Projects 39 Pontiac Coupe (series 25 small body) build

Well, I’m back on the 39 after significant delays due to life, OT vehicles, and, well, you know the drill.
Finally decided to go with an SBC Canadian style. Motor mounts are welded in. That took a lot of finagling to squeeze it in. Now on to the frame repairs.
What could possibly go wrong?

 

That engine is sure sitting way forward! Must have longer front fenders than my '39 Chevy to have that much space.

 

Maybe straight 8 in Pontiac , straight 6 for sure . 37-39 Chebbies the realestate is much lees to deal with .

 

Well, I set it forward enough to give me extra clearance for an HEI distributor and trying to get close enough to the radiator to use a belt driven fan. I had to use a long pump and set the radiator back an inch or so.
The car was originally a straight 6, so a v8 is two cylinders shorter.

 

Thanks. It sure looks roomier than my '39 Chevy does! I'm using a short water pump, and originally goofed as I made room for a factory HEI I had, but it was rubbing the firewall when I tried dropping it in, and I didn't want to ding the firewall up so I went with a smaller points distributor. I have a short water pump, and mechanical fan, and it just fits with my tight firewall to distributor clearance.




I could have gotten by with a long water pump as after that last picture I installed a 1" spacer on the fan to get it closer to the radiator core.

 

for weight distribution id mount the motor trans back as far as it can go and low as well.

 

Big issue was getting the headers to clear the steering box. So yes, it’s as low and rearward as possible.

 

That's one reason I went with fenderwell headers. They open up lots of space for access to starter, steering, oil filter, etc., and are still hidden inside the rear of the fenders. Cheap too at about $150 for those polished stainless on mine 5 years ago. Still under $200 today.

 

lst issue i had was finding a suitable bottom rad hose.took me a while but its worked out great in the end

 

Well, it’s finally time to try and salvage this old frame. Some PO hacked out the X member. My mission is to restore some structural integrity.
I have the frame leveled nine ways from Sunday, with a couple lasers set up to help keep her straight and my replacement pieces aligned. 99% of the welding will be on the newly created supports. The only welding on the original frame will be at the four corners where the new structure attaches. Step one is to create new stubs on the original X member to give me a strong base to attach to. I’ll be forming these stubs from 1-1/2” square (.125 wall) tube steel.
I mean really, what could POSSIBLY go wrong?
Yes, I know….it will get sand blasted again prior to final welding.

 

Looking forward to seeing what you build to replace the stock X member. I've seen guys do them from round tube, and square tube, and both looked better than the big heavy I beam sort of stuff Pontiac used.

 

Baby steps- I made some frame stubs to cap off the existing X members. This should provide a solid base to tie in the new components.

 

Nice piece to give you a clean start.

 

You are off to very nice start. I hate electric fans so I like where you headed there. You can always buy fan spacers to move fan.

 

Well now folks, we are finally making a little progress. Just trying to find time seems to be my biggest challenge these days.
BUT !… using my double naught spy training, sixth grade edgycation, and ciphering skills, (IYKYK) I am seeing the path forward.
I mean seriously, what could possibly go wrong?

 

Good looking frame work!

 

Hadn’t seen this one before. Glad you are back on it.

 

According to 5 levels, 1 tape measure, and 2 lasers, this frame is looking promising.

 

Really starting to look good! Nice x member.