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Canadian Poncho Homepage -> Canadian Poncho -> General 58-64 Full Size Forum -> 61 Pontiac Drag Racer Project
Post Info TOPIC: 61 Pontiac Drag Racer Project
jim_ss409


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RE: 61 Pontiac Drag Racer Project
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57poncho wrote:

Check out this post there is a pic of one with no side trim.
http://canadianponcho.activeboard.com/forum.spark?aBID=118110&p=3&topicID=39111918


Yeah, with this colour of blue I think it's going to need at least a little chrome. I'm hoping the polished aluminum rims will be enough. Some of the side chrome on this car isn't in perfect shape. We might also use the rocker molding trim from a 62 Impala. It's readily available and will fit no problem. I think we'll decide on that stuff after the car is painted.

We worked on the drivers side rocker panel today. We put some braces in the door so that nothing would shift when we cut out the old rocker panel then we welded in a 2" by 2" box behind the rocker panel. The box iron is there to meet the NHRA requirements for the roll cage. We thought it would be better to hide the necessary bracing inside the rocker panel.










The rocker panels on these X frame cars are built pretty strong so with the old stuff gone and the new .100 wall box iron installed I don't think we added much weight.

As we all know, nobody's making replacement rocker panels for these cars but we did happen to have a replacement panel for a 61 to 64 Impala so we held it in place to see if we might be able to use it. It has a little different shape but it does fit right in. Using the Impala rocker meant we also had to modify the bottom of the rear quarter panel but that was OK since we had to replace it to repair the rust. The bottom of the front fenders will also have to be modified.
Anyone doing a first class restoration certainly wouldn't want to use Impala rocker panels but I think they'll look just fine on this car.




In this picture you can see the homemade patch on the quarter panel that matches the rocker panel.




We left some overhang at the wheel well for now. We'll trim that later.


 



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Barrie Ont.

409 powered 61 Poncho

best time 9.06@ 148 
427carl


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Wow    nice work    love the other car and truck

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67SD396


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You don't waste any time....it'll be racing in the spring at the rate you are going! Nice job, by the way!

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57poncho


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Man you guys are making me look bad. I'm still striping mine.

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1957 Pathfinder deluxe 4 door wagon
1961 Pontiac Parisienne bubble top Traded for a Harley sorry guys.

2007 Grand Prix Gxp

2009 Pontiac Montana SV6

Winnipeg MB 
gparis7


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Great work.

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62 Catalina 2 dr post project

55 Bel Air 2 dr post 265PP/PG

68 Bel Air 2 dr post BB project

 
ARCADIAN


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Great will be awesome when you finish!

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Pontiacanada


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All I can say is wow, wow, wow!

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Prince Edward Island

'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.

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427carl


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Thats how we would do things biggrin               after we won the Lottery    lol

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jim_ss409


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We've made a little bit of progress.
A lot of the metal work has been done on the drivers side.




We used metal trailer fenders for wheel tubs. Here's a before and after picture.





Here's a picture from under the wheel well. We moved the body mount in an inch or two and the new tubs are about 2 1/2" wider so we'll be able to go with a wide tire with no clearance problems. I don't think we'll go all that big on the tires because huge tires look a little too modern on an old car like this.






Next comes the hard part,,, doing the same thing on the other side.



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Barrie Ont.

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73SC


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Hey Jim, I was just saying to my son let's run up to the cottage this week to check on things, like snow in the roof biggrin, we are at Lafontaine so Barrie is on the way, usually stop at Dunlop Street West Timmies across from Performance Improvements then head up Ferndale Drive out of town the back way to Snow Valley Rd. and over to 27. I hope you won't mind company in the spring. I hate to invite myself but I have to see this car in person.

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Ray White, Toronto ON

Formerly - The one and only 1973 LeMans 454 "Astro-Jet"

Built March 9, 1973 - Oshawa ON

1993 Corvette Convertible LT 1

Built January 10, 1993 - Bowling Green Kentucky 

 
jim_ss409


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Our shop is just a few blocks from the Dunlop St. exit.
Fire me a PM when you're heading up this way and I'll give you directions.

Jim



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Barrie Ont.

409 powered 61 Poncho

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73SC


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I figured that by looking at the exterior shots biggrin You can count on a visit ! Any more snow forecast this week ?

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Ray White, Toronto ON

Formerly - The one and only 1973 LeMans 454 "Astro-Jet"

Built March 9, 1973 - Oshawa ON

1993 Corvette Convertible LT 1

Built January 10, 1993 - Bowling Green Kentucky 

 
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gparis7


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You guys are really moving it along. Looks great - likely stronger than factory when you're done.

