Projects 1956 Pontiac Wagon Build Thread

Good looking build. Like the Pontiac in a Pontiac . BUT looking at the angles of the mounts on the motor ,with the rod ends being able to rotate ,what will keep the motor from rolling over?
just asking.
rtp

 

The rods won't be able to move once the jam nuts are all tightened down.

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Just my opinion but I'd probably add something horizontal off the mount over to the frame for extra support so your support you've built isn't doing all the work.

 

Are you saying the rods are not strong enough to hold the weight of the engine?

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I think what he's saying is that with a rod end on both ends of your mounts, the engine could possibly rotate on its axis.

 

Maybe ok for the weight, but when the engine is under load it's going to put more stress on the parts. I'm not an engineer and not trying to nitpic your build, but i would make it stronger and adding an extra support would do that .

 

Oh I see. No the rods are sitting at 45 degree angle in the engine bay so in order for the engine to rotate the rods would have to grow on one side and shrink on the other. After I stab the engine back in I will take some better pics.

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Oh i don't consider any advise "nitpicking" I am far from an expert! I tried to pick my parts for strength and according to all the load ratings for the parts the grade 8 bolts are the weak link... well that assuming my welding abilities are what I think they are

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I was just thinking, I still have to re mount the cross member that held the original bellhousing engine mounts. I can very easily re work some old mounts to help carry the torsional load and maybe a little weight.

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I didn't reuse the trans crossmember, just a bracket to mount to the x-frame for the rear trans mount. The headers would have been harder to get in anyway.

 

I didn't think about the exhaust. You haven't seen any frame deformation because of the lack of that crossmember? I am building a mount for the transmission now. Did your trans yoke make it all the way through the center of the X in the frame?

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I use a short tail th400 and stops short of the x about 4" I think. Which is fine it's shorter if I have to pull the trans I don't have to worry about moving the engine around. My rear end pinion is offset(ford 8.8) so had to make the center of the x a little bigger on the passenger side. But with a stock rear should be ok because the pinion is centered. I think the frame is strong enough to be fine without the trans crossmember.

 

Interesting. .. I have to expand the center opening of my X frame because my yoke is sitting just back of center. I'm thinking I might have to relocate the parking brake hardware abit to get enough clearance

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I'm with some of the others, I think you have a problem with the tie rods and Heim joints. With neither side being rigid, the engine can rotate. Here's a quick little CAD drawing showing what we mean. The left side (Good) has the engine in the frame with the tie rods at 45 degrees. On the second (Bad), I rotated the right side tie rod by 20 deg, moved the engine so its right mount matched up with the end of the tie rod, then rotated the left side tie rod and engine to where their new intersection would be. The length of each tie rod did not change - all I did was rotate parts around.

So unless we're missing something, you may want start over on those front mounts.

OTOH, that engine's gorgeous.

 

I have a '55 Chieftain 2dr sedan project and haven't selected an engine yet, but am leaning toward keeping it all Pontiac . So I'll be tuned in to see your progress. looking good, by the way!

 

Interesting, I will stab that engine back in this week some time and test it out. If it turns out to be a problem I will keep the mounts but they will just hold the weight of the engine and I will modify some bellhousing mounts to solve any rotational issues. I originally went with that setup to keep the mounts as small as possible in the engine bay so I would hate to change to the much larger weld in pedestal or "biscuit" type I have seen on others.

 

PLEASE keep it all Pontiac!!! The world has enough SBC's
By the way there are waaaaay easier and time tested ways of mounting an engine in your car. I am trying some thing new because I just like the look. It will probably be twice as expensive and labor intensive to do it this way!

 

Unfortunately it all comes down to financial constraints.

 

Doesn't it always! After spending $500 for the engine, $1000 at the machine shop, it took about another $800 in parts to be good to go but that's still cheaper than a crate engine from GM and I got exactly what I wanted with no compromises.

 

great wagon! $1,700 gets you 350 chevrolet delivered to your door from summit! my 55 will have clip and 6 cylinder and i'll tell anyone who asks that it's CANADIAN!

 

Well I stand corrected then... my price was including the exhaust and intake system as well though. In the end we all must do what the budget allows but my point is that a Pontiac can be have for "about" the same money as a SBC can. But to each their own

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When you take it out for the first time,stab the accelerator pedal,,if you are going to have a failure with the motor mounts that will be the best test. HRP

 

Well I finally got around to mounting the engine and trans in the wagon and thankfully it is rock solid! Not one millimeter of movement, really dodged a bullet there.

 

A couple more shots after I installed a few more items.

 

Very true, I work with a guy that has a BBC in a firebird. He got pist when I asked how his camaro was running

 

Looking good, which RA manifolds are those?

 

I love jabbing the Pontiac traitors as well! I know everyone has their reasons but it better be a good one for me not to poke fun at you!

 

Those are the RM1 Dports from RARE.

 

Just a small update today but the body shop posted some pics of the paint. Thought I might share.

 

Wow! Looks great! I really like the colors.