Projects 1960 Pontiac Catalina Stick Car!

I punched out the freeze plugs and have been flushing out the crap in the water jackets.


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So I got the corroded later timing cover off and I know that they are interchangeable as far as they will bolt up. Here is my question if I go back to the early style cover (60-63) will that work with the later intake manifold if I eventually go with the later heads????? I would think so if I can run the later cover with the 63 intake but when you only have pictures to go by and you are paying big money for a timing cover (something foreign to my Chevy brain) I want to make sure.


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Okay, I give up! How do you get the bellhousing off of a 59 Pontiac? It will move about an 1/4 inch but that is it! I have wedged a crow bar in there and it won’t come off!!! Is there something on the inside that I can’t see that is holding it in place????


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Yeah, the flywheel! I know it sounds ridiculous but ya gotta remove the clutch, drop the flywheel out the bottom to get that "wrap around" bell housing off. Sorry..that's just the way it was back in 55-60.

 

..and don't discard the pressure plate thinking that chevy plate you have on the shelf will work for you either. I'm using a 1959 Pontiac 11.75" clutch...it's built just a little bit thinner to fit up inside the bell housing AFTER you bolt up the bell housing and flywheel. BTW, the flywheel only goes on one way. I marked my crank flange and flywheel to get it right the first time. It's no fun spinning that heavy sumbitch flywheel to line up all the holes.

 

Hey thanks Rocky!
I’ve been messing with it for the last 2 nights! Right before I went inside tonight I took the top access cover off and shoved my fingers up there and thought there is no way it is going to clear the clutch but I was hopeful there was another way. Sadly no but at least I know how it comes apart now.
At the present I have not yet been able to get the engine to turn over which may slow my progress but we will see tomorrow.....thank God for the H.A.M.B.!!!
Thanks again Rocky




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If you get a chance, could you measure the pressure plate height to the release fingers? It's good to know there is a "flatter" pressure plate out there, that could come in handy for some swaps.

 

Last week I watched a Youtube video of a guy adapting a 3 speed to an early straight 8 engine, and he too, explained that the flywheel had to come off, before the bellhousing could. I think it was a Buick 8, GM anyways.

 

Definitely


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Well I’ve seen worse! Only one stuck piston!


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Thanks again Rocky!
With one stuck piston I couldn’t rotate the engine to get the pressure plate off! So after much heat and braking the piston I was able to beat it out of the hole!
After I got the engine to spin freely I could unbolt the pressure plate which of course to had to separated from the disc! Only then it all came out! I definitely learned something new today!


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Are you going to surface that flywheel?

 

“That’ll buff out”

 

Yeah, after I bear blast the heck out of it!


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I got my 55/56 15 inch wheels from a fellow Hamber. They should clean up nice and except the dog dish hub caps. Perfect for my wannabe super duty theme! Yes the plan is to have the widened.


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I had 15 x 7's w no offset and 225-60r15s all around on my '60. Don't think I would have wanted to do much different wrt the rim setup. Fit was nice including on the rear.

 

15x7 is what I’ll be going for. Does anybody know what the original super duty 15 inch wheels where? I would assume they were 6 inch wide for the era.


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7 factory GM dished pistons attached to happy forged rods......an one replacement flat top with a layer cast rod. ☹️
(My kids were creating automotive junk art)


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Those 59 engines the forged rods tended to stretch. They where nicknamed (rubber rods)!

 

Oh wow, I had heard the term but didn’t know what it applied too. So are the early forged rods inferior to the later cast rods?


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I will say yes, the early forged rods are not as good as the later cast rods, the Super Duty forged rods being the exception.

 

Okay, that is what I was wondering. The forged super duty rods were different. Thank you.


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If you are thinking about building an engine, use aftermarket rods. Makes much more sense than trying to go w used Pontiac rods. Stronger and really not that much $ difference.

 

Who would you recommend? Are you talking about an aftermarket factory style forged or H beam. I do plan to run the car at the track but as a street car. I’m not sure I going H beam crazy at this point.


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I was able to get the studs and hubs pressed out on my buddy’s press. Now I’m just waiting for the new RH studs to arrive.
They came off the 63 so I can run the roller bearings.


The old 60 hub drum set up was a different story. Even with heat and a 20 ton press all I manage to do was bend the drum. Not a big loss because the drum is trash an I’m not going to run the ball bearing hubs but wow! They just didn’t want to come apart.


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One different cast rod and a flatop piston! Wow. Just shows you never know what the hell you might find in some of these old engines. My 370 [347 punched .125" over] runs original 57 forged rods with ARP bolts. I knew about the rubber rod thing but having run 11 of these engines since 1968 I've never had a rod problem. I never let it wind over 6 grand and even that is seldom. I love these engines.

 

Hey Rocky, what rear end gear ratio do you run in your car?


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Welp, I have a winters quickchange in the car so my selection of spur gears equals out to a set of 2.71s for the interstate trips, a set of 4.61s for drags and a set of 3.54s as an all-around gear. That's what is in it now

 

That sounds good Rocky! My buddy has a few Pontiac posi third members and we are looking at trading parts but I’m trying to figure out which ratio would be best for 60. I was leaning towards 3.42’s with OD or 3.23 and higher with the 3.42 low 1st T10. Decisions decisions


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