Just bought this '52 Pontiac Chieftain in March, and am having a blast with it. I found this group after a quick search, and have found myself lurking ever since. There is just a ton of knowledge and experience here -- thanks, everyone, for sharing it! My goal with this car is to return it to stock, the way my dad's was in the mid 1950s. This won't be too hard, as the only non-stock items are the aluminum wheels, and a fake dual exhaust. I'm in the process of going through the car system by system, and have so far been extremely pleased to find no major problems. It drives and runs great after simply installing new plugs and changing the oil. Three questions for the group: 1. Is there any way to rebuild the ownership history of a 64 year old car? I've got the original paperwork from the first buyer in Baltimore, MD, and the last two owners in the 90s and 00s -- but there's a huge gap from the 50s to the 80s. 2. What are the "must see" classic car shows in Texas? Is there a list of them somewhere? 3. Can anyone in South Texas recommend some classic car clubs? Thanks! --- Jay Honeck Port Aransas, TX '52 Pontiac Chieftain
Hi Jay & welcome. You found a really great old Classic. We are not too far apart as I am in Yoakum and also belong to the Golden Crescent Region of the AACA - Antique Automobile Club of America. We have members with quite a variety of antique, classic, muscle cars & just plain hot rods. My 46 Chevy Coupe is stock bodied with all original steel, interior is redone in the style of original, original running gear but have upgraded the old 216 six cylinder to bit newer 235 Chevy six and have a bit of chrome & such as well as dual carbs on the engine. Looks stock except for the few engine mods. Our club meets the second Tuesday of each month in Victoria so we are an hour or so away from you. If you respond with your email address I will send it in to the lady that does our monthly newsletter and get you on the email list so you can see what's going on. Or email me direct at [email protected] My Coupe is in the shop right now as we are in the middle of a new wiring harness & several other things. Next week we will be off to the Pate Swap Meet held at the Texas Motor Speedway and our club are part owners of that event so we go up and work at that event & get to shop in our spare time. This makes the club a ton of money. Vendors set up Wednday & Thursday and the swap meet is open thru Sunday but Sunday is NOT a good day to go as many vendors will be breaking down & leaving. We have around 9,000 vendor spaces sold. It is huge. Then around the third week of May (exact dates escapes me right now) we will be off to Abilene the yearly Texas Tour sponsored by the AACA. Next year this tour will be hosted by the Victoria group. Actually we are hosting this years in Abilene also as the sponsoring club of this event fell apart and dropped out. We took it over as if no one else did it then it would just fall apart. The Tour consists of a car judging events based on AACA standards and several days participating in planned tours around the area as well as some events at the Host Hotel. We have quite a string of old cars touring around when this Tour goes on. Work on my Coupe will really slow down for a bit due to the time away for the swap meet and the tour. I will just drive up and ride with another member for the tour as my Coupe will not be ready. Jimmie
Hi Jimmie, Thanks for the info! My email is jjhoneck AT (@) gmail.com Texas Motor Speedway is in the Dallas area, right? We went there for the Red Bull Air Races a few years ago. I suppose you could fit 9,000 vendors in there, but, wow, that is HUGE! When you say "next week" which weekend dates do you mean? That's an awesome car you've got there -- I'd love to see it some time. Maybe we will get up toward Victoria one of these days, or you can c'mon down to Port A! --- Jay Honeck Port Aransas, TX '52 Pontiac Chieftain
The Pate swap meet shows open to the public Friday April 29 thru Sunday May1. But Sunday is a lousy day to go as most vendors pull out Saturday evening or very early Sunday. If you go come on Friday or Satruday. The event is not inside the stadium & instead is outside on the huge parking pad on the south side. There will be a Car Corral AND a national car show both on the south side of the Stadium - right against the stadium. The Vendor lot is just across the street from that and To enter for any of it you must enter off of the Hwy that you ge on when you exit IH 35 on. From memory I think it is HWY 114. To get to either the car corral or car show you must walk thru the swap meet to get to them. Our club will be working Vendor gates 2, 6 & 8 on the speedway side of the swap meet. If you come you can stop and ask at either of these gates and they can call me on the radio as I will most be taking care of the jillion odd jobs that pop up. Double check you email address you entered as there are some spaces & such in it. It will likely be a couple of months before I get my Coupe back on the road but when I do it will definitely get a bunch of miles on it. Jimmie
Thought I'd post a 3 month update on our Chieftain. I've replaced quite a few parts (thanks to California Pontiac Restoration, Ebay, and a host of other suppliers), and had a great time doing everything to keep this 64 year old beauty roadworthy. We finally got rid of the silly mag wheels, put original Firestone bias ply tires on, which allowed me to put the original skirts back on. I think it looks way better! Here are some pics: Our first parade! Anyone need some nice Edelbrock 5x15 rims?
If you need history from Maryland I was able to get one years ago so you may still be able to do it. Sent from my SM-N910V using H.A.M.B. mobile app
The Jalopy Journal
