Projects 1932 Ford 3 Window with 389 Pontiac

Great thread! You'll love the 389. Tons 'o torque there. I've also heard of the early Pontiacs having "rubber rods" but after having 11 of them I've never experienced a problem. I did once crack a piston in a '59, 389 tho.
I'll be watching this thread...

 

Ken! Now your on the way!! Great catch on the motor.
You've got almost everyone here on the HAMB salivating now. We're all feeling your excitement.
Go man, go!

 

I never have heard why Pontiac changed to blue from green as an engine color.

 

Jumpin' aboard for the ride. A Poncho Deuce 3 window ! Sh#t man, too bad 3WLarry isn't here. He'd love this coupe. Of course he'd try to buy it from you too. Ha.

 

Hey where's our update?!

 

hope your dad doing OK very cool ride

johnsons machine down south of Olympia are pretty good if you need a machine shop

https://www.johnsonsmachine.net/

 

Last Month has been hectic. My daughter is a captain of her high school softball team. So the run up to, and thru the state tourney was busy. (They did win the state tourney) Also had some issues with my truck that had to be addressed. I have been getting some small stuff done and adding misc parts and tools. Came up with a media blaster on craigslist for 50.00 which included 6, 55 lbs bags of garnets. The blasting promptly melted down my air compressor, upgraded air compressor via craigslist and now have a working system. The tri power intake is close to being ready to rock. The big push starts now. Dad is hurting but steady.

 

Intake looks great! Congrats to your daughter! Positive thoughts for your pops!

 

Mixed bag of life for you.
Happy to see it's still forward progress.

 

Cooler than cat piss on Ice!!!!!

Denny

 

OK here is the finish line, for a get it running/take Dad to an event. This show is only 4 hours from home. Grabbed one of the last spots.

 

You are a good son. Pops will remember going to the show forever.

 

Hope to see You guy's in Victoria ! gitter done !

 

Life is a juggling act, but Family is First! Congrats to your daughter’s team. Better get to work, clock is ticking!


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Those look way too fat.

 

For the rear but too fat for the front

 

Long time since update. Dad doing good, I took him on a week long hunt for Mule Deer and Prong Horn. Time well spent. The car is in a shop with good people. The frame is rough but we are trying to keep it. The Pontiac Engine is being gone thru, transmission will be a manual. Intake with tri power is ready to go. Keeping the car as close to 1959 as possible. Need some advice on appropriate wheels and tires.

 

I was thinking of you and this project yesterday,hoping you were following the line.Great to hear things are making progress.

 

I don't know a whole lot about anything but on wheels and tires
I always have opinions!
From my opinion, Your car was a hot rod late '50s.
You have an opportunity to get back into the head of your dad.
The Tri power came out in '57.
Get a set of '57-'59 Pontiac hubcaps that would have been
on the car the triple set up came from.
Then run 8:20-15 rears and 6:00-15 front white walls. on 5-1/2 x 15 wheels
Like this:

 

I missed this before now, but just read through it all and HOLY SH*T! it takes a lot for me to get excited about, but I got goosebumps a few times with this, especially the ones of your dad from 59/60. Such a cool car and piece of history, and really great to see it being done right! Keep up the progress!

 

I'm with a couple of the other guys in thinking the wheels & tires are going to be too big for the car. They may fit the back, but that is 80's period shit, and if your trying to make the car 59-60 era, those guys kept their tires inside the fenders. Just one man's opinion.

 

Ok guys your input wanted. Guy at the shop says the frame is hacked up really bad and twisted. He said it would cost 3 times as much in labor to fix the old frame as to buy new rails etc. Doesn't think it would be a good idea to roll with it and the higher horse power. I really want to to keep the old frame. The guy at the shop seems like a good fellow and understands that I want to keep it as close to 1959 as possible. I took Dad to the shop this weekend to visit the car,
fun weekend. I told the guy i wanted to think about it.---Your thoughts
P.S. Bonus pic in color from crazy uncle who used car as his high school shop project. He was also with us this weekend.

 

What parts of the chassis is hacked? The pics you have posted show a decent chassis as good as most people use (maybe there are some hidden evils) before deciding on a new frame take pics of the areas of concern and post. If this was my dads old Hot Rod and that was the original frame to the car I would take a hit in the pocket to retain the original. How much horsepower you expecting from the Pontiac?

 

Hey Ken--I'm responding mainly to give your post a bump for the morning guys. But I'm with Jimmy B--I'd like to know what exactly is the issue with the chassis, and what's the cost to fix it. I'm not knocking these guys in particular, but left to their own devices, a lot of shops will opt for the new replacement option. They'll say it's to save you money, but as often as not it's primarily a benefit to them--quicker, cleaner, more straightforward. But it's your car, not theirs, so while it's just parts to them, it may have more meaning for you. I personally would want to keep the orginal if it's at all practical to do so.

 

Good to hear an update. I took a look at the car last spring, The front rails have been plated from the front to the firewall. Where the steering box goes, it has been cut up, bumped out and a lot of unseen work. I think anything can be saved but it really depends upon the guy working on it.


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Get some other eyes on your frame. I remember seeing a '34 Ford frame that was twisted like a pretzel by the owner when he boxed the frame. Bill, the guy from the garage down the street managed to save it. I thought it was too far gone.

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I took some close up photos, but my laptop died. Have to see if I have them elsewhere. There was some old crude work done that was common back then.


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Here are some pics of the frame.
Engine will be 1959 Pontiac 389 @ 300 hp maybe a bit more
Trans TKO 500 5 speed
Rear end Keep Existing with open drive line or ford 9 inch 56 inch wide.
Planning on keeping drum brakes all around.

Once again thanks for your thoughts.

 

There is nothing in those pics that some time with a grinder and a few patches couldn't fix. I don't know what the skins on the sides of the front rails are about, but I bet it's only cosmetic. Buy yourself a cutoff wheel and remove those yourself. Or just leave them and be proud of the old hot rod that it is.