Well after taking a break on building the 49 Pontiac for most of the fall and winter mostly due to life just getting too busy,i'm finally back on the build.I am just bending up the last of the fuel lines and hooking up some last wires and I think I am almost ready to see if the old 239 will fire up.Hopefully that will give me the kick in the pants to get it back on the road again.Still lots to do but spent the last few days going through boxes of old and new parts(I think I bought the entire ecklers catalogue)I am trying to dedicate 2-3 hours every night to the car and some days are better than others.Remember I did not take this car apart.it was partially disassembled when I bought it and then I took it further apart for the paint and motor repaint.So putting it back together has been a bit of an adventure,Anyways a few pics of some pieces I would like to find better of if anyone knows where a guy could find one,mainly the lower grill piece and the left hand side grill bar.A few more pics of the paint,i am still buffing it out,etc,etc
Sometimes taking a step back can keep you from getting burned out on a project. Or sometimes other priorities keep you from it. Now you are re-energized and chomping at the bit. I like the colour, and the 239 looks good as well.
hawkeye5766 said
Jun 13, 2017
Welcome back. Classy colour and suits the car,looking good!!
hwscowboy said
Jun 13, 2017
the color is called whiltshire maroon and is the original color of the car.I had to have it custom mixed because no one besides auto color library out of California has the formula any more.It is actually an industrial enamel but polishes up decent with a lot of work.Heres what I started with,i'll get some more photos when the rain stops.
ok some more progress and some more questions.I'm not sure if anyone here owns one of these 49's if so I could really use some underhood pics.I've got most things figured out and having the 54 to compare has helped but a lot is also diffwrent.Need to figure out the vacuum lines for the wipers as on the 49 it is inside the car and a rubber hose sticks out through the firewall.Attached with a steel line of some sort down to the exhaust manifold.Also a few pics of the hood latch and how the cable runs into the car.I have a few mystery pieces to figure out as well.
Very nice!! You nailed the engine color on the 239 too. I've always maintained that that is the OEM shade of green despite other opinions.
I also have gotten side-tracked on the SD. Seems a '54 Chevy 5 window p.u. somehow followed me home a while ago! (at least it's driveable !)
hwscowboy said
Jun 28, 2017
I ordered the paint from bill Hirsch automotive in the u.s,he is supposedly the guru for Pontiac engine paint colors.Only problem is they will not ship to Canada.Fortunetly I have a buddy who has a cabin in montana so I had it shipped there and he brought it home for me on one of his weekend trips.
hwscowboy said
Jul 5, 2017
Ok folks some actual progress,i got the broken oil gauage line changed out,the battery charged and mounted in place,ps inner fender and duct mounted up,and finally after at least 15 years the motor is turning over on its own power,woo hoo!!!
Concrats on all the good work. Keep us posted on that gem of yours.
paris69 said
Jul 11, 2017
That's a lot of work. It will all be worthwhile though when done.
hwscowboy said
Jul 31, 2017
Well a bit more progress I think,a bit of a delay as my father passed away a few weeks ago so busy helping mom out with all that needed to get done.But slowly back at it this week.So I have been trying to get the car ready to start up,i have turned it over a bunch and seem to have oil pressure.Next was getting gas to the carb and after a few days of chasing fuel leaks and reflaring gas lines I still could not get fuel to pump to the carb.If I put my vacuum tester on it I could suck fuel up to the carb no problem.The car came with a brand new fuel pump in a box so that's what I installed.I think it may be the wrong pump so today I removed the pump off my 54 since I know it worked.As you can see in the pic the arm that goes into the motor is quite different.I will make a new gasket and try it tomorrow.I also set the car at tdc number 1 and took the dist out and set the points as they were not opening.Hopefully now i'll have spark.Wish me luck hopefully tomorrow night she'll fire up.Also doing a ton of chrome polishing and assembling the grill.Got me new front bumper last week from the u.s and hope to order the new rear one next weekend.
