Thanks.. not sure about the core but the lower hose outlet on it is what's fubar'd.. the metal was so thin and brittle it litterally collapsed when the clamp when the clamp was tightened.. Hopefully the one I buy will be in good shape Luke
Ouch. That could be ugly. If it all fails let me know we'll see what he can do. But it sounds like a replacement is probably best. He replaced my cap/filler neck, boiled, cleaned and tested my radiator for $45.00.
just sayin hello from up a stretch on i-75 over the michigan state line, been following along. love the build as you can tell i love old pontiacs and 49 thru 54s are great . maybe when im done with my 2 39 coupes i will look for one like yours. great progress
Well got a set of hubcap bullets for Christmas so even though they were a bit late.. better late than never. Got them installed this week. They look great in my opinion.. subtle but just enough flair. Got these from HubCapMike.com my main problem with them is that the nut they glue into them needs a bit more re-enforcing .. its pretty easy to tighten them and have the glue pull off . I guess you cant expect a whole lot for $10.00 http://www.hubcapmike.com/b-2-wheel-bullets.html Nothing a little JB weld cant fix.. Any case here are some pictures of them .. I dig them .. Additionally .. I got my wheels/tires mounted today ..!! Im so pumped!! I cant wait to wipe the blue packaging dye off of the whitewalls. I sat and smiled in the garage for like 30 minutes just staring at it on the ground. Its so close i can feel it. .. oh yeah .. i sat inside it behind the wheel for a little while too Until next time! -Luke
Thanks, I sent my dad some updated pictures of it today. Couldn't take it anymore so i called him up to bs on the phone with him about it.. I told him after i sent him the pic of it down on the whitewalls, if that picture doesnt make you wanna hop in it and cruise down the road with your arm hanging out the window, in this 13 degree weather were having even without windows.. then i dont believe you're truly American. Haha! Oh man .. ill probably be smiling for two days ..
Just read your complete thread, what a sad start of this nice write up story! You made one cool Pocho! I love that you kept it pretty much stock, nothing wild. Love the "egg shell"paint finish too. Will be ready anytime soon?! Cheers Frank
How'd the front emblem come out? I was thinking of doing that to mine instead of shelling out $85 for a new one.
Hopefully i can get the radiator and the last of the parts next week and try firing it up and seeing if its good to move on its own.. crossing my fingers but i think in the next two weeks is the goal. Like poop.. ill take a picture later. I wasnt impressed . The original paint they use in those basically etches itself to the plastic. I used some laquer thinner on it and let it soak. Most all of the paint came off .. or so i thought but after re spraying it its very obvious the plastic has color soaked into the pores so for now ill rock it. I may have my buddy mimick the original logo in vinyl and just wrap it so it looks brand new. $5 or so in vinyl still makes more sense to me than $85 for a new one.. especially since im not winning any concourse shows with this thing anyways.. Luke
i just finished reading up the rest of this post.wow you have come along way in just a short time.i was4years till i saw the road.the poncho looks great.here is a few pics of mine before and after.keep the pictures and progress coming
Mob53, Here's the pic of that doodie emblem i played with.. Also decided to play around with my busted ass hood ornament. Plans are down the road to recast my indian insert.. but for now ill play around with it. Decided to take it down to the copper plating and polish it up a bit. Below are the results .. i was pleasantly surprised .. Before ... After a little bit of elbow grease .. Plans for the time being are to carve and stain something nifty out of wood to place as an insert, or not? .. once i get a new indian molded it will end up back in its rightful spot. For now i dig the two tone.. Luke
Basically the main reason im not putting the ornament back in is that its cracked in half.. its still sticking together for now but i swear if it fell off while driving i would probably have a heart attack since everyone who owns a poncho knows that they are basically the same price as gold.. In anycase i got the whitewalls cleaned up .. i tell you what, i rubbed the passenger side down with warm soapy water and a rag and it worked ok. Took a lot longer than i thought to get the dye off. Then i got smart.. i grabbed a small peice of the cloth batting from doing the interior panels and used that on the drivers side. WOW what a difference .. probably had both of them done in less than a minute each. The batting is soft and doesnt scratch the sidewalls and yet is abbrasive enough to remove the dye simply and quickly. I was thoroughly impressed.. not anything super exciting but its a good tech tip for anyone in my opinion. Definatly an accidental find but it was a huge relief and i would recommend it to anyone. Please disregard my dusty car and shop.. Good grief .. Pictures give you a good idea of how the bullets look from the side. I love them. If i get a chance prior to the wedding im going to build a wooden buck and make a set of rear wheel skirts for the car and paint them up. If i end up with skirts ill have to remove the two rear bullets but im ok with that because skirts will really set the car off, in my opinion. Also got my new tail lights in. Decided to buy a new set rather than re-use the old ones. The old ones were pretty rough and i couldnt justify it .. so i bought a set of slightly tinted ones. I think the darker shade of red will play off of the dark blue really nicely and i cant wait to get home and get them on tonight. Think they ran me about $50 for the set and they have glass lenses.. couldnt hardly pass it up. .. anywho until next time Luke
Luke do you have plans for your old lights? I've been looking for a used set to keep from breaking the bank, and if you've seen my beater you will understand that I'm not ready for new or perfect anything! I was actually thinking about buying a set from Speedway in their garage sale section with cracks in the lenses! Oh and I don't think the grill emblem looks that bad, and the hood emblem looks good with that finish!
