well i havnt posted in a while but heres the update...sold the falcon and have a 64 comet now and just bought a 51-52 pontiac chieftain monday mornin....been wantin a 50s car a long long time .....and im soon ill have tons a questions cause i dont know much and have a ton to learn....id also like to add i met our member FATDAD..and hes a great guy....and if your in Arkansa you should meet him....anyway thats about it and ill try to post some pix if i can...
ok first question....whats the best way to put a small block pontiac or chevy in this car? its an automatic ...what will i need as far as parts to do this?
I havent gotten far enough to know how to mount a poncho in one, but hurst made some cool front motor plates for the chevy engines. I think they can still be found. I am putting a poncho 400 in my 51 chevy. I have an extra 400 block, rods, and intake from a Catalina if needed.
My husband was going to put a SBC in my 52, (I talked him out of it, we're freshening up the straight 8 instead). He was going to use a front motor plate. With-out clipping it or moving the steering box, it was the easiest way we could think of. Somebody may know of another way, but all the "universal" motor mount kits we saw would have been in the way of the steering. Note..... I'm not an expert, it's just what we were going to do. Is the stock motor not in it? If it has the OG flathead straight eight, they are great motors. I drove the wheels of mine and it ran like a champ!! The only reason it's not still going it it was smoking and I wanted to breathe fresh air for a change, lol!
mines a 57 but Dirty31 got my motor mounts set up and he was nice enough to do a tech on it. here is the link http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=112566 Im not familiar with your engine compartment set up but Im having to change my steering box so I can have room to run headers.
thanx for the info ..and id love to keep the straight eight but im not sure if its any good (the head is in the trunk for some reason) and also, i dont know how difficult it would be to find parts for the stock drivetrain ...i know its not traditional but it would seem to be easier to buy parts for a sbc..
Cool, it is easier to find parts for a SBC. But if you're interested in keeping the stocker, Kanter sells all the parts you need. You can get complete engine overhaul kits from them, and also but the parts separately. And there is a place in Orange County that specializes in old Ponchos too. I'll get you the links if you like. I also got some of the brake parts at Napa, just FYI for ya.
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