Last Indian

This will be a center insert within a cavity space. This will be a clear cover over the Indian head this is the top plate. The bottom & top series of holes have two different purposes. Starting with the outer first holes. Every other hole is an attachment hole for a stainless steel panhead Allen screw, than a open hole to display light. this is the polycarbonate plate. There are two grooves cut into the plate with a ball end mill to reflect light up through the corresponding slots. Above & below those grooves are taped holes for the screws, as well partially countersunk holes to reflect light below is a picture of the original replacment sill plates I built right after I bought the car new. D3D81468-10AA-476C-8CA9-41E12619D5A8.webp

So I’ve been itching to get started on my little project that I mentioned! Not to mention putting in the new sway bar, machining a second aluminum finned top for the back aluminum valve covers I bought. Tear apart half of the motor to do so, downside of an FWD! Buy another chromed alternator to put in, since all of that is apart, last one took a dump 7 years ago, & fingers crossed should finish my mates project shortly after Christmas! JustA in time to start the inside house projects, yeah! But I took a little time the past two weeks, in between leaf cleanup & last minute outside S- - t before the white crap comes down. To get started on the basic concept. The idea is to build new sill plates that are illuminated like you can buy, but these will be, I hope a new level of cool & Pontiac old school specific! The first one is already starting to take shape. These are really going to be time consuming because of the detail & the need to get the right angles cut in the polycarbonate to carry the light across multiple cuts & cavities in the polycarbonate. Not to mention the polishing!

Looks like you guys had a really good enjoyable time! So glade. Best of the Holidays! Cheers!

Well, still trying to carve out some time to finish things before winter set in completely. Then I might have a month maybe five weeks before the winter inside house projects start. So I hope to get my mates job done & start my new idea I mentioned, but in the meantime I got a couple new things to install on the Indian before next season. A new bigger 1” solid rear sway bar. This should really let me straighten out the corners. Also a set of 3800 aluminum valve covers that I can add my top added pieces to! These should make a nice add as opposed to the current lower fiber valve covers that I have the covers on.

Hope you guys have a great time! Just be safe!!

I couldn’t be happier for ya buddy! More than deserving! A lot of folks buy their toys, & that’s ok, but in my opinion you don’t get the right to that swag without the investment of blood, sweat & tears! Not mention skinned knuckles, bad shoulders, worn out knees, scars, dents in you head! Ok I’m starting to feel nauseous & dizzy! ENJOY the RIDE & the attention!

Really nice work Wrongway! You been busy buddy! Not sure if it’s something that helps or not. There’s a process that you could explore called PVD, (physical vapor deposition), this has replaced a good share of chrome plating in America. It’s cleaner, way less chemicals & has some distinct advantages over chrome plating. You can easily have it repaired if it gets damaged. It’s harder than chrome plating & significantly lighter. It comes in many colors as well as chrome. In the chrome form it can be very difficult to tell it’s not chrome. Most chrome wheels today are PVD. I don’t know the cost vs plating though. It’s more than likely there are places in your area that do this process that could advise you though.

Paul, first off the electrical. Irrelevant of what any of us say, you can find out in 5 minutes how your coil/distributor system works with respect to voltage. That said, what Peter is indicating to you is you have two wires that feed the + side of coil. One is a resistance wire the other comes from the ignition, the other can come from the ignition or the starter, both are acceptable. What Peter indicates occurs is correct. On starting the non resistance wire supplies 12- 9 volts depending on battery condition, ground wire condition, etc. once started the starter switch springs back as he says to the resistance wire. In my earlier post said running, I was rushing not paying attention & it should have been starting. So the point is by what you described as happening something is not right. It’s actually backwards in occurrence of voltage. The 9 volts on starting is acceptable, 6.5 is not, but 9 volts at idle while not what you want should not be causing the problems you are describing. So I still have to question the vacuum leak! While brake cleaner can work to chase vacuum leaks it’s not nearly as effective as ether/ starter fluid. Furthermore grease on the base gasket of a carburetor won’t seal anything. You need a vacuum gage connected to the engine than you chase the vacuum leak & watch the gage. Also don’t assume it’s an engine gasket. It could be a hose or a diaphragm. Do you have a vacuum advance distributor?

In general that can be true, but I have seen a hole in a diaphragm leak at low speed because of the slower movement of the bellows/diaphragm, but not at higher speeds. Because the speed of the diaphragm movement is enough to overcome the supply issue, for a while anyway, but over time the hole will deteriorate & get larger. If by chance the issue is electrical, & I doubt it is, it could be either + or - issues. Sorry, but if you are running a 12 volt system with a 12 volt coil you better have 12 volts at the supply side of the coil when the engine is running & somewhere in the neighborhood of 30,000 volts or more coming out of it. Otherwise you have problems, but they would not be intermittent in the way you described. The issue sounds like fuel, which can be caused by a vacuum leak. Which puts you on the lean side of fuel& can even cause missing & backires!

