' Pryor said, 'a black dude comes in and isn't fooled. Here's Gene snapping his fingers and holding his portable radio to his ear, and the black dude takes one look and says, 'I don't know what you think you're doing, man, but you got to get the beat.'