The center grill piece isn't that bad. It'll work for now. I see some guys put a bullet cap in the center there too. The copper hood emlem does kinds look cool.
I can get you some pictures of what I have and you can tell me what you think. I have no need for them so you can have them for whatever you think is fair. They're not in perfect shape but they're far from gone.. I'll try and shoot some pictures of them tonight or tomorrow for you. Luke
Looking good man. I like the clean simple look of this car. The only thing I dont care for is the hubcap bullets, I just think they look better without them. Cant wait to see it all back together!
Didnt get to work on the car at all last night.. but i did slap the tail lights in when i put the box in the garage. I wasnt planning on it but with two bolts i figured .. eh what the hell. Snapped a couple pictures. Hopefully ill get some decent progress this weekend. Stupid snow storm isnt helping.. Im really happy i went with a set of tinted tails .. really like them. Luke
Hey, your car looks great! I have ordered the same rearlights for mine, they look nice on the car.. Here is my -53, a work in progress
very nice......what yrs were you at wyotech? have a very good friend of mine was an instructor in the street rod div. for a bit..doug bannerman is his name.....whid
I was enrolled in the Pennsylvania school from Jan 2005 - December 2005. I took the Automotive technology 6 month course work, Applied Systems Management 3 month course work, and the Chassis Fabrication and High Performance Engines 3 month course work while enrolled. At some point i would like to go back and do the street rod class. At the time i just simply didnt have the money to continue another 3 months. Their program is excellent and i thoroughly enjoyed it .. however it comes at a pretty penny and being a young adult at the time, money wasnt exactly something i had a ton of. Also ill have to admit i was more interested at the time in chassis fab and welding in general .. so working with sheet metal and chopping tops wasnt high on my priority list. 8 years down the road and my direction in life has changed a little .. but i would never regret the course work i completed because the training and knowledge has gotten me where i am today and turned me into a very confident welder and fabricator. Luke
Nice ride .. ive seen your thread and check it periodically. Car looks good. Hopefully i can get the balls to chop the roof on mine. I think if i had the hardtop i would be less intimidated about it .. (maybe not) .. but down the road its definately on my to-do lists. Thanks for the compliments! Luke
I wish too that I had a hardtop but this was what I had to work on.. I can tell you though that I had a bit of pulse when me and my buddy had lifted the roof off of the car!! He is a carpenter who never worked on cars before and I have very little experience in this type of work.. I thought I had ruined the most expensive car I have ever bought (american cars fetch top dollar in Sweden) but it seems to work out! Anyways good luck on your car, Ill follow this thread.
Finally got my shop back somewhat. Pulled down the plastic and cleaned up the floors mostly. Also drug the boat to the middle so i could move around it a bit. Got the front grille on the car. Also installed the front bumper and front license plate. Wasnt planning on running the front plate .. but since it matches the paint and looks pretty cool i said screw it and threw it on there.. plus it fills the holes in the bumper where the bracket usually goes. Just need to install the radiator and brake master and i can work on getting the car fired up and try pulling it in and out of the garage on its own.. All in all im pretty satisfied for now on how the front grille finish looks next to the tattered original chrome. Not too cheesy.. it will do for now. Luke
The Jalopy Journal
