Thought I would ask the brains on here. I have acquired what looks like a 50ish Pontiac 2 door, body shell with doors hood and as far as I know all the trim. Factory frame with no drivetrain or front suspension. Body is in decent shape for our area, would this car be reasonable to get parts for such as fenders and any trim that might be missing? I deffinatly don't want to see it go to waste, another thing i thought about was using it as donor for 51 chevy 2 to 4 door conversion, but personally I think building it into a mild custom would serve the car better. Any thought guys. Sorry I don't have any pics yet as it is still buried in snow at the moment. Thanks guys for reading this far Andrew
Personally I like the Pontiac style a bit better than the Chev but both are nice. The key to getting the right parts is knowing if it is a Canadian Pontiac (Models 2000 - 2200 for 1951) or the US style (2500-2700 for 1951.) My Canadian 51 Pontiac essentially is a Chev with Pontiac clothing which makes it easy to work with mechanically. I did use a Chev front fender but had to modify it a bit to mount the grill trim, very minor and easy to do. They seemed to sell a lot of the Canadian models (Fleetleaders) out here in Alberta so I really have never had a rough time finding parts. Looking forward to pictures.
Thanks. I kind of agree on the styling of the Pontiac and there seems to be less of them which is a double edged sword, less of them harder to get parts. Using chevy fenders is interesting. I'm in Northwestern Ontario so likely its Canadian. Will have to check the firewall tag. I know it does have one.
As 51Pontiac said, big difference between Canadian and US made Pontiacs. US produced Pontiacs had a much longer front end to accommodate the straight 8 engine. Here is a couple of pictures of my '50 Catalina, the last time that I saw it it was on its way to Nashville... This one still had the original straight 8 and Hydramatic.
all the Chevy parts work on the Canadian Pontiac. The only exception was the electric wiper mtr. Needed a little bracket rework. US parts are pricey, exchange,state tax, GST & shipping. In Canadian funds 50% more than US funds . Just saying Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.
I wouldn't be building a restoration so using chevy parts wouldn't be a big deal to me. No problem, but now I want icecream.
At one time there was a chevy front clip sitting on it, i know there is a bit of rework needed where the fender and door meet up. Easy stuff.
This is the side with the chev fender if I remember correctly.... it was back in 1974 that I did it. Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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