Does anyone know someone in the so cal / Los Angeles area than can do a clean motor/****** swap without breaking the bank. It's a 53 pontiac and has the original straight 8, it runs like a top! but like all staight 8's is a totall pig!. Any help would be great, and thank's in advance Buzz
..maybe it has something to do with that shiverlay thang... I gotta ask, why not a 455 Pontiac? Or a 455 Buick, it weighs nearly the same as your 350. .
Bingo!!!!! Alot more torque, high horse potential.....and all below 5000 RPM.....plus, its just so dawm coooool.........
I thought about puttting a Pontiac mill in it...just to keep it all ponch, but I was jus tthinking about the ease of getting parts for it. But if were to find a 455 @ a good price I would also consider putting that in as well. So if anyone has a hookup please let me know, again any help would be great. Buzz
Any GM V-8 will go in there with very little problem. We put an Olds 350 into my '54 Pontiac 23 years ago (because I got a complete '72 Olds for $50 with a rusted frame) and there's enough room in that engine compartment for just about any motor ever made. We didn't change anything except to weld small plats on the frame on each side to bolt up the factory Olds motor mounts and a bit of welding on the trans cross member. If I remember correctly we just cut a bit out of the center of the Olds ****** cross member and welded it right onto the Pontiac ****** cross member Nothing wrong with a Chevy motor if you get one cheap, but a Pontiac V-8 would be more cool and probably help resale value a bit ('cause Pontiac guys don't like Chevy engines in Pontiacs!) I can tell you from experience that a Buick or Olds V-8 will hurt resale value, not help it.
define breaking the bank? I did mine with a $100 craigslist motor, $200 saginaw, used intake, swap meet manifolds, etc and came in around $600 just in parts. I already had an open drive rearend and all the tools to do it. you can save alot by buying a donor 70s car and using it all, nova/omega/ventura or camaro would be the best bang for your buck, but a 500 caddy/th400 would be awesome. it is an aluminum intake away from a 350s weight.
What kind of ****** are you going to use? I'm in Orange county. If you could get the car to my buddy's shop in Costa Mesa, I'm sure I could do the swap. PM me if you want to discuss this.
Pontiacs already have an open rear end. In my case all we had to do was have a driveshaft shop graft the Olds front yoke to the original '54 shaft. We even used the original exhaust! (Seriously.)
I dont need the parts, thats allready done. What I need is someone to do the work since I moved out and the new land lord wont even let me do the simplest of things to my car . Buzz
I'm in the same boat you are. Although I would like to keep my straight 8. I too have a 53 pontiac. You're straight 8 is still running? 4 of my valves are stuck open. It was frozen when I got it. I tried to make a miracle happen. what r u gonna do with the 8??
its a tough crowd because most of the people on here DO THE WORK THEMSELVS!!!! as for myself, i see the post, and then i see you wanting a **** load of work,for cheap. id rather work on my basket cases... noone in their right mind would take the job, because anyone can ch(evy)it in a box... go get durty... like we do.. and spend your money on a pontiac 354, you can get parts anywhere. heres my 42 poncho straight 8 with a 354, cost me 500 to rering and bearing, recam and she runs good
I s3e no one has really answered your question. Just start calling around anyplace that does mechanical work. Almost all of them will say no. Ask them "who will do it?" and they will almost all give you a name. Most of them will say no, too, but eventually you will find at least a couple that will give you a price. Don't pay a fortune, because it's a pretty straightforward job and it does not require superior skills or equipment. Practically anyone with a brain and a welder can do it.
I'd had just kept the Straight 8. They are no power house, you aren't going to be laying rubber up and down the road, but on the highway... it'll easily cruise at 75-80MPH. I've had mine over 100MPH with no trouble at all. And from my experience, they are reliable. I can hang with a 350 out on the highway, up and down the mountains no issues. I put over 40,000 miles on the original engine that was in my car (after it sat nearly 40+ years). I started having fuel trouble which ended up being my fuel tank and not the engine. I still swapped it out with a rebuilt mild 268 bored .060 over to a 278. Even after that engine has sit for years... almost 4,000 miles now and not 1 issue. But it is your car, enjoy and do or have done as you please. It'll just be with the crowd and another car with a 350 as we all know nearly every "hotrod" has a 350 in it. Dave
My Pontiac has a Pontiac 350 out of a 1971 Lemans. I have no problem getting parts for it. Rebuilt the motor before we put it in. Cam or whatever else you want you can get
The pontiac 350/th350 going in my 52 hardtop came from a running 73 lemans.... $100. Most all the maintenance parts are available from Napa etc. I had to ask around before I came across this deal, it helped that I wasn't in a hurry. Sounds like since it drives with the straight 8, keep looking around.
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