Hoping to get my Pontiac on the road soon, so I am posting some pictures. It's a 1954 Pontiac Chieftain Eight, and I bought it from the owner of a hot rod shop in Texas a little over a year ago. He had done quite a bit of work on it, and I am trying to finish the loose ends and get it on the road. The body is very solid except the floors, but the hood has been stripped of all paint and someone started to add fake patina to the RF fender. It has a second-generation Camaro front end and airbags on every wheel. When I got it, it had a late 80's Chevy truck 350 and turbo 400, but I traded that for a 1969 Olds 455 that should move it a little faster. I took these pictures the day it arrived on the truck.
First thing I did was find a fuel tank - the original had apparently rusted out and had been removed before I bought the car. I originally thought it was a common tank to the 1954 Chevrolet, but apparently the 1953-1954 Pontiac tank is not common because of the filler neck location. I found an aluminum racing tank on craigslist for $75 and installed after cutting access in the trunk floor. The trunk pan needs to be replaced eventually, and I hope to install a tank in the original location when that happens. I eventually replaced the fast filler neck with a normal gas cap, and you can see the relocated battery, too.
Here is my biggest challenge right now - what to do with the rear end and the rear brakes. It appears to be the original rear end (casting 513261) with date code G1 4 (July 1954), 29 splines, and 3.08 gears. I'd prefer something stronger because the 455 had 365hp and 490 torque from the factory, and I plan to boost that eventually. I considered swapping in a Ford 8.8 from an Explorer on the cheap to get the posi and disc brakes, but decided against it because it requires changing bolt pattern, cutting the housing, etc. The brakes are completely gutted except for the drums, so I'm not sure I can reconstruct them with a normal rebuild kit plus pads and adjusters. Any recommendations?
The car still had the original wheels, but they did not clear the new disc brake setup, so it had two aluminum wheel spacers on the right side, and one spacer plus 3 heavy duty washers on the left side to ensure enough clearance for the wheels to spin. I bought new 15" wheels from Wheel Vintiques that just barely clear the discs, and had them powder coated red. Here are some shots of the front disc brake setup, with a good shot of the front airbags, too.
I've got fenderskirts for the car, but I think I prefer it without them. Here are two shots for comparison.
Cool car. I like it. I have a couple dumb questions: What's the deal with that clock? Is that a speaker behind it? Seems like a large hole in the dash for a clock. Not being a prick, I just don't know. Is that original style trim? For rear end, maybe look for Nova or other mid 70's Chevy. That's what's in my '54 Chevy. It was in there when I bought it. Bolt pattern is same as original and still GM.
Yes that's where the original speaker went. When I had my 51 Pontiac I thought that was the coolest part of the dash.
Thanks, man. I just got rid of the Olds donor car for the 455 and probably should have looked more closely at that rear end, but in my quick search everything I saw said it was not a great unit. Between the width, bolt pattern, posi, and wanting discs, I think I am just going to tough this one out until the budget can afford to build the right one. Love the color combo and the new whitewalls on your Chevy - looks like a great car.
I'm still using the stock rear in mine. Worst part is is uses a special u-jount = extra $ and carry a spare. Putting together a custom 9 inch is the best answer in my opinion. Bolt pattern is 5 on 5 and nova and camaro are 5 on 4 3/4. Big lincoln is disk and 5 on 5 but too wide. Caprice is too wide but impalla ss and cop package is narrower and disk. Not sure if its narrow enough though. Just a few ideas I've been looking at. Good luck, looking good!
if you just want a cheap way to replace the rear end completely then use a 1967 to 79 Camaro/Firebird rear or the small Lincoln disc brake rear.
If its the original rear end, with original parts, the bolt pattern would be 5 on 5". Unfortunately, not the common Chevy size.
I've always pictured 53-54 Pontiacs with skirts, but with the mounting hardware in the center of the skirts, I've had problems running wheelcovers on both of mine for some reason. The stock skirts are too short to run without wheelcovers. I tried a set of custom fiberglass ones for a 53-54 Chevy, but didn't fit well. I put the wheelcovers on and left the skirts off. I'm getting used to it and am actually starting to like the look, but I want to be able to run them any time I want to. I will figure out the problem. I can't even put factory wheelcovers on the bone stock Pontiac. If you decide you don't want your skirts, I could always use an extra pair. I have two '54 Pontiacs. Yours looks awesome, by the way. The visor really looks great on it, especially with your car being white. Looks good either way, with or without skirts.
The stock rear diff is about the strongest thing you will find to put in it. Only draw back is performance parts for them don't exist. I have a 472 caddy pushing mine and using the original to the car rear u joint. Haven't had a problem yet (12 years on the road). I still have 4 wheel drums and it stops fair. But the big Caddy barely weighs more than a small block Chevy which is WAY lighter than the straight 8!
Not much happening with this car because there is another "running" project ahead of it, but here is the 1969 Olds 455 I put in it. Love the look of the cable keepers (added).
Hi fowldog8. As you can see I have a 53 Chieftain convertible. My trunk was also rusted out which rotted out the top of the gas tank. I bought a complete trunk from a 53 on ebay. Still looking for a gas tank. Mine still has the straight 8. I was gonna do a front disc brake kit from toms classics on ebay. Is your car front stubbed or is that the factory frame? I have a rebuilt Pontiac 301 that I might put in mine. I know. It's not gonna be fast but I'll get great cruising mileage. I didn't know about the skirt issue either that you've been discussing with the members on here. Good to know as I really do want to run my skirts. I have all the chrome redone. Just have to address some rust on the rear 1/4s and get the seats redone. Any more progress on yours?