1963 Pontiac Parisienne, 2 doors with 409, restoration progress

427carl · A Poncho Legend!

RE: 1963 Pontiac Parisienne, 2 doors with 409, restoration progress

CORVAIRWILD · Veteran Member

It's funny sometimes how those things work out! And it was available for sale too? Sometimes the car sits and the owner "will get to it" and many years later it has deteriorated...

So the shop performing the work is a complete restoration shop? I have had bad experiences with most body shops. The do mediocre work and leave out details, and think they're performing the best work for a bargain price

gustos32 · Veteran Member

Apparently the car had been for sale for a while and the owner had put it away for the winter and was in the process of moving, so would have lost track of it again if not found then. I had seen the car advertised but it had a different engine and was a different colour so I did not clue in at all.
Yes the shop doing the work is a restoration shop however I have not seen a completed car myself but I have seen how he took the car apart and the notes and photos he took and it gave me confidence in the place. I understand what you are saying and I restore Austin-Healeys but I do not do the bodywork, I leave that to a bodyshop, I also do not rebuild engines but I do everything else. I do not want to do any other brands as it is hard enough to do one marque and to do it to Concours standards in some cases if even more difficult, the details are varied from one year to the next so for me I won't do anything else.

bjburnout · Uber Guru

gustos32 wrote:
I believe that the original engine puts out 381 hp but I am not sure of that, I know very little about these cars. I am a childhood friend of the current owner and found the car for him but I restore Austin-Healeys exclusively so I am not overly familiar with American cars. It took the better part of four years to locate as it went from Saint-Georges to Granby, Quebec, then from there to Ontario and purchased again by someone else in Ontario and finally I found this site and within 15 minutes of placing a lookout for it, found the car.

.......if the car was originally equipped with a 409 then the horsepower rating would have been

340, 400 or the dual 4 barrel 425.......the 425 was the only one with solid lifters and no automatic trans on the 400 or 425

only the 340 was available with powerglide and also a 4 speed

-- Edited by bjburnout on Friday 30th of January 2015 12:05:03 PM

CORVAIRWILD · Veteran Member

The 340 horse was not rare, just a big engine, somewhat often found in wagons and even school buses and dumptrucks

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

CORVAIRWILD wrote:
The 340 horse was not rare, just a big engine, somewhat often found in wagons and even school buses and dumptrucks

Rare (and documented) in Canadian Pontiacs ... I wish I had a '63 or a '64 with a 409.

Here's a count of 409s in '64 Canadian built cars:

1964 Impala SS HT, 425HP... 17 were built in Canada
1964 Custom Sport HT, 400/425HP... 10
1964 Custom Sport HT, 340HP 4 spd... 15
1964 Custom Sport conv, 340HP 4 spd... 8
1964 Custom Sport HT, 340HP auto... 30
1964 Custom Sport conv, 340HP auto... 10
1964 Parisienne Safari, 400HP... 1
1964 Laurentian Safari, 400HP... 1
1964 Laurentian 9 pass Safari, 340HP 4 spd... 1

CORVAIRWILD · Veteran Member

Ok, I take it back...

Production numbers for '65's?

We got our exhaust manifolds from a guy driving a '63 Impala by w 409 emblems. He had scrapped a '65 Pontiac, or maybe it was a Chevy, but this was 35 years ago, but I think I remember thinking wow, a '65 Pontiac w a 409, that must be rare!

On my bucket list is to build a '65 Parisienne convert w a 409, as a tribute to my fathers '65 Parisienne (283PG) maybe w 3-2's , as my 2+2 283 TH350 had 3-2's

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

CORVAIRWILD wrote:

Production numbers for '65's?

Nope ... I just concentrate on '64s.

CORVAIRWILD · Veteran Member

I wonder why the 63's had the huge exposed headlamp bezels, not the 64's, but it returned on the 65's. Are the US models (bezel) the same as Canadian? And are the '63 and '65 the same?

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

CORVAIRWILD wrote:
Are the US models (bezel) the same as Canadian? And are the '63 and '65 the same?

Yes, '64 Parisienne bezels are the same as '64 Catalina bezels. The only difference is the '64 Parisienne Custom Sport has the frame around the bezel painted body colour, Catalinas and regular Parisiennes do not (they are all chrome).

See the difference:

'64 CS:

Picture of car and sf 020.jpg

'64 Regular:

$(KGrHqJHJEUFJ,H8PEogBS(+OK3mCg~~48_20.jpg

'64 Catalina:

-- Edited by Pontiacanada on Tuesday 3rd of February 2015 07:56:41 AM

CORVAIRWILD · Veteran Member

Interesting... So many decisions they made...

