I have two full size 1966 Pontiacs four-door rides.  My wife's is a 66 Bonneville four-door hardtop and mine is a 66 Star Chief Executive four-door sedan.  I got the Bonneville to be a parts car for my Star Chief but well we all know how that goes lol.

 

AANNNNNNYYYWAYS ... Has anybody converted their full size 65-66 Pontiac (or any years other I guess) from a column shifter to a floor shifter AND kept the bench seat up front?

I'm thinking about finding a center console and cutting it short so it sits between the dash and the front bench seat.

Edited December 11, 20241 yr by TheOldBeater
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On 12/12/2024 at 10:51 AM, TheOldBeater said:

I have two full size 1966 Pontiacs four-door rides.  My wife's is a 66 Bonneville four-door hardtop and mine is a 66 Star Chief Executive four-door sedan.  I got the Bonneville to be a parts car for my Star Chief but well we all know how that goes lol.

 

AANNNNNNYYYWAYS ... Has anybody converted their full size 65-66 Pontiac (or any years other I guess) from a column shifter to a floor shifter AND kept the bench seat up front?

I'm thinking about finding a center console and cutting it short so it sits between the dash and the front bench seat.

Not sure if your 66 is the same as my 64 

but on my column you have the shift indicator and inhibitor switch , so changing to floor shift you would have to deal with them , I don’t see why that can’t be sorted 👍

you would have a turbo 400 trans so a aftermarket shifter kit  would be a easy way to deal with it 

and you wouldn’t need to chop a consul 

 

7 hours ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

Not sure if your 66 is the same as my 64 

but on my column you have the shift indicator and inhibitor switch , so changing to floor shift you would have to deal with them , I don’t see why that can’t be sorted 👍

you would have a turbo 400 trans so a aftermarket shifter kit  would be a easy way to deal with it 

and you wouldn’t need to chop a consul 

 

I'm actually currently building a 4L80E to swap in that way I can run some 4.11 - 4.30 ish rear gears and be able to cruise at highway (not Autobahn) speeds and not have 5000 RPMs sucking fuel.   My rear tires are 31” tall and that much rear gear will help turn them ....

 

Edited December 14, 20241 yr by TheOldBeater

..... Yeah the rear tires are 31” tall ... 31”tall and 18.5" WIDE!!!!

31x18.5-15 to be exact 

#wideload #steamroller #thiccboi #meaty

As Trump would say ... YUGE!!!

Tucked in their nicely 

awwwwwww! nice 

What motor then ? 

This car still has the original 389 in it and according to the odometer it should have around 65,000 miles on it.  It's a very healthy motor when I tested the compression leak down test and oil pressure it's all just a under what it would have been new from the factory. Despite this motor being in great shape it is coming out but don't fret.  I'll be putting it in my wife's 1966 Bonneville that currently has a 1970 400 short block with 68 heads.  Her motor is quite tired and worn out.  It consumes gratuitous amounts of oil and is missing the AC compressor.  My 389 still has the AC compressor and both of our cars are AC cars.  

 

I plan on driving my car quite a bit and as everybody here is aware sometimes it can be difficult to finding classic Pontiac motor parts at your regular AutoZone or O'Reilly's parts stores.  If a water pump goes out or a oil pan hits something and cracks and I'm on a road trip I don't want to be stuck for a day or two waiting on parts to show up.

When considering that I think everybody would agree that big block Chevy parts are much more plentiful and easier to locate.

I'm currently building a 540 big block Chevy to go in my car.  Not a race car engine but more of a focus on mid to low range torque production.  ... I'm not getting hung up on certain power numbers that I want to make but from what I'm reading the combination I'm putting together should make a round 750 horsepower and around 700 ft lb of torque at the flywheel.  Maybe just a little more depending on camshaft selection.  

 

.....

And if for some reason this torque monster power plant doesn't make this land yacht coot around quick enough and it's still feels lethargic I'm going to leave enough piston Ring gap in the for a 300-400 shot of nitrous.  I can't wait to see the shock on the face that new Corvette Camaro or mustang that pulls up next to me wanting a taste of the action.  

Edited December 14, 20241 yr by TheOldBeater

Yip 

that will certainly push the girl along 

Edited December 14, 20241 yr by 64 kiwi boni

From the factory these titanics would run low 17s in the quarter mile but if I can get a mid to low 13 that's going to feel like Warp drive in something so big with bench seats and no seat belts

10 hours ago, TheOldBeater said:

From the factory these titanics would run low 17s in the quarter mile but if I can get a mid to low 13 that's going to feel like Warp drive in something so big with bench seats and no seat belts

that would be very cool mate !! even my 72 camaro with its stock 350 will only do mid 15s allllll day 

it sounds like fun to me !!!

they have a super strong diff so easy build 

The factory rear axle is actually quite strong you are correct.   But again for the same reason I'm putting a big block Chevy under the hood I swapped in a Ford 9-in rear axle.  There's so much aftermarket support for that rear end it was a pretty easy choice to chop one of those up versus the factory axle. ... Plus I like the ability to be able to put in a cruising highway gear and then if I'm feeling frisky in about half an hour I can have a completely different gear ratio swapped into it for party time