Hi guys. I am trading my 1952 Chevy g***er project for a pair of 1962 Catalina Safaris. Anytime you can trade one rusty car for two rusty cars you have to take that deal right?! Cars are supposed to be delivered to me tomorrow with my 52 going back up the other way. One is pretty close to being a driver. It’s a bit ugly and unfortunately someone has cut off the Pontiac mounts and stuffed a 455 olds into it. That isn’t in the long term plans, but will serve to let me cruise it some. I’ve always loved 61-62 Pontiacs and I was never really in love with that g***ers body style. The second (orange car) is coming as a parts car but has a ***le and is pretty decent by itself. So I’m going to try and rob a little as possible because someone will want that car. Anyway, I have some questions about cross platform compatablitu with other 61-62 B bodies. Windshield. The better car needs a windshield. I could rob the one out of the orange car but I would prefer to just have a new one. There is some conflicting info. But the most consistent is that any sedan/ wagon should be the same? OER and auto city cl***ic have them. But you get killed on shipping. OER says the 607 should fit. Auto City Says the 609 is for wagons. What say you guys? I’ve never been super clear on the bubble top years. https://www.oerparts.com/product/1962/pontiac/catalina/parts/fw607c.html https://www.autocitycl***ic.com/196...5/1961-1962-buick/cadillac/chevrolet/pontiac/ Then I have a question about seat covers. I can’t find Pontiac covers, but I can find covers for 4 door and brookwood chevys from the same year. Will those fit? Same thing with foam, I can find it for the chevy models.I’m okay with the pattern being incorrect provided it doesn’t have a bow tie or something on it. I also have some tailgate questions because the red car is missing a piece or two. But I’ll wait till the cars are here tomorrow and I can take pictures
I am no help on your questions, but congrats on a couple cool Poncho wagons! I still have a soft spots for Pontiac’s since I had several when I was younger.
Nice cars, 62 and 63 are my favorites. As far as the windshield goes I would go to a gl*** shop and have them put one in then you don't worry about breakage or shipping. Some times it's just better to pay. But that's just me. I would keep them both and put a 4 speed in the one with a Pontiac motor. Pat
I've actually seen a couple like that in the mid 60's. Special ordered because they fit in a certain stock cl***. a 455 or even 400 out of a mid 70's would be sweet too though. Still if that Olds 455 is in good shape and the install isn't a mess you can burn up a lot of road with one and they are dead nuts reliable if you replace the plastic timing gear with an aluminum one. UPDATE: This from my Hollander the interchange number for the 62 station wagon windshield is 2204 The windshield number W609 is still a good number with gl*** shops or online suppliers. 1961-1962 Windshield W609 (autocitycl***ic.com)
I am 100% trying to get a local gl*** guy to do it. He gets a big discount from auto city, so I was quoted as having it installed for $474 which I am happy with. He isnt 100% sure what we need though either. So we are just both trying to get this right first time. Auto City has that job code listing based on body style. So in theory when I get the car tomorrow I will verify that, I think thats probably the best we can do. If its wrong at that point it is on the gl*** company. I have called a couple other bigger gl*** companies but no help so far. Those pictures of the book posted make me feel pretty good that Auto City has the right of it though with the W609 showing as what I need. Thanks!
I am very much considering 3 dueces. Im not married to a displacement. Im not sure what I am going to do with this one engine wise. Being a Pontiac guy, that is the most likely option. It annoys me that I am going to have to get out my welder to put the factory engine back in. Because of that I have considered the *gasp* 6.0L and OD option out of a modern truck. Since I have to weld anyway. I know I dont plan on making this one overly fast. EZ Air Ride makes a pretty affordable kit for 62 Bonnevilles which I have to imagine would fit this car. So Im thinking Im going to bag it which will be new for me. Making this one a cruiser might free up my 67 Firebird to get a little more wild with. Maybe a DCI RAV setup. Since Im trading my car that I was planning to make truly fast.
Back in the late 60's and early 70's I worked on a lot of early 60's Pontiacs. I loved the big wagons. The worst thing about them was the Roto Hydromatics, or Slim Jims. It felt like the engine was connected to the wheels with a spring that would wind up and then you would start to slowly start to move. The wires going to the power tailgate window would break at the hinge point. They would look good but if you took the harness apart all that was holding the wires together was the insulation. Pull on them and they would pull apart.
This one has a th375 (the 400 case model) behind the 455. Im not sure how good or bad it is put in. The front of the car was in gr*** so I couldn't get all the way under it. I was going to ask about the slimjim shift pattern. The dash indicator has an R again at the end of the shift pattern display. I was curious what that meant.
Cool! cant wait to see more epics of these cars. My vote is to leave the Olds motor in it. Good luck and have fun!!
The "R" is reverse, there's no Park. There's an old joke about that being "Race", with unfortunate results. If you DO go with the "off topic" 6.0, it'd be easy and make a nice car, just don't mention it here. That said, the trans tunnel may need to be m***aged pretty heavily to accommodate the 4L60 or definitely a 4L80 trans case. Nice score, BTW.
Good Score, Wagons are hot these days & Pontiacs are always cool! God Bless Bill https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ar-transport-hauling-open-or-enclosed.614419/
Not immediately, but the orange one will probably be for sale/trade at some point in the not too distant future. I can keep you in mind if you want to trade numbers or something. As far as the trans tunnel needing to be m***aged for OD, I had the same thought, but at the moment it has a TH400 cased TH375 in it. (or so Im told, delivery was delayed so I haven't been over it thoroughly yet) I have generally thought that if a TH400 case fits then a 4L80 would fit. My preference would be to put a pontiac back in it and adapt an OD. But Im not saying anything concrete at this point. Im going to flatten a couple of poorly welded in patches, try to use some proper colored touch up paint and buff it all. Then work on things like the suspension before I worry about the drivetrain, unless it grenades on me.
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