Hi folks, Happy holidays to all. Well I am seriously considering pulling the engine and having it rebuilt. I called Paul at Spott's Performance today. We spoke for about 25 minutes. Very nice guy. He invited me to come see his shop and some of the engines he is working on. Has anyone used him before? I got a good feeling speaking to him. I am definitely going to take him up on his offer to visit as it is only about forty minutes away.
I am torn between feeding my need for speed and keeping the car original. My better judgement tells me to stay original but i still want to get performance. I thought about changing the rear to 3.55s but don't want to mess with the numbers matching drivetrain. The car has AC so I have the factory 2.56 posi set up. I am open for suggestions on anything.
400 HO, 400 auto (also being rebuilt with firm shift kit), 2.56 gears. I'm not looking to race the car, just dispose of tires every so often and hold it's own on the street.
Helitech.....Paul Spotts is one of the most knowledgable and talented Pontiac rebuilders in the East. You won't be disappointed with his advice or his work......John
You have a numbers matching HO...Very hard to find and very rare. If I were you, I would completely remove the entire driveline including the rear and locating another engine, trans and rear.
If perhaps you grenade the block, the value of the car drops $30-40% depending on the condition of the car.
Honestly....your car. Do as you wish.
As far as Paul. Stopped at his shop a few years ago. Never heard anything bad about him anywhere on the boards over the past 12 years.
Si Vis Pacem Parabellum
1967 Starlight black PMD Engineering 400 Auto 1968 Alpine Blue 400 4 speed 1968 Verdoro Green 400 HO 4 speed 2013 1LE 2SS/RS Inferno Orange Camaro.
I would swap the rear end for steeper gears. Just hold onto the original rear and it could be swapped back easily. As for the engine; 400HO, rebuild to factory specs. Strong motor as is.
Ed, If I part out my car, the drive train would be an incredible value to someone like yourself. I have over 7k into my engine and another $2500 in the M21(converted to an M22). For 6k someone could walk away with a 100% complete 405RWHP 68 400, 62 heads, LBMs, and an M22 with an original round handle Hurst shifter and shift body! My drivetrain would be 100% complete drop in, fire up and head for the track! My block is a 68 400 YE big car 360hp. It has been rebuilt, everything new (461 stroker), balanced rotating assembly, roller cam/lifters. She is a beast! I've put 26k miles on the motor since completed and the ONLY thig this motor could use, would be new valve seals as it does blow a puff of blue smoke on start up. However, that is the ONLY time she blows any smoke!
How ironic, I just received a call from a friend here in FL and he offered to buy my drive train. So, if I decide to part out the car there will be many parts available for you all to pick through. I am negotiating with the ins. co. now as they want to have the car pulled apart before deciding which route to go. If we can agree on a number, then I will just move forward and part the car out. I'll keep you all posted...
Joe, I know how much the car means to you. If you decide you will part it out you have my list of parts I needed from the Turkey Run list. I have some more I can add as well. I would be very interested in some parts. I hope though you can find a way to bring it back!
I would swap the rear end for steeper gears. Just hold onto the original rear and it could be swapped back easily. As for the engine; 400HO, rebuild to factory specs. Strong motor as is.
Philly burbs. About 20 minutes NE from the city limits.
Ed, you live VERY close to where we bought our Bird. All I can remember is seeing the nuclear reactors from his house and thinking, wow, if those things blow, this guy and all of Pontiacs are toast!
We fly just west of the plant sometimes when we go out to one of our vendors near Pittsburg. There are many wind generators now up on the mountains past the valley.
The guy we bought the Bird from had two SD TransAms and an awesome 67 GTO. He was the middle man from the original owner of our Bird. He bought the Bird from the original owner and never registered the Bird because the old man sold him our car and a SD 455 as a package deal for $5500. So he then turned around and sold us the Bird for $5500 thus ending up with the SD 455 engine for free! So technically we are the second owners of our car...
I don't know yet. I am keeping my options open. I am going to visit Paul at Spotts on Monday. I read Banshee's post and I consider his opinion valuable. The reason I am still considering rebuilding what I have is I am not going to cruise around looking for races. I want to enjoy the car when I take it out which is only on the weekend if I am not on my boat fishing. My intention isn't to beat on the car. I respect the car for what it is. I am proud to own it. This is my 5th bird over the years but the only one with numbers matching. I don't want to watch while someone leaves me in their rearview mirror laughing.
I can understand that. That's the one nice thing that we going for us with our Bird. Out of the 8 of us in out little Pontiac group, we all have 400s (except the 62 Catalina he has a 421) and all of the cars are nicer than ours, BUT, ours was the fastest! That was the only edge we had in our entire group and it's a good feeling knowing it! LOL
So I am disassembling the engine for removal. I decided to give it to Paul at Spotts Performance. Still have a few weeks to decide how to build the engine. I think I am going back to stock with a couple of performance mods but nothing major. Still weighing my options.
You could keep the motor stock looking from the outside, install a medium lift cam, LBM's and change out the rear gears for something in the 3.50 range and the car will be completely different from what you have right now. Should be very responsive with the new gears and a fresh stock looking motor.
We talked about stroking the engine. I am running the stock LBM. If I decide to stoke the motor I can probably stay with the original gear ratio. Still don't know yet. HUMMMMMM?
I'm still in the process of disassembly. I am doing as much as I can with the engine still in the car. It hasn't been the easiest task since I am working in my unheated garage which is the size of a shoebox. I am sharing the space with 3 boat engines and various lawn tools, fishing stuff and a whole bunch more. I am in the process of putting up a shed as well but the weather has turned sour so I am left with what I have right now.
Basically the engine is stripped down to the exhaust manifolds, heads and block. I assume it would be easier to remove the trans with the engine but I have limited space. I haven't looked yet but is the crossmember bolted in?
Well I finally got the block, crank, carb and heads to Spotts a few weeks ago. Two problems were found: The first was with the carb. The inlet fuel line fitting was stripped so bad that it could not be helicoiled. I guess the wall thickness on the '68 carb bodies were manufactured thin. It almost wasn't salvagable but it was fixed by using epoxy to glue in the correct fitting. It is permanent and I will have to run an external filter. Second was the block was cracked. My heart sunk to my stomach when Paul told me. The good news is this was also fixed by pinning the crack. What is the success/reliability rate for this type of repair? Thanks,
Paul told me it was "No big deal". He said he has seen and fixed much worse and built the repaired block to 500hp with no issues. The crack was about 1 inch and in the valley pan area. It wasn't near any lifted bores or braces. He is moving forward with the rebuild.
"Pinning", "stitching", "cold welding" are all names for repairing cracks in iron. It is as reliable as any method there is for repairng iron. MUCH more reliable than welding. Welding cast parts is an "adventure" to say the least.
If Paul says it will be okay, I would have to believe him. I know I've repaired hundreds of blocks and heads this way without failures.
Thanks guys, that is reassuring. The engine is being rebuilt stock with a slightly upgraded cam, light porting of the heads but basically stock. I didn't want to chance value of the car by going overboard. The matching nummbers drivetrain will be reinstalled by spring and ready for some cruise nights. I can't wait! I'm like a kid waiting to go to Disney.
While the engine and trans is being freshened up I am gathering the small missing parts I need and respraying the engine compartment. Everything on the engine requiring plating is going out in a week or two.
Ed
