1957 Chieftain restomod Build

[64 kiwi boni]

Well good on you for doing something different mate 

we are getting heaps of adds over here wanting people to come to ozzy and work in the mines . Offering crazy money ! 
I could never do it 

hours are too long for me ! Haha 

 

We are are at the beach with the grand kids 

drinking beers to keep cool as it’s 32 c 

the fishing is slack as ! Caught 4 undersize snapper and one sting Ray ! 
sea temperature is 19c 

[64 kiwi boni]

I have trained my 2 year old grand daughter how to get my beer from the. Fridge !!! Life is bliss 

[Ringo64]

20 minutes ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

I have trained my 2 year old grand daughter how to get my beer from the. Fridge !!! Life is bliss /cdn-cgi/mirage/6ff81f4fb5bbc06d76633dd75bc2f528d9d477022e6ae5fc804f13327e7044b1/1280/https://theme.foreverpontiac.com/emoticons/default_cheers.gif

What a life!

[64 kiwi boni]

31 minutes ago, Ringo64 said:

What a life!

But I find my bar tender has to stop all the time to eat ice cream ! 

Edited December 30, 2022 by 64 kiwi boni

[Fitzy]

That looks idyllic. Your 'bar tender' (hello child labour) needs to aim more carefully for their mouth - much like you after many beers. Good to see you have some nice warm weather. It's been roasting hot here and then the rain came. It has now settled into a perpetual drizzle which is nice because it'll soak into the ground and it keeps the temperature down.

[JUSTA6]

Crikey's, don't mess with the business end of that bad boy!

[64 kiwi boni]

2 hours ago, JUSTA6 said:

Crikey's, don't mess with the business end of that bad boy!

/cdn-cgi/mirage/01af4a6a6e5f56bc950c4b24cb7bc8e58c748ef54b4a5e1c2afbd74fb63403ff/1280/https://foreverpontiac.com/uploads/monthly_2022_12/image.png.e4d69f423232dedf16e3ad0be6989c7a.png

Yes justA ! I pinned his tail while I took the hook out of his mouth …

and sent him back out to his ocean home 

[Rgs65]

Nice I have a 59 galaxie I'm doing basically the same thing to

[64 kiwi boni]

Road trip today to pick up the new motor and trans 

[64 kiwi boni]

JustA got home from a 6 hour round trip 

with the new engine that’s going into the 57 !

dwights 389 is heading into another build that I am working on 😊

This is a L98 and 6L80e trans from a VE Commodore or a G8 Pontiac 2007 year 

it’s a low mileage motor and it’s going to work really nice with the corvette suspension 

I also called in and picked up some more corvette parts from the guy who sold me the c4 front and rear suspension …

complete steering column and shafts 

brake pedal and support frame 

along with master cylinder and booster to come 

Also to note with the motor is a complete the loom, fly by wire pedal and ecu. i have found a company in Hamilton( 2 hours away) that will modify my loom so its a simple 4 wire hook up and delete all the plugs and sensors i wont need in the 57 !

Also they unlock the ecu and remove the vat from it. so the motor will run and talk to the transmission. Simple aye !

Edited January 6, 2023 by 64 kiwi boni

[Wrongway]

Thats justa cool bro!

[Fitzy]

Wow - nice setup.

Looks kinda wet over there. Same here but maybe 10° hotter.

[64 kiwi boni]

7 hours ago, Fitzy said:

Wow - nice setup.

Looks kinda wet over there. Same here but maybe 10° hotter.

mate!!! its been raining for the last 3 months ! everything is soooooo green its crazy.. 20-28c most days 

so i have lots of hay ready to be cut ! but its gota stop raining so the contractor can do the job !!!

[64 kiwi boni]

now we are getting into the fun part!

i have been talking to the LS wiring specilist and when i get my loom and ecu modified, i will post an up date ....and add his web site..

including wrapping the loom in black mesh like i did on my little ford, so all you see looks super clean !!

He has some nice little tricks that will make the engine work that little better.... and its cool as i can relate all this to when i built the cortina with its duratec stand alone ecu system with the itb ! 

watch this space!!! 

best part !!! 

 This time its a PONTIAC  with a efi engine !!

[Fitzy]

You know what - old school tech is nice & simple and somebody out there may get a kick out of fiddling with points or adjusting the carb, but in my opinion NOTHING beats EFI. You cannot possibly ever replicate what an ECU will do - adjust the timing on the fly or adjust the fuel mixture according to immediate conditions. In retrospect, I now firmly believe in transplanting a modern drivetrain into an old car, unless of course it's gotta be original because it's concourse - fair enough. You're gonna be proud to tool around in that old Chieftain. I'd like to see you retain it's patina'd (is that a word?) paint. Wheels, low,  modern mechanicals, comfy interior and 'barn find' paint. Nice.

