new guy with a 1955 pontiac ie restoration process

geokome · Member

new guy with a 1955 pontiac ie restoration process

Taylor55 · Poncho Master!

This is a 55 Pathfinder Deluxe. The rear bumpers are the same 55 and 56. The hoods are different mainly in the silver streak moulding area. A 56 hood will fit a 55 but the hood bar and grille ends are different and will not line up correctly. The name plate is printed letters in 55 and a written script in 56. It is easier to use the correct hood.

Al

geokome · Member

Thanks Taylor 55 good to know. i will have to find a 55 hood with no rust. How do you know its a pathfinder Deluxe what makes it a deluxe

Taylor55 · Poncho Master!

Your model number will be 2011. The Pathfinder Deluxe had the narrow chrome along the bottom of the windows which is interchangeable with a 55 Chevrolet 210 and the rear quarter strip. A Pathfinder had no chrome or stainless on the sides or around the windows. A Laurentian had the same beltline mouldings which are stainless steel as a 55 Chev belair. It also had the wider door stainless and the 3 star emblems. It looks like your car has the factory shade lite tinted glass in all windows which is a very nice feature and very hard to find now. All Canadian Pontiacs had Shade lite tinted glass and the Americian Pontiacs had EZEYE tinted glass if so optioned.A good place to find a rust free hood will be in western Canada.

Al

Taylor55 · Poncho Master!

Post the information from your data plate and I will decode it for you. Serial no. Model no paint and trim codes. If your car originally came from the factory painted in the two tone format it has it should have a S after the paint code indicating Special paint as only the roof was painted the second colour on most two door sedans.

Al

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

A hardy welcome aboard from Milton, Ontario. All your questions will be answered here, no doubt about it. George, you have to post more photos of your 55 for the C.P. brotherhood. Good luck with the resto and cheers. George

paris69 · Addicted!

Welcome to CP. Nice looking 55. I am looking forward to seeing more pics and progress reports. I am working on a 56 that I acquired last winter. It has a few things that do not match originals so I am not looking to restore

to original, more just make it look good and serviceable. Here's a few pics for comparisons sake.

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

Looks really solid! Love the patina on the hood.

Taylor55 · Poncho Master!

Nice 56 Pathfinder. Be very careful with the back up lites. Soak the mounting area and the lens screws with penetrating fluid for a long time before trying to remove them. The housings are very hard to find but the lenses are reproduced in plastic.

Al

55ken · Member

hey, nice find, also love the patina.Hello from the west coast

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. on both those fine Pontiac's.

davelacourse · Poncho Master!

It is a little hard to tell from the one picture you posted here, but the rust in the lower front corners of your hood does not look too bad, seems similar to what I had, all you need to do is braze in a little bit of sheet metal and spend a little time with bondo and sandpaper to make it look like new, no reason to buy a whole new hood IMHO.

You can see (if you look closely) similar rust on my 56 (very similar hood to your 55) here:

And how it looked when done:

Dave