The other day I picked up a 389 for my 1939 Ford sedan project without really doing any research. I have always been a SBC guy, but this deal came out of nowhere and I couldn't pass it up. After doing a little bit of reading, I've come to realize that it is hard to adapt certain tranny's to these Ponchos, especially the earlier ones. Anyways... my initial thought/plan was to run an S10 five speed, but am now wondering if this will be possible. Does anyone know if they make an adapter to do this? If not, any other ideas or suggesstions...???
Depending on your choice of bell housing you may not need anything. The challenge with pre 63/64 389's is that they do not have anything to bolt a starter too (it bolted to the trans). However all Pontiac 389's use the BOP (Buick, Olds, Pontiac) bolt pattern so there is some stuff out there for them. If you have a BOP bell housing with starter mounts then you need nothing. If you have a Chevy bell housing with starter mounts then all you need is the very easy to find Chevy-to-BOP adaptor plate (<$100). If you dont have a bell housing with starter mounts then you will need an adaptor plate with starter mounts. I would start looking for the correct BOP bell housing first. I sold a cast iron one last year for <$100. Good luck and great choice! Pontiacs look great in Rods! Carmak Riverside, Iowa