Projects Pontiac Chieftain 1953 mild custom

Now Im really excited, got this picture from the Guy picking my Car up an hour ago.



Will have the car after work today, then Ill post a bunch of pics!!

 

Nice Pontiac you got there, have myself a 41 Coupe.

 

Nice Pontiac!
We need more customs here in Uppsala!

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very cool, love the color

 

Agree. I had one of these before they were cool. I don't like the chrome either. When you remove the huge back up lights, the hole behind them are HUGE! I filled 'em with bondo ( I was 12) but they need to be patch welded up. "60 chevy lenses work well for tailights...

 

Awesome!! I'm excited to see this build! I too have a '53 two door sedan Chieftain with similar plans. These cars rule!

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So I got the car now, but its dark and cold and my camera acted up on me..



Some crappy pics, heres the rust in the trunk.. Also found a little in the lower A-pillars, 2 rear bodymounts, and in one of the rear wheelwells was a bad repair I have to redo. The front floors was fixed and it was neat done.





Some random pics















Lots of stuff in the trunk, an old plate from -63, 2 boxes of misc stuff, 4 caps in good shape (tried one on), what looked to be original jack and stuff..












Some kind of factory stamp?



Ill come back tomorrow with some better pics and lots of Qs!!!

 

Looks awesome! Rockauto.com has a lot of the gaskets and consumable parts for reasonable. I personally have not ordered anything from them (Chevy stuff is available at the local parts house), but I hear good things all the time. Now that I have a Pontiac too, I will be scouring for parts as well. I'll let you know if I find any other good sources.

 

you nailed it with your photochop,nice poncho

 

Thanks, will check it out! Gonna need some worn out parts soon.

Thanks but the wheelswap and lowering was not my work, I just shaved and repainted the roof.. Still learning!

Soooo, Im gonna do a real quick 12v conversion by just changing coil, lamps, chargingrelay and remove the fuses for instruments.

I have heard with a few guys that have done this to some old vw bugs and it seems to work if*you dont start to add more electrical equipment, and it will only be temporary until I get a suitable 12v gen.

Anyways, does anyone know which fuses I need to pull to save my temp/fuel/heat gauges?

 

Swede bro, congrats on one of my fave rides of all times. The tu-door post is my body style of choice. I love your photochopped version, outstanding. I am really stoked for ya and wish you the best on your repairs and progress toward your goal. Yahoo! ~slolobo~

 

Try Pontiac Oakland Club International ( www.poci.org ). Don't know international price but is 30 bux a year in US great little magazine called "Smoke Signals" that has a lot of ads from suppliers. Found this to be a good source for parts and leads. Also you can Google California Pontiac Restoration. Just a couple suggestions to help in your search.

48 Poncho

 

Thanks guys will definitely check out all of your tips!

Been out shopping for some 12v stuff today, voltage regulator lamps coil and so on.. Just not sure how to connect it, the relay is from a Peugeot so Ill have to google a bit.

Will go and buy a new carb and waterpump tonight if everything goes as planned and the battery is on charge so hopefully I can drive a little tonight!!

Pics



















And a Q, this seems to fit on the sensor on the head. This is the tempsensor I presume, where is the cable supposed to attach?

 

If you need any help with rust repair and getting rid of emblems/door handles just throw away a PM

 

Wish I had that steering wheel! If I find one can it be mounted on a 70's GM tilt column without too much trouble?

 

if u dont wanna do a 12 volt conversion u can go down to the auto parts store and snag a 8 volt battery and drop it in all ur 6 volt stuff will work just like 12 volt but its way easier and cheaper

 

Just drop it and replace the entire drive line.

 

Man that looks good!

 

That electrical connector in your hand in the photo is a simple 110 volt cord to power up a block heater or possible a heater that goes in the bottom radiator hose..
Plugs into an American house outlet on one end and plugs into the car's block heater on the other.

 

i need one of those indian hood thingies...

 

there is a 49-54 fastback chiefton in a junk yard and i think it still has all the trim...if ya want me to check??? they have a buick too ,,but i got that trim formy merc

 

One of these?



Was frosty in Sweden this morning, thought it looked funny when this little Car was parked in front of the Poncho..



Heres a question for you guys, this brass/copper/whatever line that goes to the coupe is it för the original oilgauge? How much oilpressure is normal in an engine like this? It runs along the right side of the engine and stops right in front of the fuelpump

 

I'm lovin' most of that funky stainless trim too! The Photoshop looks cool. Those back- up lights would look good shaved & put on a roadster as tailights.

 

Weeeell.. Thought I was gonna post some progress today but that wont happen..

I have been driving this car a few times around the block without any problems except starting it, it has been a bitch to start and it seems to get a whole lot a fuel!

I thought that I could atleast drive it to my work where I can mess with it but it died halfway so I left it there cause it was so late.

Went back the day after with startgas, fresh charged battery and tools, it wouldnt start.. Soooooo damn near, but no.

No dollys or trailers that I know of so home and charge the battery and got me a lift to the car after work but no way in hell it would start so I took the carb with me and got a ride to my work to check it out..

Found crooked metering rods, leaking gaskets, chokebutterfly(?) that wasnt attached very well and so on and while I fixed the carb I charged that stupid 6v battery!







Took a workcar and grabbed some tools and went back to the car and it was THIS DAMN CLOSE to start but nope.. Ran out of battery.

Finally I had it and removed all fuses, changed to a 12v coil and threw in a 12v battery I had in the back of the car and wouldnt you know? Fired right up and ran really decent! Started driving back to work without lights(middle of the night now but in town), got there but the last 500m or so it started missfiring and run bad so I ran out of the car and threw the garagegates open but the car died before I got back to it. Started once, ran bad then died. No battery...

Pushed that son of a bitch all the way to the garage but wouldnt make it in the garage! Was gonna charge the 12v battery but the 12v charger is dead.

Fuck it, now Im gonna lock down the shop, take this stupid bike and pedal halfway across town to where I left my workcar and drive home to get some sleep to get up early to go fix this silly car!



Clock is 01.22 now, just wanted to whine and bitch.. Nighteynight

 

You've got what it takes.

 

So today I went and got a little done on the car.. Looked through the trunk and found some frontend stuff that I dont know the english word for and yes, the ones on the car was worn out. No wonder it felt a bit weird on the road! Need to get a new fastener though..





Also found some neat stainless, but Im gonna remove the shiny bits? Aaah, it can stay for a while.. Atleast until I know if Im konna keep the gaslid



Ive got some rust to deal with, both in front and rear but alteast thats a good excuse for a custom grille!







The rust will have to wait for tomorrow or something, cause I rather felt like picking stuff off the car that I dont like



I think the backuplights will have to serve as daylights and turnsignals in front cause the ones that was up front was POS!

Filled some holes and started thinking









I like the stainless and the handle, but on the other hand I love a smooth trunk..

Lucky I dont have to decide today!

 

It's a winner, either way! There are no bad choices.
I used a '53 Pontiac bumper on my '51 Fleetline.

I hope you'll split the pipes!

 

Thanks! I dont know if Ill split the pipe cause I dont think this engine will stay for long.. I really want to keep the straight 8 but its got a knocking sound that I dont like and its smoking like hell out of the breather... I know of a cheap engine and trans that is not very traditional but reliable..

350 TBI and TH400... Maybe a temporary solution and then I can rebuild the straight eight when I got a garage?

Feel free to flame me but man, I dont even got a garage where I can store the car over nights right now! When I got it at the shop I can only have it there overnight at the weekends so I havent really got the time to restore an engine

 

Great combo!

 

Nice score, great job