Projects 57 Pontiac Safari Wagon Update...

I've had a few PM's asking bout how the wagons coming after Ryan wrote that nice article with a picture of it: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/?p=860, so I figured I would post an update along with some new pics.

I bought this wagon back in April from Southern California where it had been sitting for many, many neglected years. Crud, filth, rust, neglect; just a few words to sum up how thrashed this car was. Broken windows, no front floors, rotted interior, missing parts and trim--- What was I thinking?????

The first step was to make sure the motor wasn't siezed and get it running enough to move it around. Starting with the fuel system, I had the tank boiled, cleared the line, and tried to save the stock Carter, but it was pretty roached.
I replaced the carb with an Edelbrock 600 cfm, and installed an NOS fuel pump replacing every single rubber vacuum or gas line I could see.
Next was spark- Cleaned the points, replaced the plugs and wires (which were stiff and cracked), set the timing.. and she fired!!

The generator and voltage reg. had long been robbed (along with the battery, air cleaner, radiator support, horns, etc.-- Part Pickin' Thieves!!!) so I crossed the dark side to Alternator and fabbed up a bracket to mount it the stock position. New belts, battery, and cables. Now I was charging too!

Onto cooling-- Radiator hoses were petrified *stiff* and had to be cut off with a razor knife. The water pump oozed rusty brown coolant- Napa had the cure. Went ahead and replaced the radiator cap, thermostat, and heater hoses- and re-cored the heater box which was leaking.

After 2 months of random nights under the hood, it was starting to look like a motor again--

Before:





And last month:



Since then, I've got it even more cleaned up, painted, and a Cadillac batwing aircleaner is coming...

I could now go, but still no stopping. Next up was the brakes--
The goal is that the wife can drive this car just as easily (and safely) as possible, so the single circuit Bendix power master cylinder was replaced with a dual m/c with a 7" booster, 11" front disc brakes, and GM truck 15" wheels to fit over the new rotors.

With the old wheels and caps, pre-lowering:




All this pointed to new suspension- shocks, kingpins (why was Pontiac still using kingpins in 1957??), bushings, bearings, and drop spindles.

Now its sitting low and running OK-- I just dropped it off at the exhaust shop to replace the swiss cheese exhaust holes and instal a fresh pair of Smithy's.

Next up= Bodywork and paint!

Thats all for now fellers...

Lowered w/ 15" wheels, via cell phone pic:

 

Dang, the first pics of that engine compartment looked like it had been buried in Tulsa for the last 50 years! Lookin Good now!

 

Neat car. You chose a good alternator, those CS are way better than the more-common SI.

 

Wow- You've got a good eye!

Yeah, thats a GM 130 amp truck CS alternator. No complaints so far...

 

car looks perfect, keep us posted.............

 

Nicccccce........

 

me lovin the long roof.

 

Cool jay!

 

Got a soft spot for the 57 Ponchos, my 57 Star Chief tracked like glue with kingpins. looks like a Great ride

 

Cool car man, nice to see an odd ball wagon out there besides me!

I have the 1956 Buick Wagon...

I always loved those pontiac wagons!!

 

looking good jay the hard work is payin off

 

Nice looking Safari.My favorite year.Hopefully my 57 will see the light of day sometime;it's been sitting since 1979.With the 55 dead now,it really sucks not having a wagon to drive.

 

57 pontiac safari wagon ? nothing but cool keep us posted

 

Thanks for the kind words, guys-- Its getting there!

They only made 1,292 Safari 2 door wagons in 1957. It shares the doors, glass, tailgate/ liftgate and roof with a Nomad. Everything else is pretty much Pontiac Star Chief.

I looked for a decent 55 - 57 Safari for 3 months before this one came along. I also considered the 57 Olds Fiesta or Buick Caballero wagon, but DR57 Don Dillard turned me onto this first, and it was just too cool to pass up.

Hopefully the family car show wagon will be cruising this Fall!

 

I love that car! If you ever want to sell it..................

 

To my taste, the '57 Safari and '56 Nomad are the prettiest of the litter. Yours is making great progress!

 

Look'n good Wardly!!!

 

Bitchin' poncho longroof...you can't beat those late 50's gm wagons for style...dig the two door and especially the 4 door hardtop ones

 

I love that car.

 

would like to see some pix of the master and brakes...

 

Will do Scarebird. I owe you some photos-- Your brackets, along w/ the rotor and caliper recommendations you listed worked out great-- The biggest hassle we had was the CPR power master cylinder, which required notching out the frame slightly for clearance!

 

notching the frame? ouch! I am working on a 57 Olds, and it uses the treadle-vac setup. I am looking to replace it with a manual first, using a remote reservoir dual master. Will need multiplication linkage as the pedal input is 1:1 believe it or not. I have seen other jury rig a GM dual on the firewall, but requires extensive bracing to the dash - not good!

 

On my 57 Safari,the guy who built it couldn't find a standard shift setup for it,so he used a set of swing pedals out of a 55-57 Chevrolet.Almost a bolt-in and since there was no heater in the car(it was originally built just to race)there was no problem locating the stock Chevrolet m/c.Even did the pedals up fancy;drilling holes to match the steering wheel and chrome plating them.It only has a single circuit m/c but I'm sure it could easily upgraded.

I was going to get a set of your disc adapters but the drum setup is all new with less than 1,000 miles on them since being installed in 1966.

 

Here's the disc brake set up:

 

hmm. How much do those spindles drop? We sold another set to a guy who says he is having issues with his Fatman pieces hitting the upper bolt.

 

Mine touches, but not a big issue-- Keep in mind that my suspension is 55 - 57, which changed slightly from the earlier stuff-

Here's pic where the caliper bolt it touching:

 

My thoughts exactly. What a nice '57

 

hello there. any place to get a 57 safari gas tank? Is a star cheif tank the same? Mine looks like swiss cheese with a lot of extra holes. Any ideas would be great.

 

i would look at normad 57 and compare here is a not wery good pic of front of tank i can take more pic if you want.
starcheif has standing spare wheel mine is under floor ,gas tank to the left

 

x 2 ^