TWO LANE BLACK TOP

Great looking car...Welcome to the site...

Looks like Frosty pretty much has it covered... Are you going with a Big block...Turbo 400 combo...Or a small block Turbo 350 and/or R 700 combo...?? As those different combos can present their own individual problems...As far as positioning everything in the proper place (crossmember location, drive shaft length...Which trans yoke to use...weather or not the trans is a manual kickdown or an electric lockdown switch....What color gears to use in the trans to calibrate the speedometer...Power steering hoses...ETC..) Unless you have a donor car.....By the time that you locate and aquire all the correct parts.....Plus the details We haven't thought of yet...To do a properly engineered swap.... It might be just as economically viable if not more so...To redo the original Pontiac engine....Then just bolt it right back in.....

Don't see too many Hardtop 4th gens around...231 engines can make some good power with the right combination of parts... Completely understand the sentimental value....Have had my birds for over 20 years......

Hate the wheels....Like the car.......

Perhaps we were all beamed up to another alternative dimension....And both the photos are correct..... Star Trek...Episode..#33....Mirror Mirror...Oct.1967....

The way to positively.....ID a 1980 pace car.....The second digit in the VIN....Will be an X.... 2W87TAN100001 2= Pontiac 2nd digit=Firebird body series (S= base...T= Esprit.....U= Formula...W= Trans Am....X= Indy Pace car)... 87 = 2 door coupe... T= engine code...(A=3.8....W= 4.9....Y= 4.9....T= 4.9 turbo....H = 5.0)... A= model year...1980.. N = Assembly plant...(N= Norwood....L = Van Nuys 100001= sequence number... The 4.9 turbo charged engine was NOT Available in California.....and used one of the other two 4.9s...( One of the 4.9s and the 4.9 turbo were 49 state engines....and the other one was used in California only.... Not sure which one is which )...It's possible but unlikely that the 5.0 (LG4) could have been used in California pace cars also.....There were no manual transmission.... Firebirds and/ or Trans Ams made in1980.... The pace car decals..... Indy or ( Daytona 1981).....Came separately in the trunk....With the cars and could be dealer installed....If so desired by the owner.... Hope this helps you out.....Welcome to the site...

The Opti Spark on a LT1 can be troublesome Especially the unvented units 1994 and earlier....Before you rush out and buy one...Pull the cap off of it and look at it real close 3 or 4 different times in different kinds of light ...Inside and out...Use a magnifying glass if necessary.....Pay special attention to the area around where the coil wire plugs into the cap and the area around where the wire harness plugs into it....Alot of times a hairline crack will develop in those areas and can be almost impossible too detect and/or see...And will cause intermittent drivability issues....Also pay close attention to the coil wire itself on the end where it plugs into the unit...Make sure it is not dry rotted and/or brittle.....One other thing while the cap is off make sure that it is absolutely clean inside the unit...Have seen some with little flecks of some sort minuscule crap inside that would move around occasionly with the rotor and briefly interrupt the signal between the optic laser light sensor and the optic disc...Anyway look closely at those things first... If you do wind up replacing the whole unit....Spend the extra money and get an OEM AC Delco part..... Stay away from Auto parts store Chinese stuff...Also if I'm not mistaken MSD makes a kit (or used to) that allows you convert an unvented unit to a vented one....

Welcome to the site great looking old wagon... Noticed you said that the straight 8 engine was seized up.....Was it seized due to a mechanical failure or just rusted (rings to the bores..possibly from moisture over the years...??) The reason I ask is....Years ago my dad came up with an old Cadillac (1949) that had been sitting in an old shed for years and the engine was locked up...So what we did was use a process called electrolysis...Basically what we did was reverse the oxidation process using a car battery and charger and an electrolyte made out of water and washing soda (sodium bicarbonate) If I remember correctly he used right at one tablespoon of washing soda to one gallon of water...So we pulled the engine out of the car and removed the intake manifold..valve covers...water pump...oil pan.... timing cover ... freeze plugs ETC...Then submerged the engine in a plastic kids wading pool large enough to completely get the whole engine underwater then added the washing soda to the water and mixed it up really good so as to be sure it did not clump up....Then from the 12 volt car battery using jumper cables hooked the ground to the engine block which turned it into a cathode....Then we used a piece of steel rebar as an anode which we hooked the positive cable to the hot side of the battery then submerged the rebar in the solution placing it real close to but not touching the engine block with about 6 inches or so sticking up above the water level where the positive lead was hooked to....The rebar will be consumed during the process so you would need to keep an eye on it and replace as necessary...so that the positive cable does not become submerged into the electrolyte solution...It is a slow process took about three weeks to clean and derust the Caddy engine...It worked really well and when it was done...We rolled it over by hand with very little effort...The black powder residue that was left on the engine came right off with stiff brush...Then the engine was quite easily disassembled any wearable parts replaced reinstalled in the car and was driven across country to Seattle from North Carolina and back with no issues.....I am sure that I have missed a few details as this was 30 some years ago..... Electrolysis Might be something worthwhile to check into if you want to reuse the original engine......Good luck with your project and keep us posted..... TLBT

As the owner of a rare Pontiac myself...... I'm a realist and know that rare also means.... Unpopular and/or Undesirable.....Which in the car world means it's not really worth anything except to maybe a very very narrow group of people if at all.....Bottom line is...It's only worth what someone is willing to pay for it and how bad they want it.....Don't see that car as being anywhere close to being $95000.00 desirable.....

Welcome to the sight...Really dig the wagons....

Damn that sucks....At least if you're going to have a failure it's better to be close to home rather than 500 miles away.....When the water pump belt came off it probably heated up quickly and you noticed it in a fairly short order.....Pontiac engines are pretty resilient and tough....So more than likely the engine will be OK...Once all the belts are reinstalled and properly aligned.....Enjoy the rest of your trip...... One other thing....If the Hatfields and the Mcoys decide to start feuding again while you're there....Align yourself with the Hatfields as they are distant cousins of Mrs. Two Lane.......

Welcome.... Dig the flames...

Having another beautiful N.C weekend .....Just put an engine (4.155 bore....3.48 stroke with 5.7 rods = 377 CID) together for one of my friend's truck .....Built the 377 instead of a 383 just to be different......Also first one that I have built with this combination .....First startup after installation....Hope to surprise a few unsuspecting individuals once we get it quieted down and play with the tuning a little bit.....Now it's Miller time... 20190922_145657.mp4

Really like the wagon...Very cool....

Every dog has its day....Sooner or later......Karma has a way of sneaking up....When you least expect it......