Latest newbie to the site here. Bought my first Pontiac this past Sunday!
It's a 1957 Pathfinder 4 door sedan base model, with an inline 6 (261?) & Armstrong steering and brakes (or is that "Legstrong" brakes?) and a three speed manual on the tree. Only option it has is B.S.O. 213 (heavy duty shocks and springs) & the paint code is 2010, which is "Tropical Turquoise".
It needs the following to be drive-able & safe:
- Windshield (from what I've read one for a 57 Chevy will fit, is that accurate?)
- Heater housing/motor (once again will 57 Chevy parts fit?)
- Left tail light lens
- Ignition coil
- Brake rebuild (I assume - last plated in 1973 by the looks of it)
It's been stored indoors for most of it's life I think, as the interior is pretty much intact & functional, which is nice. Other old cars I've owned or have experience with have been pretty rough (re: non usable) inside. Has been repainted once by the looks of it, many years ago - it's pretty dead now, but might come back a bit with some polishing. Not currently running, however it turns over freely, so I have no doubt it will run. It'll probably need a carb job too, but I'm perfectly capable of handling that. Has some minor incidental body damage, but I have no intentions to fix it. It's going to be a survivor & summer driver, nothing special. Very little rust anywhere, so that's great!
A few other things I could use, but certainly aren't necessary to get it driving:
- Wheel covers, these are Canadian specific, right? Anybody have a picture of what the originals SHOULD look like just for reference? I'll be happy to find something similar that suits it, just to throw on there for driving around, doesn't need to be accurate and correct.
- Park light lenses (both left and right) for the front bumper.
What are some good Canadian places to get this stuff? I've got some auto electric suppliers near me, so the coil won't be a problem. And the local NAPA has quite a good selection of parts as well, I know that from previous experience. What about repro outfits, are there some in Canada? I've looked at rock auto and that's great, but I shudder to think at how badly we get taken trying to get this stuff across the border!
That is indeed a real nice original find. I must ask, where did you find fourteen inch whitewalls? Looks like most of the hard to find parts are there, windsheilds are cheap and I see tailight lenses at swap meets regularly. Unfortunately any dog dish hubcaps I've ever found are beat to crap, almost as hard to find as good rear bumper caps. Looking forward to seeing your progress.
You've got yourself a great classic Canadian car in great shape to start work from.
Yes just about everything Chevy of that year will fit nicely...
-- Edited by Greaser on Wednesday 8th of April 2020 11:31:51 AM
Great, thanks Greaser! So a 57 Chevy windshield will drop right in? That's the first thing I'll be fixing, I may as well get one ASAP!
pontiax wrote:
Welcome from Winnipeg.
Thanks Pontiax! I'm actually from Winnipeg originally, have lived in Regina since 1993. Still get back there once in a while to visit family.
Canadian Poncho wrote:
Welcome aboard. Be sure to keep us posted on your resurrection!
I'll definitely do that, thanks!
cranks38 wrote:
Welcome neighbour! I'm also in Regina and I'll keep an eye out for the items you seek.
Thanks Vern!
Cheviac wrote:
That is indeed a real nice original find. I must ask, where did you find fourteen inch whitewalls? Looks like most of the hard to find parts are there, windsheilds are cheap and I see tailight lenses at swap meets regularly. Unfortunately any dog dish hubcaps I've ever found are beat to crap, almost as hard to find as good rear bumper caps. Looking forward to seeing your progress.
Thanks Cheviac! Actually the whitewalls were on the car when I bought it. The story there is that the current owner bought the car 6 or 7 years ago, but never got around to doing anything with it, other than putting tires under it (so he could more easily move it around I suppose). It's been sitting ever since. Someone removed the heater housing & fan motor at some point, as well as the hubcaps I guess, so those items are missing. Not surprised the wheelcovers are so hard to find, first thing to get beat up when you drive around, especially on gravel roads in the country, as I'm sure this one has! Hopefully I'll never need to find bumper caps.
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"There's never enough money to do it right, but there's always enough to do it over!"
Nice car! Wait until our site's '57 freak (George) sees it.
The rear bumper end-caps look good, they are hard to find in good condition.
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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.
Luc, a hardy welcome aboard from Milton, Ontario. I am always happy to help a fellow 57 Pontiac follower. As you know you have a Canadian Pontiac so when you order mechanical parts always ask for 1957 Chevy parts and not 57 Pontiac parts. After all your 57 Pontiac Pathfinder is a 57 Chevy in disguise. The windshield as you know is the same for a 57 Chevy but it has to be a sedan windshield. There is a difference of one inch in height between the sedan and hardtop front windshield. The blower motor is the same as a 57 Chev and you can buy them new reproductions. The coil is standard 12 volt for GM applications. The brakes front and rear are 57 Chev and you can get everything anywhere. The small hub caps and full size wheel covers are Canadian Pontiac specific as far as fit on the 57 Chev rim. They look the same as the American counterpart but have a different way to mount on the rim. The small caps came standard on your model but the full wheel covers were offered as an accessory on your model. The front parking lenses, the front plastic hood emblem and the interior light lens was offered as new reproduction items from AMES PONTIAC in the U.S. but i am not sure if they are still out there. Try AMES and CALIFORNIA PONTIAC for some lenses but of course they will not offer any Canadian specific items. By the way ALL the lenses are the same between Canadian and American models. Luc, good luck with your 1957 Pontiac Pathfinder sedan and if you need any more help or information, please do not be shy. By the way you are going to love C.P. Cheers.
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1957 Pontiac Pathfinder Deluxe sedan restored 261 six
1974 Chevrolet Caprice Estate wagon low mileage original 400 V-8
Welcome aboard from Saskatoon!!
