New To Me 70 Catalina Convertible

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

   I have not actually purchased it but almost - still need to check it for rust and drag it home. Not running, no engine but had a 350 that might still be laying our the shop where it is stored.  And I think its green or so I've been told.  It has over thirty years of well enclosed storage dust on it.  I need to go look at it to check the floor and trunk for rust and then drag it six hours back from near Tulsa OK to Louisiana.

 

I will soon have lots of questions.

 

Rick

 

[Ringo64]

Look forward to reading more about it and your journey to rebuild it! Tons of great people around here to help you along the way and have fun 🍻

[Wrongway]

Welcome Rick! Snap a few pics when you go look at it bro. We'd love to see it.

[JUSTA6]

By all means capture your adventure in pic's, N share with us.  Sounds like an awesome project!  To be able to go back years from now and see your build is priceless.

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

 

  I guess my biggest question is how will the Pontiac community feel if I drop in an LS engine and a 4L80E automatic transmission?  I put an LS and 4L60E into my A-Body 70 El Camino and I love the dependability.  Getting 23 MPG in a nearly 4000 pound, fifty year old vehicle is also pretty nice.

 

  I just don't see as much written about LS swaps on Pontiacs . . .

 

Rick

[Wrongway]

Its all about making yourself happy Rick. We do have a few people here running LS swapped Pontiacs and at least one getting ready to start the project. Nobody thinks any less of it. It's all good bro, as long as you send us pictures . Seriously Rick, we look forward to watching your build and there are a lot of people here that can and will answer any questions that you have.

[Ringo64]

6 hours ago, B52bombardier1 said:

I put an LS and 4L60E into my A-Body 70 El Camino and I love the dependability.  Getting 23 MPG in a nearly 4000 pound, fifty year old vehicle is also pretty nice.

Driving an LS derived motor in my Camaro, I totally get this  .

There are purists in the world that will throw hate but not here. Think for the most part, everyone here just wants to lend a hand and discuss Pontiac. The site was originally created in mind to spew as little drama about things like this as possible. 

[Frosty]

LS engine swaps are the rage, regardless of the marque that it is going in. I've seen my share of Pontiac A-body swaps (Tempest, Lemans, and GTOs), Firebirds, and even the bigger B-body cars. I've even seen an LS in a Fiero.

You have to make the same mods for an LS in a Pontiac you do for a Chevy or other manufacturer. You need to fab up motor mounts, exhaust, clearance the floor plan for the transmission, shifter cable routing, neutral safety switch, driveshaft, transmission cross member, wiring the ECM and TCM, etc.

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

 

   And thanks for the support.  My wife will be driving this Pontiac and I need to make dependable.  I went with all Holley swap parts on my El Camino - their 302-2 oil pan, their forward bias engine mounts and their Hooker Blackheart headers.  PSI Conversions on the engine harness but I think I will depin and repin the next one out of the donor vehicle.  The EC now has an American Auto Wire all new body wiring harness and Dakota Digital HDX gauges.

Not sure yet exactly how the Catalina swap will go but it'll likely follow these lines as much a possible.  When I get some pictures of it as it sits now in Oklahoma, I will start a build thread.

Rick

[64 kiwi boni]

8 hours ago, B52bombardier1 said:

Hello,

 

  I guess my biggest question is how will the Pontiac community feel if I drop in an LS engine and a 4L80E automatic transmission?  I put an LS and 4L60E into my A-Body 70 El Camino and I love the dependability.  Getting 23 MPG in a nearly 4000 pound, fifty year old vehicle is also pretty nice.

 

  I just don't see as much written about LS swaps on Pontiacs . . .

 

Rick

Rick 

I am currently getting parts together to do two swaps 

I have 2 L98 engines with 4L80e trans 

both out of 2008 Holden … same as your G8 cars .. 

mine are going into my 57 and 63 pontiacs !!!

I justA haven’t got them in yet … it’s all about finding the time ! 
I have already had one engine loom modified and I am using a reprogrammed stock computer …

so agree with you about using modern gear in our old girls 😜

[JUSTA6]

It's yours to do with as you please.  Wouldn't be the 1st one.

[Frosty]

We are eager to see what you come up,with.

ICT Billet has 65-70 Impala swap parts. You should be able to utilize many of them

 

 

 

[64 kiwi boni]

1 hour ago, Frosty said:

We are eager to see what you come up,with.

ICT Billet has 65-70 Impala swap parts. You should be able to utilize many of them

 

 

 

I have been hunting for an alternator relocation kit that put it up on the passenger side high ! 
I will go look at ict 

thanks frosty ☃️ 

[64 kiwi boni]

Rick

this is my ls2 that’s going in my 57 chieftain …

And this 2008 Holden has the other one for my 63 Safari 

[B52bombardier1]

That low intake manifold will help it fit under the hood.  My tall truck LS manifold (from an LM7, actually) barely fits under the cowl induction hood on my 70 El Camino.

 

Rick

[64 kiwi boni]

2 hours ago, B52bombardier1 said:

That low intake manifold will help it fit under the hood.  My tall truck LS manifold (from an LM7, actually) barely fits under the cowl induction hood on my 70 El Camino.

