So, picking up an original 60 Bonneville coupe this week... ( already inspected it in person) original paint and interior. Block cracked on the previous owner a few yrs back- he had some shady dude yank the motor and trans and sure enuf...the guy has disappeared long ago. Car was a 389 4bbl... unsure of the trans...super hydromatic i think... anyway- 389s are hard to find and spendy... a poncho 400? and a later model TH350 or 400...maybe even a 2004R?...need some Pontiac knowledge... just needs motor and trans... might as well be a Pontiac just so I dont have to ruffle feathers too too bad. Gimme some poncho combos that'll work w/o trans adaptors etc...thank you!
A 1965 389 motor uses the BOP bell pattern. Gear selector may need modification though. There are several 389s on evil-bay right now. A 400 is basically the same motor and has good heads up through 67. They were produced thru 78, and are a little cheaper and easier to find. 455s gonna be spendy....
Any garden variety '65 and up V-8 Pontiac and auto trans will work great and are all the same physical dimension from 350 all the way to 455. They are a great looking engine when dolled up a little and will fit right on your Bonneville. Pretty much... Fantastic little car, by the way. -Abone.
<erroneous information removed> There is a big long Pontiac engine discussion here: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-pontiac-engines.224124/
Very cool car! And, I know this is going backwards, but I may know of a good’ 57 347 tri-power motor locally if you are looking for something to plug in. The motor is in Stillwater and was planned to go in a Model A coupe project that has stalled. And, long time no talk to Tim...
The 60 engines do not mount off the front cover, 60 and later all used basically the same side mounts. The cast iron 60 front cover still has the provision for the front motor mount but it's not used.
Thanks for correcting me, I had a brain fart on the mounts. I removed my previous post so as not to confuse anyone.
Im kdding...dont ya'll be having a pontiac trigger moment...ill poncho it...im just sayin...even with no motor or trans it runs as good or better than my flathead ford coupe!
I think that the transmission mount pattern and starter mount changed right around 61 so you might have trouble if you want to retain the original transmission and use a later engine. There are adapter plates but its expensive and not many folks know how to deal with the older transmissions.
If you stick to a 65 or later setup none of this 60 and earlier stuff applies. If you find a good running 64 389 you could use that as well since virtually all the 64 blocks are drilled/tapped for the starter regardless of their original application.
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