Hey All, Well it is/was Queens Birthday here in New Zealand and being a long weekend me, my lady and my dad went back home to Gisborne. My dad and i just wanted to find some old tin. My main mission was an old 38 pontiac wreck ive known of for years rotting upside down on a river bank. I was hoping the motor was still in it and was wanting the front end off it also as spares for my 38. Dad and i drove out to the car with a good mate in his work truck,the 38 is a long time dead but ill let the pictures tell how we got on. This is how we found the 38 about 15 years ago. It was then towed down the road upside down and dumped on the river bank, we relocated it a few years back. The motor was still there We lifted it up and rolled it right side up, loaded up the motor and cut the complete front end off, mission accomplished. Also found the old dealer tag above the rear view mirror! We then went to a dump up the road and found an old trailer. Took the wheels and hubs as they were the same stud pattern as the Pontiac. A few minutes late i found one of the original hub caps and they turned out to be 46-48 Mercury 16" wheels.
We then moved on and chased up a rumour about a 52 Chev. Turned out to be 2 cars which had been pushed out side to rot. After talking to the owner we scored them for a song, went back the next day to load them up. The cut down sedan is super rough but has a brand new set of 5 wheels and tyres, just been sitting outside for years. The red sedan is pretty tidy and will be an easy fix. Was an old hotrod/show car from way back, Metallic Teal green paint and a white chassis, black button vinyl interior with a way coll old school sound system in the parcel tray The ute has had major surgery with a custom bonnet and the entire floor pan out of a Holden HQ ute. The red sedan has had a couple mods including Austin tail lights. Both are running Valiant Hemi 245's
Pretty productive weekend by all accounts. Just goes to show that even in our small country some of that early stuff is still about, got a couple of early fords rotting away down south that I know about . all thats left of them is the chassis rest is pretty much rusted away, you may have inspired me to grab my mates tractor and do something about them before they turn to dirt.
Wow, looks like a fun weekends work. Those Austin tail lights look like the car came from the factory with them. Who ever would have thought they would work so well. Whats the plans for the Chevys?
The 2 chevs are for sale, i got no room for them, id rather see them get put back on the road, the red sedan at least, the other is parts only due to being so rooted. Goes to show, no matter how buggered an old car maybe, you can still get some good stuff
Just love that black and white(silver) rego plate - still have one car with a b+w plate and am trying hard not to let the authorites take it!!! Looks like a neat weekend and that "portable crane" would have made the job so much easier - we'd be struggling with a tow rope and oxy actelyne set You will have good memories from this stint in the years to come
great find, lucky it was still there, reginal councils been doing a lot of river bank clean ups of late.
man your the ultimate scrounger , a master recycler , build on , i hope you get the pontiac mill running
Gonna pull the motor down and check it out, been open to the elements/floods etc for a very long time, although no water came from the sump plug and still had a nice film of sludgey oil over end of plug. Will be interesting.
Re your black and silver plates - as of May 1 2011 you can re-register a car with dead registration and use its old black plates as long as the plates are still in good condition. You have to contact the Transport Registry Centre in Palmerston North. Any pre 1964 plates (different colours) can not be re-instated. Oddly enough there are still people who have a pre 1964 car with black plates and think they are its originals. Prior to 1964 new plates were issued about every five years. They were black with white letters from about 1950 to '55 then dark red til about 1960 and then yellow to 1964.
Hey Nigel (OBFB HA/GR) long time no see, you must be gettin old now man! Yeh was a bit dodgy letting me loose with the gas torch but all safety precautions were taken so rest easy ha! Still a bit of tin around the old home town aye? Thanks LGS126VEMS112, thats handy to know, that re-rego tip is something to remember for future builds.
Great info, id always thought you had custom plates made with your old dead Black n silver number on it, then swapped the old plates on to your car. Looks like its even simplier now. Ive got my old ones for my model A, but they come from the early 70s.
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