7 hours ago, JUSTA6 said:

We have a new forcast sporting 70mph winds over Lk Erie and heading for you too LastIndian. Batton down the hatches buddy. Winds on the Great Lks are going to make larger waves (over15ft) than what sank the Edmond Fitzy...... see what I did there? Looks like we might be in for power loss all over again. Yes my 5000w gen wasn't putting out anywhere near enough to run our furnace, run the well or keep the fridge or the freezer cold. All that BS and noise to run a couple lights in the house and not even the modem for the TV or computer. This might be goodbye for awhile again. When the power did come back, my fridge with the TV in the door, suppose to have internet access and all the rest of the BS I never hooked up, would not start back up. Will take 3 days to get someone out here for that. Now everything is going in coolers and headed for the garage in the cold weather.

What JUSTA didn’t add about our upcoming weather forecast is the rain will turn into snow overnight. So high winds combined with falling temperatures, rain, possible freezing rain and then snow accumulation, around 1-3 inches according to the local TV station. Monday should be a nasty day to get around here. It doesn’t help that I justa found out my snowblower has a flat tire. Ugh!

Hello,

All good news. As of yesterday, it is insured on a State Farm "Agreed Value" policy and plated. She is street legal. There are many little things that still need to be done to it and of course, the new convertible top in January. I got one of the pieces of rocker trim mounted late yesterday.

And the Cold Case radiator company honored the warranty yesterday and has shipped the replacement radiator. Tracking shows that it will be here next Tuesday.

This car could really use a bath to get rid of dust and a lot of cat footprints.

Rick

Hello Again,

Today was bath day for the car. Its first since at least 1993. With no radiator, a quick move of maybe 45 seconds is about as far as I can go.

Rick

i am gona say it again Rick !!!!

you have done an amazing job!!!!!!!

Edited January 2Jan 2 by 64 kiwi boni

Hello,

As I previously mentioned, I'm turning more towards a repair situation rather than the resto-mod effort this car has undergone since February, 2024.

Now I can turn my attention to the glass, especially the front windshield. It has some rather nasty windshield wiper rash in the glass and a lot of paint overspray from where this car was stored since 1993 until last year. The now deceased previous owner was a house and commercial painting contractor and some overspray is still on the various pieces of glass in the car. This car was stored in the same building that he operated his painting business out of.

I have watched a few You Tube videos and I have acquired the tools and the concoction to begin polishing out these scratches. I already had a good hook & pile pad double-action sander and I have now bought some hooked rayon pads and some cerium oxide glass polishing compound.

Heat is the enemy of modern automotive safety glass and I shall avoid keeping my D-A polishing pad too long in one place - to prevent distortion in the glass. Patience will be a virtue here and these kinds of scratches will take time to remove but at least my fingernail does not catch anywhere on the glass. My prediction is that I will need to buy more rayon pads and more of the cerium stuff before this is finished. I don't really have a choice because finding a replacement windshield in new glass does not appear to be possible.

Rick

Hello,

My new radiator arrived late in the day on Tuesday and I installed it last night after work. It is filled with Dexcool coolant, some anti rust / water pump lubricant and the air pockets in the engine have been purged. The two electric fans and their fan shroud also turned on appropriately after they got riveted to the outer frame of the new radiator.

After all of that last night, it was too late to take a test drive but maybe later today. The weather is my only concern.

Late today, I also need to stop by the place to check on the possible arrival of my convertible top kit. I'd absolutely love to call the guy but the owner of the shop struggles a lot with his cell phone for some reason. I flat out told the guy when I was working with him on my seats that I think he is a member of the federal Witness Protection Program. It is the only plausible explanation that I can come up with.

Rick

Hello,

No test drive tonight due to rain but late yesterday, a quick drive of about eight miles out on the main road in fifty mile per hour traffic went well. In high 70's F weather, the top was down!! No engine or transmission leaks, no drive shaft u-joint bolts loosened, the steering went well and so did the brakes. But oddly on the way back, the Check Engine Light illuminated and when I got it back into the shop, the DTC code was a "P0200" for "Injection Circuit Open". Yet, the engine ran well. I did not look into this problem tonight but I will tomorrow.

Tonight's work was mostly small things. The rear side marker lighting has never worked but the license plate lamp and the tail lights did. So I added a new wire to the license plate lamp and connected the two side markers to it. Problem solved.

