Fitzy

I think it's going to be a while, since he'll have to actually order the powders from the US. I know you're keen to see the result, but realistically I'm thinking about a month? Kiwi - I would love those bolts. I'm assuming they're in reasonable condition, the correct 7/16" diameter and 1" long? I still need 2 x 1.25" long as well. If so, let's do a deal, otherwise I found a set on ebay that's going to cost about AU$70 by the time it gets delivered here. Are you sure you won't need them for one of your many rusty relics?

I don't understand any of this. Pissed at you? Alien modules? Reese's pieces??? Anyway, to Kiwi wow so he had to replace 10k worth of suspension - that'd really hurt. I'm going to guess that the suspension he used is far superior to anything the old Nomad came out of the factory with.

The rules in Oz are similar. Finally, it was realised that you can't mess with a bona fide classic car so all the rules changed. Unfortunately too late for some owners who had to butcher their cars in order to comply. There are horror stories of owners being made to fit inertia reel lap/sash belts in hardtops - I'm not sure what happened if you had a convertible. Speaking of seatbelts, I remember visiting the US probably in the 90s and picked up a hire car and was gobsmacked by the ridiculously complicated seatbelt system that once you turned the ignition on, the body side of the belt was on a mechanised runner that moved into place and would hang there and the car wouldn't go unless you buckled up. How long did that last for?

Yeah - pink suits girls. Darth Vader pants suit only the Dark Lord.

Today I did it the easy way and simply unbolted those 4 big bolts and the bumper just slid out, although there is some massive reinforcing bar that sits inside the bumper near the top - probably to assist in ramraiding ATMs, not that there were any in 1965. The bumper is a real mess and I'm glad I finally got proactive with it. I unbolted the various supports (one snapped bolt) and decided that since the bumper is going to be away for quite some time, I may as well do it properly and derust and paint all the associated frontal areas. The pics show the front sheetmetal that is normally hidden and the braces and horns - all lightly wirebrushed, sanded and treated with rust converter. I also cleaned up the red paint that is normally virtually unreachable with the bumper in place with rubbing compound, cut & polish and some wax. I'll chuck some paint on the derusted bits tomorrow and will deliver the bumper to the powdercoater on Monday. Did you know that those chrome bumper bolts actually have a little metal cap on them? I had to hold one of the heads with vicegrips in order to get the rusted nut off but nothing was happening. I knew I had the head firmly gripped but the nut wasn't loosening. It was when I closely inspected the bolt that I noticed the cap had deformed with the vicegrip pressure. I pried it off and then no problem. Am currently sourcing replacement bolts - normally an easy task but there are 2 that are longer than the rest, so I need 8 x 1" long ones and 2 x 1.25". If it's too hard, I'll just get 10 x 1.25". Naturally there are several diameters - B bodies use 7/16" if anyone's interested.

Back in the day, if you were in Oz and you wanted a Pontiac, it came from Canada, as you say in CKD form. Our Parisiennes are X frame Chevs with Chev running gear draped in Pontiac sheetmetal, complete with Chev dash - not sure about interior trim. If you had to have a US Pontiac, you ordered it through the local Holden dealer at enormous cost, then had to have it converted to RHD and probably seat belts and amber rear indicators. There's a 65 GP in SE Queensland that was imported new and converted and is in pristine unrestored condition.

Those pants - looks like you invited Darth Vader.

Looks great. Where in Oz are you, Andrew? I see Vic plates.

Yes, I'd like to know what he says. That's the thing with laws & regulations: unless they're written in legalese the interpretation can be ambiguous. I can see both sides on this one: an adjustment should be able to take care of it but it's that specific cutoff point in the upper portion of the beam that is critical. It probably depends on the sort of light too: old sealed beams, projectors, halogen, LEDs and so on. I see the other pussies are just gonna sit back and watch the ensuing bloodbath. Come on, softies - have a go!

Here we go: Prismatic Powders.

Had a productive day today. I took my little list of things to do when I went into the big smoke and ticked off everything. I visited the powdercoater and we chatted about what he could do. Turns out he will blast, prep, coat and finish with a clear - all for about $1000: less than a quarter of the chroming cost. Wrongway, this may interest you. He showed me a pallette of shiny finishes and the one closest to chrome was polished aluminium. The powder (& clear coat powder) come from the US. The brand (the name escapes me now) was something to do with the way light reacts with some of these modern fancy finishes. So he starts with a primer, then possibly a gloss black, then the colour and the clear will then transform the base colour into what it's supposed to be. This is all science fiction to me but I'm going ahead with it. It'll be more durable than a vinyl wrap and should be nice & shiny. So, like a jerk I proceed to start removing the 58 year old bolts. Swearing, sweating and general mayhem ensue until I am laying under the car idly looking up and then notice that just 4 big bolts anchor the bumper assembly to the chassis. I guess next time, I'll just remove them!

Well, according to what's on the web there IS a difference. It's to do with the upper cut off point on the curbside beam. The theory is that the driver's side beam is angled slightly down so as not to dazzle oncoming drivers and the passenger side beam is slightly higher so as to better illuminate the verge. It's not just the height of the beam, also the left to right bias. It CAN be adjusted out but not on all cars.

