My Dad blew up the engine in his 69 Firebird and it now sits in the garage. I bought a 68 Cougar to fix up (I'm getting my license next year. We started working on the Cougar and found that it is too far gone so he traded me his Firebird. This is a great deal for me since it is a real good looking car. He said we will get an engine for it.
It was a 350 car originally but somebody had a 400 in it with headers, alum heads, 3/4 cam, 410 rear, 3in exhaust pipes with flowmaster exhaust when he bought it.
Here's my question,
To make it more of a daily driver, should I get a 350? And does it have to be a Pontiac engine or would a 350 Chevy fit?
I don't want a super fast car (Parents wouldn't let me drive it)but I don't want a 6 cylinder ether.
Thanks for the advice
Mike

Yes a Chevy engine will work, but you probably will give half of the members on this board vapor lock if you pursue that option. Please define "blew up." You may find that even if the block/crank was destroyed there may be enough accessories on the old engine to justify purchasing another Pontiac 350/400 block. Also in the long run I believe putting in a Chevy will devalue the car enough that if you ever go to resale you would be better off to put back in a Pontiac Engine. BTW, what part of Virginia are you from?

--->--->--->---> ENTERING VAPOR LOCK --->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->---> NEVER INSTALL A CHEBBY ENGINE !!!!!

I live near Winchester (north tip). The coolant went into oil pan and bent the push rods. A few guys told him it could be as simple as blown head gaskets or worse... I REALLY don't want this to be a race car, I want a daily driver (hence the 350)
*whisper*: Also, I'm trying to convince my mom that this is a safe ride, how can I really show/tell her something she would like to hear?
she's mostly worried about no airbags, seat belts only go across your waist... stuff like that.

Once you start driving you will want more power. You're young and male. A 400 in stock form is a nice motor with lots of power and very driveable. You can even put in a 455 and tell everybody it's a 350 since they look identical to the non-pontiac expert.

I'm young and male....that's why I don't want more power. I'd like to see my 20's.

i kinda have to agree with hokie, your fastes and cheapest bet might be to find a Chevy 350 as they are abundanty and cheap. just find a used one and throw it in. When yuo get a little older and a little cash, rebuild that Pontiac motor and put it back in. Sounds like a lot of good parts in it already!!

Pontiac 350s are pretty easy to come by as everyone wants something bigger. They are reliable and have plenty of power if run with a respectable gear ratio. A Chevy won't bolt to your trans and will lower the value of the car.

you can pick them up for free everywhere

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lgb/zip/2826461414.html

I would see if the engine is salvageable. You can seize an engine without destroying it.

If it's not, find a running 400, swap the heads, but put a milder camshaft in it. A Summit 2801 would be a nice little camshaft at a budget price.

The best thing to make it streetable is to really gear it down (which will work better with the milder camshaft). The lower numerically, the better. Something in the very low 3s would probably be ideal.

Keep in mind, even with a Chevy engine, you'd still need to change the 4.11s. And swapping a Chevy would require new frame mounts, new headers, a trans adapter (if yours is an auto), not to mention it would need to come with all the accessories intact and everything. Just keep it Pontiac.

One more thing, perception can be everything. Ditch the Flowmasters (especially for a daily driver). Not only are they loud, but they tend not to flow as well as other (even quieter) mufflers. Throw some Dynomax Super Turbos on it. It will still sound nice, but take enough bite out of it, that mom will feel a little better.

I think a 400 will be easier to find parts for later (beacuse its a more popular engine as it does have more opportunities for 'enhancement = more hp)....a stock 400 isnt that much more HP than a stock 350...but either (Pontiac engines) will work fine...installing a Chevy 350 or such you will have to adapt a few things , meaning ,you need to do more work to install it..it 'may' be easier to find a Chevy engine though and possibly cheaper , but in the end it will also be worth less when its time to sell the car....if you want to step out of the box (like with a Chevy engine), step a little more out and get modern engine , like an LS1 or such...just my 0.02

You're going to have to pull that motor out anyway and I'm sure your dad is curious about why it "blew". Pull it and tear it down and see what's wrong and if it's fixable. If not, find the least expensive Pontiac motor around to replace it with. 350 or 400, doesn't make that much difference. You're never going to be the fastest car ever on the planet anyway. Also if you get stuck for cash it sounds like you have some good parts that you could get by without. You may be able to sell them or trade them off to finance the new setup.

Oh, and whatever ignition system you're using, be sure to find a rev limiter kit for it BEFORE dad borrows the car.

And as far as seeing your 20's, I think most of us here lived (and drove) through the muscle-car era and obviously still love (and drive) these cars today.

Safety technology has most certainly improved, but there is no substitute for just being a good driver and having a level head. Sounds like you have the latter for sure.

Just because you may have 300+ ponies under the hood, you don't have to be irresponsible. There are plenty of ways to enjoy the power of your car without slamming into the local high school gymnasium (for example).

I'd echo the opinions many expressed already: take the couple of hours to diagnose the existing motor. You'll be amazed what you will learn. Besides, you have to pull the motor no matter what you do so why not just take 'er apart while you have it on a stand? The Pontiac 400 is a great motor.

I have a Poncho 350 that I'd give you...but i'm in Cali.

Best of luck,
Tom

That is the reason mine has the MSD 6AL and not the 6A!

Tom is right for the most part but then again alot of muscle cars ended up in the wrecking yard because of the power to weight ratio and people not respecting that. It's the number one story I hear at cars shows:
(Spectator)My buddy used to have one of these when we were in high school. (Me) What happened to it? (Him)He wrapped it around a telephone pole one night.

Another one bites the dust.

driver error.....not cars fault....drivers ed needs to improve in this country! skid pads etc shhould be part of drivers ed.

Yeah, Firebob, it's a mixed bag of risk factors. Clearly the insurance companies have figured this out and charge us more for all the ponies.

My college roommate had a sweet 69 Camaro RS and the car met an inglorious demise around a light pole at U.C. Davis in 1980. Truth be told, my then roommate (who is now a trial attorney in Detroit and drives a Porsche 911S) was high on "magic mushrooms" and a variety of other substances popular in the 80's.

I don't know whose point I'm making anymore, but this story actually gets a lot funnier (he nearly bit off his tongue in the crash and lots of hilarity ensued in the following weeks), but I should stop here.

tom

All the stoners around here drove ford falcons.
They figured couldnt go fast enough to get killed.
SERIUOSLY. LOL

A stoner ran into my first car (1956 Chevy 210 two door post) in the high school parking lot with a 1963 Ford Falcon. He wasn't going fast, but couldn't stop anyway.

Ahhhh, loved the mushroom days. You just don't find those anymore. It's all synthetics now(from what I'm told). But I digress.
Remember kids, Don't do drugs!

Well now after all the advice, we're thinking of taking the heads off to start and see if it was the head gaskets. Worst case is to pull the engine and replace it with a 400 short block. I don't think it will be my daily driver but I would like to slow it down a little with better gears in the rear and maybe a smaller carb.