Restauration of my 1979 Pontiac Catalina Safari

Looks real good.
Ken.

 

It’s going to be exciting to see that car all together with glass and the trim back on. That’s a very good looking wagon. Will be anxious to see many pictures of it in street scenes and at car shows. Good luck with it. You’ve done a real fine job with it! Keep the cars and letters coming.

 

That's very awesome. It honestly looks like you're practically ready for assembly, many guys spend a decade to get a car to that same condition.

 

You’re right on elB. Sadly many cars get to the basket stage, and never even get painted or reassembled. I know car guys here that have died with 60 year old projects.

 

I'm jealous! That's exactly what I'd like to do with my car at some point!

 

Hello guys,

oh - I'm very pleased about your replies. Thanks to you all and best wishes to my US-buddies
It#s all a question of time-managing. During the day, I take care of my sweet daughter (10 month young) and when my wife leaves their work, I take her car, drive to the self-service garage bay and restaurate my Catalina from 7pm to 4am. And at 7am my sweet little daughter wakes me with a little loudly screaming - WAAAAAA - daddy, I'm hungry...
I' just kidding - she still cannot speak...


Let's continue with rebuilding my car.
Day one:

The rubber seals of the tail light bezels were in a mediocre condition. A little hardened and all around with traces from painting (frem the painter in US). So I took a one-side self-adhesive sheet of foam rubber and build my own seals. After sticking 'em at the backside of the bezel, I just only had to remove some little waste around the bezel.


A little easier was the sealing of the cable inlet. Because the rubber was hardened too, I sticked a foam rubber (also self-adhesive) over the whole, cutted a cross into the middle and leaded all cables through.
After putting off the clip of the stock sealing rubber, it was clearly noticeable, that - for the future - water have no chance for breaking in at this point.
In this way, I fixed the nonsense, the equiment in germany had made:
Because in germany it is forbidden to drive with a couple of turn signal and break light, the reversing lights were converted to stand-alone turn-signal lights by inserting a yellow bulb. The new reversing light was mounted under the rear bumper.
Because the equiments had no time, they only pulled two wires directly and without any connector from the rear light to the reverse light - straight through the body. So by unounting the rear light I had no choise as to cut these wires.

To fix this error, I installed two connectors and sealed 'em with a heat schrink tube.


What should this picture say?
This is on of the two rails of the roof rack. In first line it's an aluminium alloy and has a not shiny patina. So I tooked any time and polished this part up. At the left side you will see a little shine, at the right side stock condition.


As I completed with polishing, I mounted the roof rack.
Because the stock seals under the mounting feeds are hardened and no more able for any sealing, I put a stripe of butyl sealing tape (I think, you will know an equivalent product as "dum-dum") under and on the stock seal, sticked 'em over the mounting holes and putted the roof rack with much car on the roof.
Why?
The butyl sealing tape is much better then rubber. It does not harden and can be misarably lenghtened. By screwing in a metric mounting screw, the butyl will lay around the thread and seal the mounting hole much better as rubber could do.


Do you remember to the side Aluminium side-rails of the rack? Hope you can see, what happened, when you polish Aluminium...



Best regards from Germany to the United States - Maik

 

It’s really coming together nicely. You have to be thrilled watching the final touches being done.

 

It's looking very good Maik. I must say, it seems your English is improving as well. It must me difficult to translate what you are doing into the written word. You are doing a marvelous job.

 

Thanks to all of you .
Because anybody has messed up the entire vacuum system, now the engine don't want to run smoothly during warmup sequency. After a little driven meters, it stutters and runs slowlier during pushing down the pedal.

A friend tolds me to turn both idle-mixtrue-scews fully in and than 2 or 3 turns out.
Than screwing the oxigen-screw (right hand against traveling direction) in, until the engine runs unruly. Than turn the idle mixture screw out, until the engine runs faster. Than repeat from the beginning.

But it seems to be wrong.

Please, I'm really desperated. If anybody knows the facory setting and/or a manual to adjust the Rochester M2MC, please let me know as fast as you can.
In germany I get some offers for adjusting the carburator, but with a price of 300 Euros...

Today I saved 250€'s by fixing the leakage of my engine cooler. The main hose connector would have many cracks in its thin sheet of metal.


Best regards - Maik

 

I posted in your other thread on the carburetor. Use the 'conversation' feature on this site to give me the carburetor number, which is on the throttle side of the body, and I will look up if I have the carburetor specifications, as well as the adjustment procedures.