Hello,

Good news and sorta' bad news today.

I finally got in touch with my upholstery guy today. Apparently, he had lost his cell phone. He now has the fabric material that I provided to finish my seats and I have seen the material that he is providing. So maybe it'll get done late next week but I'm headed off to Kentucky for my dad's 90th birthday. The seats will simply wait for me to pick them up the following week.

And finally, my exhaust system guy had his pipe bending machine fail. The Catalina is all good in pipe from the headers through and past the mufflers and he can't finish going over the back axle with the remaining pipe. His machine will either get repaired or he will spend $18,000 for a new one next week he says.

He also says he can't take two pieces of pipe to one of his competitors shop and bend it because they all despise the guy. His overhead is low and he's a one man shop in a paid for building which allows for a cut throat low price.

Yea, I can see why they hate the guy.

Rick

The pipe bending machine going down sucks for sure bro, but at least we know the upholstery guy did run off with your money. That's good news bro.

Hello Again,

The exhaust system guy found a pipe bending machine at another vendor well out of town - and not a competitor - to shape my last two sections of pipe and I pick up the car tomorrow. The car is still up on the lift and I have not heard its sound because another car is temporarily stored underneath this lift.

My paint guy next door will have room for the Catalina tomorrow and says he can get it done in one day. Doubtful. That man is even more of an optimist than I am.

Rick

Hello,

The Catalina came home late yesterday and the exhaust system with the Magnaflow mufflers sounds very, very good. I am really happy with how it sounds and I will eventually do some audio of it for everybody here.

But it was a complete waste of time to expect that I would get any paint correction done one address over next door from the exhaust system place. They are simply too busy but I did leave behind the trunk lid and the hood and maybe they will get it done by the time I return from my Dad's 90th birthday in Kentucky.

Next week . . . . . .

Rick

Hello,

I made it back from my Dad's 90th birthday party trip late yesterday afternoon. And as always it seems - some good news and some not so good news about the Catalina.

The hood and trunk lid might get done by Friday.

But the seats are under construction and I visited them today. Fingers crossed that I get them all back on Saturday.

Rick

Hello,

More seat pictures and I'm told that all will be ready by 4 PM tomorrow, Saturday. Cash money, only. No personal checks, no postal money orders, no aluminum cans or scrap iron for smelting.

And my painter was supposed to have my trunk lid and hood repainted by today but I think you can guess how that went. Tomorrow, he says.

Rick

Hello,

All of the seat pieces are home and look great. My wife says it must be a black carpet on the floor because more green would be too much. Black, it shall be.

No contact with my painter today.

Rick

Looks good bro!

Hello,

And my trunk lid and hood came home today. Looking good. It was too dark to take pictures but I will try to get a few maybe tomorrow or this weekend. Once again, the car is complete.

Rick

Hello,

Hopefully, this is the last time you see these two large hunks of sheet metal off of this car. They look quite good, especially the hood. It had quite a lot of Oklahoma hail storm small dings . . . all gone now.

Rick

Good to see light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe crusin with us at Woodward.

Hello,

I have been busy doing stuff but one big thing held me up for quite a while.

  For the longest time, I have had a persistent transmission fluid leak that I thought was coming from the vent tube on the top of the 4L60E transmission case.  Wrong.  There was a big crack in the 4L60E tail cone cover at the far back end of the transmission over the output shaft.  I initially thought the rebuilder might have over tightened the six bolts that hold the tail cone on but now I think the crossmember was giving just a little too much lift at the rear of the transmission – this piece is a casting, not a forging. My driveline angles to the differential are still acceptable but I have had to let the crossmember relax a little and allow for less upward strain on the cone.  The tail shaft cone is not expensive at $40.00 USD for a used part but add another $40.00 for a new bushing and seal at the back end and a new gasket up front. It is re-installed and the crossmember is back in.  And the leak has stopped.

The hood and trunk lid are both re-installed.  Some of the people that we had over for Thanksgiving dinner helped me put them back on and get bolted in.  I guess you could say some of them had to work a little for their food.  The highlight of that day was when a five-year-old boy from this group got to operate the convertible top.  It was a real life “Transformer car” for him and he got to make it happen.