Ok, a couple things. First is it a miss or is it a stumble/ hesitation? They can seem similar, but the causes are very different. I would tend to agree with Frosty. Your description sounds more like a vacuum leak. Why? A miss doesn’t go away. Doesn’t go away on a power increase usually. But a vacuum leak can be like that! You need to get a can of spray ether. Than methodical check your intake gaskets & the carb gasket. There are a lot of variations in carb gaskets & I have seen a lot of carb gasket leaks that cause havoc to people because they never suspect that gasket. Also I would suggest checking your fuel pressure. Just because you replaced it doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem with the diaphragm. I have seen new fuel pumps have a small hole in the diaphragm.

Great find Ringo! Kudos for the build! Always glade to see younger guys pickup the torch, to continue a God given gift! Everyone’s approach may differ, but the results are what count & that’s what makes each of us unique. The young fella did a great job! I’m way to old to start such a project like this now, but I had mulled this conversion 20 years ago! Mine was a little more straightforward, as things were different than & I’m old school. I was going to gut the whole floor, starting at the firewall. Cut it off at the rockers & at the backend of the trunk floor, as I did with my “69” & “74”. Build a full frame to fit with a configuration that would house a small block V8 & a 700R4, with a Jag independent rear end. Dump all the computer crap rewire the car. Keep the inside with the same interior, & we’re all good! But in the end I decided to build a FWD ground pounder since I had already done the whole full frame/floor etc. etc. thing twice before. I also felt it was, for me, a bigger challenge to build a better FWD, with better weight distributed, superior handling/cornering performance & a facelift that tweaked that tasty muscle car look that only lasted for the length of the seventh generation GP. I do have to agree that folks just don’t view any of the FWD cars in the same light as RWD cars no matter how aggressive they look & no matter how well they perform. The 1997-2003 Grand Prix was a throwback design to the “60’s” coke bottle look & the last, at least to date! It had one of the most aggressive looks of any FWDs with just a little work they could look just plain nasty. Remember this Pontiac & only Pontiac had a supercharger! The GTP’s performance rivaled most of the V8 performance numbers being produced at the time. While the 7th generation GP sold well, it has never been able to hold a candle, in most folks opinion, to the G8! Which is amazing if you look at just the statistics. And yet how many of those folks actually saw a G8 up close & personal? Actually drove one? To actually critique it’s handling & performance? Few! Since only 38,159 G8’s were ever built! In both years of production it never even came close to any of the previous year GP numbers & both years saw large quantities of unsold G8’s left in inventory. My daughter bought a 2008 G8 GT V8, I drove it, worked on it & while she loved the car, she had never owned any car with that type of power, so of course it would impress! Yet even she had to admit that the 2001 GP that she owned before it she liked better! Had a much nicer interior, a more muscle car look & when she drove the Indian she admitted it handle better, was nearly as quick up to about 60, had better brakes & was hands down more comfortable.

Probably to late, but one thing I did when I built my shop & expanded my garage was to plumbed 1” black pipe from where my compressor is located into the attic. Then make drop downs inside each wall with air chucks connections. out of the drywall. This way I don’t have to drag a hose all over the shop or garage. I can just make a connection close to where I need it.

Looks electrifying! Sweet!

Ohhh yeah! 31 can inspire! No doubt.

Let’s make it an OHIO trifecta! The Last Indian

When it’s fun, it’s not work!! That s- - - s fun!

Yeah, there were several others, the sunrunner, the sunburst & the Acadian. The problem was all of them except the Parisienne & Laurentian were not GM cars! They were, IMO, the beginning of GM’s downfall. And in GM’s defense they were not alone! Ford & Chrysler were right there with them. I would like to explain further, but big brother wouldn’t like it!

