New project showed up for Modernization...…. Judy and Jeff's 1955 Pontiac Station Wagon.... A little background on the car....The car was purchased some years ago with a small block Chevy engine and trans for power...…. However it did not have A/C or power steering and since this is Judy's car it was a handful for her to drive...… and since they want to travel the country and enjoy Life...…. Well …… We are going to fix that...…They already added Disc Brakes and a 9" ford rear end...….. We will be adding a GM Connect and Cruise LS3 480hp/ 4L70E engine and trans assy along with Power Steering, new tilt column, A/C and rewiring the car and some interior sheet metal repairs...…..And whatever else pops up along the way....Anyhow here are some pic's to start the build thread....
So…… The first thing that needed to be fixed was to install the new power steering box…….The new box will need the mounting holes modified in the frame for mounting the modern box conversion……… And as Luck would have it the Stock Pitman Arm spline was different from the first box we tried……… Gonna use a GM 605 box next as in a previous swap thread by others it was noted that the Spline in the 605 box is the same as the stock Pitman arm……. Thought we would try with a better box than the 605 but that didn’t work out too well…. Won’t be the last time things didn’t go according to plan…..
Got the #605 box today…… Pitman arm and the box have the same splines...... Amazingly two of the stock frame bolt holes lined up perfectly ……. I will just need to add 1 hole for mounting...… Got Lucky.....Aftermarket steering column on order along with universal joints allowing for any slight mis-alignment......and after getting the box mounted it looks like we will have room for Headers if required........
The frame is not similar to the normal 55-57 Chevy Frames...… The box is now permanetly.in place...… The upper two mount holes lined up and I was going to drill a 3/4" hole thru the frame and weld in a piece of round rod with a bolt hole in it for the third bolt......After I started drilling the hole with a smaller size drill I noticed there was a frame gusset in the frame....... Ended up I just drilled the hole thru to suit the mounting bolt and everything cleared perfectly right next to the gusset so there was no need to weld the tubing in for support...... Too simple...… Just had to shim the box out about an 1/8" to clear interference between the box and the frame...…..
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
1955 Pontiac LS upgrade
Linear Mode
