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Post Info TOPIC: April 2014 Feature Car


A Poncho Legend!

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April 2014 Feature Car


Spring is here and while for some of us it doesn't look that way I assure you warm, sunny days are close at hand. And, to celebrate this fact, I felt it important to feature a convertible for April.  Shawn Dunnett owns this beautiful 1967 Pontiac Parisienne 2+2 convertible featured this month. I'll let Shawn fill us in on the details

In July of 2011 I began my search for a mid to late 60’s convertible. I owned a 2004 Mustang at the time after making many modifications to it I had pretty much run out of things to do. So, I began looking on Winnipeg Kijiji for just the right car, while also putting mine up for sale. Within a couple of weeks of looking, I found a 1967 Pontiac Parisienne 2+2 convertible for sale in Morden/Winkler, MB. I loved the look of the car and it appeared to be in pretty good shape. I quickly emailed the owner asking if he still had the car and if so, if he was open to possibly trading for my Mustang as we were both looking for the same kind of money out of our cars.

A couple of days later, I received an email from the owner stating he had looked at the ad for my car on Kijiji and he was interested. However, he stated that he would only consider the trade if I threw in some cash as well. I declined as I explained to him that as we were both looking for the same kind of money for our cars, I felt that a straight trade was fair.

Believing that this deal had fallen through I continued my search. September of 2011 found me doing the single Dad thing as my wife had deployed to Afghanistan, so I was working and getting my son to hockey and other activities so my time spent on Kijiji looking for a car had kind of dropped off. Shortly after my wife deployed I received an email from the owner of the 2+2 wondering if I was still interested in his car. I advised him that I was, but that I was looking for a straight trade and that there would be no cash involved. It was then that he apologised for the previous interaction I had with his son, who apparently had some money tied up in the 2+2 and he was looking to get his money out of it. The owner assured me that the car was in his name, not his son’s and that if I was interested we would meet as soon as I was available to go to Morden/Winkler.

In early October I drove down and met with the owner at a local garage where the car was going through safety. While on the hoist, the garage owner invited me out to look at the underside of the car, which was rock solid! He assured me that he’d have no qualms about purchasing the car, even though it needed a couple of minor issues addressed before it passed safety. I then spoke with the owner and advised him that once the minor issues were addressed I would be happy to execute the deal.

 

 

A couple of weeks later, the owner called and said the car was fixed and it had passed safety. We set a date for him to drive the car to Winnipeg, and we’d swap keys. A week later, the car was mine and parked in my garage.

 

As you can see it just fit in my garage. Lesson learned, always measure your garage AND the car before you pull the trigger. This way you don’t wonder if it will actually fit! So once I had the car home, I began searching on line for information on the car and quickly found Canadian Poncho. Within hours of joining Stevenson was looking for pictures of the car and specifically the cowl tag so it could be deciphered. It turns out the car was an original Manitoba car, equipped with a 327/Turbo 400, painted Nantucket Blue with a white top. Unfortunately, along the way the 327/T400 had gone AWOL and a 307/T350 had found its way into the car. Stevenson then mentioned a 67 327 that was sitting on his garage floor and that if I wanted would be made available to me for a modest sum.

It wasn’t much later that I agreed to buy the engine and begun planning out the upcoming “restoration” The body was pretty good as was the top and seats. The carpet was pretty rough so it would need to be replaced. The car “floated” pretty well on the highway so I thought we’d need to replace the shocks and springs as well.

 

In early January, the car was taken to my friend Lyle’s garage to begin the strip down in prep for receiving the new engine and other parts.

