62 Catalina engine question

[eklypse99]

Needing to get my 62 Catalina running and cant afford to have the motor rebuilt right now. Was told that pretty much any Pontiac V8 out of the 60s and 70s would pretty much bolt right in. Found a 400 out of a 76 Firebird that was running 3 days ago that Im gonna try and trade my motorcycle for. So my question is, will it bolt to my trans and mounts without much trouble?

 

[melsg5]

sounds like you may need a motor mount adaptor

http://www.wallaceracing.com/enginesearch4.htm

 

[cammerjeff]

The early Pontiac V-8's (pre 1965) can be more work replacing the engine with a later model. The starter was attached to the Transmission until at least 1963 (I have never owned a 64 Full size car so have no 1st hand experience with them, but my 63 Bonne had it trans mounted, and my 65 had it block mounted) So starter mounting can be an issue, also if you get a later engine make sure you get all the accessory mounting brackets with it as they change drasticly over the years, and some Block/Heads do not have the needed mounting holes for the brackets.
And avoid 67-69 Firebird V-8's as they do not have the needed motor mount holes drilled and tapped in the block, any full size 1965-75 or 65-75 Midsize or 1970-75 Firebird engines would be your best bet. But all may require the transmission to be swapped as well. And this may not be a bad thing as the TH-350 or 400 are stronger, lighter and cheaper to rebuild than the stock 4-speed Turbo Hydromatic or Slim Jim trans you car came with.

 

[GruntedCatalina]

The early Pontiac V-8's (pre 1965) can be more work replacing the engine with a later model. The starter was attached to the Transmission until at least 1963 (I have never owned a 64 Full size car so have no 1st hand experience with them, but my 63 Bonne had it trans mounted, and my 65 had it block mounted) So starter mounting can be an issue, also if you get a later engine make sure you get all the accessory mounting brackets with it as they change drasticly over the years, and some Block/Heads do not have the needed mounting holes for the brackets.
And avoid 67-69 Firebird V-8's as they do not have the needed motor mount holes drilled and tapped in the block, any full size 1965-75 or 65-75 Midsize or 1970-75 Firebird engines would be your best bet. But all may require the transmission to be swapped as well. And this may not be a bad thing as the TH-350 or 400 are stronger, lighter and cheaper to rebuild than the stock 4-speed Turbo Hydromatic or Slim Jim trans you car came with.

awesome info. My catalina already has a TH-400 into it already and was mulling over what motors I could put in!

hey op! what did you end up doing? pictures? sharings caring!