From 58 through 61 you could get up to a 280-horse 348 with triple 2-barrel carbs on a Canadian Pontiac. When the compact 327 was introduced for 62, the 348 was retired from passenger car use. For 1962 the most you could get from Oshawa was the 250-horse 327 with either an aluminum Powerglide or a 3-speed column shifted manual. It wasn't until the 63 models that you could get a Canadian Pontiac with a 409, in fact the 4-speed that was introduced in U.S. Chevies for 1959 didn't make it onto the Canadian cars until 1963.

Heck, get a 409 block and drop a 454 crank into it, bore it and end up with a 496 cid monster of a W-motorl.

As long as its your money I am on the same page as Cam, a W series engine is era correct and for that drop jaw effect when the hood is raised a big block with W heads and tri power will do the trick. The letter box Ford truck hood scoop is always a great idea on this era Pontiac, you'll want to shift the gears yourself and a Heavy duty 3 speed or 4 speed would also be era appropriate. Look to American SD cars for ideas but keep it Canadian where is counts, under the hood.

 

-- Edited by 73SC on Friday 7th of March 2014 11:10:16 PM

HonestDave wrote:

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How about the rear end? Is it the same for all the large 62 Pontiacs, or are there some that were stronger than others?

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 http://www.ebay.ca/itm/1957-58-59-60-61-64-PONTIAC-OLDS-REAR-9-3-AXLE-HOUSING-/380848984527?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item58ac5e51cf

HonestDave wrote:

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How about the rear end? Is it the same for all the large 62 Pontiacs, or are there some that were stronger than others?

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The rear ends were basically the same whether you had a six cylinder or a 409

There were different gear ratios available and positraction was an option too but the rear ends were a little on the weak side with the bigger engines.

There are stronger parts available to beef up the stock rearend, or you can use the Pontiac Olds rearend like 73sc mentioned. You can also get brand new 9" Ford or 12 bolt Chevy rearends from places like Currie or DTS. (those are ready to bolt right in)

The stock driveshafts are also a little weak if you start to throw big torque at them. The whole driveline is OK if you kind of take it easy, I mean you can lay some rubber but if you really hammer it a lot, sooner or later you're going to break something. A four speed is probably the most era correct way to go but the automatics are a little easier on the rest of the driveline.

These days a lot of guys are building stroker 409's. You can get a new 4" stroker crank from Scat or Eagle for about the same money as modifying a crank from a 454 so that's the way most guys are going. It's pretty easy to build something in the 450 to 550hp range with a 476 ci stroker. The 450hp engine would have a fairly smooth idle and the 550hp engine would have a pretty rough idle. A lot of guys seem to aim for about 500hp.

409 blocks are pretty hard to find and it does cost more to build one than a regular big block. You can spend a fortune or you can get by relatively cheap if you just want to do a basic rebuild. With a little work you can make about 475hp with a 409ci truck motor using ported truck heads and a flat tappet cam.

You can also make great power with a stroked 348,,, it looks just like a 409

I had one in my 55 Chevy and it ran a best time of 10.37 @ 127mph with that engine. It had a 4" stroke Scat crank (437ci) and made 650hp. It wasn't exactly streetable but it just shows you the potential of the 348.

And on the EXTREMELY expensive end of the scale, you can now buy complete turn key 409 crate engines from Shafiroff Engines. They're 509 ci aluminum engines and they range from 509 to 625hp.

http://www.ultrastreet.net/engines/509_hhr.php

 

Yowzers, there's some serious power being created out there.
Looks like 62 is an off year for a grail-mobile. You could get a hi-po stock up to 61 and starting again in 63, but 1962 was kind of mediocre. For the time being I'll try to see if I can get one good 283 2 barrel out the pair.
I'll keep my eyes peeled for a special car in another year. Just like treasure hunting !!

poncho62 wrote:

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327 was available in 62, not sure what hp ratings

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 If I don't end up with one good 283 out of the pair, and I can't mix and match to get a decent runner, I may buy a friend's truck for the engine. He has a 79 Chev pick up that he's lost the papers for and the tranny slips. It's rusty anyway, but it's got a lovely running 350 4 bolt main in it and numerous options including tilt, and nice bumpers. He said last week I can have it for $500 if I need it. Price is fair, so it's certainly worth considering.