 

Once the engine was delivered, (It was kinda like Christmas a white haired guy in a reddish truck brought it right to the door! Thanks again Carl!!) So it was stripped and sent out to Brazier’s Race and Machine where it was cleaned numerous times (4 to be exact) checked for any cracks and the bored 30 thousandths over. The crank was then checked and polished. Once George was finished with the block and crank it was given to Lyle to begin the rebuild. The heads, (194 Camel Humps) were then taken to Brazier’s and were checked, given a five angle grind and then and then stuffed with all new valves, springs and retainers. Hardened seats were not installed as it was felt that as the car would not be a daily driver, it was an expense that just was not warranted. Once the heads were completed they were brought to Lyle so he could complete the engine build. Oh and we used the L79 cam, added an Edelbrock Performer intake and upgraded to a Holley 600 CFM Carb. George Brazier, owner of Brazier Race and Machine put’s the compression ratio at 10.1 to 1 and conservatively rates the engine at about 350 hp.

 

While the engine was at the machine shop, we decided concurrent activity was required. So we swapped out the stock steering wheel for a custom one, added some gauges and did the suspension work.

 

So as the months passed my wife and I learned we would move from Winnipeg to Edmonton in July of 2012, so the rush was on to get the car back together in time so I could drive it out. What better break in that to drive the car across right?

Needless to say we got it all done and we drove the car without issue. In fact, I entered the car in its first car show in Lloydminster as we came across!

Shortly after arriving in Edmonton I upgraded the rims to Rallye’s with Beaumont caps, (15x7 front, 15x8 rear, Shod in BF Goodrich rubber) upgraded to an aluminum rad with pusher fan to deal with overheating issues (fixed!) and replaced all door/trunk/top and window seals.

 

Here are some pictures my wife, an amateur photographer took of the car.

 

As for future upgrades, I hope to finally get a new fuel sending unit installed so I can actually have a working gas gauge, as well as upgrade the 12 bolt to posi and maybe change the gearing so the car has a little more grunt off the line. Finally, I would like to swap out the carpet again for something a little nicer as well as the right colour.

 

I’m thankful to all those that helped with the build and to all those here on CP who continue to be a source of information and inspiration.

 



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Todd
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Canadian Poncho World Headquarters - Prince Edward Island

 



Guru

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Big, Blue and Beautiful !

Love it !

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First car, 1969 Grande Parisienne. 



A Poncho Legend!

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Congratulations  !!    wonderful car and story    

I have looked it all over and can not fault it   lol    

Glad Carl was able to get you Motor-vated   



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Poncho Master!

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Thanks for the kind words,

Trust me 427 Carl, the car does have it's blemishes, but it's a driver not a trailer queen. Stevenson was a huge help with providing the 327, and has even been so kind as to offer to refund what I paid him for the engine should I decide to go with something else.. LoL!

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Shawn D.

1967 Parisienne 2+2 Convertible SOLD!

1984 Buick Grand National

2012 F-150 Ecoboost FX4



Poncho Master!

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Look at you Shawn. Feature car of the month guy. Congrats. Sure you might class your car as a driver but it's a darn nice looking one. And I've seen it up close. Good Job.



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'68 Parisienne 2+2 Convertible Matador Red (Resale Red but not for sale).



Guru

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Awesome ride!

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65 Catalina 2+2 421 4bbl,  Auto, White, w/red interior, Buckets w/column shift.

66 Grande Parisienne, 2dr HT, 327 4bbl, Auto.

Had the 66 since about 83 and the 65 since 88.
Both still require a lot of work.


Guru

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....a true great looking car deserving to be featured here for April. The very first ragtop I ever rode in was a 67 2+2 . I helped rebuild a 2+2 coupe and convertible years ago. They are a nice machine on the road. Congrats on a fine job .

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Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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Very nice Shawn.



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70 2+2 convertible
70 2+2 hardtop
70 Parisienne hardtop
72 GMC Sierra

 

 



Guru

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gotta love the rag enjoy the month



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A Poncho Legend!

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A very nice looking and well deserved feature car.



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Ray White, Toronto ON

1973 LeMans 454 "Astro-Jet"

Built March 9, 1973 - Oshawa ON

1993 Corvette Convertible LT 1

Built January 10, 1993 - Bowling Green Kentucky 

 




A Poncho Legend!

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Way to go Shawn. I imagine there were times you wondered if you'd ever find your way through it all and enjoy the car, but like someone said, "Look at you Shawn"!

