Projects Winter Project: 1957 Pontiac Starchief

Looking good man. Slow, sore progress is still progress. Keep it up cuz it's getting nice out.
Congrats on the little one as well!!

 

Bryan checked out the latest photos, you got a lot done since i was out there

 

Those are cool valve covers. I think I know the answer but are they hard to find ?
Guys dont roast me too bad for the question but they would look good on my 347 in my GMC pickup.

 

Your build is comming along very nice. This is gonna be one nice ride when you get it done.

 

Ah! I am just.......do you need a sister?! That is BEYOND amazing, nothing better than a Tri year Tin Injun!! Welcome to the BOP tribe, you my friend are a true warrior and we love you...........

BTW, that color is my ALL time favorite! Oh and congrats on the wrench fetcher!

 

Bryan, You're making great progress I'm sure that is going to be really nice '57 when you get it done! They are great cars, I've had mine for over 25 years. You don't see many around, but when you get yours done you will be amazed at how many people will appreciate it. Congrats on your little bundle! Don't forget the anchor points in the back seat for the co-pilots seat!
If I can be of any help PM me, I'll do my best to help.
Kevin
TriPower/stick '57 Pontiac

 

Congrats and nice progress on the 57, Bryan. I don't have an extra hood bar, but PM me whenever you have a need. I still have all sorts of stuff that I'm not using anymore that you may need. I know a secret stash of 57's in MO too.
The valve covers got me also. I can't find where you say what engine you're using, but it sure looks like a 347 (other that the valve covers). On a side note... I thought GMC was powered by Pontiac in 55 & 56- not 57. Hmmmmm?

I sure wish my sheetmetal was half as nice as yours. I envy your tin. Thanx for the updates, you have a following!
Bil

 

GMC used Pontiac engines through '59 or '60, including a 339-CI version only in trucks. Which if I remember right comes in two flavors, one with the 370 size journals, one with 389 size journals.

 

Bryan, Your avatar reminds me of this car....

 

Thanks for all the nice feedback! ZZ, it was nice to see you at work this week, stop by any time!

The valve covers are what came with this car. I believe for 55 & 56 the used the ones with a stainless thing on top. They got rid of them for 57 since it was the first year Pontiac did not use the silver streaks on the exterior of the body. So my guess would be to look for 57-60 covers.

nefareous, what is that car? I've seen one in person, cause 396Skip has one but I just can't remember what it is. A lot smaller than you would think and fairly rare, it's like a toy.

 

55-56 have Stratostreak engine and covers....mine are in my albums. They have one stainless plate on a cover....weirdness I know. Rustynewyorker is right about gmc, I hunt them mercilessly for their drivetrain parts.

 

I did add some plates in the rear package tray for adding child seats. Same stuff I used for my seat belt mounts, 2x2, 1/4 inch plates on both sides of the panel. Just got to go to the junkyard and grab some hooks out of a late model car. Child seat laws are fairly strict in MN, for good reason, I think kids have to reach a certain height/weight/age before they can sit up front or go without a booster seat.

 

Okay, back in business for another small update. We had our healthy little baby boy, Harrison, mid May. He's good but A LOT of work! Here's a shot of him at Back to the 50's, we also had him at the local cruise night at 2 weeks old.



I wanted to work on small stuff at our house when he was new just to be around to help out. You may remember the big piece of car resides at my folks 10 miles away. So I decided I would tackle new glass and window frames. A couple shots of my old cracked, delaminated, nasty glass in the super pitted frames.





I scored some decent driver quality 1/4 frames from French Lake and the door glass frames from a local source. The vent windows are new repops, cause I just couldn't find decent used ones. I bought the glass from Auto City Classic and put it all together myself, not too hard at all.







Of course I got to represent my clubs.

 

I also rebuilt/resealed my vent window assemblies. The rubber was all old and hard and cracked, and the run channel fur was all gone. I used a Danchuk kit and it was fairly easy after I read the directions a few times.











All for now, have some more stuff for after work!

 

So I also decided to try and tackle rebuilding and polishing my door flippers. Again I used Danchuk parts and kits and they turned out nice! New rubber, springs and furry liners.





They also sent enough material to replace the furry liner in the rear run channel, you can't really tell in this photo but the stuff is new.



I also cleaned up my defroster ducts and did some rattle can black. I did eliminate both heater cores but figured I will eventually put in an aftermarket HVAC set up and will need these then. And since it's all apart I figured it would be a great time to clean 'em up and paint 'em.

 

Worked a little on the large piece as well. Eventually we want to add air conditioning and to insure against overheats in traffic, I added an electric fan. I made my own brackets, it fits pretty good and should keep us cool.





You can see in the above shot I also reinstalled the windshield wiper drive, mostly just to plug the hole for now. I would like to find an original electric wiper motor so if someone has one, PM me, I am for sure interested.

I also had a work day in April, Baggs and slim53 came over and helped with some body adjustments. We got the hood and front fenders and doors pretty good. They open and close and latch, gaps are another story, but we're closer. I put some trim on the hood and fenders, a little tweaking and some filler and we'll be there!