I started cutting a big piece of Masonite to fit today as a replacement for the original “separator board” that was behind the upper portion of the back seat and in front of the convertible top well.  The original Masonite board was in pieces and continued to fall apart as I removed it.  I found my best-looking Pontiac production build sheet behind this original board and I think the board is supposed to provide some sound deadening for the convertible top hydraulic motor and pump.  The piece in the picture still needs some trimming for best fit.

  And the carpet is out of the box and has been laid onto the floor pan – this is the “Essex” style of fuzzy carpet and not the original loop pile.  It’s a two-piece kit ordered from Ames Performance and at least initially, it looks good.  Today is its first day out of the box and it is going to need time and possibly a little heat to get it to relax – I may yet bring the front section into the house for that heat.  The drivers footwell pad is already laying in the correct spot and they provided a grommet to go over the high beam foot switch once I get it all settled into place. There is plenty of overlap between the front and back halves and plenty of extra material at the edges. Eventually and once it is in place, I will need to use a flaming red hot screwdriver poked upward through the front seat mounting bolt holes to melt a place for the seat bolts to pass through. 

  And as some of you may recall, I bought that ’59 Chevy Apache truck a few months ago and I have had to tinker with the engine timing.  It is also equipped with a Chinese copy of an Edelbrock AVS2 carburetor that I still have concerns about or maybe it’s a TH350 torque converter problem.  The engine idles and accelerates well once it is warmed up in Park or Neutral with no hesitancy at all.  But once in gear, its not so good and the truck “feels” like it is being held back and the vehicle shakes a little.  I need to get an unbiased second opinion here from somebody local as to what they think.

And finally, just in case that Chinese AVS2 carburetor needs to be replaced, I am about to start the rebuild on at least one old Rochester Quadrajet carburetor.  One of these carbs came with this truck and its stamped model number corresponds to a 1979 Chevy C-10 truck which was the donor of the chassis that is under this 1959 vehicle.  The other Quadrajet was a recent find from a 1982 Buick of some kind that I got for cheap ($37.00 USD) from a local yard.   Both of these carbs have likely been rebuilt before by somebody and neither of these suffer from the dreaded Rochester worn out primary throttle shaft bores that cause large vacuum leaks. My guess is that new shaft bushings have already been installed to prevent these leaks.  The rebuild kits are slightly different with each of these and not expensive at maybe $35.00 each.  But both will at least need new vacuum break assemblies because both leak internally – and these will likely cost more than the rebuild kits.

Those bottles on the back corner of the carb rebuild table are a cleaning product called "Pine Sol". At least one carb will get boiled in a 50-50 mix of Pine Sol and water for a thorough cleaning.

Rick 

What a deal! food and get to work on a Pontiac! I need a new family LOL Looking forward to more progress pics!

Hello,

It should not take two hours to re-install a driveshaft. But today, it did. And I re-bled all four brakes. I celebrated by taking two test drives and my wife shot a video of the first one.

It is much quieter with an exhaust system and Flowmaster mufflers - also sounds great. It shifts well and accelerates nicely. The brakes are firm with a good pedal feel and stop well with no pull to either side.

Both of these test drives were about a mile out and a mile back. No trouble codes or check engine lights with the LS engine and 4L60E transmission but I did sprout a transmission fluid leak at the cooler. This leak was promptly repaired.

Short test drives done frequently to discover problems are how I will get this car back on the road. After the drives, I snipped and drilled on the sound deadening board behind the back seat but it could use one more snip off the bottom.

Tomorrow, I tackle the rear section of carpet with a razor knife, some steam heat and carpet glue.

And here is the video:

Catalina

Rick

Rick !!! It’s sounding gooooood 👍👍👍👍👍

Outstanding work bud! Keep up the good work!

Hello,

And the work continues. It is somewhat cold here which keeps my progress slow on gluing down the carpet. The glue does not get tacky very quickly.

I have at least temporarily given this Catalina back its eyesight - the headlights, the front fascia and the bezels have been remounted. One of these bezels was missing when I got the car last year and I found it on an Arizona junk yard parts car. All of these bezels were quite pitted and with dull chrome plating but all got media blasted down to bare metal. Then the pits were filled with glazing putty, sanded smooth and leveled to the surrounding contours. Then on went a coating of Revell Chrome spray paint to put a silver appearance back onto each bezel with a top off of some "2K Spray Max Glamour" catalyzed clear coat for a little surface toughness. I mounted all of this to check the fit and make sure that I have all of the screws and bolts from the Zip Lok baggies. It is beginning to look like a car again.

