How hard would it be to wedge this engine in my 54 Chevy? What are some opinions of this engine? I might have found a good deal on the rebuilt engine and trans out of a 77 trans am. Is it worth messing with or should I hold out until I find a sbc.
The Pontiac 400 is similar in configuration to a small block Chevy, being a rear sump engine with the distributor in back and all. Physically, the dimensions are a little different, but it'll fit in your car. Motor mounts will likely have to be fabbed, though...I don't think any one makes "400 Poncho to 54 Chevy" swap mounts, but that's not a difficult task at all. You can use the common GM TH350, TH400, 700R$ or manual trans options behind the Pontiac mill easily enough, and a 10 bolt axle out back would finish your drivetrain off with a custom driveshaft connecting it all together. By 1977, the 400 Poncho had become a low compression smogger, but with carefully selected aftermarket speed parts, it can perform well enough to moe your Chevy around with authority! If you're on a budget, stick with a factory 4v intake and Quadrajet carb, and spend your pennies on headers to fit your swap (easier to locate if you 'subframe' the car...but I think Sanderson makes tight fit Poncho headers that may work in a stock chassis), recurve the HEI distributor, buy a mild hydraulic dual pattern cam (Crane makes a few), and consider an 11" converter if running an automatic. If you've got more bucks to spend, an Edelbrock Performer intake, 750cfm Holley 4v, healthier hydraulic cam, aftermarket distributor and maybe even Edelbrock heads will help ya out even MORE...but the warmed over stocker will be enough for a cruiser! The one problem you MAY encounter is that the engine bay on these old Chevs isn't as long as you may think it is...clearance will be tight up towards the front of the motor, but you should still be able to squeeze in your fan and alternator with minimal fuss. To me, ANY engine beats building ANOTHER small block Chevy powered ride...so I say GO FOR IT!
What year is this engine and what kind of heads are you running? Fitting this engine into your Chevy is an easy project. You are doing a good thing here because the 400 Poncho is a torque lovers dream. It is not much different in terms of size but it can make ALOT of torque. This will give you a seat-of-the pants feeling of power that will put a SBC to shame. 6x heads are very common as they were used in most of the Firebird/Trans Ams throughout the '70s. They are easily modified to make great power and they are as reliable as any SBC ever was. The Quadrajets are good carbs, don't let anyone tell you different. Edelbrock's Torker II manifold is a great aftermarket manifold if you are going for more performance. If you are trying to save some dough and you just don't want to be like everyone else with a SBC you can still be happy to know that you can get great performance out of freshing up the factory parts. These 400's are bullitproof right out of the factory. Pontiac wanted it that way. A lot of other manufactors were sneaking solid lifters and things like that into their engines because it made them really run powerful. The problem was they wouldn't stay running strong without continuous maintinance. That is how a guy like Jim Wangers could beat the snot out of street driven Hemi's and BBC's all of the time. The Pontiac ran the same every time because it was tuned that way. Well, anyway - just do it. You will be cooler and so will your car. Get someone to help you with the swap. Find a guy who has had experince doing this kind of thing. Us Poncho guys have to deal with this all of the time because we buy Pontiacs that have BB/SBC's put in them all of the time and we have to switch them back!! Stupid fuckers are always trying to say that running a Chevy is easier and more reliable......Bullshit. Pontiac, Olds, Buick and Ford can put just as many miles on them as any god damn Chevy ever has. I am tired of that fucking excuse.
We have a couple of full-size 1969 Pontiacs (Catalinas, I think) parked on my dad's back 40.. Dad bought them new in '69 and drove them til they got ratty lookin in about 1980. Would these cars likely have the 400 Poncho engine in them? What would the automatic tranny likely be? After reading this thread about torquy Ponch motors, I'm thinking about checking them out as potential rod mills -- if they are the 400... but what else could they be in 1969?
Looking to build a 600 hp Poncho 400 daily driver. Got a decent block with virgin holes. Since its intended for dd I dont want to Hard Blok the block...Plan on a 455 crank, RPM heads, .035 bore, and a hot cam as a start. Looking for suggestions. The motor is going to go in a 55' Chief. Also lookin for a mopar A833 to put behind it.
Um, probably shouldn't be bringing up 8 yr old threads for a specific question like that FW. Probably going to need a decent sized roller cam and cnc ported e-heads or kre d ports to get it done though.
Going to have some issues w/ a NA 400 that pushes 600 hp. your going to end up with a 460 ish ci engine when done. Keep in mind BOP motors are toque monsters. Build it accordingly and you will be fine. Cooling is key. you have plenty of space for a properly sized radiator in the 55. Roller cam would be my choice. Engine will be done by 6-6200 RPM. Head will need to flow 300+ cfm which RPM (Edlebrock ) heads will do. I run KRE heads and am very happy. Dont think that trans will hold the torque. Try a T56 not HAMB but will it will hold the power.
A 600 horse Pontiac daily driver can be done for sure, but it might take some $ and it might not be maintenance free... My Model A is a daily driver with 389 cubes and runs 10s, but she has a blower...waaaay easier with forced induction. If you can fit a Roots under that big old hood, that might be the way to go. You can damn near write a check and have everything delivered to your door. Or, a nice centrifical blower would fit under the hood and make great power. Or, there are turbo kits out there you could easily adapt to your Poncho. Of course, there is always the good old fashioned 250 shot of spray. Whatever you choose, a power adder will make it way easier and they are not as difficult to run daily as you might think. My combination has over 80K miles on it and a bazillion strip passes. If you are new to Pontiacs, hit the search button here and also slide by performanceyears.com, they have a really good tech forum. You will see some guys from here hanging out there too.. Good luck and holler if you need anything. -Abone.
Thanks guys...I have been reading up on those KRE heads...thinking that's the way to go. Definitely want a roller cam. Want to keep compression around 11.1 to run pump gas...read something about aluminum heads cooling quicker than cast so if I did run an 11.1 (with cast) it would almost be like a 10.1 with the aluminum heads. As for heating issues I don't plan on any kind of block filler so cooling her shouldn't be a big issue. Thanks again for the info...just like to bounce ideas around.
It's going to take a lot more than heads and a roller cam to make 600 HP, even at 11 to 1 in a 400 CI engine.
Rusty 210 hasn't logged onto the HAMB in over 2 years and the original post was in 2004..I doubt he'll see any of this.
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