This is my 38K Box A 1960 Pontiac Starchief Sedan project. I am just getting ready to take the car down to the frame to be sandblasted and have all the rust repaired. My plan for the car is to be our Resto Mod sedan that we can drive anywhere in comfort reliably! I'm thinking a White Roof over fire engine red sitting on whitewalls with Black and white interior The cool part is I want to transplant the complete drivetrain (minus rearend) from an 00-03 GM truck (either a 5.3 or 4.8 automatic) My goal here is to keep the powertrain bone stock including exhaust. Not looking for a road warrior just an everyday driver that appears 100% original until you open the hood. I have NEVER done anything like this before and I'm not some high end auto shop technician either just a farm boy with a plan I'm on somewhat of a budget here so any tips are appreciated as I blast into the unknown...



Ol' 2bbl 389

 

What a score! Personally, I would leave it as it looks for the most part. Recover the seats, update the suspension/brakes and do the LS swap.

 

Thanks I bought the car from my Grandpa for 1500 bucks a few yrs ago. I've considered leaving it the original color but the wife brought up the white over red and now I can't get it out of my head!! I'm a ways out from paint so I have time to ponder....But when I finish it will still look completely bone stock

 

The last thing the world needs is another red car, that original color is pretty cool and fitting (opinion of course). Sweet ride either way.

 

Damn, that dash is cherry!

 

Dammit now the wife is telling me she likes the green too so maybe it will stay it's original color!! It is different and I do like it... Question for the guys that have done these swaps just how much custom fab will I have to do to make an LS engine/trans work in this car?? I have a good friend who is an awesome fabricator who'd help me out with the welding/cutting/fitting necessary just curious what I'm up against.

 

The only thing that might be an issue is A/C if you plan to have that. All you need to drop these engines in are the mount adapter plates and a trans crossmember. Chances are that the truck manifolds will work well in such a big engine bay but if not, Camaro ones are cheap. You'll need a new oil pan as the truck one will probably hang too low below the k-frame unless you want to cut the truck pan.

Sweet ride man, keep her green!

 

If only there was a way to keep Reverse in the stock 1960 position.

 

very cool build. i'd keep it the original color and everything. just clean her up. the only major fabrication will be motor mounts, trans crossmember, and exhaust. there will small things like brackets, radiator, etc. but other than that, it's pretty simple. take plenty of pics, it'll be an awesome show piece once complete.

 

Now thats going to be one sweet crusier!

 

Is this the same as a impala/bel air basically? I cant tell if its actually bigger or not. If its an x-frame car, the swap will go easy, if its bigger framed, I bet it will be even easier.

very cool, and i'd leave the stock color. Theres something cool about the old colors....everyone had red...

4 doors are cooler cruisers for sure, i've done a few old 4 doors with LS swaps. More attention getters than anything i've ever done

 

If you paint it red you will be swapping out all the interior parts too. You gotta keep that big *** green steering wheel.

I like that color too. Cool car. I would be tempted to keep the mechanical radiator fan. Probably not worth the trouble though.

I would also look into a dual reservoir master cylinder brake set up. I had a brake hose go in a single system unit like that once and it's not a good feeling.

 

I'm guessing Vintage Air will be able to solve any AC issues...something you'll want in this rascal...what a cool car!

 

Yep I am definitely doing the dual reservoir master cylinder whoever thought a single was a good idea..... I am going to keep her green, between everyone here and my lovely wife I've been convinced! She has to come apart though the car looks pretty decent from the pics but once you get closer to it her age really shows and there is some decent rust underneath the ol girl.

 

The car is an X frame and I believe it is the same bodystyle as the impala but not too sure, its 19' long though. It is essentially the same car as the Catalina only with higher hp ratings from what I've read not sure why Pontiac had the two...

 

Also I'm thinking that I might try to buy an entire truck to be the donor patient instead of sourcing everything out one piece at a time is this a wise move? Figure I could part it out when I'm done stealing parts from it and make a few bucks back. I really don't care if it has 160K miles as long as it runs great.

 

I can relate. This farm boys project started with the same mind set. https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...ject-pics.html
Just be careful. All good intentions of staying on a budget can go south quickly. Especially when you start the restoration of the paint and interior. I say re- do the seat and let it be. Good luck to ya ...... Gonna be way cool ride.

 

Probably you're best bet. If you buy it all seperate, you'll get nickle and dimed. I did for my project, and sold off what I could. Overall, total swapped only ended up costing me about $300. Keep in mind thats selling truck parts, old engine, as much as possible. You'd be surpised how much you'll use of a complete truck.

 

If I were to do mine over again I would absolutely try to find the whole car, van, truck etc. People that do that usually end up with a lower cost to perform the swap due to the resale of the unused parts.

Cool project! Don't open too many cans of worms yet with the body, interior stuff. Its called "scope creep" and suddenly you can end up overwhelmed and over budget. There will be enough items fighting for your money just to get the swap up and running. Car looks badass just the way it is!

 

Thanks for all the good info here. I don't know what kind of can of worms I will open by getting into body work I am tempted to just clean it up best I can and restore the interior but I HATE knowing that rust is down there. we shall see as I begin to tear it apart I'm planning to start on it Sunday. I will be uploading more pics as time goes by!!