1959 Catalina Convertible Heading North

Al T · Addicted!

1959 Catalina Convertible Heading North

Winnipeg · Addicted!

Best of luck. It's a beautiful car!!

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

Nice! Will you need a broker to get it over the border?

Al T · Addicted!

This isn't the first car I've imported so I'm clearing it at the border myself. The one thing that has changed since the last time I imported a car is the US Border requires an ITN# (Individual tax number) that an individual can't get without spending $350CDN with a 3rd party.

Everything was done last friday and is sitting at the border. The 72 hours hit Monday so I'm good to go.

-- Edited by Al T on Tuesday 31st of July 2018 04:04:26 PM

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Allan, what a stunning looking automobile. I am green or is it red with envy. Good luck with that sweet time machine.

norontcan · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Fantastic looking car. What a gem.

Al T · Addicted!

Thanks for the comments. It will definitely be a drive to remember.

Ive been trying to find a data plate decoder for the car without much luck. Would anybody be able to provide some help? Based on the restoration photos Ive seen, the car apparently was white at some point, but would love to know what it started out. Any help decoding the data plate would be appreciated.

Allan

-- Edited by Al T on Tuesday 31st of July 2018 09:56:11 PM

-- Edited by Al T on Tuesday 31st of July 2018 09:57:12 PM

-- Edited by Al T on Tuesday 31st of July 2018 09:58:08 PM

Al T · Addicted!

Wow. I guess the site doesnt recognize an apostrophe. I've (there ya go) tried to correct the post three times. Maybe I spelled it right the first time. lol

-- Edited by Al T on Tuesday 31st of July 2018 10:01:39 PM

bjburnout · Uber Guru

Al T wrote:
Thanks for the comments. It will definitely be a drive to remember.
Ive been trying to find a data plate decoder for the car without much luck. Would anybody be able to provide some help? Based on the restoration photos Ive seen, the car apparently was white at some point, but would love to know what it started out. Any help decoding the data plate would be appreciated.

Allan
Congrats - beautiful car
Here ya go........
style 59 = 1959

2167 = (21) = Catalina (67) = Convertible Coupe

Body L = Linden, NJ (no listing for the A) - what is the vin no?

2305 = body sequence no.

trim 16 = should be 3 digits 216 = red ivory vinyl

paint P = Shoreline Gold (can you confirm that is a P)

1 = convertible white top

-- Edited by bjburnout on Tuesday 31st of July 2018 10:37:06 PM

-- Edited by bjburnout on Tuesday 31st of July 2018 10:39:47 PM

jmont64 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Beautiful car that will create lots of attention on your drive. You might just want to double check with some fire conditions I think around Yellowstone park. Enjoy the trip and take a few pictures to share with us here.

Taylor55 · Poncho Master!

I just brought back a 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis from Florida in May. I did not get a ITN number because you have to be an Americian citizen to get one without a broker. Any Americian can get an ITN number it is just paperwork. I figured I would take a chance not getting one. I did not stop at the Americian side to get the title stamped. At the Canadian side all they wanted to know was how I found the car the asking price and what I actually paid for it. I then went inside and paid the federal portion of the sales tax along with the $100 air conditioning tax and went on my way. No questions were asked about the title being stamped or a ITN number on the Canadian side.

This winter I am going to get an Americian friend to apply for the ITN number and find out what it will actually cost her to get it and I will pay all costs.

This is the second car where I did not get the title stamped on the Americian side and when I did stop and get the title stamped with other cars I asked why it was needed. The agent informed me it was for my own protection to find out if the car was stolen had liens or was rebuilt. The agent actually laughed and said go part with your money on the Canadian side as at that time no ITN number was needed.

Al

Al T · Addicted!

Well, it was an interesting trip. We landed in Denver around 1:00 on Wednesday, took an Uber to the car, and were on the road by 3:30. Fortunately Jeff (the guy I bought the car from) had done a great job of prepping the car. We were off. Here was the odometer at the start the trip. First stop was a Greyhound station 40 minutes away to pick up a tri-power intake that had been shipped to Colorado from Oklahoma.

-- Edited by Al T on Saturday 4th of August 2018 08:19:21 AM

-- Edited by Al T on Saturday 4th of August 2018 09:44:23 AM

Al T · Addicted!

We were hoping to get to Dubois, WY on the first night as we had planned on driving through Yellowstone on the way home. The first couple hours the car ran beautifully, hitting a pass 8600 feet above sea level and running through a deluge....... the wipers worked great and had no issues keeping up with the rain.

-- Edited by Al T on Saturday 4th of August 2018 08:23:54 AM

Al T · Addicted!

We got to Laramie, WY and pulled in to fill up for the first time. We filled up, I opened the hood to check the oil and noticed the generator smoking a bit. Probably not good. lol
We really didnt have much option other than to see how it would do. Pulled back onto the interstate, within a 1/4 mile the ammeter gauge started jumping so I pulled off on the next exit (fortunately about a 1/4 mile ahead of us). I got to the lights at the top of the ramp and the car died and it started smoking under the dash. I hopped out, opened the hood and quickly disconnected the battery (fortunately it wasnt tight on the post). It was 5:45, so called a couple of auto parts places and found one that could have a generator in the next day by 3:30. Not much we could do. Fortunately there was a hotel down the street that was down hill from the lights. We got her rolling and coasted down to the hotel, pushing it the last couple hundred yards with the help of a guy off a road crew.
We asked him if he knew of any good mechanics that could look at it as I was worried how badly damaged the wiring was. He gave us the name and number of a guy. We called him and he suggested we call Ketts Auto Electric in the morning. If they couldnt help, call him back. Heres the car at the first fill up before the wiring started leaking smoke.

