Neatness

Replaced all of the vacuum hose (picture below shows just a portion of what was removed). Organized, verified, and straightened up the wiring and vacuum lines. Cut,fit, and glued new upper firewall insulation--the previous stuff had disintegrated long ago--with the foil backed type used in racing vehicles. Coolest part was setting the dash pad in place. For the first time since I've owned the car, it looked like a real car (so long as I just stared at the dash). No luck finding a nice enough OEM steering wheel, thinking about a slotted spoke wooden wheel Grant job.

Tale of Two Consoles

Why is it that when you think swapping a clean '64 console for a pitted '63 console, that at first blush look seemingly alike, will be easy, it isn't? Notice the bases to the shifters and shift locations in the console are different, which impacts location of the shift mechanisms and a bunch of other things:

It's always something. 

Anyway, the dash and front of firewall reassembly is moving slowly but surely (the pieces of blue tape everywhere are reminders):

A New Dash

Finally, got to spend a little time putting something together.  About a year ago I removed the dash, disassembled it, acid dipped it, and repainted it.  It was not in good shape--scratched, faded, all the chrome was covered in green corrosion.  The old firewall pad underneath was rotted, so I carefully removed it.  The wiring harness, while complete and in good shape, looked like a hairball underneath.  The attached fuse block was just hanging there.  Good news underneath the pad: looks just as it did when it left the factory.  Even the unpainted metal areas looked like new.  I primed those, and painted them flat black.  I "neatened" up the wiring, and looked for potential problems.  After installing the new firewall pad (purchased at least 3 years ago), and the short sections of wind lace made special for me last Spring by a local interiors guy (the old pieces were dry rotted),  I managed to bolt the dash assembly back into place. Hope to get to the freshened up and nicely painted original tilt steering column next.  It should fit good into the Lares remanufactured steering box peeping through the firewall hole.

Tribute to My 30th High School Reunion

Autumn Summer and a 30th High School Reunion brings this flashback from 1981 (a Concert worth remembering, and I do--different location, of course):
Beyond & Back

And how about another, live on Fridays (remember Fridays?):
I'm Shakin'

And another from Fridays, November 1981:
Runaway Boys

And something from 1979, with Andy, Elvis, and Johnny:
That's When Your Heartaches Begin

Salentine All Pontiac Car Show

Spent the morning with my son checking out the Salentine All Pontiac Car Show (which took the torch from the departed Foster Pontiac) put on by the local GTO Club.  Naturally, the Show was dominated by some spectacular GTO's and, to a lesser extent, Firebirds.  Nice showing of late model GTO's, too. (But don't get me started on GM's decision to shutter the Pontiac brand).  Nonetheless, there were some very nice Darksiders including a survivor '59 Catalina Wagon, two '61 Venturas (one of which was a 425A 4-Speed Tri-Power), a '62 Bonneville, a beautiful '64 Gulfstream Aqua Catalina (which should look like the little sister of my Bonneville whenever it gets back from paint), and a '65 2+2.  Surprisingly, no '63's--some day, I kept thinking.

Song to Drive To

Just because it's still summer and a great time to drive, loved this:  Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside

... and their video: I Swear Video

Last Pile-Up

In an email recently received, it sounds like this year's 10th Annual Hunnert Car Pile Up ( http://www.hunnertcarpileup.com/ ), just a couple of months away, will be the last.  Hats off to the volunteerism and dedication to this event by all involved over the last 10 years. 

Free Beach Boys Concert

Have to give all sorts of credit to those who came up with the idea of providing free admission to the Waukesha County Fair, if you entered into the Car Show on the grounds.  The Car Show yielded at least 100 cars, including the beautiful '57 Pontiac Star Chief above.  Better yet, that admission allowed you to see the Beach Boys for free!  While Mike Love appeared to be lip syncing, it didn't seem to matter to the crowd as he and the younger band went through the set list (actual list above) of great tunes.  Really a wonderful time, and the price was right!

Roy Rogers Bonneville Sold

The contents of Roy Roger's Museum in Branson, Missouri recently went to auction after it closed. Roy's 1963 Custom Bonneville Convertible sold for $254,000. 

Check out this link for pictures of other items offered at the auction: Christies Auction

Roy raced at the Bonneville Salt Flats, nice pictures and links (and an awesome Blog) here: Just a Car Guy Blog

Smokey & Fireball

 Pontiac Legends Smokey Yunick & Fireball Roberts. Check out the FireballRoberts.com link to the right for more great stuff.

Hawthorne, California & the Beach Boys

Great compilation of hard to find Beach Boys stuff, and a '64 Grand Prix on the cover.

Sometimes I Wish Milwaukee Recognized How Cool It Really Was

For Father's Day the family and I went to the Izod Indy 225 at the Milwaukee Mile--Grandma, looking for something to do, came along, too. What a fantastic experience. The stands were less than half full at the start of the race, but exceeded that as the race went along. The race had its share of crashes, action, and speed. It was great! Even Grandma gave it a "9" afterward.

