Ever since I discovered some interesting history of the 194.5 and the '61-'63 Tempest, I've always wanted to hot rod the little four banger and build it into a sleeper! If I was to build one into a hot rod, what's the best one? Manual or automatic?
Depends what you want to do with it. The automatic is a 2 speed, and I doubt you'll find much available in the way of high stall torque converters for them (it's not a normal Powerglide converter). so a 4 speed would probably be the way to go.
I have a ‘62 Lemans and a ‘62 Corvair. In my opinion, the Tempests and the Corvairs are much more fun and seem much peppier with a manual transmission. Our Corvair is a Powerglide, I would have changed it to a 4 spd, but it’s my wife’s car and she prefers the automatic. The 1963 version is by far the prettiest. I would look for a ‘63 4 spd car with the 4 bbl carb engine. Aside from the 326 V8 version, it’s the best of the ‘61-‘63 group.
They are a weak link but I think they can take what the four banger can put out. They used it with the 215 and 326 V8s. Everything from the puny clutch to the transaxle main shaft is vulnerable if you drive them too hard, especially since all those parts are 60+ years old.
A couple of years ago at the Moultrie Swap Meet in Georgia, there was a '63 that was an old drag car. It looked like it was a barn find someone was trying to sell. It had a lot of funky stuff done to it but looked so cool!!! I had my trailer and a pocket full of cash, but all I could see was a money pit. I immediately regretted my decision on the way home, but kept driving. I still do regret my decision not to even ask a price, and I look for it on the internet all the time. I like to throw money away!!!
A ‘63 two door is a good looking choice. Rather than the iconic Super Duty drag car approach, I’d lower it a little and keep the tail end up a little. I’ve seen some of these early cars converted to conventional drives with a V8 / transmission up front and straight axle in the back but a lot of body and chassis work is needed for that.
I’ve got a 400/4 spd for my ‘62 and a ‘64 Corvette IRS but the project has been on the back burner for quite a while now due to other projects. I’ve never seen one done with a Corvette rear end but I like the idea of the little coupe with independent suspension all around and a 4 spd like Mickey might have done.
On the upside, a four barrel setup was available from the factory, and half a set of 389 performance pistons will work, as well as one big valve head. Years ago at Carlisle, I saw an Edelbrock Torker intake manifold that someone had cut in half and welded up to run on a Tempest four powered drag car.
^^^^ I saw that done with an aluminum dual quad setup. Nice work, but it seemed like a lot of carburetor for a street driven four holer.
Back in the day a friend of mine owned a 61, 62, and 63 Lemans, 4 cyl, 4bbl, 4 speed. He was a Fuller Brush man with a huge Midwest farm territory. He put a tremendous amount of miles on a car in a short time. I never saw the 61, but he raced it at an 1/8 mile strip and won a lot of trophies. The 62 he drove the snot out of it. He could stay with almost anything in block to block cruise night drags. At about 80K miles the timing chain started making a lot of noise which he said was common. He traded it on a new 63, but that one gave him problems. I think he broke 2 or 3 transaxles on it. In early 64 he traded for a 63 Chevy Super Sport. I drove the 62 quite a bit and it was a fun car. That 4 cylinder had a lot of pep and was very quick off the line. He told me that the only thing that beat him off the line at the strip was a Corvair Spyder. However, he managed to pass it about half way down the strip.
Unique back in the day. With the 4-speed, it was fun to drive. Less than 1% of them came with the Buick aluminum V8. The last ones with the 326" would eat the transaxle and don't even think of upgrading to higher horsepower. Weirdest one I ever saw, a friend in Biloxi, MS was given a new bucket seat 2-door 4-cylinder automatic for his 16th birthday; pretty little car. He put chrome wheels with skinny fronts and slicks on the rear and an exhaust cutout. He stayed in the left lane, so anyone who pulled up next to him would hear the half-a-V8 rumble of the open exhaust; not knowing what it was scared a lot of folk. Then, there was the F/X built by the factory skunk works. It had two 2-speed automatics back to back, shifting as a 4-speed. Rumor had it the tranny was originally developed for the Jim Hall Chaparral Can-Am cars. With a beefed IRS, it came off the line better than the solid axle cars of the day. jack vines
I do have the factory 4 bbl intake from a '63. I'm wanting to build it similar to the black Pontiac in the video.
I think the dual trans car you're talking about is the one that raced on an oval track that beat EVERYTHING.... Corvettes, Jags, etc. You name it, it beat them BAD, like by laps! The trans setup died on road courses though...
Manual trans for sure, but, you're probably in for plenty of mods along the way, so maybe the trans you start with isn't that critical. The '61 Tempest is almost perfectly styled, and looks best in wagon form, IMHO: This "barn find" '63 40door sedan has been kicking around fb marketplace for months, and has the half-389 4-cylinder:
In 1964 my older brother ran an X\FD with the 194 and held the national record for a while, had a 421 head, Hilborn fuel injection and was running nitro. Ran in the low 10's and 130+, the Buick hearse in the background was his push car. The engine is half a 389 so a lot of 389-421 parts can be used. We also had a 1963 Tempest with a 194 and a three speed, took a fair amount of abuse since I was 15 and it was a ball to drive.
The one on the right, Larry Adams in the middle and Sherwin Patton with the cowboy hat on the left. Roger ended up as an Automotive Technology professor at Pittsburg State.
Couple words of advice here..A V8 or hop up conversion is not as easy as one might think. It turns out, just about everything is in the wrong place, just slightly, including even the driveshaft tunnel. Four banger, 4 speed hop up might be easy enough. Can I say E-head here?. The fours did have an inherent vibration problem, but if you can insulate it and live with it, go for it. BTW, despite urban legend, they didn't have a rope driveshaft. It was a flexible steel bar, held in a jump rope position, by bearings inside the torque tube.
@Model A Gomez OK, I've known and been good friends with Larry for over 40 yrs. Still love to go pick on him occasionally. ..
Transaxle won't handle much power. You can ring out 600hp from the 4 banger though. Thats if you do it right?
Two different 4-barrels were available for the 4 cylinder: (A) stock was a Rochester 4GC of maybe 375 CFM (B) SD option was a Carter AFB of 625 CFM In a different lifetime, I bought a 1963. I never really checked, but I think it originally came with the 4GC. Some previous owner had replaced the 4GC with the 625 CFM AFB. I never raced it, but on the street..........bow wow! (It was an automatic). I replaced the 625 CFM AFB with a 400 CFM AFB. What a difference! Car, even with the dogmatic, was fun to drive. The SD carb was just too big for the street! I didn't do any actual comparisons, but the seat-of-the-pants dyno said maybe 2 seconds quicker in the quarter with the smaller carb. Much easier to drive in traffic. If it had been a 4-speed, I would still have it; but sold it decades ago. Looked for one with the 215 for about 25 years, and never did find one. Was one of two Pontiacs I really wanted, and never found; the other being a 1956 or 1957 2-door sedan. Jon
I have a lingering interest in getting a 61-63, did anyone see this car for sale about 8 years ago out in NY? It's reportedly on the West Coast now and I'll share a pic of what it looks like now.
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