Pontiac Holy Grail for sale

[Bonnewagon]

I have about six Pontiac V-8 engines stashed. From an NOS 301 short block from a Buick dealership, a 301 Turbo, a 1976 455, to a 1968 400HO/RA out of a GTO. The 400 has four bolt mains. I am working on my 1968 Firebird convertible and I can't decide what to use. It is driving me crazy!

 

[Longroof79]

I have about six Pontiac V-8 engines stashed. From an NOS 301 short block from a Buick dealership, a 301 Turbo, a 1976 455, to a 1968 400HO/RA out of a GTO. The 400 has four bolt mains. I am working on my 1968 Firebird convertible and I can't decide what to use. It is driving me crazy!

Mark,
The 400 cu in powerplant would be a nice fit in the Firebird, unless it would be more valuable to someone with an original '68 GTO. I remember driving my neighbors '67 Firebird convertible back in the day( in Brooklyn). It had the 326 in it.

I recently saw an E-type Jaguar on Bring A Trailer. It had a Pontiac OHC sprint 6 in it. I thought that was kinda cool, but weird.

 

[ssn696]

I saved a Buick 455. Found a NOS timing cover. Need a flywheel to max out all the options. One day I’ll find a car for it.

 

[JAMCAR223]

Definitely. I do too. Believe me, if I had stupid money I'd buy that mother up in a second and build it a shrine in my garage.

You already have a shrine in your garage 🤣

 

[ck80]

I have about six Pontiac V-8 engines stashed. From an NOS 301 short block from a Buick dealership, a 301 Turbo, a 1976 455, to a 1968 400HO/RA out of a GTO. The 400 has four bolt mains. I am working on my 1968 Firebird convertible and I can't decide what to use. It is driving me crazy!

There's a guy a couple hours away that used to have a couple of the OHC inlines from the first gen birds. Being an old inline kinda guy I've always been partial to those, oddball that they are.

Wonder if he still has em for sale...

 

[Bonnewagon]

Jack, my original 1968 Firebird hardtop was the OHC6. It was not your average straight six. Loads of torque, yet high revving, and the light weight made the front end very responsive. In fact when I swapped in a 350 it was not faster. It took a 400 to outperform the OHC6. Their downfall was the "hydraulic valve lash adjusters" which were a blind-hole type of lifter. With no oil exit hole they gunked up and caused valve train tick. That was very annoying. The top of the line was the SPRINT option version with a Q-jet, split exhaust, and a 4-speed. They have a cult following and are pretty rare. I am leaning towards using the 400 HO as it is an actual '68 engine. i would need some big valve low compression heads for it. I have a couple of sets but they are missing the end exhaust bolt holes. That is a peculiarity on the '71-'72 heads. I also have a couple of sets of the '67-'69 RA/HO cast iron exhaust header manifolds and I would need the end bolt holes to make those work.

 

[Gonzo1970]

Pontiac holy grail?

Damn... and here I was hoping to see a stock 1972 Trans Am 455 4 Speed. 🙂

-Gonz

 

[Bonnewagon]

1972 Trans Am 455 4 Speed.

Not a 1973 SUPER DUTY 455 Trans AM 4 speed? In early '73 I was in Fort Jackson SC and a guy in my platoon was drooling over that one. He was trying to figure what and how many years he had to volunteer for to get enough in sign-up bonuses to afford one. He was a draftee but I think he liked the idea of an Army career. He figured he could bonus his way on up to the full price.

 

[olds307 and 403]

Jack, my original 1968 Firebird hardtop was the OHC6. It was not your average straight six. Loads of torque, yet high revving, and the light weight made the front end very responsive. In fact when I swapped in a 350 it was not faster. It took a 400 to outperform the OHC6. Their downfall was the "hydraulic valve lash adjusters" which were a blind-hole type of lifter. With no oil exit hole they gunked up and caused valve train tick. That was very annoying. The top of the line was the SPRINT option version with a Q-jet, split exhaust, and a 4-speed. They have a cult following and are pretty rare. I am leaning towards using the 400 HO as it is an actual '68 engine. i would need some big valve low compression heads for it. I have a couple of sets but they are missing the end exhaust bolt holes. That is a peculiarity on the '71-'72 heads. I also have a couple of sets of the '67-'69 RA/HO cast iron exhaust header manifolds and I would need the end bolt holes to make those work.

There is a guy who has a straight 6 73 Omega that the block cracked. He found an Sprint OHC 6 did a total rebuild with the 3 on the tree, cool as hell. Pontiac's attention to exhaust manifolds is a definite advantage over a make like Olds. A 68 400 should provide many smiles.

 

[Gonzo1970]

Not a 1973 SUPER DUTY 455 Trans AM 4 speed? In early '73 I was in Fort Jackson SC and a guy in my platoon was drooling over that one. He was trying to figure what and how many years he had to volunteer for to get enough in sign-up bonuses to afford one. He was a draftee but I think he liked the idea of an Army career. He figured he could bonus his way on up to the full price.

The '72 was the auto workers strike year.. only like.. 400 of them made, if memory serves.

-Gonz