My 1964 Pontiac Catalina Safari build

My buddy is pretty much healed up now, and progress on the car has resumed.

My valve covers were wrecked in the crash so I upgraded to a cooler set


stripped and painted silver for some contrast


Ready to go in


test fitting the ram air manifolds




CLOSE FIT looking for an alternative


Its back in, but not finished just yet


Hole has been cut for the shifter


This "shifter porch" gives a flat spot for the shift boot to set


test fit


have to open it up a bit more. this is the trim ring


Mocked up....looks great


Cool little bit found under the front carpet


Should be running and driving soon!

 

That's a sharp wagon! We had a member "Deadhead" a few yrs ago who only made a few posts then disappeared. He had a '63 and a '66 Safari. Both looked outstanding and the '63 had a 4 speed in it! Profile said he was from central VA also.

http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/media/users/deadhead.5256/?page=2

 

I've seen that car around. Let me ask a few friends in the pontiac club....I'm sure a cool car like that wouldn't be unknown in the club.

 

Thanks! I wondered what happened to that guy, he made about 12 posts here and kinda disappeared 4 yrs ago. The Catalina Safari was a willow green '63 model and the '66 was a brown Bonneville trimmed Safari, both beautiful inside and out and upside down,lol.

 

He still actively posts at the Performance Years forums for his Pontiacs. 62-66 Big Car section.

 

Couple weeks ago we tried to get the car running. The carb that was on the car magically stopped working. I took the new one off the parts car and put it on the motor. We got it to fire a little, but you can tell by the sound of the engine, that the timing is off. My buddy SWORE he never moved the distributor, but it was out of time.

http://vid60.photobucket.com/albums/h29/Racer001/Wagon/20151219_132810_zpspujug3g4.mp4

The transmission swap is almost done. The shift linkages were hitting the floor, so we had to massage it a little in these spots



Believe it or not, this shift indicator was interfering with the new pedals from my parts car


Luckily, the parts car had the proper delete plate!


Here it is installed. This is a $300 piece, IF you can find one. Another win!


Installed


Automatic pedal on bottom, manual pedal on top. The manual pedal was hitting the auto shift indicator. Didn't expect that problem.


The pedals are in! Just have to mount the gas pedal


So, this past July I was at the Pontiac-Oakland Club nationals. While in the swap meet I found something I wanted so bad. After 2 days of thinking on it, I decided to pass. Its specific to a station wagon. I told myself "I'm not going to buy a part, for a car I don't even own." Two weeks later, I found and purchased my wagon! I've regretted my decision ever since....until last week!


Its an NOS roof rack luggage bag! It will look right at home I doubt I'll find another any time soon, so I snatched this up right away.

 

the transmission going in this car is not made for this car. Everything has been bolt in, aside from massaging the floor a little. We have had to alter the stock crossmember to accomodate a new mount for the saginaw 4 speed being installed. Here are some pics



the hoop is where the mount will eventually go. Will add some gussets for strength


Throttle linkage back on


Dropped off some replacement panels at the body shop. The car will be here in 1 week.



NOS door!

 

Loved your report. Really nice wagon. Good luck on the project.
As for the $450 engine bay paint job I'm a do-it-yourselfer two cans of Rustolium and sandpaper guy!

 

Oh yeah! Let the haters hate that it isn't perfect. It's good enough for a refresh. My current '73 is getting one of these and it's costing me nothing since I already have the can of paint left over from another build ;-)

 

I'm not a hater. I love that wagon. it's in amazing condition. I'm sure my 2014 Impala is dirtier on the bottom.
I'm just a do it myself spray can guy and feel the $450 was way too much for such a crappy job.

 

Oh I was agreeing with you! Lots of people get bent out of shape over the rattle can and some masking tape and how it isn't perfect. I'm sure you've seen how the factory painted these engines: blindfold the tech, spin around twice, pull trigger on sprayer for 15s and cover everything as much as you can. NEXT!

I concur completely. I paid a shop $300 extra to detail & paint my engine compartment once some years ago since they were rebuilding the engine. It looked great for all of a month and then started flaking off and peeling. Within 2 years you couldn't tell the car didn't have a 30 year old engine in it. A little prep work and a rattle can on my own stuff has held up much better (and didn't cost $200-500!).

 

I'm sure we're not alone on our choices. I just hate to sound so cheap but this is supposed to be a hobby. Little things like engine detailing and other jobs are things most anyone can do at home or in the shop.
My last new truck had body color overspray all over the under hood black.
I've actually changed engine compartment and engine paint colors with the engine and tranny in. Went so far as to use small poster paint brushes for some of the details I couldn'g spray paint. Masking tape, aluminum foil, and sandwhich Baggies are your friend.
The most important things are to use a good rust and grease remover. Plus get rid of all the stickers, leaves, and mud.

Son just bought a '91 Blazer from a City road dept. It is an ugly green. He was cleaning the engine bay and thought he found thick Bondo. It was mud from before the repaint by the painter.

 

more crossmember shots





All done!



Radiator is in, engine bay is pretty much done for now



Should be on the ground and running today

 

Looking good! So the engine hasn't had any work done to it except timing set and accessories?

Thanks for taking the time to foto and post everything! Very enjoyable read!

rating. It's been a while since I issued one of these to a thread!

 

Now all that engine needs is a shinny air cleaner atop the carb and it will be complete! Thanks for sharing your progress.