61 Pontiac Drag Racer Project

57poncho · Uber Guru

RE: 61 Pontiac Drag Racer Project

64ragtop · Addicted!

...absolutely beautiful work...!

Stephenzone · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

awesome work and keep the pics a rollin. wheres winston?

Gregory · Addicted!

I love when a plan comes together , hopefully seeing the finished car this summer. I've used mustang 2 and Heidts front suspensions in my rods so I found your use of the corvette front end to be a very nice fit. My 61 is finished but if I build another big car ,I will be using the vette front end and I must add that you do great work.

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

As always ... beautiful stuff Jim!

jim_ss409 · Guru

Stephenzone wrote:

awesome work and keep the pics a rollin. wheres winston?

Here he is!

Winston only gets to the shop about one day a week now. He can't walk properly and drags his back feet. He has to wear socks.

We welded the frame to the body and installed more of the roll cage tubing.
We also added some braces to tie the X frame to the box iron in the rocker panels.

We took the body out for a final wash. We're just about ready to start on the body work.

gparis7 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Awesome car Jim. By the way someone posted a link to this thread on the Chevytalk site.

jim_ss409 · Guru

I also started a thread on the 348/409 site at about the same time as I started this one. I usually update it at the same time and use the same pictures.

We're just about ready to start on the body work. I'm anxious to get going on that.

carbuff2007 · Addicted!

Great work Jim, can't wait to see the finished product, Jim about the fibre glass fenders, are they moulded good enough to put on a driver car if something would happen to an original fender as I have also a 61, thanks brent

jim_ss409 · Guru

The fiberglass parts look pretty good. Like most fiberglass stuff, they're not perfect.
The hood and fenders seem pretty rigid so I think they'd probably be fine for street use.
I don't know for sure but VFN might be able to make them extra thick if you asked for that when you ordered them. I think they only make these parts when an order comes in. We got this stuff about two months after we ordered it.

carbuff2007 · Addicted!

Thanks Jim, good to know just in case.

Stephenzone · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

love the progress on this car. i check it every time i see an update. i keep a doggy cushion in the corner of the shop for when my mutts come out to visit. not much in the winter but more in the summer when i keep the overhead open. i feel for the socks, my older lab his hips are shot and he has a hard time getting up and down.

I am interested in the tying in on the frame because my 63 wagon is a unibody and i made a frame and tied it in. still a lot more work to do to mine but i keep learning off yours. keep up the great work and pics

64ragtop · Addicted!

...absolutely super Jim. You have a whole bunch of Pontiac and Chevy fans tuning in to witness this great build..! Question re VFN: I went to their site and noticed they produce '63 front clip parts but not '64. Would you happen to know if they will produce parts for other years if asked, or do they have to have the molds in house to be able to produce these parts..?

jim_ss409 · Guru

64ragtop wrote:

...absolutely super Jim. You have a whole bunch of Pontiac and Chevy fans tuning in to witness this great build..! Question re VFN: I went to their site and noticed they produce '63 front clip parts but not '64. Would you happen to know if they will produce parts for other years if asked, or do they have to have the molds in house to be able to produce these parts..?

I'm guessing that if they made a front clip for a 64 they would save the molds and add it to their catalog. It might be the case that they've never done a 64 front clip. I don't really know how that works.
I came across VFN's site by doing a web search for 61 Pontiac fiberglass parts. There might be other companies that make fiberglass parts for a 64.

tin indian · Poncho Master!

that car is really coming together nicely. like the old saying goes; failure to plan ahead, is planning to fail. your car is very well planned out. i think i,m more interested in your build, than i am in mine! lol

Ghost Post · Poncho Master!

W

W!!!
Fantastic work, you guys are my new heroes!.
Only a B-Pillar away the Batwing Post '61 Canadian Pontiac w/ a W-Motor is my dream car!.

~

jim_ss409 · Guru

We waisted the better part of a day drilling lightening holes in the doors and hinges.
I weighed the doors and hinges before and after we saved a total of 12 lbs.
On a car like this that amount of weight reduction will get you to the finish line about .012 sooner, or about 30 inches sooner.
It's probably not worth the effort but I'd like to get the car as light as possible. I also like the old school look of lightening holes.

Here's some before and after pictures...

68post · Poncho Master!

You guys kill me, and I mean that in the best possible way. smile

Stephenzone · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

wholey doors batman

Elroy · Poncho Master!

this project looks great in every way ! Can't wait to see the finished product....

64ragtop · Addicted!

...thx Jim..

drmb · Member

Stunning!

gparis7 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Amazing work. Love this thread.

59stratochiefwagon · Veteran Member

Great work, now you have to do a companion wagon.

jim_ss409 · Guru

It's been a few weeks so I thought I'd do an update.

We've mostly been doing bodywork. This is slow work for me because I'm not the worlds quickest bodyman. After many hours of long block sanding the sides of the car are nice and straight.

The fiberglass hood isn't very rigid and it would be worse with a hole for the hood scoop so we're adding some cedar re-enforcement braces. These will get fiberglassed down. We also added similar strips to the inside of the front fenders.

The hood is for a US model Pontiac so the hinge pads were a little different. We had to make up a couple of aluminum adapters to get it to fit.

We're replacing the pot metal dash insert with aluminum. The green tape is just holding it to the dash pad for now. The tach will sit on top of the dash.

We got a head start on the wiring.

It's coming along but we're getting low on time. We really want to have this car ready to race by the beginning of June.