I am looking at a 1954 Pontiac Laurentian. Before I make any offers on it, I have some concerns thta I am hoping you can help me with.
This car is an older restoration vehicle..... done 20 years ago. It has the original flat head 6 in it which I am OK with.
First off it has the original 6 volt system....Is this good for reliabilty? or would it be wise to switch it over to a 12 volt system? I know this would not be original, but I would be looking for reliability rather than originality
#2 - Are 6 volt parts are readily available?
#3 - Where might the bad spots be on these cars? Where should I be looking for rot etc. I know the floor pans are far from perfect, but that is an easy fix. Do they make after market floor pans for a 54? Is there anywhere in particular I should be looking, like anywhere inparticular on the frame rails?
#4 - And anything else you might like to tell me about a 54 that might be usefull in helping me make a proper decision.
I owned a 54 Chevy that was 6 volt. I got a 6 volt battery from Carquest. I also converted to a one wire 6 volt alternator (also from Carquest). The car ran great. A prev owner modified the wiring so that there was a relay on the starter circuit to provide more oomph to the starter. 6 volt bulbs etc are available everywhere including Ebay (cheap)
I hope Rolilk sees this. He knows those cars quite well and should have some sound advice for you about trouble spots if some others don't chime in first.
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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
I can invite you to look at my post (1953 pathfinder deLuxe) to see what to look at on the body of this beautiful car for rot and other thing.
For the 6 volts system, keep it , they are reliable and it's easy to fix and parts avaibility is correct.
Fitz.
I'll accept the invite ..........What town are you in? If you are in a reasonable distance from me, I'll PM you and set up a time to meet.
Now there's an invite you should not miss! Some day I will get the chance to meet up with Andre. THis Man KNOWS the 53/54's .
Is the Laurention a Two door or a four door? If its four take a close look at the doglegs part of the rear wheel well. These legs are not available to replace if they are bad they will have to be custom fabed. And they are not easy to make. These cars have the normal spots that are bad some of them are, the inner rocker by the rear wheel wells. The body braces at either just behind the front well and or the rear brace also just in front of the rear well. Take a good look in the trunk and look close toward the inner edge of the tail pan it tends to rust out there as well. If you can have a good look at the K member It should be easy to spot if the angled braces are rusted bad that is another spot on the frame that can be bad. There is probably more but those are at the top of the list of chesks for me.
I can invite you to look at my post (1953 pathfinder deLuxe) to see what to look at on the body of this beautiful car for rot and other thing.
For the 6 volts system, keep it , they are reliable and it's easy to fix and parts avaibility is correct.
Fitz.
I'll accept the invite ..........What town are you in? If you are in a reasonable distance from me, I'll PM you and set up a time to meet.
Now there's an invite you should not miss! Some day I will get the chance to meet up with Andre. THis Man KNOWS the 53/54's .
Is the Laurention a Two door or a four door? If its four take a close look at the doglegs part of the rear wheel well. These legs are not available to replace if they are bad they will have to be custom fabed. And they are not easy to make. These cars have the normal spots that are bad some of them are, the inner rocker by the rear wheel wells. The body braces at either just behind the front well and or the rear brace also just in front of the rear well. Take a good look in the trunk and look close toward the inner edge of the tail pan it tends to rust out there as well. If you can have a good look at the K member It should be easy to spot if the angled braces are rusted bad that is another spot on the frame that can be bad. There is probably more but those are at the top of the list of chesks for me.
Thanks for the info.....I'll keep an eye open when I go again to look. There is the use of a hoist there so I should be able to see in the dark places reasonably well.
