Projects What To Do With This Car ('64 Pontiac 2+2)?

Yeah but they are like $225 a piece, kind of pricey. The 14" rims limit tire availability though. I like your idea though. A nice lumpy cam, some good heads and a stick shift with steep gears makes for a fun ride.

 

Love your car. Sure looks good in black. Maybe I should go gloss black with mine.

 

I don't mind the blue interior but not crazy about the light blue exterior. Maybe gloss black or metallic darker blue?
I do think it is a very stylish car and I love the dash and interior.

 

I'd luv to have that setting in my driveway! I agree, fix the rust, spruce it up abit, alittle detailing and sell it.

 

What are you wanting out of it?

 

The 2+2 was a cool car. If you keep it, fix the body, build a hot engine and drive it - I don't think it needs anything outrageous like crazy paint or names on the side, your typical big Pontiac was a sleeper anyway.

 

I'm glad I'm not in your position. Not a ford guy but I'd love to have a 63 and 1/2, 427/4 speed galaxie like yours. Needs to be black.
As a dedicated Pontiac guy [car in my avatar has Pontiac power] the 64 is probably the least desirable year IMHO. But it's a cool 2+2, 4 speed hardtop! My first inclination would be to buy a gutted 61 or 62 Pontiac and transplant all the 2+2 goodies into it but your 64 is worth too much to use as a parts car.
I definitely wouldn't do it in flat black.......that's what you do to 64 catalina 4 door sedans with low compression 2 barrel, single exhaust 389s.
Fix the rust, sell the damned car to a Pontiac guy and use the $$$ to do a killer job on your galaxie

 

Fix the rust and paint it (shiny), even if it is only spot repair. No primer, or satin, or flat or whatever.

 

I like your thinking. I don't really know why I have such an aversion to that color paint. I used to refer to it as "fleet car blue", "company car blue" or "traveling salesman blue". A darker blue paint would be a 100% improvement and make the interior more palatable even to me.
I hope I'm not stepping on anybody's foreskin by ragging on that blue. It was/is a popular color and all the factories sold plenty of cars with a similar blue. So a lot of folks voted for it with their dollars.

 

While not particularly a GM fan, I've always had a soft spot for the 2+2 Ponchos. While Ford, Chrysler, and the rest of GM was building what amounted to thinly disguised racecars as their performance leaders, Pontiac saw fit to offer a stylish and comfortable full-size alternative with enough power to be serious if not quite race-ready. It's only competition was the Mercury Marauder, seen even less.

The '64 is my favorite. Not as sculpted as the later models, it presents a leaner, cleaner appearance; a big car that doesn't look big. And I wouldn't change a thing appearance-wise, including the color... the perfect sleeper (with a stock-spec 455 HO under the hood... ok, I would change that... LOL).

Nice car.... And no, I don't want to buy it... LOL...

 

The car is way too kool to dick around with. Flat black, hell no.
Real chrome reverse wheels (not smoothies), a high school graduation tassel around the
the rear view mirror, raise it a couple of inches and enjoy it like crazy. Too many cars
have been lost to the drag strip, save this for the street.

 

Drive it.

 

Paint it flat black, so it looks like a wizened old skank. Seriously, like already said , find some Pontiac guys and give this thing the future it deserves. It's a very fine original combination.

 

No no no flat paint on a 60’s car.
I agree with most. You’re very close to original. It needs to stay that way.

 

I had it at $15K but I guess that's too high. Now I'm thinking maybe $12K and that would include the parts car as well as another complete set of 8 lug drums and rims.

 

Yeah that's part of my dilemma, which car to keep. They are both early 60's two door hard top, big block, 4 speed cars so don't really need two of them. I like the exterior of the Galaxie better with the sport back roof and all but the interior of the Pontiac is nicer. Maybe the thing to do is get them both done and then decide which to keep.

By the way, SATIN black, not flat black! I'd never paint anything flat black. Gloss black would look really good though.

 

I call it "Grandma Blue". Back when it was new seams like every grandma was driving a car that color. Definitely not my first choice but with a nice set of wheels and big tires it could look okay. If I do the bodywork then most likely I will change the color.