Anyway, I got to talk to a pretty cool guy from MNelson.com who is from Indianapolis. Sounds like he (and they) was the Official Merchandiser for the race (had some pretty great stuff that can be found here: http://281957d.promoshop.com/featuredproduct/index.aspx?DPSV_Id=515716 ). The promoter for the race was also from Indianapolis. I kept asking myself why the Milwaukee, and Wisconsin, community can't get behind this race track--the oldest, and coolest, in the country. I wondered how a guy from Inianapolis could capture the spirit of "The Mile" on his brown and blue vintage-styled shirts (shown on the link above)--really "got it"--while most folks that live here are indifferent. Man, I hope our locals "get it" before "The Mile" is no more. It could be so much more. Which begs the question: Why, with all of the talent in Milwaukee, couldn't someone locally market and promote the place, and the race, better to the community? So what do others think about Milwaukee, while we are indifferent? See this Blurb:

http://motorsportsmarketing.blogspot.com/2010/08/milwaukee-mile-is-great-track-in-great.html

Milwaukee Mile Weekend

With lots of racing at the Mile (something that wasn't so certain just last year) this weekend, here's some great footage from 1955:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J77d1bku020&feature=related

So Who Originally Owned the Grand Prix?

I tracked down who I thought was the original owner of the Grand Prix in California a couple weeks back. Nancy, now in her 80's (although you'd never suspect it talking to her on the phone), remembers the car well. I always sort of assumed that because her name was on the California title, that she was the original owner. It turns out that she bought the car used (my original California title shows it was registered by her on December 24, 1964). She and a girlfriend went to a house in Beverly Hills to buy it from no other than, it turned out, "the Banjo King," Eddie Peabody. "They were very private, and suspicious of us girls," she told me. Eddie was considered by many "the greatest Showman of his time." She remembered that the car was extremely fast, and had great air conditioning. Ultimately, her husband (who had upwards of 30 cars) gave the car to their son. She said she would try to look for pictures--she thought there might be some around. As for Eddie:

Eddie Peabody had a Wisconsin connection--he lived in Madison in the 40's and 50's. Here he is shown with his new Lincoln Continental, receiving the title from Lucien Hanks, General Manager of Kayser Motors, 1501 Monroe Street, Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo from Wisconsin Historical Society).

Eddie's music can be sampled here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_DZPTjVieY

And here's a great history of Captain Edwin Ellsworth Peabody:

http://wn.com/eddie_peabody_the_king_of_the_banjo_,a_picture_video?orderby=published

Historic 41

Very cool that Ol' Historic US 41 is getting the respect and attention it deserves:

http://www.fox6now.com/news/witi-20110602-historic-41,0,5979607.story

Learning the Metal Trade

Spent the night at Greg's learning the fine art of patch panels. Greg's old Chevy truck is the perfect candidate for practice. His buddy Ted is an expert at this stuff, with projects including motorcycles at a large local motorcycle employer--starts with "H." This will certainly help put the replacement trunk in the Grand Prix (obtained from a 1963 California Catalina a couple of years ago, and taking up a great amount of space since arrival). A plasma cutter on loan from cousin Richard is going to be fun to work with.

Just Because

Just because Kenny Wayne Shepard announced an upcoming Pabst Theater performance, and the weather is nice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6N4WbXRu-c&feature=player_embedded

"Pontiacs No More"

Heard a great little tune today on Public Radio called "Pontiacs No More" by a local folk guy named John Stano. Great song, especially the lyrics reminiscing about the '60 Ventura.

http://www.johnstano.com/index.html

A Banjo King Grand Prix

Found out who bought the Grand Prix originally (hint above). More later.

Almost Have A Front Suspension

A little motivation, a little help from my friend Greg, and the kids distracted in the house, and the front suspension is almost done. The rusty, grimy, 47 year past has been refurbished and reinvigorated. All new ball joints, tie rods, shocks (GM NOS Pleasureriders), coil springs from Eaton Spring, bushings, centerlink, and rebuilt steering gearbox from Lares make for something looking almost new. The coil springs were a challenge, but with the right spring compressor, and a lot of trial and error, finally got those puppies in.
The wheel wells and radiator support, after being acid dipped, are getting black chassis paint at the body shop--as is the dash and steering column in gloss black. Once the front end is wrapped up, I'll move to the rear end and swap out the pumkin. The 3.64 Posi should be a nice improvement over the 3.08 open. In the process I'll have to pull the axles and replace the bearings and seals. Also have to weld the gussets for the rear sway bar so that I can get that thing on. Going to be making a road trip to the Boston area to pick up the complete 4-speed (Borg Warner T-10) setup I purchased out of a low mileage '63 Grand Prix donor car (embarassingly) over 2 years ago.