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george kujanski · 03-21-2005, 09:45 AM

Years ago, my brother had a '55 with a 389 in it, bought it that way. I remeber it had a front motor plate, the firewall was cut back and the engine was set back almost in to the firewall. The car also had a straight axle modded onto it. Wierd.

The darn thing always ran hot, too.

I think one of his friends still has the thing.

George

cheviac · 03-21-2005, 02:39 PM

Stray cat, I've got the '64 rear end that came from a Catalina 2+2 but it's too big for the tires I want to use. Are the 57-64 units the same size? I'm leaning toward a Ford 9 inch because of the huge selection of gears and parts I come across at swap meets, and I know it will handle the torque.

As far as steering goes I'm gonna stick with the stock manual column and install the "poor man's" power steering for now.

PLAY400 · 03-21-2005, 03:15 PM

Got a 605 box if anyone's lookin.

cheviac · 03-21-2005, 08:31 PM

Play400, I'm not familiar with the Pontiac steering end but it sounds like it's different from the Chevy somehow and being a Canadian model can also make it hard to guess but if I had to , I would say that the rack n pinion sounds like the way to go for you. One thing I would reccommend is to install tubular upper A arms. Many people claim that the rack installation makes the car too sensitive and you have to constantly adjust the wheel to keep the car centered on the road...the Better A arms allow you to adjust the camber to correct that problem. A good source of info is the modified forum at www.chevytalk.com.

PLAY400 · 03-22-2005, 06:09 AM

My car is a Canadian Pontiac which is a Chevy with some Pontiac skin. Short narrow car. The 605 box is a bolt in for American Pontiacs and requires modifications to fit tri-5 Chevys and Canadian Pontiacs. Most R&P steering kits I seen replace the lower control arm and lower the car 2". Racks of choice are the 86-92 Buick and early Citations and such. In talking with guys who have installed kits it seems they still have trouble. Building my own setup. Bump steer probably will be a problem but hey it was a problem in my Bronco, my Dakota and my ... Alan

straycat · 03-22-2005, 06:54 AM

cheviac...the pontiac rears are different lengths. i think 58 fits also but has to be converted from coil springs to leaf. the f..d rear is excellent for the reasons you mentioned. i used the 57 pontiac because it came cheap, i had parts and for nostalgia reasons.

Jack Gifford · 03-26-2005, 01:06 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by cheviac:
if nobdy else is interested in that Hurst mount I would be. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Go ahead and shoot me- I've decided not to part with the Hurst mount. Who knows, maybe I'll live long enough to start yet more Pontiac-powered projects!

cheviac · 03-26-2005, 05:58 PM

Don't kill yourself over it PJ. Maybe we can start some kind of car club or tri-five tribe!!!

straycat · 04-05-2005, 10:58 AM

pontiac jack, any chance you can post a pic of the hurst motor mount? they show up at swap meets occasionally, and it would help identifying. are there any stamping on them? thanks

Jack Gifford · 04-05-2005, 06:35 PM

I'll try to post a picture, as soon as I get my wife to show me how to use her camera- I've forgotten since the last time she showed me!
I can only find "Hurst" stamped into the mount, no part number.

Bill Eveland · 04-06-2005, 10:37 AM

Pontiac Jack , this is the Hurst bracket i've seen before-mounts to a side engine mount I thought to go in a 55-60 body.
I bid on this one on ebay, somebody wanted it worse than I did, bid in the last seconds of the auction, imagine that.

Jack Gifford · 04-06-2005, 04:54 PM

Yes, Bill that looks like mine. I'll still try to post a photo, to try to show the unique shape of the driver's side piece, to clear the fuel pump- it would help guys spot it at a swap meet. Thanks!
P.S. Hurst only made this one mount for Pontiac engines (that I know of). They offered a variety of "boxes" which mounted to the front crossmember of various vehicles, then this mount sat on the "boxes", with flathead Ford insulators.

straycat · 04-09-2005, 01:50 PM

thanks for the photo bill. i'm eagerly awaiting to see jacks pics. while talking about motor installation, does anyone have an opinion on the angle for the motor/trans? is there a rule?

Bill Eveland · 04-09-2005, 08:11 PM

I think it should be level or a little lower in the back, not more than 4 degrees anyway. For my U.S. Pontiac anyway, I had to bolt on the exhaust manifols and raise the engine high enough to clear the upper control arms and the steering gearbox. Than lined up the trans tailshaft with the center of the trans tunnel. I took a 10lb sledge and flatened the firewall/trans tunnel flange to make some extra room to have it high enough and I still have plenty of room for my rpm intake and air cleaner.
Have you guys thought about using a front motor plate from either Spotts performance or allpontiac? You would also want to some some type of mid support and trans crossmember.
I'm not a big fan of front motor plate and transmount only.
I saw a U.S. 55 with a sbc that way and in my opinion I didn't like it at all .

Jack Gifford · 04-11-2005, 08:33 PM

I've got an image of the Hurst mount- let's see if I can post it here.

Well, looks like it got posted, although it's not the greatest photo. I was trying to be looking down on it somewhat, to show how the driver's side tab is shaped to loop around the fuel pump.

pro-tour79 · 04-12-2005, 06:32 PM

sorry a bit late here but I think Trans-dapt makes a motor mount kit for this

cheviac · 05-09-2005, 12:58 PM

Hurst made two differant motor mounts for pontiacs. One for the early (61 and earlier) cast iron timing covers and one for the post 61 engines with the aluminum timing covers. I know this because I just found a dealer in Mass. who has them both. Not only that, but they come with directions and solutions to all the little problems you will encounter when doing this swap.

There is a warning not to use the early mount with the aluminum timing covers!! I believe the photo posted above is of the early mount.

cheviac · 05-09-2005, 01:09 PM

The pictures posted here are of the early mount which is Hurst part number PO-202. The newer mount for 62 and later is part number PO-2-202.

This mount is the one shown on the diagram taped to the upper right corner of the Hurst box in the picture Bill Evelands posted. Don't ask me why they picture the newer mount on the older mount box but it appears they did.

The newer mount has a small horseshoe shaped flange welded in the center of the mount and is designed to accept a stock Pontiac front motor mount.

cheviac · 05-09-2005, 01:21 PM

Correction the mounts are for '60 and earlier engines (PO-202) and "61 and later (PO-2-202). And now that I've had a little time to think about this, I'm not sure I recieved the right mount??!!

What years did Pontiac use the front motor mount?

PLAY400 · 05-09-2005, 03:25 PM

Took some pics of the setup we made for my 55 Canadian Pontiac but I can't post them here grrr. Got the motor sitting low, headers fit, now have rack & pinion steering and disc brakes.

trying to attach 1

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