I think I would go to an electric fuel pump before I would pocket the cross member. I drove a stock '62 olds for a couple of years in the sixties and loved it. Charlie Stephens
If they still sound like they did in the sixties I agree 100%. I don't notice the sound of electric pumps on new cars. I think they are located in the rear near the tank and sometimes in the tank. I worry about cutting and welding structural steel. Is there plenty of room below where you are working after allowing for suspension travel? Charlie Stephens
Also before you settle on engine and transmission mounts, cycle the steering left to right on full lock and check oil pan clearance. It looks OK now but on full lock it will be close.
Did you allow for going over a bump at full lock, like you might do when pulling into a driveway? Charlie Stephens
hmm, coming from you huh? "No one wants a 4 door" Why are you concerned with mine? Help me price this for a friend
Don't let the "boo-hoo-SBC-haters" get your goat, oldrelics. They've got nothing constructive to do so they log on and try to tear other people down. Your swap makes perfect sense and is clean, neat and tidy. Take the advice of those who council plenty of steering clearance, however, since there's still time to move the motor around before building the mounts. When you make the pocket for the stock fuel pump - which makes a lot more sense than relying on an electric pump - you can also make a channel to provide a path for the outlet fuel line at the same time. Better to plan ahead than not. It looks like you're going to have to choose between the clean valve covers and the current intake manifold when it comes to setting up a clean PCV system. An earlier Chevy intake with the oil fill / breather tube at the front might be necessary to let the "clean" air in, while drilling an access hole for a screw-in PCV valve in the rear of the intake to access the "valley" area of the block will be necessary to get the "dirty" air out. If you go this route don't forget to put a baffle beneath the newly-tapped PCV valve hole - probably not really necessary but you might as well fabricate one while you're at it. You might even be able to adapt a salvaged "tomato juice can" baffle from an earlier model 283/327 engine. The idea is to allow the oil temporarily suspended in the blowby gasses (oil mist) enough time to separate and fall back into the engine while the lighter water vapor remains suspended and gets sucked out by the PCV vacuum. You don't want the system to be so efficient that it sucks both water vapor and oil mist out of the crancase, which would lead to high oil comsumption and a smoky exhaust. This will work as a good PCV system...but not ideal. The hot, moisture-laden crankcase fumes will still tend to gravitate to the highest point - the area under the valve covers - where the moisture will condense as it cools and will tend to form the "goo" that turns into sludge. If you pull the valve covers and clean the rocker arm areas on a regular basis this probably won't be an issue. Still the most efficient PCV system (assuming your SBC doesn't have a road draft/PCV boss at the rear as many early ones do which can be employed to create a PCV system which flows front to back) is a cross-flow system where clean air is drawn in through a breather in one valve cover, and the dirty air is sucked out through a PCV valve in the other valve cover. Good luck with your project. I owned a '61 Pontiac Catalina 4-door Hardtop when they were new. It was a really great car...but would have been even better with a lighter engine. The Canadian Pontiacs had SBC engines if I recall correctly and would have handled much better than did my nose-heavy Catalina.
You will be smiling when your back on the road. Keep the install updates coming there are others out there wanting to do the same thing.
Some people don't like the 4 doors I love them .It good to see some else like you are keeping them on the road.Good luck crusing in your new project.Bruce.
I plan on doing a similar swap in my 62 olds. I want to stick with olds engine and trans but a 350 and get rid of this transmission. My car is a cruiser but I want it to be a bit more bulletproof for a drive train. Also installed seat belts in the rear for kids seats air ride and disc brakes.
Chevy small block typically 575 lbs Pontiac 389 typically 640 lbs, some references claim as low as 590 lbs - Can't imagine 65 lbs makes much difference in handling one way or the other, during that period the A/C compressor alone weighed that much. Headers and an aluminum intake will get it down closer to 600 even. And, of course, you can go all the way up to a 455 and it will still weigh about the same. Then again, Chevys had a completely different frame in this era, too, they were X-frame to '64 while Pontiac was a conevntional ladder type frame. FWIW, an Olds 394 is around 725 lbs.
Its your car and it looks like your priorities are good. hopw the kids are getting a chance to hand you a tool as they watch the progress. glad the 394 went to a good home, what will it be going into?
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