Project Update: Where the ’53 Pontiac Wagon Stands Today

My original plan was to update the blog in small increments, starting from when I first bought the car. Unfortunately, I can’t find many of the photos from the early stages of the project. Because of that, this post will mostly bring things up to where the car sits today.

Before touching anything, I snapped a few photos of the car in my garage. The original engine wasn’t locked up, so I made an attempt to get it running—but no luck. A compression test and a closer inspection confirmed it would need a full rebuild. I never really planned on keeping the original drivetrain anyway.

The next set of photos shows the removal of the factory drivetrain, along with the frame being cleaned and painted. While I had everything apart, I went ahead and rebuilt the entire brake system as well.

The engine I’m using now is a 1955 Pontiac 287 that I pulled from a ’55 Star Chief. It was a good-running engine when I removed it from a car that had been parked since the early 1980s. I tore it down and freshened it up with all new seals and gaskets. For the transmission, I’m using a 1956 Pontiac “Strato-Flight” Hydra-Matic—the first year Pontiac offered a true “Park” position. The driveshaft is also from the ’55 Star Chief and happened to be the correct length, but because of the swap to the Strato-Flight transmission, I’ll need to have the yoke replaced with the correct 1956–57 style.

The engine is painted the correct original color – it can be found on Bill Hirsch’s website.

The valve covers are 1957 Pontiac – one year only scripted valve covers.

Here’s the most recent engine bay picture I have. The air cleaner is on the wrong side because I took the photo before I adjusted the power steering hoses so I could put it on correctly.

I’ve also completely rewired the car using a Rebel 12-volt wiring harness. I’ve installed these harnesses on several other cars and they’ve always worked out great. In fact, I already have another one set aside for my 1952 Pontiac when I eventually get back to that project.

Here’s how the car sits currently. It’s pretty clear—from the first photos to now—that a lot of additional work happened in between. Unfortunately, without photos, those stages are hard to show in detail. From this point forward, I’ll continue posting updates as I make further progress on the project.

If anyone sees anything in the pictures that I didn’t mention, but you have questions on.. Leave a comment below.