I’d love to see a pic of the Studebaker with the Pontiac, that is the very definition of hot rodding.
. A friend is putting a 413 Mopar in a similar Studebaker.
The 71 Formula with the LT4 looks like a masterpiece build. No way would I throw stones at someone efforts on a car like that. That will be quite a car when it’s done.
I can’t throw stones anyway, for the last 30 years we have had a 1970 W-34 455 Olds in our 71 Chevelle. Dad gave my brother and I the Olds as a Christmas present in 1991 too replace the very tired 307. I think you always paint the transplant the factory color (the Olds is painted chevy orange) unless you want more attention. Hood open at the pits people would walk by the Chevelle and ask if it is small block? Lol. It isn’t a big block, so…yep..455 small block……..Olds.
On another site one guys brother had a 75 factory 455 4 speed TA and swapped the 455 and 4 speed out for a turbo 5.3 auto set up. It was running in the low 12s when he did the swap, ran upper 10s low 11s with the turbo 5.3. He was raving about it and said he wished that was what he did, because he wasn’t getting the performance out of his 81 TA after he replaced the 301T with a 6x 455. Neither one were my car, so I don’t care about the 455 to 5.3 swap, but to me the swap to the 5.3 from the 12 second 455 4 speed was odd. I don’t know the back story, maybe he had trouble with it. Not something I would do.
If the car didn’t have a Pontiac anyway, like many late second gen Firebird’s, early 70’s Ventura’s, and those Canadian cars, too me, if there are nothing special for power plants, those make great candidates for LS swaps, but at least hide the coils and get them off the valve covers so it looks nice.
I guy near me is working on a 6.0 LS in a black tee top 78 TA. We visited about it, over the years he has had many 403 and SBC firebirds, so, no history with Pontiacs, going Pontiac doesn’t make his radar at all. No history with the original engine platform is a common ingredient for a LS swap in GM cars and Mopar late model Hemi swaps in older mopars. Same deal.
Richard Guido’s 65 GTO is still my poster child car when someone want’s to bring up their “superior LS, BBC or SBC” swap in a Pontiac. Well into the 8.0s with a stick, around 160 mph. Well over 20MPG on his long 3000 mile road trips for drag week and sick week. Not everyone gets to be Richard Guido!