Frosty

Thanks- the same article was published in the GMC Times this month as well. I wonder what a blown 478 GMC V6 would look like in the Sunbird?

The 2024 Bandit Run will roll into Michigan this year. This happens to be the same week as the Hot Rod Power Tour (dang it!).l https://banditrw.restoreamusclecar.com/24home48351775 Stops are: June 9 - Holland Michigan (west side of the lower pennisula) June 10 - Mackinaw City / Cheboygan (northern tip of the LP) June 11-13 - Pontiac Michigan Cost is $395

Totally agree with JUSTA. A lot of hard work. Now I hope you can't stop driving the wee out of it.

So what paint did you use on the body? What is the official color name? Have you taken your ride to any track? Done any quarter mile or autocross with it? Just curious.

Fantastic! Beyond the obvious body and paint work, what all did you do to the ol' girl?

Retro Sound has models for the 3rd and 4th gen Firebirds. https://www.retromanufacturing.com/collections/pontiac-make/firebird

Welcome to FP and the madness. Pontiac is truly an addiction. What are your current plans to get another Pontiac?

Does that mean there is a God? I thin I think we can all relate.

I took Lucy to my local tire store on Saturday. I was informed that the 275R60-15 tires that I have for the rears are too big (no kidding I already knew that). The biggest I can run without tire rub and not modifying the fenders is a 255R60-15. I already run those on the fronts. Now I need to order another pair of 255s. I also put the return spring and new star wheel in the driver's side brake drum. It's fixed. I went around the garage mahal yard doing a lot of reverse stops to set the brake shoe properly before I left for the tire store. I dragged Black Beauty and the Roadmonster out too. Got heat into both cars. I ended up taking the Roadmonster to my car club meeting and I somehow managed to lose the right rear hub cap. eBay here I come.

I am wondering if your harness isn't grounded properly or you are missing grounds in the car, especially in the engine bay. Justa a thought based on what you've described.

Touché!

I am not aware of any quarter panel reproduction sheet metal for your Catalina. Therefore you need to find a donor vehicle or a classic car junkyard for these things. I would start with Frank's Pontiac Parts in 29 Palms California. They are an all Pontiac salvage yard, they MAY have what you need. They have a website too. https://frankspontiacparts.com/ I would also try: Desert Valley Auto Parts in Phoenix AZ Turner's Wrecking Yard - Fresno CA CTC Auto Ranch - Denton TX I have a longer list of possible yards but I think this will help you get started.

Design for manufacturing is DEFINITELY not the same thing as design for serviceability. Guess which one GM chose?

Just out of curiosity, what sort of things did you have to do to the Cortina to make the digital dash work with analog sensors, or did you have to replace the sensors too?

Utter genius idea!

It's good to be the King.

I have similar hopes for Lucy as well Kiwi, but it is pretty far down on the list of mods I still want to do to her. For the Camaro, I'd say go for it. https://www.dakotadigital.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=924/category_id=413/mode=prod/prd924.htm

Totally agree with Kiwi. They are the same chassis.

Good luck with that mate!

Justa - I saw this on the Motortrend shop website. I think any dog with a car name like Enzo, needs a special dog dish. Justa thought. https://store.motortrend.com/products/hot-rod-y-block-personalized-pet-bowl

CongratulatIons!

IF you are looking for used parts, start with the two that Wrongway suggested. If you are buying new, go with Kiwi's suggestions. If you need more classic car junkyard listings, let me know and I will post more yard names.

I did take the passenger side tire and brake drum off. That side appears to be fine. I thought the same as Justa and Kiwi. Therefore I did inspect it. I am happy that it was only on one side. As for chewing out my mechanic, I don't remember who did the brakes the last time. The guy I had put in the steering column last summer didn't touch the brakes. Those brakes have been on the car for at least 7-10 years. Lucy has been sidelined with heater core and steering column issues since 2019. This will be the first time in 5 years she has been road worthy.

This weekend I took out my Percy Tire tool to try to determine how big a tire I can run under the stock rear fenders without tire rub. As I took the rear driver's tire off, the brake drum was loose and partial came off. After removing the tire and rolling it out of the may, something fell out of the drum assembly. I pulled the drum all the way off, and the star wheel and a spring fell out. Only it was half of the star wheel. the other half was lodged between the shoe and the backing plate. Thank god for extending magnets to fish it out. Then I notice a problem....can you guess what it is? Here is the star wheel. Look at the top and the bottom of the star wheel. See how the locating socket that goes between the lower brake show is there at the bottom, but the top is missing? I realized that this was why the drum was so loose and I probably didn't have any left rear brakes either. I ran down to my local AutoZone parts store and asked for a self-adjuster kit for a '72 Chevelle. No one stocks "Pontiac" parts anymore. I actually had to spell Chevelle for the kid at the counter. Sheesh! Turns out they didn't have it but another AutoZone about 4 miles away did. So I ended up driving those 4 miles and spent $18.00 for a new self-adjusting kit. The part I need is at the lower left, next to the star wheel. I will most likely use the entire new star wheel. I ran out of time to fix it (the wife called and said it was dinner time). So that is my mission this week and then get back to tire measuring.