Project Titanic - 1965 Pontiac Catalina 2 Door Post

[RonBurgundy]

Just picked up this boat a few weeks ago in hopes of doing a nice but low budget pro touring type build. I found it on Craigslist for a laughingly low price. I can't say a Catalina was ever on my short list, or even long list of cars I'd like to own. But when the price is right and it has a clean and clear title...you buy it.

It has a few rust issues but is 99% complete. So far I've been able to get the majority of the interior removed and plan on working to remove the engine and transmission this week. I'll keep updating as tear down continues!

[1965gp]

Very cool. The post body makes it look like the formal roof on my '65 Grand Prix

[Godbolt]

I like it. Stacked headlights are cool.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

isnt that a 66 frontend?

I had a 66 Bonneville I built a few years ago..

[RonBurgundy]

isnt that a 66 frontend?

I had a 66 Bonneville I built a few years ago..

Yes it is...good eye. The car was in a fender bender many years ago (the last time it was tagged was 1998). And from what I have been able to find out 65 parts are much more scarce than 66 parts. So I figure the owner at the time repaired it with a 66 front clip due to parts availability. All of the body lines still match up well. But the car did come with it's original 65 hood and many of the trim pieces. I was initially going to put the correct sheet metal back on it but that will cost about three times more than what I paid for the entire car. So needless to say the 66 front end is fine...haha.

[RonBurgundy]

Thought this was neat. We found one of the original owners manuals in the glove box. Still has the Protect O Plate intact with the originals owners info, the dealership that sold it new, and a few of it's first services.

[rohrt]

subscribing

[Interceptor5588]

Very large clean slate. Pontiac power?

[RonBurgundy]

Very large clean slate. Pontiac power?

That's the plan. I'm wanting to use the original 389. To keep the cost down I'd like to be able to reuse the original crank and rods. But have a machine shop clean them up and balance everything with the new pistons I'll be ordering. I'm on the lookout for a set of Pontiac high compression heads from a Firebird or GTO. Looking at maybe ordering the Comp Cams Mutha Thumper Kit. Roller rockers, some sort of aluminum intake, and top it off with a 850 double pumper. Hoping to pick up as much of these parts second hand to keep the build cost down.

[Bob in St. Louis]

OOhhhh fantastic. The '66 year Pontiacs are my favorite. I'll be drooling all over this thread.

[Zoomin]

Always cool to see a Poncho build.

[RonBurgundy]

I got a little wrench time in yesterday after church. We were able to get the majority of the front clip off.

[RonBurgundy]

I've been out of town for the past few weekends so not much has been done to the car. But I was able to get a little done over the long weekend. The entire front clip has been removed, the windshield is out (will have to be replaced unfortunately), and the majority of the accessories have been removed from the front of the engine.

Hopefully this coming weekend I can get the engine / trans ready to pull. We've been kicking around the idea of doing an engine swap. Something that's ready to drop in that won't require machine work and assembly. From what I can gather the machine work alone is going to be roughly $1,000 plus parts and assembly. Thought about doing an LS swap but have ruled that out, want to go in a different direction, something a little more left field. Possibly a big block Chevy or even a 500 ci Cadillac. Really liking the idea of a big block even tho it's going to be an extra 100 pounds on the front end of the car.

It really depends on what I can find at the best deal and go from there (motor mounts, cross member, and drive shaft).

[rohrt]

I thought my steering wheel was in bad shape.

[Centerforce]

This build is gonna be good. We like the ones that start out dirty, rusted, and filled with trash because it makes the end product that much more satisfying. Good luck!

[RonBurgundy]

Time to bring this thread back from the dead. Found the time to pull the engine and trans last night. I've never seen so much atf in my life...complete blood bath. Anyway I'm looking forward to tearing this thing down over the long weekend. Hopefully it's in good rebuild-able condition

[Bob in St. Louis]

Your engine hoist is a bit... uhm ... "overkill". :rotfl:

[RonBurgundy]

When you don't have a engine hoist handy a John Deere Backhoe works good too haha.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Oh yea, I can relate. A couple decades ago, I was forced to use the boom of a tow truck.
Rock on!

[RonBurgundy]

It's on the stand. Lets hope there's no demons hiding inside.

[TomsResto]

This build is gonna be good. We like the ones that start out dirty, rusted, and filled with trash because it makes the end product that much more satisfying. Good luck!

The Gatorade bottle and Folgers on the front seat had me smiling, my eyes found the gallon milk jug behind the driver's seat just before the bucket of body filler which made me literally start chuckling ... great stuff (subscribed)

[RonBurgundy]

I was able to get a little more time on Sunday afternoon to work. The heater core is now removed and I've started labeling all the wires in the harness...fun times.

[KiwiStarChief]

I'll be keeping an eye on this, as I love these Poncho builds, but then maybe I'm biased!

[RonBurgundy]

Dash and wiring harness are finally out. And it only took like three times longer than I thought it would...

[68400BIRD]

Like mentioned before keep the updates coming. I love watching old Pontiac builds.

[KB Camaro]

subscribed

[Bob in St. Louis]

Like mentioned before keep the updates coming. I love watching old Pontiac builds.

Yea, this!! ^^^^