{"id":108,"date":"2025-11-27T17:07:56","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T17:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pontiacchieftain.com\/blog\/?p=108"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:36:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:36:07","slug":"project-update-where-the-53-pontiac-wagon-stands-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pontiacchieftain.com\/blog\/project-update-where-the-53-pontiac-wagon-stands-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Update: Where the \u201953 Pontiac Wagon Stands Today"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bringing the Project Up to Date<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My original plan was to document this project in small increments, starting from the day I brought the car home. Unfortunately, I haven\u2019t been able to locate many of the early photos. Because of that, this post will focus on bringing everything up to where the car sits today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As It Sat \u2014 Day One<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before turning a single wrench, I snapped a few photos of the car sitting in my garage. The original engine wasn\u2019t locked up, so I made an attempt to get it running\u2014but no luck. A compression test and further inspection confirmed it would require a full rebuild. Since I never really planned on keeping the original drivetrain, that made the decision easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Drivetrain Removal & Chassis Work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The next stage involved removing the factory drivetrain. With everything apart, I cleaned and painted the frame and took the opportunity to completely rebuild the brake system. It made sense to handle it all while access was easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The New Drivetrain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The engine I\u2019m using now is a 1955 Pontiac 287 pulled from a \u201955 Star Chief. It was a good-running engine when removed from a car that had been parked since the early 1980s. I tore it down and freshened it up with new seals and gaskets throughout.<\/p>\n\n

For the transmission, I\u2019m running a 1956 Pontiac \u201cStrato-Flight\u201d Hydra-Matic\u2014the first year Pontiac offered a true \u201cPark\u201d position. The driveshaft is also from the \u201955 Star Chief and happened to be the correct length. However, because of the swap to the Strato-Flight transmission, I\u2019ll need to replace the yoke with the correct 1956\u201357 style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The engine is painted in the correct original color, sourced from Bill Hirsch Automotive<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

The valve covers are 1957 Pontiac \u2014 one-year-only scripted covers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current Engine Bay<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is the most recent engine bay photo I have. The air cleaner is on the wrong side in this shot \u2014 I took the photo before adjusting the power steering hoses so it could be installed correctly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Electrical System<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I completely rewired the car using a Rebel 12-volt wiring harness<\/a>. I\u2019ve installed these harnesses on several other cars and have always had great results. In fact, I already have another one set aside for my 1952 Pontiac when I get back to that project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How It Sits Today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s how the car sits currently. It\u2019s pretty clear\u2014from the first garage photos to now\u2014that a lot of additional work happened in between. Unfortunately, without photos, those stages are difficult to show in detail.<\/p>\n\n

From this point forward, I\u2019ll continue posting updates as progress continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you notice anything in the photos that I didn\u2019t mention and have questions about, feel free to leave a comment below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bringing the Project Up to Date My original plan was to document this project in small increments, starting from the day I brought the car home. Unfortunately, I haven\u2019t been able to locate many of the early photos. Because of that, this post will focus on bringing everything up to where the car sits today. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daves-1953-pontiac-wagon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pontiacchieftain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pontiacchieftain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pontiacchieftain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pontiacchieftain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pontiacchieftain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.pontiacchieftain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":172,"href":"https:\/\/www.pontiacchieftain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108\/revisions\/172"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pontiacchieftain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pontiacchieftain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pontiacchieftain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pontiacchieftain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}