I'm thinking this has to be a 65 or 66 with the stacked headlights. Any pontiac guys able to do a positive id? If anyone needs parts off this car come get them soon I will be pulling the engine soon.
It’s a 66 for sure. I had one. Boy, I love to have that engine and trans for my 57 Chieftain hard top.
I'm keeping the engine for a future gto build. In high school I rode in a 67 every day. It ruined me. A day two bad ass street car with a four speed is what I have in mind.
That would be a tough piece to start with. If you go 66 you have the pedals. Just thinking with that block it would take 8 sleeves to start with. Do any of the head casting # still show on the exhaust side of the heads?
I've seen cast iron intakes too rotten to use (SBC) and Pontiac heads (once) rotted through just before the exhaust manifolds. It'll be interesting to see what, if anything can be saved from this one. Hoping for the best but ....
I can get it apart. If you know the proper way to take a stuck engine apart it's no big deal. I have done it many times. You can't count it out until it's apart. You can't tell a book by it's cover. Part of the fun is finding out if you landed a cool engine. Time will tell if the unbelievable story gets better.
Dude, can you start a new thread for all this new stuff? I'm getting notices thinking it's going to be great new developments for your choice '57 Vette and it's this burned out deal. Just MHO.
I will be back on the vette soon. It's been driven so much the brakes need adjusting. I need to finish stretching the top to. There are other strictly only vette sites out there. Just move on if you dont like the story. I wont be hurt. If you have taken the time to read the entire story you would understand. This went from one vette found to three. Then some old Plymouths and pontiacs. Then some old farm equipment. This all came from the same farm. It just goes to show cool stuff is still out there. I have passed this farm all of my life. All this stuff was minutes from my house. I got all this stuff for free because I earned the trust of the old farmer. He wanted his items to be appreciated and cared for long after he is gone. I'm almost done with freeing the 421. Most of this work was done with a 5 inch cut off wheel. The engine will go on a stand until I'm ready for it after the racing season.
Had I known were this was all going I would have had a different name for the thread. Maybe I found a few vintage vettes in a barn and other cool junk.
neat! I didn't know they put Ford transmissions in GTOs. Looks like a top loader, could be a 4 speed, if it has three levers on the side.
I think that's one of the "Dearborn" heavy duty 3 speeds, which Ford supplied to GM for full size cars that chose a 3 speed as an option in the mid 60's. A good friend of mine who passed away was really into Oldsmobile Starfires and other full size 60's Oldses and he had a few of these. In the earlier pics, it looks like the Pontiac had a column shifter on it yet, so I'm wondering if this car was ordered factory with a 421 Tripower and 3 on the tree. If there's enough of the data plate yet to get the VIN, you could get the PHS paperwork for this car and it would tell you exactly how it was ordered, where it sold, all of that stuff. Would be fun, even if the car is destroyed and just parts now. It's not crazy expensive.
Yep, a three speed, not enough cover bolts to be a four speed. AFAIK, only Pontiac and Oldsmobile used those, they were the 'base' manual trans on a couple of years of the GTO/442. The case/input was special to the GM applications, the internals were regular Ford. Looks like somebody ordered up a 'sleeper'...
It has a column shift. It was a dealer demo. The farmers girlfriend said she was there the day her mom bought the car. She told me the salesman didn't want her mom to buy the car. He tried to explain the engine had too much power for a teenage driver. Needless to say she bought it anyway. The Vin plate and body plate are both in great condition. They have been removed. The last time I had pontiac historical research a car it cost 130.00. I know where it was sold. Shaefer pontiac was our local dealer located on Washington Ave near 12th st. Racine wi.
[ATTACH =full]6083732[/ATTACH]any one able to decode this body plate? It should be a blue 66 ventura 4 door 3 spd.
1st week January build 1966 Catalina 4dr hardtop Pontiac, MI plant blue vinyl trim Barrier Blue paint W tinted glass 2R might be rear seat speaker(s) 4FF might be outside mirror(s) 5PY might be related to seat belts or radio? I doubt knowing the option codes will be very valuable to you now...
It's still interesting. It's not often you get to chop up such a rare car. Pontiac historical can provide some more info to fill in the blanks. Thanks Jim.
A big old boat that a few guys in town have owned. Big motor, 3 on the tree, the guys who analyze trim tags say it's a cop car build. Not the same year, but similar idea
When dad was still drag racing his '65 Catalina wagon, he wanted a better gear ratio. We found another '65 Catalina wagon in the Sunday paper car adds, this one had a 3 speed manual with floor shift, we could have the rear axle if we replaced the clutch and put an axle back under it. We drove it home with a very slipping clutch and went to work on it. A floor shift, 9 passenger, 389 4bbl was a really strange combination, your '66 doesn't surprise me. With a new clutch, the old wagon would run pretty good!
This cool 1963, Pontiac Catalina (SAFARI) wagon, was always one of my favorite styles of station wagons. Great lines and cool vertically stacked headlights.
Free at last free at last. I'm surprised how easy the bolts came out. Nothing frozen or snapped off. It's a good thing I'm having some restoration work done to the house. There is a huge dumpster in the yard. Half of this car is now in it. Timing is everything.
Brian I just watched a video on Youtube, these guys found a boat that had been on the bottom of lake Powell for 30 years, big Ford of some sort, (I'm not great at Id'n FoMoCo stuff). They got the damn thing running, I'm still shaking my head!
My neighbor across the street came by with his skid steer. He hauled the frame away and the cowl/dash. He has alot of scrap from doing body work. He turns in the scrap for cash. I don't care i just want it gone. It's now on a stand out of the way. It will get some attention this winter. Now back to the vette.
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