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davelacourse


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My wife got her first ride in the 56 today and said ...
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"This is pretty cool!" biggrin.gif

Yes, today I finally got the Poncho out in the world running long enough, well enough, that I didn't need to have her follow me in the truck with the tow strap handy. Finished installation and testing of new fuel pickup/sending unit and boiled/coated/painted gas tank yesterday:

tank.jpg

Gave the 56 a whore's bath (wipe dust off with damp towels) and drove for about 5 miles.

Good news:

1. It runs!

2. Oil pressure 60 psi, water temp 160 deg.F., generator charging well, new fuel sending unit works fine, all is well with vital signs

3. It runs!

4. Brakes work great, maybe need a little breaking in since they come on strong pretty quickly

5. It runs!

Bad news (actually not so bad, it is just a few more things that need straightening out):

1. Speedometer does not work (hey, I can drive fine without it, I can use the tachometer in the short run to determine speed, I don't know if it is the speedo head or the cable or the gear in the tranny but I can fix that when I swap transmissions)

2. A bit twitchy but I know it needs alignment and it will not surprise me if my eye-ball installation of shims and setting toe-in turns out to be way out of spec

3. Holy crap those high-rise leaf springs in the rear are stiff! You sure feel any little road roughness. I can live with that.

4. Steering feels a little loose - I'll tighten up the adjustment on the box

5. Speaking of steering, I had forgotten about how many turns it takes on those old cars, and my truck has a tighter turning radius! But I can live with all that.

6. One bad cylinder means I had to set the idle a little high (1000 rpm) and it runs a little rough, but I know what to do to fix that and will do it.

7. Synchros are shot but in the short run I can double-clutch on downshifts and wait for rpms to drop on upshifts to avoid crunches, and the new transmission will eliminate that problem.

So here are a few out-in-the-world, out-of-the-garage pictures:

Runnin1.jpg

Runnin2.jpg

Runnin3.jpg

Runnin4.jpg

And best of all, the wife says "This is pretty cool!"

Dave



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56Pontiac  1956 Pontiac Pathfinder 2dr sedan, 496 - dyno'd 545 hp, stick shift, 4.11 posi - Hot Rod

  1964 Acadian Beaumont SD convert, 283 - factory 195 hp, Powerglide, 3.08 10-bolt - Cruiser

  2012 US-built crew cab truck - Daily Driver and Boat Trailering
67Poncho


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 Nothing like the first drive and not having to walk back for help or having help waiting in the wings!!! Congrats!!! Oh, having the wife giving the two thumbs up and stating "cool" in the same breath, is not all bad either!!! biggrin

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57poncho


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Good to here love that old school stance. And having the wife like it is a bonus. Congrats and your first trouble free run

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1957 Pathfinder deluxe 4 door wagon
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Beaumont4008


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Great news and cool looking old school look. Love it.   Who is that driving ?  Paul SR from OCC chopper biggrin.gif

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Canadian Poncho


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I was going to say the same thing- Paul Sr! The car looks great! Send up some of that sunny warm weather too!


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gparis7


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It does look cool ... and I'll bet you don't see many of these at shows in your area.

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57poncho


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I never ever noticed the Paul SR thing till you guy pointed it out. That's one thing about the inter net you get to now people pretty well but you never see them then when you do its so that's what he looks like .

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1957 Pathfinder deluxe 4 door wagon
1961 Pontiac Parisienne bubble top Traded for a Harley sorry guys.

2007 Grand Prix Gxp

2009 Pontiac Montana SV6

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62Beaumont


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Right on... The stance really suites the car.

I can't wait for mine to be "out-in-the-world, out-of-the-garage".

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sixtywagon


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Nice Work!!!! Remeber the first time I took my '60 wagon out....All the "thumbs up" I got made it worthwhile. Even though I was Cruisin about 10kms below the speed limit(had those 175/75R14 wires on the car) they don't work so well with the car being lowered as it is...
CONGRATS!!!!

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1960 Pontiac Strato Chief Safari
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1960 Laurentian 4door(scrapped)
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Calgary, Alberta, but raised in Peterborough
4SPEED427


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Certainly "old school" look. Very cool!!!

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ALvis


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Your 56 looks killer! That is how I remember cars from when I was a kid (late 70's-early 80's)

Now I don't like the term "old skool" (conjures up too many images of wanna be's with a flat blacked and red rimmed Honda Civic...) but you, my friend, have really hit the nail on the head.

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timbuk


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always love the flat black and the ass end in the air.i remember driving a 55 4 door we had jacked up like that in the early 80s i remember the steering like yesterday,but it was fun.wow does the weather look nice there a great day for a cruse for sure.i like it! timbuk

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427carl


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davelacourse wrote:




 


Runnin4.jpg


        Don't forget to tell your friends "Shes Canadian"  EH?

 



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427carl


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Runnin3.jpg


Dave?


         Remember the scoop? I was going to send you, and thought I threw it out?(by mistake)   I found it yesterday  biggrin

 



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Ghost Post


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Great she's a runner and lookin' good too but how'd Paul Sr. end up behind the wheel?.

biggrin

Runnin4.jpg



Fagen-OCC.jpg

 smile.gif



-- Edited by Ghost Post on Monday 19th of October 2009 12:58:26 PM

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davelacourse


Poncho Master!

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Thanks guys, I'm glad you think I got 'the look' I was shooting for pretty good. Although I was shooting for 60's when I had cars of 50's vintage smile.gif

Paul has longer mustache, way bigger biceps, and I have zero tattoos but do you think I could be a TV star too hahaha

Carl please PM me about that scoop, eh?

I look forward to telling folks this old car's heritage. I confess that I cheaped out on license plates and went with off-the-shelf Antique rather than personalized, I still like the TKOFFEH (Take Off, Eh) so maybe someday ... and now that I think of it, I need to order a Canadian Poncho sticker for the window! I'm off to do that if Todd still has any!

Dave

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56Pontiac  1956 Pontiac Pathfinder 2dr sedan, 496 - dyno'd 545 hp, stick shift, 4.11 posi - Hot Rod

  1964 Acadian Beaumont SD convert, 283 - factory 195 hp, Powerglide, 3.08 10-bolt - Cruiser

  2012 US-built crew cab truck - Daily Driver and Boat Trailering
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