In over my head!

andre1969

Mr_Shiftright said:

Looks just like a 347--has the oil filler cap in the right place, too.

The a/c compressor is in just about the right place for a Pontiac V-8, as well. Positioned perfectly, to make it a royal pain to get to the #2 spark plug! My '67 Catalina and '76 LeMans are just as bad, and so was my '69 Bonneville

voroshilov

Glad I'm not the only one who sees "Superchick". That's her nickname now.

She's been outside about 10 years that I know of. I'll probably get a car cover, too, once I get her towed to my house.

texases

Without an air cleaner you'll need to make sure no big stuff/dirt/chipmunks have gotten into the carb. Hate to suck something into the engine!

stever

Do your research on car covers - some can trap moisture and make things worse.

voroshilov

texases - oh yes...I've already noticed one nest in the car. I'm sure it has no shortage of residents.

fintail

What's the story on the car, anyway? Do you know the history? For it to have survived as it is, someone must have cherished it once.

sda

Looks like it has factory air. You can see the eyeball and high center vent and ac compressor below the right valve cover. I would think that is rare. After posting this I see that others made the same observation before me. Overall, neat find, ac was a very pricey option.

isellhondas

Yes, AC on that Pontiac is super rare and worth preserving. A/C in those days was over 400.00 while the car probably sold for around the 3000.00 mark.

I hope you got a clear title with it!

imidazol97

How hard is it to find authentic radios for a car of that age and rarity? I'm thinking
that since there is no radio the car will need a radio as part of the breathing life
back into Super Chick. I'd latch onto the new radio that I stumbled onto and put
it away for the car. It may be hard to find one later. And a radio that is an actual
company stock radio original part is hard to find in NEW form.

Am I the only one thinking this is a first purchase at $255?

fintail

I think the radio is a good deal. It's been tested, appears as-new, and isn't terribly expensive considering the costs of restoring an old unit, or putting in a modern day set.

I had the Becker Europa in my fintail rebuilt several years ago - it cost about $250 as well, which I considered to be a very fair price.

imidazol97

Here's what you can end up looking like with lots of money AND time down the
road. This is a 4-door hardtop with the unique vee shape at the rear.

I don't like the hub caps and beauty rings.

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k110/imidazol97/DSC00128_zpswnovhfr9.jpg

fintail

Yeah, those hubcaps are very wrong.

Seeing that car makes me realize a non-2 door HT 57 Pontiac is a rarity, I have no memory of seeing a 4 door HT like that in real life.

voroshilov

Wow - I take a break for a few days to work and so much to reply to!

fintail - I don't know the story on her, except for the last decade or so. I know a local mechanic bought it to fix up and just didn't want to mess with it anymore due to age. My husband's best friend's wife fell in love with it and he bought it for her, but then she got ill so it just sat - which it where it stayed for about 8 years or so that I know of until she sadly passed earlier this year. So it has sat up for quite a while.

SDA - I had wondered if that was factory AC or put in. I like the eyeball vents, I've never seen any *quite* like them. Anyone know if they originally had a grate or grill over them or if they were just always...creepy voids?

imidazlol - I will be watching radio prices sooner or later...but right now I have to save to get it towed here and figure out the innards first. I do wish I had an extra few hundred kicking around, though, to go ahead and snap it up, it would make a lovely touch. As, I said, before, though...Waitress. I will make it there, though, eventually. Also, add me to team "disapprove of those hubcaps." A great goal, though.

The body and interior really does look quite good, but I'll have to wait on the rest for a few weeks until I can save up to get it towed to my house. My husband is going to help me try to figure out what is wrong with it and fix anything we can. I've never worked on a car before, so I'm sure I'll be here with LOTS of questions...and photos of every step of progress, of course. I'm hoping to have it at my house in a week or two and, until then, just learning everything I possibly can about it since, like a lot of you, until this one I'd never seen one before, not even at big car shows.

stever

Maybe you should go to the Small Business Administration and get a loan to fix 'er up.

Super Chick Catering.

