Classic/Antique Car Repair: Piston, pontiac parisenne, napa store

Question
My friend is restoring a 64 Pontiac Parisenne for me .230 6 cyl.He needs a 0.10 piston,or as he says a 'one thousandths'. Apparently its an odd-rare size. Do you know where I can get one? Thanks

Answer
The Canadian Pontiacs (which is what a Parisienne is) used different engines from the US cars.  All US Pontiac full sized cars used V8 engines.

Apparently, and this IS a guess, they used the Chevrolet 230 cu in 6 cylinder engine in your car, which is an excellent and very durable engine.  These are very common engines in the US and if you have any way to buy from a NAPA store, I think they can find one for you.  I'm sure the old car houses can also help you, such as Kanter Brothers in New Jersey.

I have to point out, though, that you need to get some better information as to what is required.

Pistons come in standard size, 0.010" oversize diameter(called in the trade a "ten over"), and in 0.020" oversize (a "twenty over") and so forth.  There is no "one over" that would be only 0.001" over, no piston is made in that oversize, it is too close to standard to be worth bothering with.  

What you wrote is "0.10".  Assuming you meant 0.100" oversize (which would be called a "hundred over"), these are probably going to be very hard to find, and probably would not be a wise way to repair the engine.  

This much overbore would indicate a severly worn or damaged engine, and I'd advise having the engine repaired by having the machine shop insert a sleeve in the cylinder to bring it back to standard size.

I hope this information is useful to you.  I'm sorry that I cannot completely answer your question, but if you resolve the confusion about which engine is in your car and what size you require, you can ask me again and I'll try to help you find one.

Dick