Then I attacked the wiper rash on the windshield with the cerium oxide and a D-A sander. But first, the collective You Tube wisdom recommended that a clay bar be used on the glass to deeply clean it of debris so that the D-A could not make things worse. And wow, I had never used a clay bar for anything and it really removed a lot of things that I could not see. I also used it on the inside of the glass and I can already see through the glass a lot better.

I was warned about heating up the glass too much with the D-A but that did not happen. I felt no warmth in the glass at all after two sessions of five minutes each mostly on the wiper rash area. The D-A was pressed as hard into the glass as I could manage and the videos mentioned that the force used on glass would be much higher than anybody would use if they were buffing out a clear coat painted surface on a car.

The videos also mentioned that a wiper rash could take an hour or more to polish out and even then it could still be slightly visible. I will attack this side of the glass a little at a time and I will eventually get these scratches out.

Rick

Hello,

Today was another BEAUTIFUL day for a test drive and this was its longest trip so far - about ten miles. And its first trip to a gas station since at least 1993. Baby steps here on the test drives - go home check for leaks, look at the OBD2 data, etc. These will get longer but cautiously so. I was too much of a zealot when my El Camino came back to life which cost me a few tow truck rides home.

Gorgeous 62 degrees F weather in bright sun and it drew quite a picture and video taking crowd at the pump.

Rick

Would turn my head at the gas station!

Hello,

It has been a few weeks and some family travel to Detroit and this past weekend to New Orleans has kept me away from a lot of automotive work. The general cold weather and the ice storm also conspired to keep me out of the garage.

My '70 El Camino sprung a fuel tank leak a few weeks ago. All fuel leaks are bad but this was bad enough that the vehicle had to move someplace well away from a spark ignition source. Today the weather was nice enough to get under the car for a second look at where the leak was coming from. I already knew it was not a fuel line and I really thought I had hit a rock or other debris in the road. I was able to clean off the collected dirt that was attracted to the fuel to discover that the tank had popped a spot weld on the underside of the tank. In an email earlier this evening, I asked the manufacturer if this was a possible warranty claim but I doubt they will agree to that. This tank has been in this truck since way back in 2018. Once I can get more fuel out of the tank and stop it from seeping, my intention is to clean up the area around the leaky spot weld and plug the seep with some JB Weld "Steel Stik". The You Tube videos for it look promising and I have little to lose by trying the Steel Stik. It's the Stik or a new fuel tank.

My '59 Chevy Apache truck is at a friend's shop getting a few things done to it that I have not had time to do. It should be finished on Thursday.

The Catalina has not moved much in the last few weeks and the convertible top kit has not yet arrived. Hopefully, it will go in for that installation next week. Today, I continued with the polishing out of the windshield wiper "rash" in the glass but now I'm using a much smaller two inch wool pad. The previous large wool pad that I used was very good for general coverage around the glass and it cleaned up the not so scratched areas very nicely. But the big pad spread my weight and force onto the glass in too wide of an area. These new two inch pads allow me to put weight and polishing force primarily onto the worst of the wiper rash and maybe this will speed up the process. I put fifteen minutes into polishing earlier this evening and it'll eventually get done.

The LS engine in the Cat has recently started throwing a DTC P0327 code for a knock sensor problem. The engine is not knocking or detonating but the PCM is getting poor feedback from the Bank 1 sensor. I'm hoping its a connector problem because I do not want to remove the entire intake manifold to reach the sensors.

Rick

Hello,

Today is the big day. The Catalina goes in for the installation of its convertible top - the kit from North Carolina finally arrived. This is supposed to be a three day job but I'm predicting a Monday or possibly Tuesday finish.

Short test drives have continued with the car and it has accumulated maybe twenty miles or so from eight or nine trips. I checked the front wheel bearings last Sunday and they were a little loose but not anymore. As I mentioned before, I do short test drives to detect problems because I don't want to walk, push a vehicle, or get towed home. This philosophy of laziness will dictate that this car will leave here on a flat bed tow truck today to get its top installed. However, because there won't be a time crunch after the top is installed, I might, maybe, possibly drive it home whenever that job is complete - probably a fifteen mile trip. These trips will get much longer very soon.

I am dealing with a small coolant leak at the LS engine steam vent line that will need a dab of pipe thread sealant. The horns don't yet work because of a loss of ground inside the guts of the steering wheel hub - very fixable. My new replacement neutral safety switch from about a year ago is now wonky and the engine won't start in Park but will in Neutral - also very fixable.

