This is a 55 Pathfinder Deluxe. The rear bumpers are the same 55 and 56. The hoods are different mainly in the silver streak moulding area. A 56 hood will fit a 55 but the hood bar and grille ends are different and will not line up correctly. The name plate is printed letters in 55 and a written script in 56. It is easier to use the correct hood.
Your model number will be 2011. The Pathfinder Deluxe had the narrow chrome along the bottom of the windows which is interchangeable with a 55 Chevrolet 210 and the rear quarter strip. A Pathfinder had no chrome or stainless on the sides or around the windows. A Laurentian had the same beltline mouldings which are stainless steel as a 55 Chev belair. It also had the wider door stainless and the 3 star emblems. It looks like your car has the factory shade lite tinted glass in all windows which is a very nice feature and very hard to find now. All Canadian Pontiacs had Shade lite tinted glass and the Americian Pontiacs had EZEYE tinted glass if so optioned.A good place to find a rust free hood will be in western Canada.
Post the information from your data plate and I will decode it for you. Serial no. Model no paint and trim codes. If your car originally came from the factory painted in the two tone format it has it should have a S after the paint code indicating Special paint as only the roof was painted the second colour on most two door sedans.
A hardy welcome aboard from Milton, Ontario. All your questions will be answered here, no doubt about it. George, you have to post more photos of your 55 for the C.P. brotherhood. Good luck with the resto and cheers. George
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1957 Pontiac Pathfinder Deluxe sedan restored 261 six
1974 Chevrolet Caprice Estate wagon low mileage original 400 V-8
Welcome to CP. Nice looking 55. I am looking forward to seeing more pics and progress reports. I am working on a 56 that I acquired last winter. It has a few things that do not match originals so I am not looking to restore
to original, more just make it look good and serviceable. Here's a few pics for comparisons sake.
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.
Nice 56 Pathfinder. Be very careful with the back up lites. Soak the mounting area and the lens screws with penetrating fluid for a long time before trying to remove them. The housings are very hard to find but the lenses are reproduced in plastic.
It is a little hard to tell from the one picture you posted here, but the rust in the lower front corners of your hood does not look too bad, seems similar to what I had, all you need to do is braze in a little bit of sheet metal and spend a little time with bondo and sandpaper to make it look like new, no reason to buy a whole new hood IMHO.
You can see (if you look closely) similar rust on my 56 (very similar hood to your 55) here:
1956 Pontiac Pathfinder 2dr sedan, 496 - dyno'd 545 hp, stick shift, 4.11 posi - Hot Rod