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61-63

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Posts posted by 61-63

  1. I have a '63 Pontiac Catalina that I am finishing up as a 421 Super Duty tribute car.  If was built as a 2bbl automatic run of the mill car but will, by the time I am done, hopefully this summer, have all of the "correct" components that a 421SD car would have had when assembled by PMD in 1963.

     

    Can a car like this be entered in class 36a (I think that is the right class?) in an AACA meet?

  2. I see better now and my '63 Pontiac wasn't that bad.  That car still could be saved IMO but seeing the completely rusted out area in the arch over the rear end a person would need to take the car off the frame, weld patches in the frame in ?? places and otherwise restore the frame, and then put the body back on.  That would be a good car for a hobbyist to do but if paying a restoration shop to do it you would probably never get your money back.

     

    At your asking price though I would be interested if I were into that year and model Buick.  Too bad the underside got that raunchy.  Thanks for the additional pictures.

  3. I would have to see more pictures of the underside of the car but from what I can see in the pictures that you posted I would tend to agree with filbily.  I've got a '63 Catalina that looked almost that bad underneath and after cleaning it up, welding a couple of patches in,OSPHOing and priming it, it turned out to be a solid car.

     

    Looks like someone with the ability and time to put some effort into that car may get a deal here.

  4. bosco001 the questions you posed in your initial post follow, with my answers below each.  I do not consider myself an expert but have been in the Pontiac hobby awhile and have restored a couple of 60s Pontiacs and been to quite a few POCI Nationals, Ames Tripower Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, and several auctions.  I helped judge at POCI a couple of years but that was on early 60s big cars.

     

    1. with a $49,900 asking price, am I nuts to expect the car to be perfectly correct?

     

    Asking price and "correctness" can be completely unrelated to one another.  A high quality street rodded car that is completely incorrect can sell for multiples of a 100% correct original that is

    badly deteriorated and/or a 100% correct restoration that was poorly done.

     

    2. BTW, is it proper for the LeMans nameplates on the rear fenders to be attached with rivets/fasteners that pop thru the truck walls?

     

    I didn't watch the entire video but the "correct" quarter panel nameplates would have studs that go through the trunk walls, with nuts spun onto them.  No rivets though.

     

    3. Was a simple trunk liner not even available?

     

    Every Pontiac of that era would have come with a trunk mat.  I would have to look at '67 PMD reference materials to know if the higher end GTO and LeMans models also had additional

    cardboard trunk interior components.

     

    4. Which leads me to: "Who spends that much restoring a LeMans"?

     

    There ARE 60s Tempests and LeMans that have been 100% concours restored to a high quality but not many; simply because the person who commisioned the restoration wil probably not

    get their investment back in this lifetime.

    5.  I'm just trying to figure out if this is a car I want to consider. Knowing just exactly what it is (or what it's trying to be) would be a good start.

     

    I would not recommend that anyone spend anywhere near the asking price for that car unless it is exactly how they would want one done up, just the way it is, and they accept before they buy that they are more than likely never going to get their money back.  It would not be a "good start" for you IMO because it is already way over priced for someone with concerns about "correctness", which you seem to have, and anything additional that is done to the car after the initial purchase will just put you deeper in the hole.

     

    FYI you can get a very nice, 100% correct, real GTO convertible for what they are asking for that car, or very nice, 100% correct, Tempest or LeMans convertibles for far less.  If you do not belong to POCI or GTOAA I would recommend you join them and watch the for sale ads in their magazines each month.  Or start going to the many auctions that occur all over the country each year and you will run across numerous, and nicely done/or maintained, mid 60s A body Pontiacs.  You can register with the big auction houses and see what will be going across the block before each auction.  Or just buy the big Hemmings and follow up on the ads placed by individuals.

  5. Posts #17 and #20 are good starts.  Take lots of pictures as you tear down and as post #20 says mark stuff so you put the components back on in their correct locations and correct orientations.  As you go there are no "stupid" questions so keep coming back here or to the Buick forums and ask before you leap if you are not sure.  It would be good if you could find a mentor like the guys who put in posts #17 and 20.  I don't know if anyone said it above but buy the factory chassis book for the year of car you are working as it will have all of the torque values for every component on/in the engine and pretty much the sequence of tearing it down and putting it back together; and ditto for just about everything everything on the car such as the transmission, rear end,  starter, generator/alternator, etc.  Buy a good torque wrench because it is critical to reassemble everything internal to the engine with correct torque.  You will also need measuring tools such as dial calipers.

    I check everything the machine shop did when I get stuff back and you should also; machinists are human.  Ditto the comment on Eastwood's products.

  6. You do not say how old you are or what your experience level is in terms of working on old cars, but I would say buy a completed car if you have the resources.  You can enjoy a completed car immediately where a project will take months if not years to complete and lots of money.  There is also the chance you will lose interest in a project part way through and give up most of your investment just to get rid of the thing.

  7. johnny53 I agree with you.  You asked a simple question it is too bad someone didn't just answer it.  You see people come in on a board and ask something like "who makes the best single stage black paint?" and instead of getting their question answered fifteen know-it-alls chime in telling them they don't want single stage, or they should paint their car red, or why did they buy a car that needed paint in the first place, or which gun to but or tip to shoot with, blah, blah, blah.

     

    If you want to put a floor shift in your car go for it!

    • Like 1
  8. I second what Matt Harwood said. I don't have a '62 Olds but have/have had several slimjim '61-'63 big Pontiacs with that trans and there is a rod on them from the lower throttle arm on the carb to an idler which then has a rod that goes down to the side of the trans. If that rod were adjusted too short the Pontiacs would do exactly what this Olds is doing.

  9. '2007 Kearney 20' steel floor flatbed car hauler with rock guard and tool/strap chest. 3500# axles with brakes. All new bearings and four new Maxxis tires installed in early September just

    before the '61 Bonneville shown in the pictures was hauled from SE Texas to Jim Mott Restorations in Kimberly, Idaho on the trailer. The trailer could use a coast of paint but is a solid, good, trailer and I have hauled big Pontiacs all over the U.S. with it. Clear Texas title. A brand new one without the rock guard and chest is $2600 before taxes but it will not have Maxxis tires. This is my trailer and rather than going out to Idaho to haul it back home, or paying someone else to do it, I thought I would try to sell it for $2750. My name is John and my number is 409-767-0369.

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  10. We bought a used Haulmark and I want to re-caulk some areas; most notably the area where the front aluminum trim piece separates the vertical front surface from the top cap and then where the front diamond plate and the surface above it meet. And then I want to buy a jack in case I ever get a flat. On the jack I was thinking about one of the three ton quick pump aluminum jobs.

    Can anyone offer advice on either of these subjects?

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