Old guy44

So my "new" '63 catalina convertible is now in my driveway, 43,000 original miles! As one would expect for a car of that vintage which has spent a good share of its life sucking unleaded fuel the engine needs some serious help. It is presently the two barrel 389 single exhaust. While I have built numerous Chevy's and the occasional Ford I have never built a Pontiac. I overhauled a ton of them as I was doing it professionally up until 1977. As this car will be a daily driver the engine will be built for economy not performance. Does anyone out there know what compression ratio I can run and still use regular fuel? Also I am considering using an edelbrock throttle body injection, my thought is that it has much better fuel control than a carburetor. Has anyone tried one and how does it work? I am open to any suggestions as I am in unfamiliar territory here. I was going to find a 700R4 and put it behind the 389 but the "slim jim" still shifts great so the R4 can wait. I had forgotten how well those actually shifted new until the wrong person overhauled it the first time and over-torqued all the bolts tweaking the case.

https://classiccarbrokeringservices.shutterfly.com/6456 There are a ton of pictures of the car on this link. It won't be here until Friday so I don't have any of my own.

Good Morning, Brand new to the forum. I have a '63 Catalina convertible on a transport, will be here this coming Friday. This is one of those rare survivors, 42,000 original miles been garaged its entire life. The story of the older couple that only drove it to church on Sunday, this is the car! It came from Indiana so apparently A/C was not an issue however I live in So. Cal so A/C is not an option. I was assuming that I could take out the existing heater and replace it with an A/C inner and outer unit and then work with aftermarket compressor, condensor, etc. but apparently this is not the case with a '63. From what research I have done I need to cut out a section of the firewall and replace it with a firewall from an A/C car. THERE WILL BE NO CUTTING AND WELDING ON THIS CAR! So I need to explore other options. Has anyone been through this? Obviously I do not want an under dash unit but would rather install the factory dash outlets when, or if I can find them. I can probably fit a vintage air or hurricane unit up behind the dash but do not have the car so do not know for sure if there is room. As my wife will not get into the car when the sun is up until the dash outlets are spitting snow this is an important issue. I am open to all suggestions. I did a forum search and did not find anything, so if it is there I apologize for revisiting the issue. On another issue I will be attempting to retain as much of the original period look as possible. Was there ever a rallye style wheel for the Pontiac? I will be doing a 4 wheel disc brake conversion, driving in L.A. traffic I need to be able to stop this tank, so the 8 lug option is out unless someone knows something I don't.

Just joining in. I have a '63 Catalina convertible on a transport, should be here Thursday or Friday. I will be picking brains as I have never owned a Pontiac. I have built many Chevy's and even the occasional Ford (but most were Chevy powered). The indian is a survivor, 42,000 original miles been garaged its entire life, how many of you have seen an acrylic steering wheel without a crack in it lately?. It will be my daily driver, probably the last personal car I will ever own. As I live in So Cal A/C is not an option and apparently to install a factory air will require replacing a section of the firewall which is not going to happen on this car so will need to explore other options but that is another thread. I very much look forward to "chatting" with all of you over the course of the build. Dwight