Great looking car, as stated, well deserved, and that's a standing offer on a full refund when you decide you don't like that 327 any more! I have to say though, it would be hard to have found a more fitting home for that engine.

By the way, I love that straight on shot showing off the "nose job" on your car. What a view!

Oh, and loved that bit about the reddish truck driven by the white haired guy at Christmas time!

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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



Addicted!

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I LOVE It. Nice rag top.

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Addicted!

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She's a beaut! Love the 67's and the color combo is perfect. Betcha can't wait for the weather to break!

Quick question, where did you get you carpet thru? Did you just have the wrong color or did it not fit correctly? I need a new set for mine.



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No Bike Mike

1968 Parisienne 2+2 Convertible

1984 Correct Craft Southwind

1994 Cruisers Aria

2005 GMC K1500 



Addicted!

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And you are really making me think about a white top when I replace mine.



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No Bike Mike

1968 Parisienne 2+2 Convertible

1984 Correct Craft Southwind

1994 Cruisers Aria

2005 GMC K1500 



Poncho Master!

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smileCONGRATS. ON THE FEATURE SHAWN! GREAT LOOKING CAR.



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   MIKE

MC


Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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Very nice! 



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Poncho Master!

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Congrats Shawn, nice ride.

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68 custom
68 deluxe
67 custom
67 SD convertible (1 of 1)
16 Colorado 4x4 Duramax

Long live the Canadian arrowhead >

 Edmonton,AB



Guru

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Nice ragtop! Just the thing for a summer cruise.

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Barrie Ont.

409 powered 61 Poncho

best time 9.06@ 148 



Addicted!

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Gorgeous!

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Joel A.

64 Parisienne Rag

67 SD396

63 Parisienne Safari 409

 Alberta



Poncho Master!

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Gasonmiles wrote:

And you are really making me think about a white top when I replace mine.


That's funny because I'm thinking about going black when I have to replace mine.  I think it will give the car a more aggressive look. 



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Shawn D.

1967 Parisienne 2+2 Convertible SOLD!

1984 Buick Grand National

2012 F-150 Ecoboost FX4



Poncho Master!

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Gasonmiles wrote:

She's a beaut! Love the 67's and the color combo is perfect. Betcha can't wait for the weather to break!

Quick question, where did you get you carpet thru? Did you just have the wrong color or did it not fit correctly? I need a new set for mine.


To be honest I don't remember.  It was an E-bay purchase.  Funny story actually.  When my wife bought it for me, she bought black. I said no, it's a blue car, it should have blue carpet.  Turns out it originally was a black carpeted car... I would go through NOS or Impala Bob's or somewhere like that when I replace it next... 



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Shawn D.

1967 Parisienne 2+2 Convertible SOLD!

1984 Buick Grand National

2012 F-150 Ecoboost FX4



Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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Congrats Shawn! Great looking car, I too luv the front end pic nod.gif



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Poncho Master!

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Congratulation Shawn ! I love the unique look of the 67 B bodies Pontiac, Great looking car !



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Poncho Master!

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Thank you all,

Your kind words humble me...

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Shawn D.

1967 Parisienne 2+2 Convertible SOLD!

1984 Buick Grand National

2012 F-150 Ecoboost FX4

NOS


Poncho Master!

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. If you would like some samples let me knowBlackheart4355 wrote:
Gasonmiles wrote:

She's a beaut! Love the 67's and the color combo is perfect. Betcha can't wait for the weather to break!

Quick question, where did you get you carpet thru? Did you just have the wrong color or did it not fit correctly? I need a new set for mine.


To be honest I don't remember.  It was an E-bay purchase.  Funny story actually.  When my wife bought it for me, she bought black. I said no, it's a blue car, it should have blue carpet.  Turns out it originally was a black carpeted car... I would go through NOS or Impala Bob's or somewhere like that when I replace it next... 


 NOS would be my choice; and don't forget to order for Impala. Our carpet site has just been updated for colour rendition. Let me know if you would like a couple of samples

Dale @ NOS



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