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PRC · 12-09-2009, 06:32 PM

[QUOTE=poison heart;3843741]I don't think any aftermarket bellhousings will fit a 59 block. You might be able to make an adapter.

About 2-3 months ago someone on Craig's list had a bunch of early pontiac performance parts for sale. There was some discussion about it on this forum. Anyway, one of the items was a scattershield for a '55-60 Pontiac. I think it was Ansen but I'm not sure about that.

poison heart · 12-09-2009, 06:53 PM

There were a few old school ones but nothing you can buy new now.

poison heart · 12-10-2009, 11:34 PM

OK

What about a 63 block, 59 heads, intake and timing cover?

Didn't someone say the cooling holes in the block are different?

Rocky 389 · 12-11-2009, 08:59 AM

Went out to pick up my heads yesterday and grabbed a used fel-pro 8518PT gasket for reference and I gotta tell you...I'm impressed. The later gasket [8518PT] has the early cooling holes punched in it [except one little 1/4" hole in the very center] and joy of joys, so do the late heads! Yes, I'm going to have to plug the oil galley feed hole in the block [goes under the early head's hollow rocker studs] to do this but the late heads bolt up to the early block with all the proper cooling holes lining up!...
I found out I cannot use the early [58-62, 370 and 389 fel-pro #529075] on the late heads because of combustion chamber design changes...causes the early gasket's fire ring to stick out into the combustion chamber. loosing it's seal....but hey, that's alright with me. The later gaskets are easier to find and buy anyway.
I'm amazed that pontiac actually cast the later heads with the earlier coolant holes in place.
And all this time I thought the small block chevy had the best parts interchangability. HAH! VIVA LE PONCHO!

poison heart · 12-11-2009, 09:11 AM

So did you have to do anything to the late heads?

Rocky 389 · 12-11-2009, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poison heart

So did you have to do anything to the late heads?

I can only find one 1/4" hole in the very center of the head that needs to be drilled. And I still need to find if I can bolt the early water elbows up to the front of late heads. That and check out a coolant tube possibility for the late heads. Hopefully I'll get my early heads, front cover, pan, valley cover, pulleys, water pump etc etc etc from a 59, 389 tomorrow if the missus doesn't keep me too busy.

poison heart · 12-12-2009, 05:41 AM

You can bolt the early elbows to the later heads. I tested that the other day.

Pontirag · 12-15-2009, 09:54 PM

would'n it be cool if that Engine masters challenge had a class for the earlier engines like the olds or caddy or lincoln and pontiacs. That would be usefull

poison heart · 12-15-2009, 10:51 PM

That would be cool

badlefthand · 02-12-2010, 06:18 PM

Rocky 389, where are you? How about an up date.

Rocky 389 · 02-19-2010, 04:26 PM

I'm here...still working on the 370. I tried fitting the early water elbows to the late heads in a mock-up [in the living room...she'll never know] and while they physically bolt up, the laignment is about 1/4 inch off. See the photo.
Also, a local guy who ran old pontiacs said he use to run the reverse flow setup on late heads without using the distribution tubes and had no problems at all.
I still haven't pulled the tubes out of my 57 heads to try a fit into the late heads..I'd be surprised to find they fit.
also, the Lakewood scattershield I modified to fit 65 and later B.O.P. [and caddy] pattern absolutely will not work on the earlier 55-60 block...nothing lines up plus there is no place to bolt a starter. I'll be using my 57 GMC bellhousing.flywheel and 11 inch clutch. I bought an old saginaw 4 speed with hurst shifter all set up for $200 in case I can't get the T-5 camaro 5 speed to work for me...hey, it was cheap at 200 bones/
BTW...the 65 and later Edelbrock dual quad intake clears my early [1957]front cover and valley cover but just barely. I'll be filling the water bypass hole in the front of the intake manifold. Probably tap it and screw in a pipe plug..
Oh, and I bought a matched pair of WCFB carters in case the two edelbrock carbs are too much for my puny 370 cu. in. engine.

Rocky 389 · 02-19-2010, 04:33 PM

let's see if I can upload more than one photo per post.

poison heart · 02-19-2010, 09:29 PM

That looks pretty bad ass!

hellerods · 02-19-2010, 10:18 PM

You either have balls the size of an elephant, or you are out of your mind---------- mocking up an engine inside the house??? I am married also--so--- this never crossed my mind--WTF??? -You are the "MAN" of your outfit, I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy-LOL-- Man that is frickin' awesome, but I won't be trying that anytime soon. I know my place----- the garage, and only the garage for engine or car related stuff, unless, of course, I want to sleep with the engines in said garage. You guys f##kin crack me up!!!!

PRC · 02-19-2010, 11:22 PM

That sure is a pretty engine, Rocky. I am very interested to see how this works out for you. When I had my '59 engine built I considered using later heads for the increased flow that they offer but I wanted to retain the old school look of the reverse cooling. Also, I would have had to give up the existing '59 tri-power intake in exchange for a later intake. After much research, debate, and discussion with the builder I decided to retain the original heads and intake. The engine runs strong but I have to wonder how much more power it would have with some later heads with bigger valves.

poison heart · 02-20-2010, 02:27 AM

I think this has been covered but just to clarify...

Say a 1959 block with 1962 heads, do all the coolant holes line up or do you need to drill any extras?

Jack Gifford · 02-20-2010, 03:47 AM

The engine's lookin' good! Especially to us guys who like to build the early ones.

Is the water elbow misalignment strictly fore/aft as it appears in the photo? If so, a pair of simple aluminum spacers would suffice.

I'll be watching for whether the water distribution tubes fit those heads. I tried them in later heads ('68/69 -16) and they didn't come close to fitting. The water elbows were also way off from matching up.

I wish my memory was better- I know I once assembled and ran a '57 or '58 engine without the tubes, but honestly can't remember the results. Geez... it was only about fifty years ago...

poison heart · 02-20-2010, 03:49 AM

There is a rubber hose that connects that water neck to the timing cover...who cares if there's 1/4 inch misalignment???

Rocky 389 · 02-27-2010, 07:18 PM

Bought some "Gyptal" electric motor paint to use for the inside of my 370 block and did the paint job last night in my garage. The garage is under my bedroom and connects to my house through a 30" door. You know what happenned. The missus got home from her night out with the girls and immediately started making squeaky noises about the paint smell...I told her we needed to build a separate garage and she stopped squeaking.
Anyway, the paint came out great and it's supposed to shed oil without flaking off.
As soon as I get a proper rear seal for the engine, I'll lay the crank and get busy with assembly.
Oh, BTW....I happened to notice my machinist did NOT drill, tap and plug the oil-feed holes that feed the rockerfeed galleys in the original cylinder heads. Well, I'm uaing late heads and do not want these passages open as my rockers will now oil through the pushrods soooooooooo, I found a 21/64ths drill bit, a 3/8th fine tap and drilled, tapped and pluged those pesky passages myself.
Since I posted last I've found a Competition cams cam with rockers, new pushrods, new hydraulic lifters etc. ...it's coming together! Behold the red paint!

Jack Gifford · 02-28-2010, 04:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poison heart

There is a rubber hose that connects that water neck to the timing cover...who cares if there's 1/4 inch misalignment???

Wouldn't work well, given the stiffness of straight radiator hose and the nearness of the two nipples. I'd just carve out a pair of aluminum spacers to go behind the elbows.

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