Glen-L.com

Anyone running Pontiac engines for inboards? I'm looking at building my first boat and thinking I might be able to use one of the three Pontiac engines I've got sitting around as an inboard. I'm just not sure if it would be cost effective considering all the other motor options out theres and not sure it will even fit in the hull I'm looking at (Biscayne 18) My smallest CID is a 350. Any Biscayne 18 owners out there, please chime in on what your running.

What other engines do you have ?? We haven't found any 350 manifolds yet ...

Here are some leads for Pontiac parts :

Exhaust Manifolds :


Pontiac Square-Type Exhaust Manifolds
Item Number : 90-720
Engines : 389, 421 & 455 CID 1959-1979 (Except RAM AIR)
http://www.boatdesigns.com/Pontiac-Squa ... /90%2D720/

More info in the Glenwood Catalog. See Page 5.


Bell Housing :


BARR Marine by EDM
Part # : OR-WVDC-65-A
Engines : Pontiac V8, 1965-1978, 326, 389, 400, 350, 428 and 455 CID
http://www.marineparts.com/mpf/mpf301.aspx

Osco Marine
Part # : BT
Engines : 301-455 1964-up
http://www.marineparts.com/osco/osco60.aspx


You can also adapt a Chevy Velvet Drive bell housing to your Pontiac engine block :


Buick, Cadillac, Oldsmobile, Pontiac engines to Chevy Transmission adapter
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TCI-230001/

Velvet Drive Cast Aluminum Bell Housing - Chevy
Item Number : 90781
http://www.boatdesigns.com/Velvet-Drive ... /90%2D781/

The only Biscayne entry in Customer Photos is for Bob Perkins Biscayne 22. He used a Mercruiser 5.7L Mag MPI Horizon (300 HP).

BISCAYNE 22 by Bob Perkins, Billerica, MA (4-09)

I'm sure that other builders will chime in with their powering choices ...

___________________
Paul Kane Chelsea, PQ

Building the Glen-L Hot Rod : http://www.boats.chelseacoachworks.com

I heard of a Buick 350 that was different from a Chevy 350. But a Pontiac 350? Is that not the same as a chevy 350?

_________________
God Bless our Troops; especially our Snipers

Nope different again as was the Oldsmobile!!!

_________________
Boat building can best be defined as an endless series of
tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a good bottle of beer.

Don't Dream Your Life, Live Your Dream

Only in Canada, eh ?

Quote:
Pontiac began as a adjunct to the Oakland division of the General Motors line of automobiles in 1926. Pontiac successfully competed against more expensive 4 cylinder models with their inline flathead 6 engines. After outselling Oakland, Pontiac became the sole survivor of the two by 1932. In addition to the inline 6, Pontiac also had an inline 8 by 1933. These two engines were used through 1954, when Pontiac unveiled its V8 in 1955. From 1955 to 1981 the Pontiac Division of General Motors manufactured its own engines, distinct from Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, or Oldsmobile. Displacement began at 287 cu in and grew as large as 455 cu.in. (7.5 L) by 1970.

Pontiac engines were used in its U.S.-market cars; Canadian-built Pontiac automobiles generally used Chevrolet engines. From 1955 through 1959, the Pontiac V8 was also used in some GMC pick-up trucks.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_V8_engine

The following link should provide more insight :

Pontiac Engine Decoding

___________________
Paul Kane Chelsea, PQ

Building the Glen-L Hot Rod : http://www.boats.chelseacoachworks.com

Thanks for the info, and I thought this was going to be hard. I know that the plans for the Biscayne 18 call for a 4 cyl of V6 and it may be difficult to find the room in the 18 to fit a block as big and as heavy as a Pontiac but I thought I might try since I have the 3 engines sitting around.

The 350 took over for the venerable 326 in the late 60s and lasted only a couple of years. The nice thing about Pontiac engines is that all the blocks are basiclly the same and will accept any combo of heads, intakes, exhaust manifolds, etc. The CID changes were made by pistion diameter and stroke length. I also have a 400 and 455 but I'm sure they would be way too big for the boat since Pontiac was more concerned with torque than HP. The only real issue that I see would be the oil pan. Somewhere I saw a photo of a Pontiac Marine engine with a upside down trapazoid shape.

just build the bigger boat. ...you will be happy you did as far as handling/performance in bigger conditions and larger cockpit area if that is your engine of choice.
-Billy

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(insert witty phrase here)
Billy's Belle Isle website

We haven't found a marine pan yet, but this one might do :

Milodon Low profile Street/Strip #30355, 7 quart : http://www.jegs.com/i/Milodon/697/30355/10002/-1

Other Leads :

Stock Replacement Oil Pan : http://www.cfrperformance.com/PONTIAC_2 ... z-9337.htm

Milodon Stock Oil Pan #30770, 326-350-389-400-428-455 CID : http://www.jegs.com/i/Milodon/697/30770/10002/-1

Stef's Super Stock Eliminator #1465, #1466, 301-455 CID, 6-8 qts : http://www.stefs.com/catalog/oilpans3-19.pdf (See Page 7, bottom)

... or you can build a custom pan to suit your application :

Hot Rod's custom oil pan. Click here for more details.

We had a lot of fun building the Hot Rod ...

__________________
Paul Kane Chelsea, PQ

Building the Glen-L Hot Rod : http://www.boats.chelseacoachworks.com

Thanks a lot guys! I'll have to ponder this one a bit. Maybe once plans are in hand I might be better able to see if my engines will work in the hull sizewise.

I'm pretty much got my heart set on the smaller Biscayne for a number of reasons. First, with it being my first build, I don't want to "over do it" which I may very well be doing anyway. The second is where I have to work and store the boat. Which brings me to the next question and since this was my post originally I don't feel bad about hijacking it.

How much room do you feel is needed around a build to do I good job and not get frustrated (yes I know, frustration is subjective)? I've been looking at some of the photos on the site and have seen anywhere from small corners of garages, and carports out back to the whole new garages being built. I'm faced with the fact that if I want to build a boat of this size, I may very well need to either build a workshop out back of the house (which I was thinking on doing anyway, well a shed anyway), build in my current 19'3" x 10' garage or modify the basement to allow the back wall of the garage to be brought down to extend the space another 10'.