1939 pontiac 4dr sedan

Great! Now what?

 

Well that's entirely up to you. What do you want to make of the car?



Note: I DO NOT recommend fitting a Toyota chassis

 

Well, she has to be a true rod with just the right stance. Pontiac v8 with 700 r4 trans, custom built interior, you know the speel.

 

I did find a suspension upgrade on another site that uses 58 pontiac control arms, as they have ball joints rather than king pins. 65-70 chev drop spindles. pm me for more info.

 

I did that swap on my car initially, what do you need to know? It would also convert the knee action shocks in the upper control arm to a regular shock as well.

 

How did the car perform with this conversion? Is it worth the effort to find the 58 parts as called for or should I follow some other direction. You said initially, have you changed it since then?

 

you want a chevy frame ???

 

I never drove it with the 58 suspension. I did it because my uprights were shot and instead of buying the 55 stuff over again, I went for the conversion. Mocking it up for better alignment angles and adjustability. Pluss you can do all this on the stock frame. The lower bolts on and make a mount for the upper arm . I've since went to a straight axle gasser build.

Depending on what prices you can find the 58 stuff for, most likely it's not any cheaper than a stock rebuild. And I would upgrade to disc brakes as well. Scarebird makes disc brake brackets listed back to 40, I don't know if there is any differance between 39 and 40 spindles?

 

What do you have? Where in Alberta are you? Please pm me for more on this train of thought.

 

we already talked

I am th 40 chevy guy from town

and cheap for the frame

 

chk this forum, canadian pontiacs, might be helpful too....

http://canadianponcho.auto.officelive.com/forum.aspx

 

i would need numbers from body tag for final answer

 

if you have a usa pontiac do not use the canada info they are different.

 

all gm divisions had there own frame. they all all different period!!

 

you may have gotten a deal with 85 pontiac frame, but you will be much more happy with s-10 or exploerer frame. to much cutting and welding just is not worth it.

 

A Chev chassis is ~3 inches shorter in wheelbase than a Pontiac too.

 

Wow, Lots of info to consider. Will talk with Harrydude next week or go the s10 route. I will keep you posted. Thanks for all your input.

 

I now have the option of using an s10 frame, and possibly a chevy frame from 1940. Which way to go?

 

Have you confirmed which body you have yet? My car had the Chev body, and given the chance I would have taken the Chev chassis in a heartbeat over a different make/model. But I know that my body would have virtually bolted onto a Chev chassis. I also reckon I could have found 3 inches of wheelbase just by moving the front suspension forward on the frame. (I was going to use XJ6 Jaguar)

 

y body is different than the chev. Definitely Canadian built Pontiac. 115 inch wheelbase.

 

I was talking with the guy I bought the car from and he said it is a deluxe 6. Chev engine.

 

Just bought a 1991 s10 for frame swap. Should I use the entire frame and suspension or just the front half?

 

How do the measurements compare? Width, length, wheelbase? Also, how long is the frame forward of the front wheels? - Ponchos are very short in this area.

 

The front track is only ! inch narrower than the pontiac. Wheelbase on the S10 is 8 inches long but there is a perfect spot to shorten the frame at a factory location. The front may be just a little tight, but I won't know for a few days until I can dig the pontiac out of a snowbank and get her back in the shop where she belongs. I will keep you posted.

 

I used a camaro II sub frame on mine, it matched up pretty well actually.

 

Cool
Any photos?

 

I just got a 1969 firebird front subframe. This should work, no? Either firebird or S10, I need to narrow the new front clip rails by 3". Which way is easier?

 

I would use the Firebird, it's rear steer like you have now(gearbox behind steering linkage). I had a newer front steer camaro subframe for my 55 at one time, I figured the steering box was going to end up where the radiator was at after lining up the axle centerline.

 

Thanks for the suggestion chieftain55. That is the way I was leaning as well.

 

Definitely use the rear steer clip. I used one in my 37 Pontiac. I'm in Red Deer. Send me a pm if you want more info or I will give you my phone number if you want.