I am also waiting on reactivating the speedometer and odometer. I need to buy a digital to mechanical speedometer cable conversion module from the Dakota Digital company - their ECD-200BT-1 module. I would have done so already but I have been struggling with how to route the original mechanical cable to the new electronic conversion module location in the engine compartment. If I knew then what I know now, I would have modified the hole in the firewall where the speedo cable passes through BEFORE installing the engine. As it routes today, there is a bendy kink at the firewall that I need to solve. I can still open up the hole to eliminate the kink but this will need to be done from the passenger side of the firewall and the front seat bench will need to come out to give me work room. Quite frankly, I enjoy driving the car too much to yank out the front seat.

And the OBD2, Bank 1 Knock Sensor Low Input problem that I mentioned above has not returned. I did nothing at all to solve this problem and it is not even a PCM OBD2 stored, future or pending Check Engine Light problem. It is as if the problem never happened.

Rick

Great progress Rick ! I would love to see your speedo conversion with the Dakota digital unit as that’s what I will be using on the 63 , I want my instruments to all look stock

Why not mount to box down under near where the speedo cable used to enter the old box ?

Hello Chris,

After a discussion earlier today with my mechanic friend who is doing work on my '59 Apache, I will be doing something close to that - installing it much lower down on the firewall more in line with how Pontiac originally routed the speedometer cable.

I was concerned that the DD conversion module would not tolerate being underneath the car exposed to moisture, etc. Not that this car will ever see much rain. My mechanic friend says it'll be fine under the car but I will give it some kind of protection, of course.

The DD module will need key on electrical power from the car and the appropriate speed signal wire from the PCM and it should be OK.

Rick

6 hours ago, B52bombardier1 said:

Hello Chris,

After a discussion earlier today with my mechanic friend who is doing work on my '59 Apache, I will be doing something close to that - installing it much lower down on the firewall more in line with how Pontiac originally routed the speedometer cable.

I was concerned that the DD conversion module would not tolerate being underneath the car exposed to moisture, etc. Not that this car will ever see much rain. My mechanic friend says it'll be fine under the car but I will give it some kind of protection, of course.

The DD module will need key on electrical power from the car and the appropriate speed signal wire from the PCM and it should be OK.

Rick

That way you don’t have to dick with the firewall or the curve of the factory cable. And like you said , just waterproof it 👍

Hello,

The Cat made it home from the top shop today with no trouble along the thirteen mile route. Purred like a kitten the whole way and no need for a tow truck. This was its longest trip so far and was quite a confidence builder that it had no trouble. It has a grand total now of about 35 miles on it since 1993.

I really wanted to put the top down for this drive because it was a warm day and . . . just because. But the installer said it needs to stay up for at least four days because the material is tight and needs to stretch a little.

Now onward to the next little project with this car. De-rattling and continuing to check for leaks, etc. The next big project is to get air conditioning and heat going before my preferred shop gets too swamped with work for the car show season.

I will certainly need the AC for the trip to the end of the Hot Rod Power Tour this summer. The last stop is Tulsa, Oklahoma which is where this car was originally sold back in 1970 and that dealership is still there but in a different address. They want to see this car and its build sheet. The widow lady that I bought this car from is also about 25 miles west of Tulsa and she would like to see it in its resto-modded glory. My wife is also making the trip with me and we will spend three days there with Tour activities, the dealership, and some Route 66 cruising.

Rick

Way cool Rick 👍🍻

I can’t wait to see her snd you Rick!

Hello,

Today was inspection day for the Catalina and I'm good to go for two years - kind of a joke, this inspection. However, this fifty six year old vehicle is in far better mechanical, electrical and emissions control condition than many around here and the car drew a small crowd of three people today at the inspection station.

This was its first official state inspection since April of 1993 up in Oklahoma. After today's round trip, it has accumulated about forty five miles since bringing it back from the dead.

Tomorrow, the REAL inspection happens - again. The car goes back up on jacks for a look at the all new steering components, brake lines, wheel bearings, tire pressure, fuel lines, drive shaft bolts and transmission fluid cooler lines. I'm really feeling the need for a new set of shocks at all four corners but that won't be this weekend.

I need to replace the old set of seat belts with an all new set that I've had in the box a while and install a new neutral safety switch - the previous switch got replaced about a year ago. I will also try to do more front windshield glass polishing with the rayon and wool pads and the cerium oxide polish. The driver's side, rear corner of the hood sits a little high and the hinge needs some adjustment here - this annoys my wife.

Sunday will be the first day I can put the top down but I might wait a little longer and let the car sit out in the sunlight to help that process of relaxing the top material.

