Hey there...I am a proud owner of a 52 Pontiac Fleetleader Deluxe 2 door sedan. I am currently running the original drive train, but am thinking of upgrading the engine. I have at my disposal, a couple 235 Chevy engines from my 57 Chevys, and was thinking of using one of these. I absolutley love my 239 flattie, but it is getting tired. Another reason for the upgrade is the fact that there isn't much in the form of speed goodies for these old engines...compared to the 235's anyways. I would like to find out what to expect from this possible swap. I would like to keep the torque tube drive shaft so I'm sure I will have some issues. Another question that I have is, what would the rearend ratio be in these cars? I know she's a screamer, and not alot of "go"...I have a rearend out of a 53 Pontiac with an automatic trans, and was told the gears were a 3:56 ...not sure. Would this be a good swap? Any info would be greatly appreciated...Thanx in advance.
A good swap for your car would be a complete driveline from a 55-57 Chev but preferably Canadian Pontiac with a 261. The rear diff is almost a bolt in as the spring pads even line up. In my opinion if you are going to do all this work get a diff from a standard trans 55 or 56 with 3:73 gears and a small block 350 with a 700R4 from an mid 80's pickup truck. This parts are still plentiful and cheap enough. You can find a rusty 2 wheel drive pickup with engine trans combo for under $1000 and have everything you need and still have parts left over to sell including the left over frame etc for scrap steel.
I'd listen to Al on this one. Why keep the pld rear end??? use late model stuff, then if you have a "breakage' problem, your not stuck for days trying to get a part. My 52 Torpedo back is sitting on 84 Cutlass [Monty Carlo] chassis.!!! Even w/this set up I'm having problems trying to find a left side emm. brake cable lever that hooks into B/shoe. Thats only because previous owner stripped all the brake hardware off,& 'chucked" it for that side DOAH!!!!!
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Some times I wake up GRUMPY, but today I let her sleep in !!!!!!!!BLACKSTOCK Ont.
