Fitzy

Wrongway, is that how the factory pipes exit or did you utilise the reverse light apertures? As you know, I was determined to show the world my twin pipes, unlike the hidden factory setup. It meant notching the rear bumper but I love it.

I'm mildly excited. I wanna hear how great gobfuls of money get poured into the endless black hole. Mind you, it's a great looking car and will be a restomod gem. NZ visit coming up...when it's finished!

Welcome to the world of living off baked beans & tap water whilst the car gets showered with gold. We warned you!

Looks great just like that. Patina is in atm and as far as I'm concerned, it's always in. It's very satisfying scrubbing old paint clean and seeing the result.

I KNOW! Try $2000. I made that enquiry when I was thinking about my crappy wheel. Unless they're using real pearls, I ain't paying it. Bloody nice though.

Ah...THAT'S why you wanted my address. I've been patrolling the Ponderosa with a shotgun for weeks. International shipping costs are extreme atm. Tell you what - Kiwi & I can come over and collect.

Had an awesome day yesterday AND Greenpeace did NOT attempt to roll me back into the ocean. My last day off today so after much fluffing about I had some time spare so got stuck into the wood veneer trim. Kept scraping the old stuff off and reattached the new bits. They are all die cut and fit perfectly, although I had to trim the absolute tiniest few microns off a coupla pieces. I used 3M spray trim adhesive or Liquid Nails depending on the intricacy of the piece to be attached. And THIS time I'm gonna apply a light misting of clear AFTER the adhesive has set! I have included a pic of the supplied instructions. DO NOT lacquer prior to fitment. You have been warned. Everything was done slowly and all pieces clamped whilst setting - I don't want any screw ups this time. Will have to look at wiring issues next R&R. Has anyone replaced their indicators/stop lamps with LEDs? This is something I've always wanted to do and for less than $100 I can get 4 globes (nice bright red LEDs for the back) and a LED specific flasher can. I'm thinking of starting with that and a coupla headlight relays. Seems to me that the rest of the wiring just needs a good tidy up but am yet to do some resistance checks. Oh, and need to do something positive about the wires that transition through the firewall plug.

Oh they are FUNNY. We need this to take our minds off the crumbling dinosaurs in the garage demanding attention.

If only Terry had split the difference and had a 65 Grand Prix. Then I'd have someone to talk to.

I found my car's original build sheet wedged inside the back seat backrest, up against one of the springs. Frosty kindly decoded it for me.

I agree. I have one of these on two of my cars. Works a treat - simple, cheap and will at least slow down any thief who wants your pride & joy. On the GP I have one of these on the negative post and a keyed isolater on the positive. Although I would feel genuinely sorry for any jerk who actually wanted my car, I'd like some cash before they take it.

Hilarious. If I wasn't so fat my sides would split. Note: I am no fatter than the rest of you.

Wow - what a productive day it was today. First up: the light switch decals for my Isuzu Pickup arrived so I superglued them in place and gave the switches a misting of clearcoat to spruce 'em up. The old switches had been sun damaged, so I filled the aperture in each switch with body filler first. I also gave the speedo surround a light coat of satin black and then a clearcoat. Some jerk on ebay tried to sell me a second hand set of binnacle switches for $300. I hope he goes hungry. This is Isuzu Forever, isn't it??? Next in line was El Poncho. I started to remove my old wobbly timber veneer from the interior bits & pieces. New kit arrived from Ames on Friday. For anyone who may remember, I made the fatal error of varnishing the new veneer bits prior to glueing them in place. Lordy - what a mess. The next morning they had all curled up and even though I clamped everything down when I attached them, it was a disaster. GP stop light switch. Damn thing would never sit in place with the result of eternal brake lights. I did what the factory should have done and ripped out the useless little bracket that is captive in the pedal shaft, and sliced up a 1/2" UNF nyloc nut to keep it slim and now it's fixed - using a nut each side of the pedal shaft. Whilst on a roll, I had a go at the dash top. It never sat right because of excessive padding, so I pulled the vinyl cover off just enough to slice enough padding away. It now snaps into place like a factory one. Gonna take a break tomorrow. Will chuck the missus in the car and off we go to Port Douglas to swan around as if we're loaded. We'll go for a swim too. Thankfully, I will NOT be posting pics of me waddling around the beach scaring children.

I think they're saying that not all cars have the bypass wire. You really need to consult a factory wiring diagram AND as Wrongway suggested, ask the techs at Painless. It sounds like the ignition switch wiring is your only real problem.

Hi Cathy, I am also potentially going to go the so-called Painless route so am interested to hear of your troubles. In addition to what the guys said, just about all GM ignition switches shared a common configuration of coloured wires. It's the pink & yellow ones that determine how your car starts & runs. I THINK yellow is the 'start' wire and pink is for when it's running, or vice versa. The ultimate test is with the switch off, you should have zero power going anywhere except for clock, courtesy lights, brake lights & headlights. ACC position should give you radio & cigar lighter and maybe wipers & blower. Get a factory wiring diagram (or look it up online) and try to replicate that. The Painless supplied ignition switch plug should simply plug in and you're good to go but if the car has ever been played around with prior to your ownership, you don't know what's happened under the dash. Is the wire to the R (or sometimes 'I') terminal on the starter solenoid in the right place?

