I just love these old Ponchos. I have my eyes on a ‘53 that already has the 287 V8 conversion, and a 54 with the original straight 8. I’ve read the Olds V8 is a bolt in also. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
I love these old Ponchos also.. Ive owned many of them. The early Olds V8 mounts much the same, so id say it wouldn't be a hard swap either. I built a 1950 Pontiac about 8 years ago and put a 58 Pontiac 370 in it, along with a 1960 Pontiac jetaway transmission. I really liked it.. I sold it a short time after I started driving it though. My 54 Special has the straight six and only 35k actual miles on it.. it runs great so I'll likely keep it in there for a while. If I do decide to v8 the car I'll likely go with a 59 389. I got the stuff I need to lower it, and have some other mild custom touches inmind I want to do to it.
Update on my 54 Special - I lowered it 3" all the way around, rebuilt the master cylinder, carburetor, new shocks and tightened up all the nuts and bolts that a previous owner evidently thought were unimportant. Feels like a completely different car now. I've got an Edmunds custom dual carb intake for it that I'd like to put on it sometime. Had thought about an early Pontiac V8 conversion for this car, but the Flathead runs too good to get rid of. I wish I hadn't sold the 54 Star Chief I was building, but I was out of space then. I've since bought another house with much more space and picked up a 1951 Pontiac 4 door out of Nebraska I'm working on now. (Hamb member (billsautoworks) hauled it for me) It's a solid car to build, just has some dents and dings I have to work out. This is the car as found on craigslist in Sargent, Nebraska. In my new garage. Worst dent is on the left rear door Several hours and a broken finger later, I've got a lot of it out.. I still have a lot of work to do on it. I've picked up a 57 Pontiac 347 a while back out of a 57 GMC firetruck locally. I was able to hear it run before it was pulled so I know it sounds good. I also found all the manual parts off a 1956 Pontiac engine to convert this car to stick shift. I found the clutch pedal assembly on ebay. I'm getting ready to pull the Flathead and Hydramatic out and get the V8 set up before I pull the body from the frame.
The 54 looks good. 35k eh? That is sweet. The 51 will be cool w a manual trans! Regards, Randy Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Nice.......hey, I know what you mean about the ol 6 cylinder running nice. My 41 had a 239 six and all I did was tune it up and swap out the third member for a 3.23 gear from a 55 Pontiac automatic. Drove it all over the western U.S. including a trip to Bonneville. It kept up with interstate traffic ok. I had a fresh '59, 389 sitting on the stand to go it it but the 239 was so much fun I couldn't bring myself to swap it in.
It turned over 37k recently, I'm pretty sure its actual mileage. I'm usually skeptical when I find a car like this showing low miles, but it still has a good bit of the original paint on the engine that hasn't burnt off, leaf springs are still tightly wrapped. Everything is still tight, no wear to pedal pads and seats are still real nice. I look forward to gaining the 3rd pedal in the 51, much more fun. Love your old '41! I wouldn't be scared to drive this car anywhere either. I'd like to split the exhaust manifold on it and put the Edmunds intake i have on it.. detail it up nice and continue to enjoy it. The 54 is my first flathead six car, but I've put over 80k on a Pontiac straight eight without any issues so I have a lot of confidence in them.
Progress is slow, but moving.. pulled the body to fix some frame damage. I'll also rebuild all my mechanicals, get the engine and trans setup, clean and paint it all before putting the body back on.
I removed some thick plates that were welded to the right front of the frame and uncovered this old damage. It all appears to be forward of the suspension. I plan to straighten this and patch it. I had to weld some cracks that were in the top of the coil spring housing, and fab a plate/patch for the frame under the right side firewall mount.
I don't get a lot of time to work on this so I'll try to update once a month. About 2 weeks ago I pushed the frame outside and pressure washed it. Since then I've been cleaning the frame up. I managed to disassembled the front suspension today. There's still an old patch on the frame on the left side. Removing the suspension will make it easier for me to cut this off and fix whatever is under it. Right side frame repair is just about done. Still have to clean off old welds I couldn't get to with the suspension in the way. Plans are this month to finish cleaning the frame up and paint it with POR-15 before I move forward on anything else.
Wow, good progress on the Pontiacs. I am envious on your luck with the engines. I can't seem to find any here for my '55. As I've discovered, '55-'60 Pontiac or GMC truck will bolt right in with no mods.
So far I haven't had much trouble finding an early Pontiac V8 when I'm looking for one. I did luck out though on the 57 347 and found it locally. The 55 287 I put in the 54 I was building I bought off someone near Nashville, TN and had it shipped to me.
Shipping really wasn't all that bad. I had it shipped over 500 miles for $150. That was a 55 287 with the Hydra-matic transmission also. I just posted the shipment on U-Ship for bids.
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