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62 Catalina 2 dr post project

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jim_ss409


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We got most of the metal work done on the body so we dropped it back onto the frame to get some measurements for the roll cage attachment points.




We got a complete front suspension clip from an 87 Corvette that we're going to graft onto the Pontiac X frame.




The K member of the Vette suspension unbolts from the frame. I don't think we'll use any of the Corvette frame that's in the foreground of the picture. The K member itself looks like it will work with the Pontiac frame easily enough.




I put a scale under the K member and the whole unit only weighs 205 lbs so I'm hoping we'll drop around 100 lbs when we're done.





The track width of the C4 suspension is almost exactly the same as the Pontiac suspension and 15" wheels will clear the brake calipers. The distance between the A frames is a bit wider which should give more room for headers and the K member sits lower so there will be more oil pan clearance.
The only problem is that the rack and pinion steering box sits up high enough that it might hit the pan or vibration damper. We might have to lower it a bit.

It looks like it'll be a fairly straight forward swap but I'm sure there will be a few problems that will have to get solved along the way.
When we get in to that job I'll post some progress pictures.

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Barrie Ont.

409 powered 61 Poncho

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cdnpont


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What a great thread this is becoming!

Your shop is spotless, what a dream.

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 67 Grande Parisienne 4 door HT. 69 Parisienne Convertible.
 
Pontiacanada


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Jim, great progress pics, and great progress. Your '61 is going to be killer.
I wish I could drop in to see it like Ray, but I live on PEI.cry

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Prince Edward Island

'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.

Canadian Poncho


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Amazing! I look forward to seeing photos of the K member installation.

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tmfbi69


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Welcome.Nice looking car,and a Niner also.What trans will you run? Also try to eliminate hanger bearing ,if possible. Its nice to see and old arrow head burning it up.

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jim_ss409


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tmfbi69 wrote:

Welcome.Nice looking car,and a Niner also.What trans will you run? Also try to eliminate hanger bearing ,if possible. Its nice to see and old arrow head burning it up.


Yes, we'll be running a one piece driveshaft so we'll have to modify the tunnel.
We have a race prepped TH350 transmission that we'll use in this car. You might think a 350 would explode behind a strong 409 but this one is built to take at least 800 hp.
We were hoping to have a new aluminum 409 for this car but the guy doing the blocks hasn't got them done yet, so it looks like we'll have to use the old engine from the 55 Chevy. It's a 409 that's been stroked to 476 ci. It makes close to 600 hp and runs on pump gas. (9.75 to 1 compression) The 55 Chevy used to run 10.50's with that engine but this car should run a bit quicker because it'll be a little bit lighter.
The aluminum 409 will probably be about 540 ci but it will probably be a fairly mild setup because we'd like it to last a long time between rebuilds. We figure that 750 hp or so should be fast enough.

 



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Barrie Ont.

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gparis7


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Great work on a beautiful looking car. Can't wait to see the finished product.

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62 Catalina 2 dr post project

55 Bel Air 2 dr post 265PP/PG

68 Bel Air 2 dr post BB project

 
jim_ss409


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We started installing the Corvette suspension. I've been weighing all the pieces as they come off and go on and it looks like we're going to save at least 100 lbs so I'm pretty happy about that.
It's turning out to be a fairly straight forward job. We're lucky enough to have three heavy steel tables that we could weld together and level up to serve as a platform.
Then it's just a matter of tacking the frame down at ride height and checking measurements.




Here's the old front end coming off.




Here the Corvette cradle is tacked down solidly to the table.




We're using 2" x 4" box iron to join the frame to the front cradle. It looks a little weird because the part in front isn't cut off yet. The front frame horns will have to drop down several inches.




It looks like the engine's going to fit just fine. The Corvette A arms are a lot lower so there's extra room for headers.
We tried the pan in place and if we set the engine back about 1 1/2" we can set the engine about 1 1/2" lower than stock. That will allow some extra hood clearance for carb spacers. If we move some of the plumbing to the rack we can lower the engine even more but I think 1 1/2" lower than stock will be plenty.




I'll post some more pictures as soon as we get a little more done but so far so good!

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Barrie Ont.

409 powered 61 Poncho

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ARCADIAN


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It's looking awesome!

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gparis7


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This is great work. You don't waste time.

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62 Catalina 2 dr post project

55 Bel Air 2 dr post 265PP/PG

68 Bel Air 2 dr post BB project

 
jim_ss409


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gparis7 wrote:

This is great work. You don't waste time.



Thanks, We normally work on big trucks in the shop but when we get caught up the trucks we can work on the car.
Of course we've also got Winston the Bulldog. He thinks he's a big help.no

 



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Barrie Ont.

409 powered 61 Poncho

best time 9.06@ 148 
timbuk


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very nice work done here guys!

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