New Project: 54 Pontiac Chieftain, "Viola"

No, it's a plain V8 Barracuda. It had a 904 auto trans in it, but we swapped it out for a 4-speed stick.

 

your poncho is really cool and different. hope you keep the chrome "streaks" and hood ornament. as for the supercharger idea, another thread showed a hudson with a turbocharged flathead 6 that is his daily driver! probably would be an easier fit than a centrifugal supercharger--mostly exhaust work. good luck!

 

Loving your car... Seems like you are having a ball with it... Keep us posted, heres mine..

 

I love these Ponchos! Plumfat40, how did you lower yours and did you do a low gloss clear on the body?
Tom

 

I actually did a nova disc brake subframe tucked as high in the Poncho's frame as I could. so Stock springs and spindles. In the rear is Ford Granada 8" rear with springs inboard of frame and 2" blocks. Paint is factory GM except the reapint and "artwork
' on the front clip to get it to match.

 

You did an awesome job of matching that patia. Mine is similar, but of course the surface is rough. I was considering lightly sanding it and spraying with a flat clear to preserve it. This picture has some Photoshopping and the second one is original.
Tom
Tom

 

I like it, it is pretty dry climate here so I didnt put any type of clear. I would be afraid of adhesion . Looks good though

 

Here is the original.
Tom

 

Can u give me some more info on this color?

 

plumfat, I saw your car in another thread, I love it. Your ride height was the look I was shooting for when I cut my front springs.

 

nice Pontiac, similar to my first car i got at 14 to work on.
what more are you planning to do?

 

Nice thread and nice Pontiacs all of you!

Just bought my first hambfriendly car for a long time and it will be delivered Friday or Monday.. Cant wait!!

 

my first car when I was 14 years old back in 1962 was a 54 Chieftain 4 door, straight 8 with a 3 speed.

 

The car is laid up right now because the motor has developed a pretty bad rod knock. Over the winter I hope to pull it and rebuild, and be ready to drive again next season. Eventually this car will get all the body work done, door handles shaved, antenna, backup lights, quarter panel medallions shaved. I'm leaning toward a dark green paintjob, gold roof, with some scallop/panel stuff to spice it up a little. Then I'll have an interior done, and that'll be pretty much it.

 

Cool thread.

You did a nice job on the lowering. The stance looks great.

Ed

 

This is cool, it looks so much like mine. Got a build thread?

 

any update's on this? would love to see how she's looking now.

 

Great photos and a good looking car. Perhaps you can help with mine. I have a 54 Chieftan, however the rear wheel/skirt trim appears to be from a 1953 which was done by PO. I'd like to get 53 trim if I can find just to break up the fullness of the sides. Is there any other side trim that might fit like 53/54 Chevy?

 

Was a custom mix sorry, lots of pearls and leftover paints from a PPG tinting system. I just mucked around with colours and did a few spray outs

 

Loving your car and the work you are doing on her! Keep it up!

 

Still parked until further notice ...

Engine rebuilds are very expensive. So is any engine that I would even think about swapping in.

 

So here's the latest news. At the end of March I get my spring break, with a full 10 days off of work. I've got plans for the Pontiac that some might call foolish, but I just miss driving it too damn much.

The engine's coming out, I'm throwing in a new set of STD-size rod bearings, and putting everything back together. The only thing that can stop me will be if I find the crankshaft is too beat up and needs the journals cut. I have $130 for bearings, and I have some time, but I haven't got $2500 for a full engine kit and machine work. So this is my attempt to get it running for another summer or two.

Check back in a few weeks for results and photos!

 

Here's the worst offender ... rod journal #3.



77,000 miles with no oil filter will eventually lead to something like this, I guess. It felt like a vinyl record. Since I can't afford to rebuild the engine anyway ... and I can't possibly make it any worse .... I buffed it with emery cloth and put a fresh bearing on it. I will report back with results in a few days.

 

Have you checked out these? http://www.chevsofthe40s.com/detail/6673.html

 

Thanks, looked at that, but I'm looking more for the trim down the middle of the door line from a 53, however 53 Chevy would probably work.

Thanks!

 

Chevy trim is going to come up short on the fenders. Pontiac fenders have an extra 8-10" of length behind the front wheels.

 

Thanks for the info. Back to the drawing board!

 

Well I put the engine back together, and it ran. Score one for me!

I've put 300 miles on it, and I'm not sure I completely understand the results. The little knocks have come back-- you can hear the engine knock just a little when it's idling. However, the one really bad knock is gone. It used to clatter at high RPM just before shifting, and it used to start knocking at constant speed on the highway. The way I figure it, if the bad knock was going to come back, it would have come back first.

Either way, I think it's good for another season. See you out there!

 

Nice job! Great pics too! Its great to see her on the road.

 

So this is what I did in July ... been too lazy to post it.

The whole car needs paint, and I have to start somewhere ... and my body-shop buddies have been itching to spray some flake. So we did the roof! So I stripped my roof to bare metal, filled some small dents (from those damn kids with the rocks) and got the roof in black lacquer primer. Then my friends came over and I turned them loose with a gallon of lacquer clear and a big thing of gold flake. Here's what I wound up with ...