April 19th. After the snow had melted and the
ground had firmed, it was no trick to get the car out to the Lodge, however
getting it off the trailer was another matter. On the plus side, bruises
eventually heal.
While rusty, the car showed a lot of potential. The dash was
mint, the seats were soft and in good shape, the carpet wasn’t torn away. Yet
it was obvious the mice had had their way with the headliner and the ashtrays
full of firewall insulation told a similar tale. We won’t discuss the smell. One
taillight worked, the radio was clear as a bell(!), dash lights were inop but
the wiring was in good shape. Those things could wait. The first order of
business was seeing if we could get the engine to start. So began the first of
many expenditures. New plugs and wires were ordered and a new point set as
well. While we knew the engine would turn freely via the battery (!) getting it
to start would be another matter.
April 25th: An oil pressure gauge was setup under
hood and new oil and fuel filters were bought and installed for the test. A 5
gallon can of non-ethanol was plumbed up and the work began. We had some
initial trouble getting the 389 to roar to life. We knew we had fuel, but no
spark. It appeared someone else may have had similar trouble as the coil
resistor had been bypassed, but there was no reason it shouldn’t at least
sputter with new points. After some head-scratching and electrical continuity
testing, we determined the new points were inop! We tried a second set and still
had an intermittent closed-circuit when the points were together. Now, these
weren’t the cheapest of points, but they weren’t the gilded 30 dollar sets,
either. Finally, I grabbed a set I had on the shelf (GP brand) for the ’59 Cad
and the motor came to life with ease. So, word to the wise, just because they’re
new, don’t assume they’ll work. Will I eventually go breakerless? Maybe. But
first we need to prove out the transmission.
And so the engine ran great. Good oil pressure, a sticky
lifter that cleared itself, quick revving and smooth sounding. All was well
except a weeping water pump. Hey, you can’t expect everything to go perfectly. With
that green light, we proceeded to pull the brake drums. The fronts looked
decent but the rears were heavily gouged. No problem! How tough could it be to
find some drums?
April 26th: Big Money #2. The waterpump was ordered. Herein
lies a tale. This car uses, what is referred to as, a Counter Clockwise pump.
Here’s a good primer on the subject: http://www.pontiacsafari.com/EngineCooling/
Don’t trust any websites or parts stores until you’ve confirmed the pump you
have because most sources are incorrect. You can’t go off casting numbers,
either, because it’s the impeller shape that’s different, not the body.
Physical rotation is unchanged, too. Luckily, I did this before ordering. The
CCW pump is around 2-3x the price of the CCW pump but if you watch ebay, you
might catch a deal.
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| CCW Pump Fin Direction |
Meanwhile…. I had been on the hunt for an air cleaner
housing. For whatever reason, this was the one part the car was missing. I could
either buy a cheapo Chinese chrome job that may or may not fit and rust out in
short order, or I could hold out for a GM unit that would fit the 2GC. Nice
ones were going for good money on that popular auction site, but I managed to
snag one on the cheap, intended for a mid-60s Buick after confirming the bore
size with the seller. While that was in transit, I found a guy that would
sandblast the rims for 10 bucks a piece. If you’ve ever spent time leaning over
a bead blast cabinet, you know you can’t beat that deal. However before
blasting, I needed to confirm the wheel paint color and get an aerosol can
mixed up. That would prove to be a challenge.
April 28: For only a few dollars, the local ag supply box
store (with full tire department) would strip the cracked bias plies off the 14”
rims. Stopped by after work and dropped them off. 24 hours later they were
ready.
April 30: Dropped off the rims for blasting. I also
attempted to match the color locally and determined the car’s paint code was
Gulfstream Blue. Neither Dulux, Lucite or PPG reference numbers would work in
the paint supplier’s system. Though in retrospect, fresh paint wouldn’t have
matched the faded body anyhow.
May 1: Hey, check out these rims! And look at that, the air
cleaner fits. With rain imminent, I pressed forward after work and got them
primed, sealed and stored indoors to avoid flash rust.
May 2: More parts ordered from Rockauto. This time shocks
all around, a timing set (might as well while the waterpump is being changed),
new fuel pump (more preventative maintenance) and misc cooling system parts.
Weekend of May 3-4: Time to get a few things straightened
out with the interior. One, got the dash pulled and the radio removed for a
recap. Two, figured out how to remove the headlight switch to fix the rheostat
issue affecting no dash lights at night (with switch plunger pulled all the way
out, reach up behind the dash and depress the small release button built into
the switch housing. The entire shaft will come out from the front and the
retaining nut can be unthreaded). These rheostats are connected via pressure to
two electrical tabs in the switch body. Corrosion overtakes the entire rheostat
coil and in the end it’s a lost cause. Since these oldies aren’t the brightest
anyhow, I like to bypass the rheostat and eliminate the source of the problem. Few
people have ever complained about a 55 year old dash being too bright.
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| That's more like it! |
Radio Recap: The Catalina is equipped with a Super Delux
radio with front and rear speaker and an external combination fader/tone
control. The fact that the radio is working and the speakers are completely
intact might be the biggest surprise of all. To keep the radio going for years
to come I decided a recap was in order. I had replacements on hand for the
paper caps on the main board, but the oddball electrolytics would have to be
ordered. Mouser to the rescue!
Drum City: In parallel with the rim blasting efforts, I took
the drums to a local shop that has the capability to turn them on a lathe and
true them up. While the clerk put in a good effort measuring them on my
tailgate, I was lucky that he misread the dimensions of the front pair. To
drive home the point of how big a chore this was going to be, he checked his
books for new replacements and not a single number was listed.
Now, the Catalina uses 2”x11” drums in the rear while the
wagons and HD cars get 2-1/2” x 11”. The
latter appear to be available quite a few places. The former, not so much. After
more fruitless searching, I took the old drums to a FLAPS that could turn them.
This time I took the measurements and found the fronts had never been turned,
but the rears were at their limits. But again a problem- the machine had
recently been repaired and the staff didn’t trust it to turn a set of
unobtainium drums. I was advised to take a trip across town to their other
franchise where the machine was in good working order. This time I got a
lecture that they shouldn’t even turn the drums because, despite my providing
the max dimensions, they couldn’t find a reference in their computer. The
silver lining was that they wouldn’t touch them until I pulled the bearings,
and a check on bearing prices was enough to convince me to run the front drums
as-is.
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| Questionable Materials. |
I drove across town, bought shoes in stock at Autozone, and went home.
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