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Pontiac V8s

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Boulderdash, Sep 11, 2013.

  1. Boulderdash
    Joined: Jul 24, 2009
    Posts: 154

    Boulderdash
    Member

    Why is it you don't see that many Poncho V8s in cars as you do Chevys and Fords, especially when the trans choice offers th350/400's and Powerglides? The ones I have seen in drag cars and the like make good power and torque, so are they rare or expensive to tune or something.
     
  2. dubcee
    Joined: Jan 24, 2008
    Posts: 484

    dubcee
    Member

    ImageUploadedByH.A.M.B.1378934371.143746.jpg

    Mine wasn't, swap meet buy, a can of paint, a couple new carbs, then I built a car around it!


    Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
     
  3. Jalopy Joker
    Joined: Sep 3, 2006
    Posts: 31,174

    Jalopy Joker
    Member

    Chevy / Ford easy to find and lots of parts interchange - mass production equals lower prices.
     
  4. Like Jalopy Joker said. Interchange can be a problem along with some design quirks that can cause problems such as overheating. Not insurmountable but a problem regardless.

    Not a Pontiac hater, 428 equipped O/T car at home.
     
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2013

  5. A lot of people dont understand Pontiacs, is all.
     
  6. JYPSEA
    Joined: Dec 11, 2007
    Posts: 193

    JYPSEA
    Member
    from Florida

    Hows this 35 chevy pickup, 468 Pontiac and Munci 4 speed.
     

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  7. ZachB
    Joined: Sep 6, 2013
    Posts: 30

    ZachB
    Member

    Pontiac was always different. Back in the 40s they used a different frame. When they offered the V8s the cars price would go up with a V8. Chevy was the cheaper car for a long time but eventually made its way passed the price of a Pontiac. Chevy V8s were known for reliability so Pontiac did not sell them real well until the 80s. There are several factors but price was a big one.
     
  8. Huh?
     
  9. What's the interchange problems for expample ?
     
  10. gtowagon
    Joined: Mar 23, 2011
    Posts: 406

    gtowagon
    Member

    Pontiacs are a great choice I have never owned anything else except for dd cars lately. You can get just as much power from a pontiac as any other make but it will cost you if you want to. Chevy parts are much cheaper and easier to get and most of the good pontiac stuff is in demand for the restoration guys that will pay big bucks for it. The aftermarket has stepped up and now you can get everything from blocks to heads if you want it
     
  11. Justin B
    Joined: Oct 11, 2003
    Posts: 2,255

    Justin B
    Member

    interchange issue would be intakes, bellhousing bolt patterns, water pumps, basic year brake down 55-60/ 61-64/ 64-?
    I like messing around with the early 59-60 389 stuff good engines that can make a ton of streetable power and still have the vintage appeal
     
  12. gtowagon
    Joined: Mar 23, 2011
    Posts: 406

    gtowagon
    Member

    Pontiacs interchange pretty well all the blocks and heads will interchange within year brackets 65-79. Is the easiest. All the blocks are the same external dimensions from 326-455. And any BOP trans will work
     
  13. Poncho60
    Joined: Jan 23, 2011
    Posts: 278

    Poncho60
    Member
    from N Illinois

    Any BOP trans will work from 64 (possibly) and up....not before that without starter issues (61-63) and complete adapter setups for 55-60.
     
  14. That's what I'm saying
     
  15. RichFox
    Joined: Dec 3, 2006
    Posts: 10,020

    RichFox
    Member Emeritus

    Had a 400 with a ground to fit 455 crank in my OT Bonneville car. Ran good. I liked it.
     
  16. RichFox
    Joined: Dec 3, 2006
    Posts: 10,020

    RichFox
    Member Emeritus

    Yes, but. An original 40s Pontiac with a factory V8 is worth really big bucks now.
     
  17. gtowagon
    Joined: Mar 23, 2011
    Posts: 406

    gtowagon
    Member

    There is no v8 untill 55
     
  18. 34 Plymouth Hemi
    Joined: Apr 8, 2008
    Posts: 68

    34 Plymouth Hemi
    Member

    Before 55 Pontiac used a straight 8 cylinder



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  19. pontman
    Joined: Mar 18, 2011
    Posts: 419

    pontman
    Member


    This car is BAD ASS!!!
     
  20. Pontiac from '34 through '54 could be had with a six or an eight, both inline L-head engines.

    There actually was an early V8, descended fron Oakland and used in '32 only. 26-31 and 33 were sixes only.
     
  21. hoop98
    Joined: Jan 23, 2013
    Posts: 1,362

    hoop98
    Member
    from Texas

    The early 287-389 Pontiac V8s were reverse cooled.
     
