31pontiac's '31 Pontiac

[31pontiac]

   Guess i'll try my hand at this 'Progression  Place'.  My brother and I bought my 1931 Pontiac Sport Coupe in 1976 for $500 after passing on it one year earlier. I bought our '59 Bonneville the next year and sold my half to him.  In 1999 he got a 1941 Willys moredoor  and a vision of building a Gasser style pickup, so I bought the Pontiac back from him. These pics are from 1999 when I got it home.

[cowboydanny]

Very nice I'm currently working on a 1931 sport sedan. What are your plans.

[Last Indian]

Looks like a good project. I’m an old hot rodder so I see a lot of Chopin and cuttin, but whatever you decide to do I’m sure it’ll be good!

[31pontiac]

   Sorry if I misled anyone, modifications have been going on since 1999. I thought I would share the journey from then up to it's current state (pic is pretty close to present condition). A list of "improvements" are as follows: Replaced all of the wood in the body with new wood from Jim Rodman, Chopped top (3" at the windshield and 2.5" at the rear window, narrowed '57 Pontiac rear housing with a '62 Pontiac 3:08 posi center section, mounted with coilovers and Pete & Jake's ladder bars, eliminated the parallel leaf springs from the front end and installed a Ford style transverse leafspring and drilled I-beam forged front axle with '39 Lincoln repro front brakes and Buick finned aluminum brake drums,  boxed and "X"ed the frame for strength and for power I have a '69 PONTIAC 428 with dual quad Carter 500s putting out about 400 HP on 87 octane. I will continue from the beginning next post. 

[Ringo64]

Dang, that's looking Good! Nice work!

[Frosty]

11 hours ago, 31pontiac said:

   Sorry if I misled anyone, modifications have been going on since 1999. I thought I would share the journey from then up to it's current state (pic is pretty close to present condition). A list of "improvements" are as follows: Replaced all of the wood in the body with new wood from Jim Rodman, Chopped top (3" at the windshield and 2.5" at the rear window, narrowed '57 Pontiac rear housing with a '62 Pontiac 3:08 posi center section, mounted with coilovers and Pete & Jake's ladder bars, eliminated the parallel leaf springs from the front end and installed a Ford style transverse leafspring and drilled I-beam forged front axle with '39 Lincoln repro front brakes and Buick finned aluminum brake drums,  boxed and "X"ed the frame for strength and for power I have a '69 PONTIAC 428 with dual quad Carter 500s putting out about 400 HP on 87 octane. I will continue from the beginning next post. 

That is what hot rodding is all about 31pontiac. I really do like the look of it. The only thing missing (for my taste) is the super wide M/T tires/cheater slicks. However, I also appreciate what you have as well. It looks like it could run on a dry lake bed today and be right at home. Excellent work. 

[JUSTA6]

Nice job so far.  

[31pontiac]

  Thanks to everyone who commented.  The plan was/is to go for a '60's hot rod look with a few concessions  to safety and convenience.

    First step is disassembly ( or  "deconstruction" as they say on TV ).

[31pontiac]

    In keeping with the '60's theme, my first choice for powering the coupe was a Pontiac 421 or 389. Being unable to find either one that fit my budget, I widened my search to include Buick nailheads and Oldsmobile rockets and found a 1957 Olds J2 for a fair price. 

[31pontiac]

    The frame needed to be strengthened to handle the increased HP (300 from a stock J2 Olds), so we modified an "X" made by Chassis Engineering for a '32 Ford to fit a '31 Pontiac frame and then added boxing plates with lightening holes. Also removed almost all of the original front crossmember and installed a '33 Ford front crossmember.

[31pontiac]

   Work continued, adding the front axle, Buick drums, the narrowed rear, and wheels and tires. A lot of mockups were made also, in search of just the right look and stance for a hot rod.

[Last Indian]

OK! You’ve been havin some! Brings back some fond memories! One thing I would mention. Since you’re going Hot Rod, good choice, there is a paint that you might look at for the frame, if you’re not doing body color on the frame. Hammerite rust cap. This stuff has a very unique look and is the toughest paint I’ve ever used.

[31pontiac]

23 hours ago, Last Indian said:

OK! You’ve been havin some! Brings back some fond memories! One thing I would mention. Since you’re going Hot Rod, good choice, there is a paint that you might look at for the frame, if you’re not doing body color on the frame. Hammerite rust cap. This stuff has a very unique look and is the toughest paint I’ve ever used.

  Thanks for the tip. I intend to paint the frame body color, but I'll keep it in mind for other possible uses.

[31pontiac]

   Not sure exactly when , but sometime in the mid to late 2000s, Pennsylvania began to allow fenderless and hoodless hot rods, so we tried a few more possibilities.

[31pontiac]

      And then , after several years of research,  it was time to cut the roof !

[31pontiac]

  After waiting over 4 months, the new wood for the body arrived late in December 2010. This is what all of the wood in the body of a 1931 GM 5W Coupe looks like. Before I began assembly, I covered each piece with 2 coats of System 3 2-part clear epoxy to hopefully preserve the wood and stabilize it from humidity-related expansion/contraction.

[31pontiac]

   We welded the roof to the body and began removing what was left of the original wood.

[31pontiac]

    Next, assembly of the new wood structure began, while constantly checking it was level and square ( probably WAY more meticulously than during the original factory assembly).

[JUSTA6]

Hard to imagine using wood in a build.  Great Job so far.

[31pontiac]

   In spring of 2013 a 1969 Pontiac 428 became available, so it was out with the Olds and in with the new.

[Ringo64]

Love it!

[SPRINT 6]

What a great project, And the detail is outstanding, I've always wanted to attempt such a project and had a plan but it just never came to be. My ideas will live through a fellow Cammers '31 project. Chris accomplished what I've always dreamed about. Glad to see you living your dream. Best of luck and look forward to further progress.

P.S. Glade to see some Poncho Power between those rails  

Here's Chris' OHC 6 Powered '31

Sorry for the high-jack, just thought it might inspire you further!  

Cheers.

 

Edited December 22, 2017 by SPRINT 6

[31pontiac]

   No need for apologies SPRINT 6, I don't consider it a hi-jack. I appreciate the comments.  I have watched the Cammer Coupe's progression from start to its current state (are they ever really finished?) on the HAMB and the PY Forums and have met him and seen it several times at the Pypes show in Hatfield. Nice car.

[31pontiac]

   Near disaster struck in Feb. 2014. A partial roof collapse from the snow load on the building housing the '31 prohibited me from working on the car for over 5 months. Fortunately a non-loadbearing wall was enough to stop the progression of the collapse before the roof caved in on my car and equipment.

[31pontiac]

    Finally back to work on the hot rod, I made the A/C compressor mount and alternator mount.