I was at a junkyard in Arizona, and looking at '65 Buick Electra 225 rear 1/4 script. the '66 beside it was angled a bit more. Such a slight difference, makes you wonder...

Were the Canadian Pontiacs built on the same assembly line as the Chevys up here? They were when I toured Ste Therese "Chevy" plant in the 80's. Chevys Buicks Olds's

gustos32 · Veteran Member

Here is the latest update on this 1963 Pontiac Parisienne with a factory 409.

It was entered about 6 weeks ago in a car show at the new arena in Quebec City and it won first prize for its restoration and second prize overall in its category. Since then the current owner has been driving the car sporadically and I have found out from GM Vintage Specialist that of the 8681 Pontiac Parisienne built in 1963, 2 were with a 409 engine and 4 speed. It cannot be determined if the other one was a 2door hardtop as it is with this one or if it was a convertible as the model #7847 was shared by the 2door hardtop and 2door convertibles.

Nevertheless it makes it relatively rare. I will be visiting in my hometown in late July and will be getting a drive in this car, will take some photos and perhaps a video and put it on the site.

Jean

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

gustos32 wrote:
Here is the latest update on this 1963 Pontiac Parisienne with a factory 409.
It was entered about 6 weeks ago in a car show at the new arena in Quebec City and it won first prize for its restoration and second prize overall in its category. Since then the current owner has been driving the car sporadically and I have found out from GM Vintage Specialist that of the 8681 Pontiac Parisienne built in 1963, 2 were with a 409 engine and 4 speed. It cannot be determined if the other one was a 2door hardtop as it is with this one or if it was a convertible as the model #7847 was shared by the 2door hardtop and 2door convertibles.
Nevertheless it makes it relatively rare. I will be visiting in my hometown in late July and will be getting a drive in this car, will take some photos and perhaps a video and put it on the site.
Jean

Great news, and I can't wait to see more of the car!

norontcan · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

We'll be anxiously waiting to see more.

DonSSDD · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I have a 63 Parisienne, I am installing a 63 409 and 4 speed in it, it was an original 283 powerglide car. One of 2 409's in a 63 Parisienne, that's very cool.

I had seen this 63 when it was the Car of the Month, but had not read this thread and really enjoyed it. Looking forward to future posts and would love to see this 63 the next time I am through the area.

Don

gustos32 · Veteran Member

DonSSDD, Let me know when you are planning to be in the area and will give you further details then. The car is at the owner cottage about 50 miles from Quebec City.

CORVAIRWILD · Veteran Member

I keep getting updates on this story, but scrolling thru doesn't show anything recent. What am I missing?

CORVAIRWILD · Veteran Member

Ok, I found the recent posts, my bad! Seems crazy! Only 2?!?! The US magazines made it north of the border, seems hard to believe it wasn't a few dozen...

DonSSDD · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

gustos32 wrote:
DonSSDD, Let me know when you are planning to be in the area and will give you further details then. The car is at the owner cottage about 50 miles from Quebec City.

My daughter lives in Ottawa and I drive through once in a while. She used to have a boyfriend in Scott Junction just south of Levis (when she went to Bishop's) and I've visited there and St Georges but its been a while. I likely won't be through again this summer, maybe Christmas, but by then the car will be in storage.

Maybe send me a PM through this site with your email address and I'll contact you when I know I may be traveling through.
Thanks,
Don

gustos32 · Veteran Member

I have been told they were built on Chevrolet chassis and that the Canadian Pontiac Parisienne was 6" shorter than its American counterpart, all in the trunk area.

gustos32 · Veteran Member

Two Parisienne 2 door coupe or convertible with 409 and 4 speed in 1963. Apparently there were some Strato Chief 4 doors with 409 and automatic but most were for "Police use". This Parisienne here also has a CSL code for Police Equipment which included a 42 amp. delcotron generator I suppose and positraction.

CORVAIRWILD · Veteran Member

Canadian Pontiac is far different than American Pontiac, much more is uncommon, then is common

MoboMac · Poncho Master!

CORVAIRWILD wrote:
Canadian Pontiac is far different than American Pontiac, much more is uncommon, then is common

I think everybody here already knows that...That the reason for the website.... smile

CORVAIRWILD · Veteran Member

I was just replying to Gustos32. When we used to order parts from Canadian Tire, we refered to them as "red motor" if they were Canadian Pontiacs. It's amazing how little Americans know about red motor Pontiacs.

redbandt · Member

I just discover that my car was from J. W Morin in 1979 and have been trying to find a photo of the dealership , any Ideas>

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