 

Here's a POWER OF THE HAMB/That worked out well, stories. I had been searching high and low for a decent driver quality hood bar. My best one is in the above photo. After missing a couple of flea-bay auctions and striking out at the local yards, I placed an ad here on the HAMB, got a few responses but nothing worked out. So I went back in this post and Gotgas had posted a spot in Texas that had 2 57 Pontiac parts cars. So I gave them a ring and they had a decent driver piece, the price was right and a deal was struck. They were great, sent me a photo, good price and got the item super quick, here's their info, Browne & Son's Auto Salvage

Trenton Browne, owner

1033 Spur 511
Sunset, TX 76270
940-393-2469

Here's the photo they sent me, note the plate on this car, 1968 I think.



And after a little work it turned out great!





So large thanks to Gotgas and Trenton at Brownes Salvage, all for now, thanks for looking guys and gals!

 

Lookin' good Bryan...you get those window rubbers from Danchuk...???? I got mine from Steele and they suck...

You're gettting closer...congrats to both of you on the new boy...

R-

 

Well Done!!
Mario

 

Yes, Danchuk. One thing I noticed about rubber parts and pieces is their may only be one company that makes it but they will all sell it. Example, I've received Steele products from Danchuk, Ames and even Metro Molded. And I've received Metro Molded parts from Steele and the other guys too. I really tried to price shop with rubber parts and watched S&H carefully, adds up fast.

Anyways the windows and seals seem ok right now without being installed or having the regulators installed, but we'll have to see. Roger, maybe check with Metro for parts for the Caddy, maybe worth a call even just for some tech help.

Also forgot to mention I have been busy sorting through buckets of old fasteners looking for special/unique nuts and bolts and other re-usable bits, not really fun or photogenic, but I figure its better to do now then have to scramble for it later. Also have cleaned and polished A LOT of stainless and chrome bits and pieces and set them aside for final assembly, it doesn't cost a bunch to do and it will be all ready when you get to the point you need it. The baby loves chillin in the garage while I work, he lays on a pice of seat foam and just looks around and takes it all in!

 

I removed the defroster core and underseat heater core when I put the brake unit up on the firewall too. I went with the aftermarket A/C-defrost-heat unit from Vintage. The unit works fine. I need get door & window seals and kick panel vent seals, though. I lose efficiency at speed due to unconditioned air leaking in thru the vents and conditioned air getting sucked out from the door jambs. It gets uncomfortable for the back seat passengers. You should not experience this with the work you're doing to the car.
This project is turning out REAL nice! Thanx for keeping us posted.
Bil

 

Hey man, I didn't do anything but type up some info! I'm glad you were able to strike a deal for a hard-to-find part though

And congratulations on the boy, sounds like you're raising him up right! Life is good, ain't it?

 

Thanks again! Was going to PM you, to let me know when I can return the favor!

 

If you can help me find an early, short/straight-style injector for a 392 Chrysler, I'll be your best friend!

 

Bryan-

any progress on this thing?? i know you were getting ready to send it to the body shop. Just looking through the thread again to check for more pictures. keep it up man, hopefully by next summer we can both drive our cars around!!!

 

Just been wrapping loose ends and working A LOT to secure funding, thats why you won't see me today. Will go to the body shop the week of Thanksgiving.

You should totally come to French Lake with me next Saturday!

 

Time for a Christmas update.

Late in October/Early November I was busy worrying about exhaust. When I pulled the car apart I, like a moron, trashed all the exhaust except for one piece i deemed important. BAD IDEA! I considered mail ordering a complete set-up but was concerned about quality/fit and finish/price. As in what happens if it doesn't fit? Is the guy going to come from 5 states away to help me out when it doesn't work? Also I wanted to use the Smitty's mufflers my in-laws gave me for Christmas 5 years ago, so I was concerned about making those work as well.

Long story short, Norrie came over, took a look, left me a list of parts to acquire and we worked out a deal for him to put it together. So after a couple of Sunday mornings of work, we had an exhaust system. It was a lot more work than we both thought it would be and currently dumps right behind the rear axle, but will get me on the road and its one less thing to worry about later. Sill undecided on the exact exit point for the exhaust is another reason.... Through the bumper, like original, under the bumper, bell flowers...???? I'm still not sure but we will figure it out next summer when we are on the road... hopefully. Sorry I don't have any great photos of this but it was really dark under the car and I had no time to roll it outside before the SNOWNAMIs arrived.

So it was supposed to go tho the body shop the week of Thanksgiving but it really didn't happen until this last week. Which is fine... They were actually busy with a high school class mate's Chevy pick-up which ended up being more work than they thought. They were still wrapping up loose ends this week when I dropped my car off and I'm excited because the truck looks AMAZING! Cannot wait to see mine at that stage.

So at this point there isn't much more to say until I get some progress photos. No body wants to see pictures of me working Saturdays or doing warranty work on Chryslers so until then, enjoy these shots of the Chief on the move. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! Also congrats to slim53 and his brand new baby girl born this week!



Make note of the GIANT snowpiles! Record December snow for our area!

 

looking good!

 

Nice job and it is coming along great.

 

good lookin car. you have brought it a long ways. keep up the work and keep the pics coming.