1961 Pontiac Laurentian four door sedan - budget build

Dave7 · Veteran Member

RE: 1961 Pontiac Laurentian four door sedan - budget build

Dave7 · Veteran Member

hutch400 wrote:
that's an awesome car! is that a 40oz whiskey bottle with the gas line in it? LOL

Yes - Previous owner's handiwork. I'll need to take a look at the gas tank soon.

CdnGMfan · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

That ol' bomb look very solid underneath. May I suggest oil spray followed by parking somewhere other than your driveway unless you have a bunch of cardboard all over the parking spot. Or you can do what farmers did, oil spray followed by a drive down a dusty road. Also no matter what you do with the brakes, replace ALL the rubber lines no matter how good they may appear. One blown hose and you have no brakes. I think your '61 is really cool, 3-speed, 261, patina and all.

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I would suggest Rust Check, Krown or similar light oil. Spray it down, let it soak to the base metal to slow down further corrosion. Might drip a little at first but it does clean up pretty well.

Ever since I heard the story of one of my friends who had a seal go in his single-chamber master cylinder, I'd suggest replacing everything that contains rubber or could fail, or just upgrade to dual chamber master cyl. That day he was out driving around in his '66 Coronet all day with his young son in the car. When he got home, he pulled the car into his garage and the brake pedal went all the way to the floor. Had it happened when he was out driving around it could have been tragic as he would have had absolutely no brakes (except the park brake which is marginal at best). Those single chamber units scare me...

Dave7 · Veteran Member

I actually bought a front disc brake conversion kit from Speedway with a dual circuit master cylinder. I plan to drive it on some pretty decent mountain roads in AB and BC this summer.

www.speedwaymotors.com/Deluxe-Disc-Brake-Kit-1955-1964-Chevy-Full-size-Car-Stock-Spindle,4625.html
and a new master cylinder.

I've mostly got the old brakes off the front. Just one super stubborn bolt to go.

-- Edited by Dave7 on Friday 5th of January 2018 06:20:34 PM

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Disk brake conversion is a good idea, especially given your intended use.

hawkeye5766 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Nice job adding new shocks......will keep the groceries from jumping out of the bag.

427carl · A Poncho Legend!

Todd said he wanted a "base" 4 door for 2018 . I vote for you ........

oshawacliff · Poncho Master!

Dave7 Did you know about the discount offered to CP members? They send a donation to CP For each purchase made and even though it is a US based web site you will see pricing in Canadian $ Shipping is efficient and Shows up with your purchase details Each month there is a new code for saving. Enjoy the vast knowledge base here to help you out. Cliff

Strato-Six · Veteran Member

Nice ride I have a 61 strato chief sedan same colour as your

Dave7 · Veteran Member

Working on the front disc conversion. Once there was drums now there are discs. Still needs brake lines and master cylinder hooked up. Sadly the stock wheels don't fit anymore. Might with a spacer.

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Looking good. And I'm sure it will be a large functional improvement.

For wheels, is the diameter the problem? If so, can you get a set of 15" steelies that will clear the calipers and install a set of base ('dog dish') hubcaps to maintain a stock appearance?

Urban_suburban · Poncho Master!

We bought a kit for the disc brake conversion that allowed up to run 14" disc brake rims (78 malibu, 80s cutlass, 80's S-10 etc) we did move it to a 15" setup with dog dish hubcaps since we had planned to do anyways to get the car back up to its original ride height on radials

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Dave7 wrote:

Working on the front disc conversion. Once there was drums now there are discs. Still needs brake lines and master cylinder hooked up. Sadly the stock wheels don't fit anymore. Might with a spacer.

Very impressive. And smart thing to do. Most wouldn't ever go to the trouble on such a project, but you'll certainly be glad you did descending the mountains.

I love this great car and post, and have a little spark in the back of my own mind, that I would love to do the same if the right one came along. Cheers.

Dave7 · Veteran Member

I have a set of G-body 14" rims that seem to fit fine. I bet the stock wheels would with a spacer. As is the stock ones rub on the top of the caliper.

OURWAGON · Guru

YOU CAN USE OLDER S10 WHEELS OR 81 TO 87 MONTE CARLO, REGAL , CUTLASS, ETC.

14 INCH WITH DISC.

Dave7 · Veteran Member

Working on some new brake lines.

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Balance valve is a very good idea Dave. Really will help dialing in the new front vs rear bias.

Dave7 · Veteran Member

Agreed - it came with a manually adjustable one that operates on the rear brakes.

Dave7 · Veteran Member

We need an update. The new water pump went in.

Radiator back in.

The heater hoses looked really old. So I bought a few feet of hose to cut up in replacement bits.

Connect one end, roughly measure and cut.

I was able to buy a new radiator hose. No such luck on the top one. So bought one that sort of, kind of had a similar shape. Again had to cut it down.

All new hoses in.

The hose fitting it came with absolutely silly (and it did leak badly) so had to buy a replacement piece (the silver bit).

Dave7 · Veteran Member

A friend helped me get the drums off. Brought over his very cool '66 Dodge panel van.

New wheel cylinders

Made up some new brake lines

Changed the diff fluid

Oil change

Gearbox fluid change

The headliner was kinda gross and ripped. Might be hiding some mice poop so ...

Looks like crap but better from dust perspective.

Found a petrified mouse.

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

I see you are selling the car. What happened?
www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars/lethbridge/1961-pontiac-laurentian/1379914270

Dave7 · Veteran Member

I drove it 1300 kms on my rally. Car did great until the end. Then some engine issues. If someone buys it great, if not I'll fix it and get it back on the road again.

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

What went wrong?

1300 kms is pretty darn good for hauling a car out of long term storage and getting it going again. Any pics from the rally?

Dave7 · Veteran Member

Not sure yet. Engine is a little tired. Noise from I think the top end and quite a bit of smoke. A little tired of working it on lately.

Here are the other teams - http://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/road-trip/the-great-beater-challenge-2018-the-teams/

and a write up of the first half of day 1 with photos - http://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/road-trip/the-great-beater-challenge-day-1-part-1/