[64 kiwi boni]

Another box ticked today !

I loaded the 57 onto a trailer and down to the vtnz testing station and had its new New Zealand vehicle identification number. Allocated and attached 

for some dumb reason it has to be attached in the engine bay, not the door jab like the factory one, you can see it attached here next to the cowl tag....

And to add to the fun today, the wipers in the ram stopped working,,,,hosing down with rain again !! so out with some rainx and drove that sucker ! thats the fun/ adverture of our  hobby  see Fitzy ! hahaha 

some one give you lemons, hell mix up a vodka !!! hahaha and enjoy.

Edited March 17, 2023 by 64 kiwi boni

[Wrongway]

Thats the spirit Kiwi! Congrats on the vin tag bud.

[Fitzy]

Yes mate, well done. Conversely, here in Queensland they manually inputted the GP's original VIN so it appears that way on my registration. All modern cars have a 17 digit (I think) VIN, so I'm guessing they made yours fall into line.

Gotta love Rain X. I once wiped my windscreen with metho and drove it through a storm without ever touching the wipers.

[64 kiwi boni]

1 hour ago, Fitzy said:

Yes mate, well done. Conversely, here in Queensland they manually inputted the GP's original VIN so it appears that way on my registration. All modern cars have a 17 digit (I think) VIN, so I'm guessing they made yours fall into line.

Gotta love Rain X. I once wiped my windscreen with metho and drove it through a storm without ever touching the wipers.

It was a slow death for the wipers mate… they started getting slower and slower .. then stop !!! Haha 

that’s one of my missions for tomorrow 

to find what went wrongway ! Hahaha 

I can hear the motor working .. but no movement !!

dumb mopar !!! 
if it was a Pontiac it wouldn’t have done that ! Hahaha 

[Fitzy]

No. If it had been a Pontiac, you wouldn't have needed wipers, because you wouldn't be moving! Well, not really. Wipers are one of those things that you take for granted and then all of a sudden when you actually need them, they're not there. I can remember a taxi driver telling me that it's all the weird stuff that you never give a thought to that can go in a high mileage vehicle, like a taxi. I also remember reading something from a chauffeur who would undertake minor maintenance tasks on his boss's Rolls Royce. He said that (on a particular model) you had to be careful about doing something within the vicinity of the wiper apparatus because you could accidentally trip the switch and the mechanism would either break your arm or at the very least, really hurt you. That'd be fun: being slowly eaten by a Rolls Royce and with your good arm frantically try and turn the damn wipers off!

[Frosty]

14 hours ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

some one give you lemons, hell mix up a vodka !!! hahaha and enjoy.

In my ski club, we use to get a large sun tea jar. Fill it with ice. Take 2 lemons, squeeze the juice out of it and then cut up and throw in the lemon pieces (minus the skin). Add a cup of sugar. Add a 5th of vodka (usually NOT the top shelf brand vodka either). Put the lid on it. Wrap it in a towel and shake it for 20 minutes and let the endothermic reaction do the rest......

You have what we call "Yucka". It tastes like lemonade but will thoroughly kick your ass. We'd make some during the summer/fall months, usually during boating, canoeing, and rafting trips.

We made some on Y2K (New Year's Eve) too while playing electronic Simon. Screw up - take a drink. I had to work Y2K from 2 am to 6 am. That was a mistake. I was slightly buzzed and I was afraid someone might notice. Being "drunk" on the job in those days was a serious no-no. I was smart enough to quit drinking it early in the evening. I was not smart enough to never start in the first place. I got through it without a problem, but doesn't mean I didn't worry about it at the time.

Edited March 17, 2023 by Frosty

[Fitzy]

I vividly remember NYE 1999. I was determined that it was going to be special (just in case the robots took over the world.) Because this is a family forum, let's just say that I was looking after my girlfriend as she was watching the countdown and fireworks on the telly. I should have married that one - she was awesome.

Now, what's all this about Pontiacs...?

[64 kiwi boni]

Update , i have set my plan for the whole new chassis rebuild,

here in nz this all has to be signed off by a certifyer .. and i have had the girl cow tagged with her vin plate !! 

and now i have submitted my build plan to the lvvta... which is nz version of god for building cars !... watch this space !

Edited May 16, 2023 by 64 kiwi boni

[64 kiwi boni]

Note to fitzy.... stop looking at the pie !

[KiwiStarChief]

Good luck with the LVVTA! You sure are going to need it.