Yeah, as far as headlights go I will NEVER drive my car at night - too many critters up here. I asked the question because it was something I never expected - LHD cars need LHD headlights. I'm curious if your inspection mechanic insisted on the same modification.

Uh...say what? Is that supposed to be 'swiney?' Sounds like a pig farmer - is that right? Jeez, I hope so. I'm not up on farm animal etiquette.

Just when you thought I couldn't post anything more boring than the last one, do I have a treat for you! I managed to put a little paint on those letters - I didn't want it perfect coz it's gotta match the rest of the car. I bought the smallest quality paintbrush that I could then carefully applied the tiniest dab of paint...and that shit ran everywhere. Friggin paintbrush managed to find any space between the letters. I abandoned that and after cleaning up the mess with acetone, I simply moistened a fine cotton rag held tightly over my forefinger and wiped the paint across the letters. That worked - a hot tip for those wishing to do a similar task. Anyway, it turned out all right. Will reattach tomorrow and I'll probably take her out for a quick blast to keep everything working.

Wow - that's nice. Wait until Kiwi (kiwiboni64) sees this. He's in Taupo and has Pontiacs coming out of his ears.

I just saw this. My 65 GP has the original factory floor mounted retractor belts, with the chrome buckle ends attached to the transmission hump. Now, I may have been lucky. My safety certificate provider wasn't sure on the rules regarding old cars and my belts passed. They are factory fitted and so are deemed safe. When I got the car, they (along with the rest of the car) were a mess. I dismantled them as far as I could go and cleaned them up. For a laugh, I sat in the driver's seat with the lap belt fastened and in slow motion followed the trajectory of what might happen in a collision. Death was the conclusion. Those lap belts will stop you being thrown around but you are going to die from massive concussion as your torso slams into the steering wheel and dash. Have I cheered you up? Once upon a time, old cars had to be modified to fit seat belts but that's no longer the case. Personally, I would source a set of matching original belts. I find that I drive far more carefully with just a lap belt, too! For our American viewers, Australia has always been tough on wearing seatbelts. It was made mandatory decades ago and for us, it's an automatic reaction to enter a car and find the seat belt. I find travelling in a car without one just feels unsafe and they are a proven technology. Did you have to change the headlights to RHD ones, so that the beams are biased to the left rather than the right? I did.

Back home after another 8 days at work. I feel a certain obligation to post something but it's piddly. You may remember the vintage license plate frame I procured for the rear numberplate? Well, I decided that now the front one looks naked so I ordered the same frame but I couldn't get this one in red. Doesn't matter because the silver & black suits the front of the car perfectly. I had to modify the Australian plate in order for it to have nothing obscured but I reckon it looks good. It will come off tomorrow and I will CAREFULLY recoat the letters and lower retaining screws with some black paint. That's it!

Thanks boys - once I pluck up the courage to open my wallet (and let the moths out) I'll bite the bullet and get a set. I should have done it when the car was in pieces but money was flying away in all directions at the time.

Bit of a drama the last few days. My missus' Mazda3 decided to throw up an error on both engine & auto trans, so off to the mechanic. It needed a new auto control module: $2100 just for the part. It is only available from Mazda Australia (first thing I did was search on Rockauto!) because it's apparently a common fault. Great. Then the washing machine went to lunch. Turns out the electronic printed circuit board had had enough after only 3 years. That was only $117. Good ol' electronics. When they're working they're marvellous, but when they go bad it's time for overtime. The GP's 60 year old TH400 doesn't have any electronics and works perfectly. Not sure if it has ever been replaced though. Anyway, I had a nice quiet day at home today after driving 200km yesterday to pick up a secondhand washer to get us through until the part turns up for the other one - at least 10 days. Hey - you can't have too many washers. So, my quiet day consisted of putting some music on, opening up the doors on the GP and I decided I would detail as best I could the inner areas between door, jamb and pillar - an area I keep looking at and then deciding that I have better things to do. I took some before & after pics but the comparison is negligible so I thought I'd show the 'after' pics. A bit better, but I will see the difference every time I open the car from now on. My tools of trade were rubbing compound, cut & polish, Turtle wax, metal polish & Armor All. You know your car is running sweet when you find jobs like this to do! I have messaged Kiwi to pass onto me the details of his weatherstrip supplier. Gotta do it.

Hey Chris, I have a question. I tried to find your post on weatherseals but there are too many pages to wade through. Can you tell me what supplier you went with for your seal kit on the 64? I think it's time I stopped fluffing about and did something about my crumbly almost non existent seals.

My god, they were SO funny. JustA - thank goodness you somehow find & post this stuff. I was expecting that the witnesses would be making the silly comments, but how many attorneys did? My fave was the one about how old the guy's 20 year old son was. 20 - about the same as your IQ! Priceless.

Words fail me - absolutely spectacular. My god, those beautiful flowing lines at the back. A work of art.

Dammit - I KNEW I had previously asked that question. Sorry, the old memory is about as good as Kiwi's 'linkages.' It's a great name by the way.

I reckon she's a beauty. Old wagons are uber cool. When I saw your pics yesterday, one of the first things to catch my eye were the stainless pedal trims. You get to pull this wreck outa the mud complete with those trims whereas I spent considerable money & effort to get mine! Well played, sir.