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1954 Pontiac Pathfinder

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by TairyHesticles, Aug 14, 2012.

  1. nice score, man. i'm fifteen (see signature) and i've got a 59 ford f-100. just make sure you're ALWAYS doing something on it. go out there and just do one thing every day, don't get overwhelmed. fixing up these old things is just too much fun. you'll get all the attention at school, there's some other cats our age here and were all good friends. if they haven't already posted on here i'm sure they will.

    my opinion on the engine swap is just keep the flatty. everybody loves em' and your insurance bills will be much cheaper.
     
  2. Thanks! I wasn't sure if they were the same now that I know it widens the options a little.

    Time to hit the books and find out I guess!

    Do you have a thread on the F-100? Id love to see it.
     
  3. sololobo
    Joined: Aug 23, 2006
    Posts: 8,378

    sololobo
    Member

    Cool Poncho bro, I have never seen that tu-door Pathfinder. Probably a lot more up where they were sold. But is damn cool and a custom out of the box. Congrats, stay simple and get it runnin and drivin. Nuff opinions, enjoy! ~sololobo~
     
  4. castleman1111
    Joined: Nov 2, 2010
    Posts: 105

    castleman1111
    Member

    welcome to da club bro!!!!!
     
  5. (do you have a thread on it? i'd love to see it.)


    yup, sure do. just do a search, it's called "first car 59 ford f-100." it's super solid and damn near bullet proof.

    but about that engine swap, just keep that flattie, and load it out. cheaper than buying a new engine and front end. and it will be fast enough. you can load those things out, and once you hear the sound of a flathead you just can't get rid of it.
     
  6. I see the engine is the ever-faithful 239 flathead 6 banger. American Pontiacs with a manual tranny used a hopeless selecta-shift 3 speed tranny with a monkey-motion linkage setup. It appears your car uses a chevy 3 speed column shifter, probably attached to a chevy 3 speed transmission with the enclosed driveshaft...some call them a torque-tube. Which one do you have? Can you see a drive shaft with universal joints at both ends of it or is it just a long tube bolted to the transmission on one end and the rear axle on the other??
    The enclosed drivshaft is a little more tricky to work with but if you leave the flat 6 in the car, it'll handle the power ok. If the car has an exposed drivshaft, it's a little easier to swap to a later rear axle assembly.
    What does you car have?
    BTW, I drove my old 41 Pontiac with a 239 flat 6 all over the country and the guy I sold it to still drives the wheels off it.
    And I can't tell if your car has a single throat carb or a 2 barrel carb. American 53-54 Pontiac sixes came stock with a 2 barrel carb..might be a good upgrade if your car has a single barrel carb.
     
  7. The drive shaft is enclosed, I just went under and had a look to double check. So I guess I didn't luck out in that department.

    Thats cool to hear glad its still truckin' around!

    Its a single barrel carb, I went and checked that out. Any supplier recommendations for a carb for a flat 6?

    Also thanks for the help, now I have a better idea of what I've got.
     
  8. man, that does look like a 53 chevy. anyway, i just came up with a design in my head, ok, first thing is go with white primer, everybodyelse does black primer. then do the roof like a deep blue, with blue pinstriping. just thinkin out loud over here. by the way, where does that thing sit? it looks pretty low in the pics.
     
  9. dualquadpete
    Joined: Jul 9, 2010
    Posts: 29

    dualquadpete
    Member

    I don't think anyone's said this yet, but the Cdn. Pontiac is just a re-badged Chevy with Poncho, trim, dash,grille etc. They used the 239 Flatty instead of Chevy OHV Most body panels will interchange unless hood & trunk have a indent for trim. Otherwise it's Chevy all the way. I used a co. called National Chevy Parts in the US for a lot of my needs for my 52 Poncho www.nationalchevy assoc.com My Interior from them fit PERFECT as well as lots of trim & w/strips
     
  10. Wagonmaster2
    Joined: Aug 18, 2010
    Posts: 333

    Wagonmaster2
    Member

    the '54 Chevy lights won't cover the Pontiac holes left....For a SUPER cheap custom look, use 1960 Chevy lenses in the existing bezels...
     
  11. I was thinking of just doing red primer for now, my dad thought of doing with that and it kinda stuck. My pa also pinstripes so he could stripe it, but I dont think I'm going to do that. Its been overdone to me, not that I got anything against it. Its cool.

    Looks lower than it is, cause in the pictures the rear tires are flat. :eek: But she doesn't sit very high with air in the tires either. I was planning on taking a leaf out of the leaf springs in the back to lower it, but I'm not sure if I'd run into problems doing this. Or how much of a difference it would actually make.


    Thanks for the link, I've been looking for places to browse for parts. The more the better!

    I'm really not sure what the plan is with the tail lights yet.. But thats good to know, thanks!
     
  12. yeah, just 1 or 2 leafs will probably work fine. and on the primer, i don't know if they make red primer. i would check that out. surely put some primer on it, and maybe just rattlecan it flat red, if you do it right, it will come out okay. that's what i did with mine. let me know if you noticed:D:D but hey, it's your car. do whateva you want.
     