Frosty I understand that & sad to hear about the man. Obviously it would be the simplest if you can buy them in the proper backspace. Yet presuming you can’t you can still accomplish this. If you lived in this area it would be a snap, as I know quite a few machine shop owners personally that I used in my working days for LZ. But since you don’t there are a couple ways you can still get this done! You may have to do some research or looking though. Most of this you could accomplish on your own. You would need a grinder, a big rubber mallet, a magnetic base that is used for a dial indicator & a dial indicator. Also a GM front spindle with the hub & bearings installed that has the right bolt pattern + some lug nuts. You would also need a way to attach the hub assembly to a bench or mount it in a large sturdy vice, & you need someone who can Tig weld. I can explain this procedure further if needed. An other way, there’s a Machine service company in Oxford Michigan that could possibly do the work or direct you to where you might go. Casemer tool & machine. They have some manual lathes. In particular Clausing/Nardini. If these lathes are 17” they would be capable of holding those rims. In this instance, steel rims usually run pretty true, unless the rims are bent, they can turn the rims on the lathe & cut the welds out. This procedure usually works the best for having the best results of removing the weld without introducing on the center hub or the ring. Once the center hub is free & removed ring can be cleaned up. Any excess weld can be machined out to make it a clean finish. Then the center hub can be relocated. If they have welding capabilities the center can be indicated true with the proper backspacing, tacked in place on all the attaching points. Then remove for complete welding.

Frosty, can you buy the Rally lls in 15x8 but just in the wrong backspace? If you can, you might consider buying them. But first you need to find a good local machine shop. One that does machining, fab work & welding. They can grind away the weld that attaches the hub to the ring. Then they can reset the hub in the ring to the desired backspace, check it for running true, tack weld the hub to the ring, recheck & then weld it up. After that, take the rims have them checked for balance. Any out of balance issues can be resolved by adding the weight needed, in steel, than again tack weld that weight in place. I have built several sets of rims over the years this way. I have actually done this, but split the ring. Added a rolled ring in between the two halves to widen the rims. Than rewelded the hub where I needed it.

So here’s the switch setup. I stand corrected there are six hot wires one in, 5 out. Those distributed out from the switch to various components. The real dumb part of the switch that I didn’t take a picture of is the inside rotating cam that depresses the springs you see in the one picture. Which moves a finger tab to make contact with another fixed opposing tab! What happened to just supplying 12 volts to a fuse box? So when you turn on that component there’s power at the source you turned on?! All purty again! below the double wire loom on the far side of the motor was original one single bundle. Which was to bulky to run between the valve cover & the redesigned engine mount. So I tandemed the single bundle into two, but specific wires had to be placed in the proper bundles since some would go in one direction & others in another direction. Likewise all the wire looms that run parallel to the core support needed divided & redirected downward as some looped up in the air, as is obvious in the last picture. This all took a lot of work because most of these wire runs are actually formed with a particular curve. Which in most cases means not all wire lengths were equal. JustA side note. What most folks don’t realize, unless you own one & look close, is all the work involved in the rewiring that had to be done to change over to my redesigned engine mounts & valve covers.

Daniel, can’t blame you, I hate Naugahyde! Hot, makes you sweat, etc. I would rather have cloth under my butt too! Below is an example of a polyester blend corduroy, not the right color just an example! But you might be able find something close. Your other consideration is to buy enough & do the front seats to match. Which might actually be wise. If the backs are that bad how far behind are the fronts? If you did that you could do more of a contrast. https://www.joann.com/red-stretch-corduroy-fabric/19475565.html

Finished the ignition harness a week an a half ago! Talk about ridicules! Needed to order a new Odyssey battery. Mine’s 8 years old, so might as well bite the bullet & start fresh. Lots of cleanup from the coolant flushing, some aluminum needed re-polished, so needed to pull most of it out make it all shiny again. Hopefully I get the battery this week so I can get a little drive time in before the Indian goes up for winter. Did I say WINTER😳!? Oh crap! That means all the indoor projects start!

No! But there was a lot of air; which is a gas you know!

What I mean by a nylon cord is, its like a corduroy, but made from nylon, which makes it more durable. If you are trying to only replace the fabric panels due to cost, I understand that. If you are doing it to try & match the rest of the interior that will be hard. I doubt that they make any replace fabric that would match in color. So I guess the question what is your goal? Restoration, resto rod, custom, just fix it?

In short, yes. You can probably find something close, but your best bet would be a car upholstery shop obviously! A regular upholstery shop may be able to help as well. It appears to be a basic nylon cord fabric. So the width of the cord & color will be what you need to match. Doubtful that you will be able to match it close enough to match your front seats though. Your biggest issue will be restitching the new panels to the old Naugahyde. It may look good, but it may be dry rotted at the seams, you won’t know until you take it off the seat. If it’s not I would advise hand stitching the panels! I have done this kind of work before & what happens if you use a sewing machine is it literally acts like a pair of scissors. Because even if you can get the stitch spacing right you will never hit the same needle holes repeatedly. This in turn causes more holes to be pierced along the same line, which in Naugahyde is bad news! Notice when you take the seat cover off the seat that the stitch sequence is about a 1/4” of an inch apart. This is because of what I mentioned.