Well a bit more progress I think,a bit of a delay as my father passed away a few weeks ago so busy helping mom out with all that needed to get done.But slowly back at it this week.So I have been trying to get the car ready to start up,i have turned it over a bunch and seem to have oil pressure.Next was getting gas to the carb and after a few days of chasing fuel leaks and reflaring gas lines I still could not get fuel to pump to the carb.If I put my vacuum tester on it I could suck fuel up to the carb no problem.The car came with a brand new fuel pump in a box so that's what I installed.I think it may be the wrong pump so today I removed the pump off my 54 since I know it worked.As you can see in the pic the arm that goes into the motor is quite different.I will make a new gasket and try it tomorrow.I also set the car at tdc number 1 and took the dist out and set the points as they were not opening.Hopefully now i'll have spark.Wish me luck hopefully tomorrow night she'll fire up.Also doing a ton of chrome polishing and assembling the grill.Got me new front bumper last week from the u.s and hope to order the new rear one next weekend.
Sorry to hear about your Father.
I like the glass bowl fuel pump!
hwscowboy said
Aug 7, 2017
ok a little more progress,a few more issues.So I put the fuel pump from the 54 on and now it pumps fuel.I suspect the arm on the one that came with this car is too short and not correct.Then I had fuel leak issues at the lines I built to replace the old rotten ones.I tried reflareing them,tightening the hell out of them but they still leaked at the 2 connection points.I ended up just buying rubber fuel line and running steel from the tank to the d.s frame and then from by the steering box,around the front of the car to the p.s by the fuel pump.Zip tied it along the frame and no more leaks.Now I seem to have zero power at the coil.I have 6.7 volts at the battery,6.5 volts at the starter and the car turns over no problem.I started cutting the old tape wrap off the wiring harness tracing the coil wire back to its origin to see if I have power anywhere.Everything seems to run through the headlight switch and I know this one is messed up so that right there could be the issue.Also I did notice that regardless of weather I have the key turned on or off,if I hit the starter button the car turns over.Should I have power to each side of the ignition switch with the key on?Maybe a bad ignition switch?More investigating tomorrow.
hwscowboy said
Aug 20, 2017
Slowly but slowly she comes along.Ended up pulling out the dash and wiring underneath and starting from square one.Found the main power wire connected in the wrong place and now moved to the right place.Now I have power at the ignition and power at the coil when the key is on.Unfortunetly when I pulled the push button switch for the starter it literally crumbled into pieces.So have a new one coming this week.In the meantime I managed to get the headlights and running lights all working,horns working,taillights and license plate light all have power,just have to round up a bunch of new bulbs.I will go tomorrow to my bumper to bumper and see if he can get me some 6 volt bulbs or off to ebay again.Replaced some wiring sections in the trunk where the mice had chewed off the outer sheathing.My new turn signal switch should also be here this wekk so need to get that wired in and see if my signals all work.While I had the dash out I discovered my speedo was seized up and wouldn't turn with the cable.Apart the dash cluster came and some cleaning and soaking in penetrating fluid and it works fine now.I did some polishing while I had it apart,not perfect but pretty good.More to come this week I hope,maybe even the first start,i got power now,i got fuel to the carb,so as long as the carb is working I should be able to fire this thing up soon.
Wow you clean up good! Nice work and keep the posts coming...enjoying your progress! Looking forward to the flash up. She's a clean,sweet old girl and worth the effort...sometimes seems daunting but keep ater! Will be a smile on your face and worth all the effort when she's purring away.