  13. Looks fine to me! Can't go wrong with black!

    It's just a temporary thing, until I figure out what I really want.
     
  14. yeah, ive had my truck for awhile now. can't really come up with a good design yet, which is weird for me, cause what i do all day is sit down and draw and design other cars. go figure.:rolleyes:
     
  15. dualquadpete
    Joined: Jul 9, 2010
    Posts: 29

    dualquadpete
    Member

    The Cdn. Pontiac uses Chevy tail lights [not the round ones that the US uses] thats why i said it's a rebadged Chevy. I'll try to post a pic of back of my Cdn. Poncho!! Pete
     

    Attached Files:

  16. The 54 Canadian Pontiac tail lights are the same shape as US 54 Chevys but are a lot fancier.
     

    Attached Files:

  17. dualquadpete
    Joined: Jul 9, 2010
    Posts: 29

    dualquadpete
    Member

    Have to clarify that Cdn. pontiacs used Chev tail lights up till 54!! Then they took on the look of the US ones in 55, but they still shared the Chevy Chassis, & drive train & main body shell!!!
     
  18. dwaynerz
    Joined: Nov 16, 2006
    Posts: 235

    dwaynerz
    Member

    the center trim piece on the dash looks like an air intake for a big turbo you see sticking out the front of diesel drag trucks and some mustang drag cars.
     
  19. 'Mo
    Joined: Sep 26, 2007
    Posts: 7,432

    'Mo
    Member

    Just a side note for Chevy owners; I swapped out my '50 Chevy 4.11's for a complete 3.55 torque tube/pumpkin assembly from a '54 PowerGlide Canadian Pontiac. Completely drop-in!
     
  20. dualquadpete
    Joined: Jul 9, 2010
    Posts: 29

    dualquadpete
    Member

    I have my "torpedo back sitting on a 84 Cutlass chassis shortened up & the frt. whl. wells moved forward 2" Running a SBC punched out to 358 with a Eckler cam & 2 x 500cfm 4bbls, thru a Tremec 5spd & 3:42 gears!! Only been on the road since mid Sept. but put 1400 miles on & it RUNS strong!!! As stated I got a lot of parts from National chevy & was pleased with the complete Interior Kit they supplied, minus the frt bench cover & enough material to do the frt. seats
     

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  21. Man that looks good! Do you have a build thread?

    And thanks for reassuring the tail lights thing guys, I was a bit thrown off. I coulda swore they were the same tail lights! :p
     
    Last edited: Nov 8, 2012
  22. So I have a question, winters coming and the temperatures are getting pretty cold. I'm actually not sure what condition the engine is in, it did run last year but the guy I bought it from just put some fuel in the carb.

    Anyways. He let it sit over the winter with the radiator filled with anti freeze, but the hose disconnected and pinched off. Why would he have done that? The car was last insured 10 years ago, and I don't know how it's been taken care of those past years but I can't imagine it was very well. Would it pay to keep the hose disconnected and fill the rad, or should I re connect the hose? Or just leave it? (rad drained when we hauled it home.)

    Sorry if this doesn't make sense, I'm just confused about what I should do.
    :eek:
     
  23. Streight8
    Joined: Jun 12, 2012
    Posts: 125

    Streight8
    Member

    Probably an old guy like me being cheap and wanting to save the antifreeeze. You can leave it as is. Some people like to keep the whole system full to prevent any seals etc from drying out. You really should check to make sure the block is properly drained. It is not uncommon for the drain hole to plug and not be noticed when the coolant is drained. A little low pressure air push might be a good plan. Heater too if it has one.
     
  24. Thank you, I was just a bit thrown off. :eek:
     
  25. hey man, i was working on some models the other day, going through my crap, and look what i found!
    [​IMG]


    i can't get enough of this little flathead six, the fan spins, and the little air cleaner comes right off. anyway, if you can get me some real good photos of your car and a plan for it i can try and design it by drawing it. i have no clue how good a drawing will come out until i do it. just letting you know.
     
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2012
  26. holy crap sorry for the huge size. let me try and resize it.
     
  27. [​IMG] there, don't know if you can see it, but hey! it's cool.
     
  28. Skankin' Rat Fink
    Joined: Jun 18, 2006
    Posts: 1,496

    Skankin' Rat Fink
    Member
    from NYC

    Cool thread, I'll be subscribing. Very interested to see what you can do with this one.

    I have a '54 Chieftain, American model.

    [​IMG]
     
  29. dualquadpete
    Joined: Jul 9, 2010
    Posts: 29

    dualquadpete
    Member

    As streight8 advised may be better to drain the whole thing!! If nothing comes out of block when you open tap, take the tap out & "poke" a small screwdriver in hole to make sure it's not plugged with CRAP!! Can you post a pic. of the tail lights on your pathfinder to show the diff from the US models Thks. Pete
     
  30. blktie
    Joined: Aug 26, 2007
    Posts: 338

    blktie
    Member

    Great thread and I'll be following. Excellent first car.
     

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