 

Rick

So don’t know what you have ! 
pics would be good 

but you must have lots of G8. Ls motors around to swap out from 

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

   And pix you shall have!! The first picture is what my EC looked like at the CTC Auto Ranch in Denton, TX before I brought it home - April, 2017.  The second picture is what it looks like today. And the third is an engine compartment shot and that motor / transmission is out of a 1999 GMC Sierra pickup truck that had 150,000 miles on them before the swap and revival. I've put another 17,000 miles on this vehicle since then and did 2200 miles in one round trip this past summer to northern Indiana for the 2nd Annual All El Camino Festival at Napannee, IN.

Here's the build thread for my EC and I hope to do something similar with this Catalina:

https://www.elcaminocentral.com/threads/1970-el-camino-bringin-it-back-from-the-dead.214386/

Funny story - that 60-40 set of split bench seats came out of a 1995 Pontiac Grand Prix SE and fit the EC perfectly - the gray and blue color also goes well with the exterior paint scheme.  The seat rails perfectly matched the locations of the floor support brace mounts that I needed. I only paid twenty bucks each for them out of a junk yard and they needed zero re-upholstery - and still don't. It must be the "little old lady only drove it to church" kind of thing.

I visited a lot of junk yards to find these and then "imagineer" if and how they would mount before buying them. I even briefly considered doing a set of power seats out of a modern vehicle before coming back to these.

Lucky for me those vinyl top drip rail pieces of stainless trim were still on the vehicle when it was at the Ranch.  Plain top trim is available but the vinyl top drip rail trim is not.

 

Rick

 

[64 kiwi boni]

Awww very nice 

[Wrongway]

Right on Rick! Justa cool ride bro. 

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

   I still have not gone to Oklahoma to look at this 70 Catalina convertible but I have bought the engine that will likely go into it.  The donor LS engine that I plan on using is out of a wrecked 2002 GMC Yukon XL and unfortunately, somebody had already pulled the 4L60E transmission from it. 

  My coworker that is managing the sale of this vehicle has been on baby delivery watch with his wife for the last month so I haven't been able to go to Oklahoma to ultimately decide on the purchase. Maybe soon . . . 

  This LS engine will give me something to tinker with while we wait on the joyous occasion of the stork to deliver this child.

 

Rick

  

 

[Wrongway]

Fingers crossed Rick. Thanks for updating us.

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

   Well . . . . I finally did it.  I drove the six and a half hours up to Mannett, Oklahoma to look at and finally purchase this 70 Catalina Convertible.

  Its a solid car, very little visible rust.  Solid floor pans at all of the sumps and a solid trunk sheet metal pan.  Very few dents and dings and as I previously mentioned, the convertible top is shredded but complete with all pieces and bows.  The upholstery is in reasonably good condition and is complete but the carpet will need to be replaced.  No signs or smells of a rodent infestation.

  It has been sitting in this storage building since the engine got removed in about 1993 when the last license plate expired.  The exterior of the car is very, very dusty and crops could be grown on the topside.  Mercifully, this building has been dry as an old bone for all of these years.

  I have no idea of the odometer mileage because of so much dust and I don't really care anyway. There is a set of keys so that I will be able to unlock the steering column to steer it out of the labyrinth that it is trapped within.  Otherwise, I'd be removing the lock cylinder.  The steering wheel has that extremely sticky feeling on the rim so common to vehicles back then but a new black or maybe green stitched Wheelskin leather cover will easily solve this problem.  If anybody ever smoked in this car, I can't tell by any traces of a smell.

  The hood isn't attached but its there. I will not reinstall it for the trip home because those original hinges are likely stuck and I could easily break the metal structure of that hood.  The hood will ride home in the back of my truck, tied down securely. I will try to find the radiator and the driveshaft but there is an engine if I want it.  Its the original 1970 400 cubic inch motor but my plan is to install a modern GM fuel injected, computer controlled "LS" motor that is already here on my shop floor.  At the very least, the LS will need to be freshened up or rebuilt.

  The trunk is full of mostly junk and there is no spare tire or jack that I could find.  The owner's son has gotten three of four tires aired up and I will ask him to buy a new 15 inch tire for the flat one. 

   The owner has a LOT of work to do before I can drag this Cat out of the building.  As I explained before, there is a 69 blue big block El Camino in front of it with a mid 60's Mustang in front of that.  This Pontiac is nose to the far back of the building but the Cat has a ball hitch already mounted which will make the drag out of the building somewhat easier.

  This Catalina is in vastly better condition than when I dragged my El Camino home back in 2017 which makes me very hopeful for a relatively quick rejuvenation.  It'll be at least a month before the new title comes back to the current Oklahoma owner and so they can clear out a path for me to drag it out of there.

  I will keep you informed. I'm having trouble uploading pictures so I'm gonna' submit this and work the pictures into the next post in a few minutes.

 

Rick 

 

 

 

  

 

Edited January 28 by B52bombardier1

[B52bombardier1]

And one more try for the pictures.

 

Rick

[64 kiwi boni]

fantastic score Rick 

be great to see it outside in the light !

[JUSTA6]

Awesome find!!!  Great story and a better find. Look forward to watching your resto come together. Thankz for the pic's.