 

I like the car as is, if I had the room I'd give you $12k for it. Pretty rare with the factory goodies and 8-lug wheels.

 

I'll give you a tip that costed me thousands to discover with the 64 down Pontiacs suspension.
You see that part that's welded to the frame were the upper control arms are bolted to with the shims? Have it cut off and moved back one inch and make sure they are both centered. You may have to move one side a little more because the factory staggered them for some unknown reason.
That cars suspension will come alive with 5-6 degrees positive caster, 1 degree negative camber with a slight toe in. Having both upper control arms moving up and down in a perfect arc together makes such a big difference in these rear steer cars.. Smokey used to do this to his Pontiacs and that's were I got the tip..
Then get a Lee 14:1 steering box with a 30lb valve along with a pair of 1960-62 Pontioac upper control arms with the solid bushings.
You'll love driving that car with those things done to it...

That's my old 64. I used to drive it with one hand on the wheel at 120-130..

 

Highly desirable car in the Poncho Community. Has two things going for it (2+2, 4spd). Looks fairly nice. Fix the rust, touch up paint if you can blend. Do the mechanicals and make it safe and drivable. Should bring a little more than your original asking price of $15,000 after some work.
EXTREMELY KOOL PONTIAC !

 

I love to have it, but too far and not in the cards right now.....

 

We had a '64 Cat when I was a kid. Silver, black vinyl top, black interior, buckets, 389, 4-speed. If mine, I'd go the mild custom route. Keep the 8-lug wheels, lower it, narrow whites, subtle panel paint job. Key word, subtle.

 

CAHotRodBoy, my 60 Poncho's original color was that "Fleet Car Blue" as well. I also think the original blue interior goes just great with a black exterior. No question black makes every car look better. Speaking of the color black, there are many different shades of black if not hundreds depending what color tint was added to the basic black pigment. My 60 is the blackest of the black. No tint what so ever added to the black pigment. The color is a 1978 Jaguar.
Regarding your 2+2, I haven't seen it and have no idea what rust issues there are but wouldn't consider selling it. Its an iconic muscle car that will only increase in value. How many other 2+2's do you know of that are for sale? A good paint job on that car should get you near the 30K range.
Gary

 

Keep it original or restore it. 2+2's are way cool and totally deserves to be restored. Keep the 8-lug wheels --> iconic. If I had the room, I'd take it!

 

I have seen your ad, I do want a '64 Catalina and yes, your price is high for what it is - a survivor. Sell it as -is to a Pontiac affectionado and build the parts car if you must.

 

My 64 had 8 lugs and I swapped to discs. The 8 lugs stopped the car just as good as the discs. I think the 8 lugs might of been better if I had a adjustable proportion valve on them..
Always cut the drums with the wheel attached and torqued down..

 

My car is a power brake car and they'll put you through the windshield if you hit them too hard!

I listed the car on FaceBook and had a buyer but the deal fell through (the old "My wife said no" excuse). I set up a separate bank account just to do a wire transfer. The guy transferred $300 into my account for my troubles which I thought was pretty cool of him.

I haven't relisted it anywhere else yet thinking I'll wait until after the holidays. I may just end up keeping it and putting it on the back burner for now. Then doing all the body work and go through the engine with a mild rebuild (cam, heads, intake, etc).

 

The problem with the 8 lugs became this:
Aluminum drum with steel sleeve. When they needed turning, the steel lost thickness , obviously. People didn't want to part with the drums, so they kept on turning them, to the point where you could warp what was left of them in one day! You can ask how I know, if you want to.

 

These guys have it right, leave it as is and sell it to the guy that appreciates it as it sits.

 

That works if you want to buy a new pair of tires every two months or less but 1 degree neg camber on a Pontiac is severely out of alignment and will eat the inside of the front tires like a son of a bitch. I spent too many years aligning Pontiacs every day in dealerships to let that slide. What some race car builder does on a track car may not be worth a damn if you actually want to get the best service out of tires and still have the car handle.

I'd agree with the others in that Flat black /satin black or what every syrupy name you want to call it is just wrong for that car. Personally rather than screw it up I'd just find a Pontiac fan that really appreciated the car for what it is and go on with business.