Power & 'Opportunity'

Ended up trading a short-block that I had for a rebuilt 1963 389 .30-over engine a friend purchased in Illinois.  The rebuilding of the 421 that came with the GP will have to wait for resources.  The replacement has 10/10.5:1 compression, HO rods, Mellng oil pump, mild cam, Edelbrock Performer intake, 1965 "76" heads, and timing chain cover and water pump are 1969-ish.  Told it's about 410-420 HP, and about 450-475 lbs. torque. Will require a higher octane gasoline. Was built by a reputable builder who I'm trying to get into contact with to learn a little more.  Should be plenty of power through the 3.64 posi rear-end.

With all the junk on it:



Test fit the long-branch manifolds, alternator, power steering pump, oil filter adaptor (to clear the manifolds), engine mounts, carburator, and AC bracket.  Of course, there are 'opportunities' associated with the non-stock setup.  The passenger side engine mount interferes a hair with the manifold.  Because  the 11 bolt water pump extends further forward, there is a pulley alignment issue which will need to be resolved.  It's unclear whether the NOS 421 +/- 500 CFM AFB Carb that I have will be "enough" for this powerplant.

 

Smothers Brothers & Pontiac, 1964

Picture above showing the boys in front of a '64 Bonneville and Tempest. Listen to their ad at this link: Smothers Brothers 1964

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.

A Day in Chicago

Recently had a couple of hours to pass in Chicago while my wife was at a trade show (I was her ride). Beyond the excitement of driving on Wabash under the "L" (the scene of the famous Blues Brothers high speed chase scene), stumbled across a couple of things that were cool.

The first was the "End" (or the beginning) of Historic Route 66 marked by a pretty darn non-descript sign. Couldn't help but start mumbling to myself "It winds from Chicago to L.A. ..." In heavy traffic, managed to snap a picture, but clearly had to keep moving on.

What was perhaps even cooler was the discovery of Motor Row on south Michigan Avenue, just west of the new McCormick Place. The area was once home to many car dealers which made there home in beautiful storefronts along the street. Chevrolet, Pierce, Premiere, Hudson, and Cadillac are just of few of the many. Only Joyce Ford remains (See: http://chicago-architecture-jyoti.blogspot.com/2009/09/ford-showrrom-and-dealership-in-motor.html ), and I had the pleasure of having a smoke with one of the salesmen on the sidewalk on the street. He was a wealth of information about the old street, the neighborhood, and the boarded up Club across the street from the dealership.

Seemed like an odd place for car dealerships especially with the narrow storefronts. He noted that most of the buildings still had the car lifts that moved new vehicles to the floors above the showroom. The neighborhood was once to home to famous Chicagoans, Montgomery Ward for one lived a few blocks away on Prarie Street to the east. It was also home to Chess Records (on 22nd & Michigan), the label of many a famous Blues musician. Cars were big status symbols in the day, and many of Chicago's richest shopped the showrooms along the stretch.

The neighborhood was also home to the exclusive Illinois Automobile Club--now boarded up and directly across the street from Joyce. In addition to office space, the Club had an olympic sized indoor pool and large ballroom. Apparently, it was THE place. The weathervane on the Club is still there, and, of course, it has an automobile on it. To learn more about the Motor Row check out this great Blog with lots of great pictures: http://chicago-architecture-jyoti.blogspot.com/2009/09/motor-roiw-historic-district-ii.html

Plugging Along

Can only do bits and pieces at a time, but finally making some progress on the remaining floor pans underneath.

While it is a real bear getting almost 50 years worth of grim off, it's a real sense of accomplishment when it's finally cleaned off. After scraping, degreasing, wire brushing, touching up, rust encapsulating, and priming with red oxide primer, the final "Professional Grade" undercoating goes on. This stuff dries on like fingernail polish. A little more touchup, and on to the front suspension. Donor A-Arms have been acid dipped and red oxide primed. A friend is pressing out the old bushings and pressing in the replacements. Once I get those back, I can compress the coil springs and remove the old and install the new.

It's Out, Finally

Appreciate the time a couple friends took today helping remove the old Slim Jim transmission and 421 powerplant. Engine needs to be freshened up. An original T-10 4 speed from a low mileage 63 GP donor out east will be going back in. On the back side, a 3.64 posi will be replacing the 3.08 open rearend. With all of the big stuff out, I hope to clean, wire brush, encapsulate, and undercoat the remainder of the floor and frame--which is in remarkedly great shape.

17 Seconds of Pure Pontiac Excitement

The wicked laugh at the end sums it up nicely:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-zJ_gDdggk&feature=related

Sadly, this video was found through a Craigslist post that simply stated:

broke the valve in the head and ruined one head one piston and the block selling all the rest of the parts minus the carb everything else will go body parts engine parts rearend seats all of it, let me know what your interested in and ill price it for you. Engine was a 400 stock bore but tons of performance stuff