Not much changed on the main body parts between 65/66 and I'd bet lunch that if your door to rear wheel opening measurement is 20", the front measurement will be right on the money. The specs show only a 1" longer overall length for the '66, probably bumper related.
I would be it has more to do with exactly where we are measuring than them being different. I'll see if I can take some photos, but I would bet two doughnuts they are exactly the same. The reason I believe this is that the 66 CS and GP trim is exactly the same as the 66 US built 2+2 trim (always looking for better pieces than I have already)
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63 Grand Prix -needs restoration, 65 Catalina Ventura 4 speed - resto almost completed, 66 Catalina Convertible - at body shop
I built a 65/66 hybrid. bits being rare in Oz bought a 65 for the front end parts cheap. Came with heaps of parts includng a complete 66 front. Kept the good 65 front and fitted the 66 front. Fitted except for where front panel bolts onto the top of the cowl are. We use 66 doors on 65s and vice versa, spats or you call them fender skirts. Bodylines are generally the same.
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cutting a roof off a four door is NOT a convertible.....
65 Parisienne convertible.one of 49 built for RHD export market,402BBC, T400, 2500 stally, posi rear, upgraded brakes with front discs, FUEL FAST efi custom built by me.
The '65 hardtop I was planning to remeasure this week has disappeared. It's possible they're different, Carl, but odds are they're very close to, if not the same. Looking at GMs pontiac styling cycles through the sixties like the 59/60, 61/62, 63/64, 65/66 etc, it seems the freshening up was at each end and interior, leaving the main body structure and doors alone.
Your front fender measurement appears to verify John's statement regarding the front wheel center spacing.
mike
-- Edited by mk1V on Sunday 10th of September 2017 04:16:38 PM
-- Edited by mk1V on Sunday 10th of September 2017 04:20:26 PM
ive stripped several 65 66 GPs for decent parts they interchangeable with the Canadian cars
Have you actually swapped fenders, doors, quarter panels? I'm told they are the same on the outside (the GP's, not the rest of the models) but the mounting tabs/holes on the fenders etc don't line up.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
So what we know is the information (GM data) shows the '65 Parisienne, Catalina, 2+2 and Grand Prix to be the same overall length, but the canadian cars on the chev chassis have a 2" shorter wheelbase.
parisienne
2+2
Our measurements have shown that the rear quarter body line lengths match on these US and Canadian cars. The front fender lower body line is 1" shorter on the canadian cars because of the front wheel center to firewall measurement being 1" shorter on the chev chassis. Interesting that when you look at the above pictures, the wheels on the parisienne look to be closer to the rear of the front wheel opening and the front of the rear opening, showing the canadian chev frame's shorter wheelbase.
Maybe we should get measurements on the door lengths as well
mike
-- Edited by mk1V on Wednesday 13th of September 2017 02:16:29 AM
If anybody wants to compare quarter panels for the 1967 Parisienne compared to US Pontiac quarter panels, I have an NOS set for '67 convertible I could measure in detail. I'd really like to know for the 1967 model year if quarter panels will interchange between Parisienne and Catalina. I'M LOOKING FOR A SET of 1967 quarter panels for a 2 door hardtop Parisienne if anybody has info on that for me. If Catalina quarters are the same, I'd like to know that.
One anomaly shows up in the specs for the '66 cars; the US catalina and GP show to be 1" shorter than the canadian cars. Perhaps that could be accounted for by the brackets needed to adapt the bumpers to the chev frame.
In '67, the measurements go back to being the same again, so the quarters are probably very close.
ive stripped several 65 66 GPs for decent parts they interchangeable with the Canadian cars
Have you actually swapped fenders, doors, quarter panels? I'm told they are the same on the outside (the GP's, not the rest of the models) but the mounting tabs/holes on the fenders etc don't line up.
im not talking about printed specs, and yes under the skin these cars are different, one uses a " American body " the other a chev body. im talking about the skin only, the bonny always was a different car, we have used parts back and forth , ie trim and skins between Canadian and American cars with little adjustment, over the years, its just easier to build new now because so few are left, and I hate killing any of them for parts.
