Frosty

The engine code is easy. 28P is a 303 HP 389 engine tied to an automatic transmission with air conditioning. Heads should be 9773345. Compression ratio is 10.5:1. Anything from a one to four barrel carb on it. It has a Pontiac 472 spec camshaft. 404256 should match the last six digits of your car’s VIN. If it matches, you have a numbers matching car. That means this engine is the original engine this car was born with.

Happy to help mate!

As I anticipated, the Detroit indoor swap meet was a bust for the Chieftain. I found a guy with ‘57 Chevy headlight bezels but they are not the same thing. Show was mostly engine parts, trannys, wheels and tires, and some memorabilia. Not much in body parts. I’ll post about the show later.

Cool T-shirts

Just imagine how super sketchy a 7200 HP boat is today, now imagine the lack of aero and hydrodynamics theory in 1932. Taste death - Live life!

Thanks for the info Joe. I will keep him in mind. Funny you should mention adjustable rear upper control arms. I do have a set. I've been meaning to install them - hopefully over the winter.

I've only noticed the driver's side thus far, but I intend to validate both sides before moving forwrd.

The rear end is not stock. I replaced the factory 10-bolt with a Mosier 12-bolt back in the early 2000s at a company called Hardcore Performance. At one time, they had the fastest LS-powered Firebird in the country. The shop owner was arrested and convicted on mortgage fraud and the company was shut down. So it is entirely possible that the rear end was not installed perfectly square or perhaps Mosier mounted the 4-link brackets incorrectly. I will need to measure the rear end in order to determine that.

The Detroit winter swap meet is this weekend at the Suburban Showcase in Novi, MI - near Indyman Joe's place. I'll be going down with a buddy of mine on Saturday. I will keep an eye out but I'm not going to hold my breath. In the last several years there has been very little actual body sheet metal for sale, mostly performance, drivetrain and chassis pieces and memorabilia.

The best $7 investment on Amazon today! $14 if you need both sides of the car.

Congrats on the win 31pontiac! Well deserved!

It rubs against the fender lip and I don’t want to have to roll the fender and loose the stainless trim around each fender. I’ve not seen any rubbing on the inside fender well. When my mechanic measured the wheel wells, he figured a 5.5” backspace is needed to fit my 275s safely.

Hmmm…interesting idea Fitzy. I will have to google that and see what comes up. I hope there is something local to me.

Well boys, I spent some time under Lucy this weekend. I found some shims between the drivers side rear lower control arm and the 1” sway bar had somehow drop down and really were not doing much. I had to remove the drivers side bolts and loosen the passenger side to get the shims out and reinstall them. Then tighten every thing back up. I took one of my 255-60-15 front tires on a 15x7 rim and a 275-60-15 rear tire on a 15x8 rim to Discount Tire. Had them dismount both wheels and JUSTA install the 15x8 wheel on the 255 tire. The 7-in rim has a 4 in backspacing, the 8-in rim has a 4:5 in backspacing. There is nearly an inch difference in width between the 255 and 275 tire. My mechanic thought I needed 5.5 inch backspacing but they are not available without custom order wheels. Coker/Wheel Vintques do not do custom wheels. i am trying to see if I can fit the small tire on the rear to solve my rubbing problem. Can I get away with just 2 new tires, or do I need new wheels too? I got both a 7 and 8 inch rim with 255 rubber on the rear now. I ran out of time tonight to find a level and a long straight edge to see if it clears or not. I’ll let you know what I find out soon. Hey Indyman, can you use a pair of 275s? They have less than a 100 miles on them.

Oh you mean the Brezhnev look?

So does your police mug shot. What happened? You scratched at all off working on a certain red G6? A red GTO? Or a fancy Sunbird?

I have a lot of Pontiac reference and history books. Plus this particular fact was mentioned by Steve Magnante in an episode of Junkyard Gold.

Justa has suffered for his music. Now it's our turn!

HI Foxcraft! Welcome to FP and the madness. What a great looking car! Thanks for sharing the pics. We love pics around here! The 455 is a very stout motor. The question becomes what are you thinking about doing to the car or the motor? If the car has a lot of miles on it (over 100k) then it might need benefit from some freshening up the engine and transmission. If this is a low mileage motor, unless we are trying to add a power adder, then it should be fine - unless you envision some sort of strenuous duty in it's future. Examples could be autocross or drag racing. If you think this is going to be just a street cruiser / cross country / Hot Rod Power Tour car, then only fix what needs to be fixed due to age, neglect, or wear n tear. A tune up, new oil/filter, new tranny fluid/filter, shocks. tires, flush and fill the radiator, etc. should be done to keep things current.

Panel truck? I don't think Pontiac every made a panel truck after 1930. That said, they did make a sedan delivery for several years in the 1950s. I assume that is what you are talking about.

I have just finished installing a Retro Sound system for my '72 Lemans. It is Bluetooth capable, it has 2 USB ports. If I add a microphone then I can have hands free phone. I will try to remember to take pictures of it next time I am at the Garage Mahal.

I can indeed answer that question Last Indian. The first production use of red dash lights on a Pontiac was the 1979 Tenth Anniversary Trans Am (sometimes referred to as the TATA). They were not available on any other Pontiac that year. They finally became standard on all Firebirds in 1982 (with the 3rd generation Firebird). They were later integrated into all other Pontiac models during the 1980's. Interesting to note that the 2004-2006 GTO does not have red dash lights since it was built in Australia.

Yum. So I take it Louie use to be a writer - now he's Louie No More?

In your drinks?