I picked up a 58 Pontiac Star Chief with a 370, 4 barrel. 4 de-door, decent ride, should clean up nicely. Need any and all info on Parts Interchangeability, Who's got parts, new & used and anything else you may think of interest. Found this already: http://www.wallaceracing.com/interchange.htm Is there a electric wiper motor (junk yard) that will drop in place of the vacuum unit? The fuel pump is dual action and sucks (but not the right way) so I'm looking for a rebuild kit. I would like to get rid of the dual action anyway. E-mailed Arizona Vintage Auto Parts, there supposed to have ever rebuild kit known to man....and woman alike. Motor blows a little smoke but I haven't had time to change to synthetic yet, think some of it is the old gas. Just want to make the season...up here in Upper Upstate New York...will pull and rebuild the motor in the winter. Thanks in advance.
Hey Rev, Try California Pontiac Restoration for parts at: http://www.pontiacparts.net/ The 370 is a good mill with forged steel internals and the capacity to make some real good power. CPR has an electric wiper motor replacement for your car but it's $205. At least their paper catalog is free. I've purhcased parts from them and they offer great service and fair prices on stuff that's pretty hard to find.
Pontiac V8s all use the same block with running changes from year to year. The 370 shares some interchange with the GMC 336 version of that motor, but is one-year-only for the crank - main bearings are smaller than the 389/400 and the stroke is shorter, although the rod journals and bearings are the same size as the 389/400. It may be possible to turn down the mains on a 400 crank, since guys are doing it with the rod journals to stroke a 400 into a 455. I'm not sure if these use the chin front mount or side motor mounts; chin mounts you can use up to a '60 or so front cover (has to be iron); side mounts you can swap front covers from any other Pontiac. The 55-59 motors use reverse flow cooling and there are some changes in the plumbing on the front of the motor that would need to be worked out. An HEI distributor would drop right in. Intakes 1955-1960 can be swapped, there were a few running changes and if you went to an iron 4bbl you'd want a 58-60 unit anyhow, as they take an AFB carb. Some of the aftermarket intakes are sold to fit all those years. The heads do have a standard D-port Pontiac exhaust pattern - any D-port header will physically bolt up, so you have a lot of options to try to fit a set on there. Clearance is usually tight between the starter motor and the steering column. The trans is a dual-coupling Hydramatic; 56-60 Pontiac, Olds and Cadillac use this trans; 61-64 Bonneville and Cadillac continue to use it; 60-up use a redesigned version with a smaller case (I suspect it eliminates the rear pump). Because the starter bolts are parallell to the crankshaft and feed through an iron bellhousing, a later TH350/400/200R4 is not a bolt-in unit. 1955-1960 have their own bellhousing bolt pattern. 1958 is also an odd year for suspension because it's an X-frame but not "Wide Track"; the rear gears interchange 58-64 and I'm sure a lot of the brake components swap as well. Bodywise, glass interchanges with Chevrolet and I wouldn't be surprised if the wiper motor mounts the same as a Chevy, so if you can get an electric in one of those, you might try it in the Pontiac. 1959 or 1960 up use an electric motor (I know '60 does, can't remember if '59 does). Ames Performance Engineering has a lot of parts for these cars and they'll send you a free catalog -
Electric wipers were an option for '58 - you should be able to find a used one. Fairly sure '58 Chev & Pontiac wiper motors are the same ...
Thanks for the info especially rustynewyorker. I want the motor to look as 58 as possible.. I just picked up a 3x2 set up for it, Anyone got a set of tri power emblems? I have a fuel pump rebuilding kit coming (from Arizona Vintage Auto Parts) http://www.azvintageparts.com/. It should be road ready in a week or two. Of course now I need tires.....Never thought 14 inches would be so expensive or hard to find I found a few links that may be helpful to others. http://www.amesperf.com/ http://www.highperformancepontiac.com/ http://www.wallaceracing.com/interchange.htm oops. The most of the links are on my home computer. I'll put them up tomorrow,
Had a friend in high school ('62) that used all factory parts and ended with around 415 cubes out of his 370. Must have had long rods, because the thing had torque out the wazoo. Wouldn't wind very high but coming out of the hole was outstanding. Another man, who owned a restaurant in town, special ordered a 58 Chieftan 2-door with Rochester Fuel injection and a four speed transmission. Don't know where it ended up.
FWIW, with that 5x5 pattern 15" rims are easy to find. 59-60 have room for a 235/75R15, don't know why a '58 wouldn't.
59 & 60 are wide track...I think 58 would still be considered a flat side ??? Besides I think the skirt would hit in the back. I'll go up to my buddy's junk yard and grab a couple 235 and 225's and see how they fit...I want to run 70's anyway......then again I may just run 225x70x14's. I already have the rims and I have the stock hubcaps with the spinners. choice...galore!!!!
I want to say that 59-60 used the same rims as 57-58, a 14" 5x5 with a fairly flat center. Certainly the 59 & 60 rims I have don't have any dish to them, the wide-track was all in the suspension.
Oh man! Deja Vu! Other than my Model A Tudor, my first "regular" car was a '58 Star Chief 4-door. My cousin was a Pontiac dealer and the family was all Pontiac from '47 thru the '80's. My favorite was my '61 Catalina bubbletop that we crammed a 4 speed hydramatic from a Bonneville into. Tri-power, 10.75 cr, recurved dist. and 8 lug wheels/drums. God I miss that car. Where you at upstate?
Just below Saratoga, NY..... I had a 63 Catalina Convert with 421 4 speed...back in 68-69 loved that too. Sold it in Fla. I see you're with the Tobacco Road boys. Use to enjoy the weekends at Washington County Fair grounds and then Schaghticoke. I know a bunch of yoe but your ride and picture don't look familiar.
Here's some pics of the 58. Haven't got too far between work and building a garage (sorta a garage). Looking for some grill idea. I wanted to use a 56 or 57 olds but have backed of that. Thinking about removing the large directional pods and making a tube grille...and having the directionals behind the grill. I picked up a 3X2 set up for it...I'll have that rebuilt for next year. Also found a new (rebuilt) AFB. It's up and running and should be on the road by next week.... Looking for any and all suggestions.
Rikster should have a shot of a '58 with a few dozen 2" bullets - simple, easy, & fast. Leave the parking lights as is with 2 smaller bullets in the lenses. Check Floyd DeBore's Bonneville for inspiration.
You could probably work a '58 Buick in there. Or a couple '59s cut up and rearranged. A '60 Thunderbird might work, too. Might be too narrow. A '59 Ford grille, you'd need two, could be made to work and would be easy to modify.. and being Ford parts, aught to be cheap.
I've got a set of (three pieces) 58 impala bumpers coming. I think they will do just what I'm looking for. Still trying th think of a different directional, marker/ fog light set up. Something behind the grill (tube is the idea so far) or something else from that period. Here's the look I'm going for: Rather than this....(I hate those signal pods.)
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