Hello! Im just a guy from sweden who has a poncho 52 with the nice straight 8 . Im just thinking that it is a very cool engine but im looking to "tune it up" a little . Does it exist any sort of dual carb manifold or headers to it ? Iv'e tried to search the internet but I don't have any luck finding it. Iv'e seen pics of the eight with four 2 barrel webers , and man it looked sweet. I hope I can get some answers here Sorry for the bad english! / Matthew
Not much in the way of performance parts for the Poncho straight eight. Fenton made an aluminum finned head but they are rare. So is the manifolds. Try the search button there is a post or two out there about souping up the pontiac I-eights.
about all you can do is split the exhaust and fab up a dual carb setup. aftermarket speed euipment is hard to find.
What bad English? Dude, you have nothing to apologize for. However, sorry I can't help with your question. I don't speak straight 8 Pontiac. Bob
biggest bang for the buck for any straight flathead is milling the head. Most can have up to .080 taken off and still run regular gas. You are looking at 6 1/2 to 1 compression stock. Talking of the whole bunnch would get you about 8 to 81/2 to 1. You can also take some of the block if its getting other machine work done. Freeing up the exhaust with bigger diameter pipe and less restrictive muffler will also take advantage of increase in compression. Make sure you are also getting as much air in as you can. Remember you are dealing with a long stroke engine whose forte is torque at low to moderate RPM, not high hp at peak rpm. Factory HP rating was done at the 3200 to 3600 rpm and read line isn't much higher. Port matching the intake and exhaust to the gasket openings can improve flow a bit. Add a performance style 2bbl carb and you will probably get as much change as you would with any vintage speed equipment you might find. If you going to 12v, you can probably upgrade to a late model type electronic ignition system for more reliable spark.
The head in my '51 Pontiac 8 is milled and it seems to run fine on pump gas. There were actually 2 heads for these eights a regular and a "high head" the high head had slightly more compresssion but milling the regluar one will do the same. It is very hard to tell the high head from the regular one. Ken
I have a '52 Poncho with the Straight 8 as well. I've also got a spare straight 8 on a stand. The motor in the car has a "high compression" head. As far as I know, the high compression head has it stamped right on the top of the head so it should be easy to identify, but I could be wrong on that. I've seen an aluminum dual carb intake for sale at a local show, it was made by Edmunds and they were looking for $600 or something like that. The guy who had it sells on ebay under the name aluminum man?? if I recall correctly. Either way you could do a search on ebay for that piece. You also should check out Dave here on the H.A.M.B. he is a great resource for early Pontiac guys. He has a website 1952pontiac.com that will have a lot of answers for you. Good luck! Rusty
yeah I have the high ucompression head with 8:1 comp ( I think? ) Im just 21 years old and Right now im putting in a chevy 283 to have time to redo the straight 8 , it's been overhauled not to long ago but I want it to look like a young guy like me have "hotrodded" it in the 50's . Im member on daves site rusty but my account stopped working ,why I don't know Thank's for all your answers It's really helpful , not too many working straight 8s here in the north and parts are nearly impossible to find here . Thank god for america /Matthew
The Jalopy Journal