A lot of the 57 Chev parts will fit, including the windshield. As far as front signal light lenses, cal Pontiac restoration has them. Their website is pretty well useless but if you email them they will usually reply back. They may have a tail light lens as well. Otherwise look on ebay.
And if we ever get out from social distancing and get to go to a swap meet or two they usually turn up there.
As far as wheel covers, the small dog bowl caps are what the car came with. If you look in the US, their cars had small caps that held on with clips and will not fit onto a car like yours that has lugs to hold the caps on. Yours should be easy to find. I have a set of 4 small caps for 55 56 or 57. I would need probably $40 for them. I dont have any pix of them, but if you are interested, I could shoot a few pix.
The black and grey fabric on your seats is the same as a 57 Chev 150 model and should be easy to get if you want to go that route and keep it looking mostly original.
One supplier that has a bunch of stuff, mostly Chev, but a lot is interchangeable with a Canadian Pontiac, is Old Car center in BC.
Get the paintless dent guy to work the dent of the passenger front door and it would likely look good. I am guessing that the blue on your Pontiac would buff out decently and the car will look sweet!!
I picked up my new to me car this morning & took it to my buddy's farm, where we gave it a good once over. It's even better than I thought originally! Everything seems completely untouched & all of it is in reasonably good condition.
As luck would have it, the guy I bought it from had sourced a number of parts for the car, so I got about $400 of parts for $250, great deal! Included was: a set of Canadian Pontiac hubcaps, the original hubcaps (very beat up - basically wall hangers), a set of NOS taillight lenses, a set of rear view mirrors (the originals are broken, right one is missing) and a Pontiac emblem for the right fender (half of the one on the car is missing as it stands).
Thanks for offering to part with the set you have on hand Jerry, but I'm good for now, I appreciate it though!
George, I'll definitely speak to Todd about a feature at some point, I'm documenting everything I'm doing to the car, so I'll have pictures of it if/when the time comes. And thanks for all the info, your reputation precedes you, the rest of the group mentioned you'd be along with a ton of good info & you didn't disappoint!
cdnpont & pontiacanada, thanks for the welcome as well. And yes, pontiacanada, you're right the bumper caps are in very good condition. I'll do my best to keep them that way if they're that hard to find!
norontcan & MC, thanks for the encouraging words! I'm a sucker for base models too, less to go wrong, always a good thing with old cars, haha!
I'll be posting in some of the other threads as I start getting my new treasure road worthy, don't be shy to ask any questions you might have as the job progresses!
You are a very lucky guy! That car looks really really solid and original! Couldn't help but notice the frost shields on the side windows. I remember when lots of cars had those on - a sign of the times 50 or 60 years ago.
Looks good, Luc. Do you think the paint is original? Let me know if there's anything I can do to help. Anything.
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Hi Vern, no, the pain is definitely not original, it's had a repaint at some point. I can see it lifting a bit around some of the edges here and there, but it looks nice from 6 feet away! Paint job is probably 30+ years old I'm guessing, judging by how dead it is now.
My buddy Todd, who's farm I dropped it off at yesterday, is a bodyman. He's had a few classic cars (we're into survivors, not restoring them) and just for kicks he was buffing away at a fender yesterday while I was busy with something else (he can't resist - he's more excited than me!) and it cleaned up really nice. It's not a great paint job, but once I put a little elbow grease into it it'll look really nice!
And yes, for sure I'll get a hold of you if there's anything you can help with. For now I'll be posting a million questions, so any knowledge you're willing to share is really helpful, as I'm still a beginner at this Pontiac thing. haha!
TFC
-- Edited by TheFrenchCanadian on Sunday 12th of April 2020 11:15:02 AM
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"There's never enough money to do it right, but there's always enough to do it over!"
You are a very lucky guy! That car looks really really solid and original!
Yes, I sure am! It's super solid. Some "grandpa damage" on it here and there from someone bumping into stuff with it, but certainly nothing major. Biggest thing is the left quarter is pushed in a bit and the lower moulding is missing, but my buddy (who happens to be a bodyman) figures most of that will pop out, leaving minimal damage. I haven't posted many pics of it from that angle 'cause I didn't want to show off the damage... LOL
Yesterday after we unloaded it at my buddy's farm, we had a closer look at it - and it's even better than I thought when I made the deal on it!!
It's totally unmolested. For example: we removed the carb so I could clean it up right and put a carb kit into it and none of the fuel line fittings look like they've ever seen a wrench. They all turned back out nice and easy, nothing is oxidized together at all. It's been shedded for a large portion of it's life I think (the last 6 or 7 years I know of for sure, because the guy that sold it to me had it inside). Just judging from this and from what the interior looks like. Also it's a rural car I believe, given how little rust is on it, but how much gravel damage is on it. The original hubcaps for it are absolutely trashed. No surprise there!
TFC
-- Edited by TheFrenchCanadian on Sunday 12th of April 2020 11:13:07 AM
-- Edited by TheFrenchCanadian on Sunday 12th of April 2020 12:00:28 PM
-- Edited by TheFrenchCanadian on Sunday 12th of April 2020 12:00:53 PM
Couldn't help but notice the frost shields on the side windows. I remember when lots of cars had those on - a sign of the times 50 or 60 years ago.
Yep, I remember those too - and I'm only 48! I noticed the remains of one on the back window as well.
I may just leave them there for the "period correct" look, but frost won't be an issue for me, as it'll be a summertime cruiser, or "ice cream car" as one of my co-workers referred to it as!
TFC
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"There's never enough money to do it right, but there's always enough to do it over!"