  22. 2935ford
    Joined: Jan 6, 2006
    Posts: 3,843

    2935ford
    Member

    Here in Canada....early Pontiacs had staggered bolt valve covers that fit Chev motors.
    I'm gunna run a set of them on my '55 Chev 265!

    Cheater!
     
  23. dubcee
    Joined: Jan 24, 2008
    Posts: 484

    dubcee
    Member

    Oh I forgot about the $800 adapter I had to buy to screw anything remotely reliable behind the '60 389 in my A, worth every penny! Justin B what do you know about cams for the 59 - 60 389? Mine still is building power when the valves float at 4200, then of course in takes a nose dive. thinking about a roller and new springs this winter!
     
  24. slammed
    Joined: Jun 10, 2004
    Posts: 8,150

    slammed
    Member

    Because of the constant media fawning over the ease of making a Chevy run faster/cheaper. The herd mentality of the said media (Super Chevy/Chevy Power) bombarding the market with how to articles coming out of the wazoo. I put 455 Olds and Buick BB in OT CHEVY trucks and made rippers out of them for $200.00 each! Ponchos make beautiful looking motors that run fine. There is a make over T-bucket on the HAMB that would look killer w/a 389 dropped between the rails.
     
  25. gearheadbill
    Joined: Oct 11, 2002
    Posts: 1,318

    gearheadbill
    Member

    Yes it is....even better in person.
     
  26. stimpy
    Joined: Apr 16, 2006
    Posts: 3,546

    stimpy

    most people do not how to make them run , they try to use a chevy thinking and slow them up or make them perform poorly , chevys heads are designed different , they use a as cast chamber were a Pontiac is 100% machined and has some weird quirks in them like undercuts for low speed valve flow to get rid of stagnant spots in the chambers ,different valve cut angles ( the biggest screw up when a person ports heads is to change them to chevy specs ) , and the 135* exhaust port for frame clearance ( which kind of hinders the exhaust flow but can be made to help it ) . as for cost , a little more than chevy .

    as for parts availability , more aftermarket stuff available now than 20 years ago . can get anything from blocks to cranks to manifolds . 20 years ago we were lucky to find a aftermarket crank ( Kelloge) that didn't cost $2-4000 and when you did you had to still cut it . I remember cutting Fe valves to fit a 400 because of a high lift cam and need the length ,now I call Manley or Ferrea and order them . and the mistake people do today is they try to make it run using chevy thinking and fail . Pontiacs are low RPM High torque, High port velocity motors .( we used to call them gasoline powered diesels because of the low speed torque ) . chevys you have to wind up to make the power . and most of its theroretical ( HP is a mathmatical equation of Watt "the rate of work done" , torque is real )

    and I love the BS that a stock rod or crank will not go past 5200 rpms , when I raced super stock we were required to run stock cast rodsand factory cast cranks and often pulled 7200-7500 in the traps , you have to know how to prep them ( I ran out the back door during one race and clipped 8200 without hurting anything ) . most of the 400 Pontiacs in NHRA superstock pulled that Rpm for years before aftermarket rods were allowed . been playing and racing with the Chiefs motors since 1984 , and Pontiacs real death date was 1980 when they closed the foundry .
     
  27. stimpy
    Joined: Apr 16, 2006
    Posts: 3,546

    stimpy


    IIRc Pontiac v-8's engines stayed this side of the line for many years and those north of the Border got Chevys ( chassis and motors combinations ) instead of True Pontiac lowers . ( weren't they called Arcadians instead of Pontiac?? because of a legal issue with your Native peoples )
     
  28. ROADSTER1927
    Joined: Feb 14, 2009
    Posts: 3,127

    ROADSTER1927
    Member

    Not all use belly button engines ! 40 ponti coupe has a 63 super duty 389 and the 2/ 4 barrel engine is a 400 bored to 421 Gary:D
     

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  29. OLDSMAN
    Joined: Jul 20, 2006
    Posts: 2,422

    OLDSMAN
    BANNED

    I had a 400 engine from a GTO in my 39 deluxe Ford years ago, and loved it. I always had GTO's and when building this coupe used an engine from one of them in the car. I had a ram air IV cam and nothing else done, excep a mild port and polish job on the heads, and matched the intake ports to the head. This was a total street driven can that would run a quarter mile in the low 14's on street tires. It got fairly good milage, and was super dependable
     
  30. Until you've sat behind a well tuned Pontiac engine and had the opportunity to really stick your foot into it, you're not going to ever get "it" about Pontiac engines.
     

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