Not much more we could do so we walked into town, had some great craft beer, Moscow Mules, and some awesome fire roasted pizza.

-- Edited by Al T on Saturday 4th of August 2018 09:11:26 AM

-- Edited by Al T on Saturday 4th of August 2018 09:46:27 AM

Al T · Addicted!

I went down to the car in the morning and checked out the carnage. The wiring under the hood had absolutely no damage. I took a look under the dash and saw the ammeter was completely fried with about an inch and a half of the insulation melted off the leads to the ammeter. Unfortunately it was hot enough to also have melted the plug connector to the fuel gauge. I disconnected the leads to the ammeter gauge twisted them together tight and wrapped them and tried the car. It fired right up but I was hoping Ketts could have a look at it. I called them, explaining the situation, and Tage (pronounced Tag) said bring it right in. They were about 5 minutes away. Drove it down to them and he had just finished making a spot in the shop. It turns out Ketts was established in 1918! He did a quick diagnosis and determined that actually the regulatror had failed, keeping the generator hot, which ultimately fried the armature and then the ammeter. Fortunately he had the parts needed to do a complete rebuild, and had a brand new Atlas regulator as well. It took about 2-1/2 hours for them to rebuild the generator, reinstall it and the regulator, install a temp volt meter under the dash, put new connectors on the fuel gauge leads........ and fix the dash lights while they were at it. We seriously could not have found a better place to break down. Sometimes things just work out.

-- Edited by Al T on Saturday 4th of August 2018 09:01:09 AM

-- Edited by Al T on Saturday 4th of August 2018 09:48:39 AM

Al T · Addicted!

We were back on the road by noon and made it to Billings around 9:00PM. I thought the car ran great when we picked it up but it ran so much better below 5000 ft. Wyoming and Montana have some beautiful scenery. Here are a few photos.

-- Edited by Al T on Saturday 4th of August 2018 09:39:01 AM

-- Edited by Al T on Saturday 4th of August 2018 09:40:06 AM

bjburnout · Uber Guru

Al T wrote:
We were back on the road by noon and made it to Billings around 9:00PM. I thought the car ran great when we picked it up but it ran so much better below 5000 ft. Wyoming and Montana have some beautiful scenery. Here are a few photos.

......wow - what an adventure....gorgeous scenery and GORGEOUS Catalina..... biggrin

Al T · Addicted!

We were on the road by 6:45 yesterday and arrived in Edmonton before 8:00PM with absolutely no issues. Border crossing was smooth and we were in and out of the US and Canadian sides in less than 30 minutes. To Taylor55 who stated he didnt go to the US side, I asked the Canadian Customs agent about that and he said it was true, you didnt need to stop on the US side to enter into Canada, but if you ever tried to have the car re-enter the US you would be severely fined (he said up to $100k). I dont know where this car will end up in the future so exporting it was the right thing to do. I now have an ITN# as well........ and, the US side of the border experience took about 5 minutes.
All in all it was a great trip that Id do again in a second! The car ran/drove beautifully and averaged 13-14mpg at consistent 75-80 mph.

i couldnt wait to get the skirts off it once I got home (I would have taken them off in Colorado but there was no room in the trunk). It definitely sits a little higher in the back with the trunk empty.

Would anyone know where I could find a nice used or NOS ammeter gauge? Need to pull the ammeter fuel gauge cluster out to clean all the smoke residue. Might as well do it when I have a replacement gauge available.

Thanks in advance.

One more thing....... you have lots of time to think when youre driving 20 hours. lol
I realized I was driving a 59 that was 59 years old.

-- Edited by Al T on Saturday 4th of August 2018 09:37:27 AM

-- Edited by Al T on Saturday 4th of August 2018 09:41:34 AM

-- Edited by Al T on Saturday 4th of August 2018 09:42:03 AM

-- Edited by Al T on Saturday 4th of August 2018 09:52:57 AM

Al T · Addicted!

........... and here was the final odometer reading.

bjburnout · Uber Guru

Would anyone know where I could find a nice used or NOS ammeter gauge? Need to pull the ammeter fuel gauge cluster out to clean all the smoke residue. Might as well do it when I have a replacement gauge available..........

have you tried Ames

http://www.amesperf.com/

........also check below for the decode of your trim plate........

Al T · Addicted!

I just checked Ames and it doesnt appear they have an ammeter gauge.
To a previous response. The paint color on the data plate is a P.

jmont64 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Great adventure, thanks for sharing. That will be a memory that can never be taken away. Gorgeous looking car by the way too.

CdnGMfan · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

To make a trip of that length in an old car takes a certain preparedness and faith. It is simply amazing that you were referred to that automotive electrical shop, that adds to the adventure even more. The car looks great, and for the seller to prepare the car for the trip shows real class.

Below is a '59 Pontiac convertible that appeared in the 1970 Syd Barrett video (did they call them videos then?) for "Gigolo Aunt" in the U.K.

Syd Barrett - 59 Pontiac.jpg

DonSSDD · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I'm not that big an optimist to have taken the trip you did in an unknown old car. It was a great trip and an old car brings out the best in people you meet, makes them in a good mood. Congratulations on a beautiful car purchase, its a special one.
Anyone know if this gauge is the same as any Cdn model? 59's are very rare IMHO.

Don

Al T · Addicted!

A few photos taken today with the top down. The car came with a white and a red boot cover. Im leaning towards red.

-- Edited by Al T on Sunday 5th of August 2018 06:43:29 PM