316 pontiac v8 whistlin

Ever had an engine whistle? Well mine does. Every time I turn on the car I can hear a very loud annoying whistle. I am almost positive it is a vacuum leak but I have not yet found it. Taking carb cleaner today to the intakes and exhaust and carb base to see what it is. Could it even be the blow by tube if it is clogged up? I gotta check that as well?


One more thing too. The gear box is leaking. Is there a gasket se to fix that or am I out of luck?

 

It's a vacuum hose of some sort that's colapsing under vac. I'v expirenced this before myself.

 

Thanks for the response. Any idea as to the steering box? Will a 55-57 chevy kit work?

 

Cant help much on the steering box. Maybe someone else can.

Where exactly is it leaking from? Making a gasket shouldn't be too dificult, but if it's leaking from one of the shafts, that's another problem all together.

 

I didn't get under to find where it was leaking from exactly, but I am pretty sure the box seal itself.

And the whistle was my carburetor mounting gasket. Got to order another.

 

Not to my knowledge.There is a Pontiac website on Yahoo(Pontiac 50's or something)that has a tech on putting a 605 steering box in a 55-57 Pontiac.Pretty straightforward conversion IIRC.

 

This is what was stated on the yahoo group site about the steering box install.

Now one thing to bear in mind when going to a later engine in the 55-57
cars - you can change the steering fairly easily. Starting in '56 or '57
the PS cars use a rag joint, so a '57 column would bolt in and be easy to
modify. The GM Saginaw "605" steering box will bolt to one of the stock
frame holes and bolts to the stock drag link - drill two new frame holes and
run some tube through them to brace them and you're done. That way you
could put a couple of U-joints in there (budget-minded guys will find a
73-95 Chevy van column and rob them from that) to try and route it around
the manifolds.

Some guys have also set the engine over to the right an inch or two to make
everything work. This really doesn't hurt anything as long as the drive
angles for the driveshaft are the same, but the frame X lets you go only so
far over.

 

Lots of parts suppliers for Pontiac. Steering might be shared with Olds or Buick, but not Chevy. Or go the 605 route -

 

Again on the 605 box swap, here's some more info I had saved from someone who has done it.

" My 57 Safari was stock with power steering, I just removed the box( 3 bolts thru the frame and 2 at the rag joint) and remove the steering linkage at the ball socket at the pitman arm. The 605 bolts to the exact same spot on the frame as the stock box (using the same 3 bolts that came out(2 are a little long but work fine) . When the box is in place use the slots in the frame holes to get the best alignment on the steering shaft before tightening the bolts.

That left 9/16" gap between the rag joint and the stock flange on the steering shaft, someone makes an adjustable rag joint, but I made a spacer out of aluminum and used 2 longer grade 8 bolts to pull it all together.

Grind off the sledged area of the ball from the pitman arm to let you punch it out from the pitman arm, drill a hole in the 605 pitman arm to allow a very tight fit, than weld in place from the backside of the arm. The 605 power steering box came from any later year G.M. car with rear steer . Centerline did not change. "

Now to to dissassemble the steering , there is a plug, washer and spring on the end of the draglink that will need taken out on the drivers side, the inner tie rod will have to be slid out of the draglink before the pitman ball can be removed.