Well after taking a break on building the 49 Pontiac for most of the fall and winter mostly due to life just getting too busy,i'm finally back on the build.I am just bending up the last of the fuel lines and hooking up some last wires and I think I am almost ready to see if the old 239 will fire up.Hopefully that will give me the kick in the pants to get it back on the road again.Still lots to do but spent the last few days going through boxes of old and new parts(I think I bought the entire ecklers catalogue)I am trying to dedicate 2-3 hours every night to the car and some days are better than others.Remember I did not take this car apart.it was partially disassembled when I bought it and then I took it further apart for the paint and motor repaint.So putting it back together has been a bit of an adventure,Anyways a few pics of some pieces I would like to find better of if anyone knows where a guy could find one,mainly the lower grill piece and the left hand side grill bar.A few more pics of the paint,i am still buffing it out,etc,etc
Sometimes taking a step back can keep you from getting burned out on a project. Or sometimes other priorities keep you from it. Now you are re-energized and chomping at the bit. I like the colour, and the 239 looks good as well.
the color is called whiltshire maroon and is the original color of the car.I had to have it custom mixed because no one besides auto color library out of California has the formula any more.It is actually an industrial enamel but polishes up decent with a lot of work.Heres what I started with,i'll get some more photos when the rain stops.
ok some more progress and some more questions.I'm not sure if anyone here owns one of these 49's if so I could really use some underhood pics.I've got most things figured out and having the 54 to compare has helped but a lot is also diffwrent.Need to figure out the vacuum lines for the wipers as on the 49 it is inside the car and a rubber hose sticks out through the firewall.Attached with a steel line of some sort down to the exhaust manifold.Also a few pics of the hood latch and how the cable runs into the car.I have a few mystery pieces to figure out as well.
I also have gotten side-tracked on the SD. Seems a '54 Chevy 5 window p.u. somehow followed me home a while ago! (at least it's driveable !)
Ok folks some actual progress,i got the broken oil gauage line changed out,the battery charged and mounted in place,ps inner fender and duct mounted up,and finally after at least 15 years the motor is turning over on its own power,woo hoo!!!
Concrats on all the good work. Keep us posted on that gem of yours.
Well a bit more progress I think,a bit of a delay as my father passed away a few weeks ago so busy helping mom out with all that needed to get done.But slowly back at it this week.So I have been trying to get the car ready to start up,i have turned it over a bunch and seem to have oil pressure.Next was getting gas to the carb and after a few days of chasing fuel leaks and reflaring gas lines I still could not get fuel to pump to the carb.If I put my vacuum tester on it I could suck fuel up to the carb no problem.The car came with a brand new fuel pump in a box so that's what I installed.I think it may be the wrong pump so today I removed the pump off my 54 since I know it worked.As you can see in the pic the arm that goes into the motor is quite different.I will make a new gasket and try it tomorrow.I also set the car at tdc number 1 and took the dist out and set the points as they were not opening.Hopefully now i'll have spark.Wish me luck hopefully tomorrow night she'll fire up.Also doing a ton of chrome polishing and assembling the grill.Got me new front bumper last week from the u.s and hope to order the new rear one next weekend.
Sorry to hear about your Father.
I like the glass bowl fuel pump!
Slowly but slowly she comes along.Ended up pulling out the dash and wiring underneath and starting from square one.Found the main power wire connected in the wrong place and now moved to the right place.Now I have power at the ignition and power at the coil when the key is on.Unfortunetly when I pulled the push button switch for the starter it literally crumbled into pieces.So have a new one coming this week.In the meantime I managed to get the headlights and running lights all working,horns working,taillights and license plate light all have power,just have to round up a bunch of new bulbs.I will go tomorrow to my bumper to bumper and see if he can get me some 6 volt bulbs or off to ebay again.Replaced some wiring sections in the trunk where the mice had chewed off the outer sheathing.My new turn signal switch should also be here this wekk so need to get that wired in and see if my signals all work.While I had the dash out I discovered my speedo was seized up and wouldn't turn with the cable.Apart the dash cluster came and some cleaning and soaking in penetrating fluid and it works fine now.I did some polishing while I had it apart,not perfect but pretty good.More to come this week I hope,maybe even the first start,i got power now,i got fuel to the carb,so as long as the carb is working I should be able to fire this thing up soon.
Wow you clean up good!
Nice work and keep the posts coming...enjoying your progress! Looking forward to the flash up. She's a clean,sweet old girl and worth the effort...sometimes seems daunting but keep ater! Will be a smile on your face and worth all the effort when she's purring away.