From the build sheet that I found in this car, it indicated that a dealership called "Ernie Miller Pontiac" in Tulsa, Oklahoma was the original location that ordered and sold this automobile. Lucky for me, I typed that in as an eBay search term and this badge showed up. I quickly purchased it for I think $24.00 and free shipping. After a quick wipe of the new paint with some rubbing alcohol, the dealership plate went onto the trunk lid with two strips of that mega-sticky, double-sided tape from the 3M company along with the original Pontiac name plate.

Ames Performance, Coker Tire, National Parts Depot, and "TopsOnline" all got some money from me this week. Bits, pieces and small parts from Ames and NPD. Four narrow whitewall tires from Coker. And all eight of the convertible top rubber weatherstrip pieces from TopsOnline.com. It all starts showing up tomorrow.

Rick

Hello,

Major progress on the carpet and seats. All in, glued down and bolted down and I like this plaid pattern better than the all green color that was original - the plaid provides some contrast. It is quite a relief to have a real seat during test drives and my wife took her first trip with me around the neighborhood late this afternoon.

I have also managed to get the rear quarter panel trim "spear-shaped" pieces on earlier this week and I am working the corresponding door trim. Then the same for the front quarter panels. All four of the stainless wheel well pieces of trim got installed after some cleanup of a little road tar.

We think we will tackle the bumpers tomorrow. They are heavy!! And maybe mount the interior door panels and arm rests. Front and rear lighting will get re-installed after that.

My narrow whitewall Coker 235/75R15 tires also showed up. I have center caps but I have not yet put them on.

I need to start thinking about getting this car insured and plated.

Rick

looking Great Rick !!!!!

be safe this ya bumpers !!!!

Hello,

As of about an hour ago, I declared that the major and heavy reconstruction that I am going to do on this car is now complete. The front and rear bumpers are on and bolted - a whole lotta' work. The front and rear door panels are installed and I'm waiting on new interior door handles and window cranks to arrive in a shipment that appears to be stuck on a loading dock in California. I will put the armrests on when the new handles get here.

The waist high spear trim is installed all around the car. And as I write this, I realize that the rocker trim needs to go on but it is located at a different spot in the shop and I forgot about it until now.

All four of the Coker narrow whitewall tires are on and every wheel has a center cap. There is a spare tire and the original jack with its lug wrench is in the trunk. But that original jack is a widow maker that I will never use - some other jack will be in the trunk for actual use. Both of the exterior door handles and new mirrors have been installed.

I put money down early this week with the guy who will be doing the convertible top. It will take two to three weeks for the top kit with a glass back window to arrive here which puts getting it installed about mid January. All eight of the convertible top new rubber pieces arrived and will go to his shop. He says its a three day job to install the top and make a new boot well and a cover for when the top is down.

The reverse lamp assemblies had rusty sockets and they got replaced a while back but I never installed them into the red tail light assemblies until yesterday. They were a close match but did not fit. Some quick work with a Dremel tool cut the small notches that were required for a proper, secure and tightly twist locked fit.

But all is not rosy in Catalina Land. The relatively new aluminum radiator sprung what is probably an unrepairable leak due to how thin the tubing is. The radiator has a lifetime warranty on it and I'm about to discover how honorable that warranty is.

Finally, I am more or less switching into a repair rather than a restoration mode at this point.

Rick

Lookin sooo good. Nice work N much to be proud of. Your weather appears MUCH better than here with our freezing rain N downed tree's N branches. Just got our power back on after over 24hrs of freezing with no heat.

Wow, Steve,

Sorry to hear it. I've got four family members there in East Pointe that are also suffering the cold weather and one of them - my new grand son - is barely a month old.

The warm weather and having a lot of time off here during the holidays has allowed for a major push on the Catalina. I think we get one more day of wearing shorts and a t-shirt tomorrow and then its back to normal.

Our summers are miserable and your summers are pleasant. Its completely opposite here during the winter.

Rick

I won’t say a word about our weather here at the beach in nz ….. 🥵

well done Rick !!!!! You have done an amazing amount of work and the cars looking soooooo good 🍻🍻🍻🍻

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.

That’s not sounding flash justA !!!

But I do like the idea of your tv with a fridge in the back of it !!!! Perfect for in the lounge full of my fav beers 🍻

What’s with your furnace using lots of power ? Is it gas fired ?