Rick

Hello,

The Catalina went into my preferred local repair shop last Tuesday for quite a long list of things. And the list keeps getting longer. The journey to the repair shop was the Catalina's first trip on an Interstate highway and I was curious how it would perform at those speeds. It did very well and I'm losing track of about how many miles I've put on it. Maybe 70-80 or so.

The Cat gets an all new heating and air conditioning system, re-connection of the e-Brake cable to the transmission crossmember and installation of the Dakota Digital part number ECD-200BT digital to analog speedometer conversion kit. Another new neutral safety switch and a rework the 4L60E transmission shifter linkage. Re-bleed the brakes and new shocks at all four corners. I get a very brief flash of the red dashboard brake light when I release the brake pedal - I have bled these brakes 3-4 times at home already. This was merely the list at the start of the repairs.

Since Tuesday, a few other things have been added to the list - a reworked transmission crossmember, new ball joints, sway bar bushings and control arm bushings. I had already replaced all of the steering components up front including the use of a rebuilt Jeep Grand Cherokee quick ratio steering gear box that has the heavier torsion bar hydraulic valve. But I did nothing for the ball joints, the sway bar or the control arms.

They will have the car for quite a while into next week getting all of this done and I am about to add another thing to the list - a replacement, aftermarket steering wheel. I never could get the horn buttons and steering wheel canceling cam to work properly using the original steering wheel. It has a new turn signal switch and the turn signals and hazard switch work perfectly. I can ground the small copper pin at the turn signal switch and make the horns blow very loudly. However, the push button switch contacts and that wiring in the original steering wheel is not very dependable and I still can't figure out why the cancelling cam does not work after trying two different cams.

So, I know my limitations and I'm punting to the professionals. Once I get it back home, I will take a few pictures of the new heat and AC dashboard controls and the area above the passenger side footwell. There is still plenty for me to do at home with this car. The door and window rubber weatherstrip still needs to go on and I'm going to add a few engine gauges - temperature, oil pressure and volts.

Rick

Hello,

Things just got easier in my workshop after this weekend's World of Wheels Car show here in Shreveport. That is a new DMS Equipment FP-8K four post car lift (8000 pound capacity) with a bridge jack up front.

The very good price offered to attendees at the car show and a few You Tube videos regarding this lift convinced me that I no longer need to squirm around on a hard garage floor ever again. This lift is movable if the landing gear legs are attached, down and locked.

https://dmsequipment.com/portfolio/fp8k/

My '59 Apache also took second place in the 1957 to 1972 Classic Trucks category. Total shock from me on that in a very competitive category. Mine was one of the few fleetside body styles is the only thing I can think of.

Work on the Catalina continues at that workshop and I get an update phone call almost every work day. Who knew that the ordering of ball joints would be difficult and expensive? Kit parts for the air conditioning system are also not here yet.

Rick

RICK !!!! hide this quick !!!! before Frosty sees it !!!!!

Hell yeah Rick, congrats bro! Ohhhh hey, any chance I can barrow your lift next Saturday ol'buddy???

17 hours ago, B52bombardier1 said:

15 hours ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

RICK !!!! hide this quick !!!! before Frosty sees it !!!!!

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Keep twisting that knife Kiwi! Keep twisting that knife!

3 hours ago, Frosty said:

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Keep twisting that knife Kiwi! Keep twisting that knife!

Hello,

It has been a while and it is time to catch up.

The Cat is still getting things done and they might finish up the heat / AC / ventilation tomorrow. The dashboard with a new radio and the controls for heat and AC have also been a central focus.

The frontal picture of the dashboard has a good view of the new 4L60E transmission PRN4321 shift indicator done in LED lights. The old indicator just wasn't gonna' cut it for me and Dakota Digital helped out here.

The new dash also has an original Pontiac analog clock that it did not have before . . . but . . . it is not accurate. It gains maybe two minutes every 4-5 hours and only its lamps will be powered - there is no rate adjustment in these clocks at the hairspring. Maybe someday I will put a better clock in. The Dakota Digital box that converts the PCM speed output to a spinning cable input to the original Catalina speedometer is also installed. The new Lokar ACA-1804 shifter linkage is also connected.

The genius of the two people that are doing this work on my car became apparent to me earlier this week. The new heater and AC control panel was larger than the original Pontiac set of controls and the new control would not fit in that hole. So, they put the new larger control in the spot for the radio and put the radio in the spot for the heat / ventilation controls. Modern AM / FM radios have gotten smaller and don't need as much space and the new arrangement can be seen in the picture below.

Rick