You know about Ames, of course. There's Frank's Pontiac Parts, OPGI, The Parts Place and a number of obselete NOS parts purveyors online. Don't forget ebay and Craigslist. I used to simply try several generic search terms, like '1965 Pontiac' and then put on a helmet and dive down the first rabbit hole. Hours of your life are ready to be consumed.

Hi Rick, I have already decided to bypass the original ammeter. I have an aftermarket gauge cluster sitting under the dash that includes a voltmeter - that's good enough. I have read horror stories of old ammeters failing and of smoke emanating from under the dash - who needs THAT shit going on? It's raining today so there goes mowing the property. I guess I will look at the car and try to figure out what route to take re wiring. Oh, and my car is already slightly modified so even though it's matching numbers (should have done the LS thing, in retrospect) I'm quite okay with a little deviation from stock.

I wonder what exotic powder went up the noses of the front end stylists? That imposing chrome snout is faintly Edsel like. In direct contrast, I love the way the rear lights meld into that very stylish rear bumper. Perhaps the two groups of stylists weren't talking to each other. When you're sailing out past Mars in a psychedelic funk, who cares what the guys doing the other end of the car think! She's gonna be a beauty when you clean her up.

Thinking, thinking...I read through the installation instructions - 136 pages, thank you. They are well written, clear and cover just about every contingency you're likely to come up against. I am sorely tempted. Too busy quaffing beers right now to even think about it. 7 days without beer is good for the liver, but anathema for the soul. I picked up the Frosty Memorial Tacho today and the dude had pulled it apart but was scared off by the sealed guts of it. He said they couldn't get a response from it, so now I'm wondering if I (or someone properly qualified) can retrofit a modern digital mech to the old skool needle & face. I'm going to email Lionel Otto Instruments in New South Wales. This guy is the Gauge God. If he can't get it to work, nobody can. The first attached pic is what is inside a 60's chrome shelled tach. The next ones are the sealed workings containing the black magic. Somewhere along the way, somebody has decreed that Pontiac blue engine paint is the correct hue for backlit gauges. Fortunately, I have one and a half cans of that stuff still laying about, so I'll zap it like I did the speedo. Big day tomorrow, starting with bottling beer and then mowing, brushcutting and hacking down foliage. If I'm lucky, I MIGHT get to look at the car on Thursday.

I'm about to fly out later this morning but whilst 'at work' I ordered some relays, got some cabling size recommendations and thanks to Rick for embedding the new harness idea in my head. I had a look and there are some crazy cheap prices out there for generic harness replacements but Painless do a GM fullsize generic one for about US$250, which I think is a fair price. I have already downloaded the installation instructions and they'll make light reading on the flight back home. I will assess and decide once home. By the time you add up the cost of cables ($20 a 30m roll) & ancillaries, it might (MIGHT) be smarter to simply do the whole car at once and then it's done forever. I'll be sure to bore the tits off you with what I decide. In any case, there'll be some amusing pics coming with me being strangled by miles of wire - like a cat playing with a ball of yarn.

As a courtesy to any other electrical dummies out there, this link provides an excellent short easy to understand overview of automotive wiring. https://www.ogaled.com/how-to-select-the-right-wire-for-automotive-applications.html

Yep, I remember your Road Runner. My starter (like everything else) is new and works fine, so I'll leave IT but will defo replace the thick wire that feeds into the car - 60 years of engine heat have probably done it no good at all. I'm at work! That means I sit in an airconditioned bus waiting for the odd radio call whilst everyone else melts in the insane heat & humidity. A good time to do some relay research. You reckon 30A for the headlights & blower is good enough?

Well, of course. I didn't think that the solenoid is one big relay. I saw someone else do it and thought it might be a good idea. That's only 3 relays then - sweet.

My turn. The exact same thing happened to my rebuilt 389 but not due to broken stud. Turned out to be a faulty Mellings lifter - a global problem. I replaced the lifters with Johnson HyLifts (from Butler) and a set of Crane roller rockers. As the boys said, I checked all rocker studs, eyeballed the cam lobes and checked the seating of all valve springs. All mine were replaced by machinist and spring heights checked then & by me subsequently. Strangely, the same thing happened prior to engine rebuild on the same cylinder - I have to assume a faulty lifter then as well. If you go aftermarket rockers, be sure to adjust valve clearances as per manufacturer's instructions - not the original Pontiac way. TwoLane's harmonic balancer suggestion makes perfect sense - check that too.

Yep - that's the plan. Better to carefully take resistance readings than pull wires out. At work right now, so researching guage sizes & relays when I can. Apparently, one relay for both low beams & one for the highs. Horn came with it's own relay and I was going to include one for starter, wipers & blower motor. Can you think of any more (or less?) Car has no other big power accessories. 12ga wire seems to be the default with 16 or 18 for the high amp stuff. Opinions?