You could hit all the summer car shows and make a killing.

voroshilov

stever - LOL cute, and I probably could around here, but I wouldn't want her to be my daily driver, I'd be too busy hissing at anyone who got within a foot of her without asking to get any food delivered. I will DEFINITELY be showing her once she's fixed up, that's a given. I can't wait. Will be forever but I still can't wait!

texases

Looks like factory a/c, like folks said. Very rare.

fintail

Once you get it home, really try to keep it under cover - and not just a tarp, or if that's all you can do, get one that is designed to breathe. Old cars generally don't fare well out in the elements, and this one survived due to luck as much as anything. You don't want it to get any worse - as it is now, it looks saveable, but that can slip away too fast.

isellhondas

That is factory air for sure and there never was any mesh over those eyeball vents.

The radio is the least of your worries at this point. Getting it to run should be your top priority.

Still, you can accomplish a great deal without spending much by just giving it a good cleaning inside and out.

Keep us posted!

voroshilov

fintail - I do plan to cover it as soon as I get it home and thanks for the tip on making sure about breathe-ability and all that. I wasn't aware of that. Luckily, because of the area we are in and the climate, cars rust very, very, very slowly. You see a lot of nice older cars around here due to that. I still want to take every precaution I can, though, because obviously. It is actually in remarkably good condition, just needs a good bath. I don't think it has been washed with anything other than rain in 10 years.

isellhondas - hmm...I may have to rig some sort of mesh or grate for the vents that would just slide in and be removable for car shows because we have BAD wasp and hornet problems around here and they love little things like that. Getting it to run is my top priority. I have keys and title and will hopefully have it brought to my house from our friend's very soon and then I will go ahead and detail it. I may go to his house and do the inside before then since I'm impatient, lol! Planned to today, but the stupid weather said no.

I found out today the engine is seized, but that it should be fixable. So there's step 1. Or more like step .5, but it's something.

voroshilov

Micro-mini-update! Went out to pick up my title and all that jazz and, while I was there, decided to take a minute to wipe down a portion of the seat (didn't have time to do the whole inside, was about to storm again - stupid spring), and it looked SO BEAUTIFUL that I wanted to share. I did promise updates of ALL THE PROGRESS anyway. Even just this little swatch sent me over the moon with happiness, and I didn't even get it all the way clean before the first drops started to fall and I had to quit.

fintail

Looks like it will clean up OK. I assume it has been reupholstered.

voroshilov

Has to have been, there's not a crack in it and it is beautiful. Can't wait to go get the rest done, now!! I got space in a local store to sell my jewelry, so keep your fingers and toes crossed for me...jewelry sales $ = faster car progress, lol!

fintail

I'd trade jewelry for a cool old car, but I'm a guy

The good thing about vinyl is plain old soap and water will work wonders, and not hurt it. After a good scrub, put some vinyl conditioner on it (I'd use Vinylex or similar, not Armor-All), and it will be fine. I'm curious as to the condition of those floors under the carpet.

voroshilov

I'll look for vinyl conditioner, thanks for the info. I'm hoping I can get out there sometime this week to go ahead and detail all of the inside just to satisfy my curiosity. Floors are fine, as far as I know.

isellhondas

Yep, those seats have been redone. Not original but they look good.

I wouldn't use Armor All on ANYTHING! Horrible stuff!

voroshilov

There's no worries there. I can't stand Armor All. The smell bugs me and it is...slimy.

andre1969

Here's a '57 Pontiac sales brochure, if you're interested:

http://www.pontiacsafari.com/L1EarlyV8Pontiacs/57SalesBrochure/


This page, specifically, highlights the wagons:
http://www.pontiacsafari.com/L1EarlyV8Pontiacs/57SalesBrochure/p-23-24.htm

It's not a whole lot to go on, but does give a glimpse, at least, of what a Super Chief interior should look like, in the red/white illustration (although they call it red and gray).

Overall though, while your seats aren't original, I think they look pretty nice. They're tastefully done, a nice color that complements the car, and have a period-correct look about them. I.e., something you'd expect to see in a 50's car

**Edit: One thing I just noticed...the door panels in your car have a vertical pattern on the lower parts, whereas it looks horizontal in the brochure illustration. I wonder if your door panels had been redone, at some point? Or, I guess it's possible they offered several different door panel patterns back then, and the brochure simply didn't reflect them all?

fintail

I think the upholstery in that Pontiac is fine - it looks appropriate for the era, and now you can use it without worrying about ruining original material. It's a lot cooler than the often terrible looking 80s looking velour that was all the rage to put in old cars about 25 years ago, too.