1960 Strato Chief Wagon rejuvenation

graytoad · Veteran Member

RE: 1960 Strato Chief Wagon rejuvenation

graytoad · Veteran Member

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Interior work continues! Making the wall panels in the wagon cargo area plus removal of the window tint that was damaged as well as way too dark.

17 wall panels.jpg

Headliner blues! When removing window trim we were being showered with nut shells, cherry pits & other obvious signs of mouse presence. There was also a number of tears and so we decided we had to take it down the headliner. Very dry and brittle, total trash. I will restore the steel bows but will likely have the liner done for us as neither of us can handle reach up work for long with our aging shoulders.

18 Headliner.jpg

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

Loving this thread guys!

Keep up the good work...........talk about motivation.

JoeyJoeJoe · Veteran Member

Thanks Sandy, I was leaning towards cpp for both as well but Borgeson was an option for steering, and wilwood was an option for brakes. I like that ccp has a kit where the rotors are separate from the hubs like most modern vehicles. I've already upgraded to cpp roller hubs so it makes sense.

I need a dual master asap too but will have to replace the booster too I guess? It's the same 4 bolt one you have and there are no retrofit masters that fit the oem booster so l guess I'm changing everything? Unless of course, you have some insight?

I found that manual on ebay but realized it's basically the supplement for 1960. I already have the 59 maintenance manual so I'm good. A 59 assemby manual would be nice.

Keep on keepin on Sandy, good stuff

68sd396rag · Poncho Master!

I may have a restored brake booster for this car-will check if interested

ZigZag · Addicted!

What a great read! Very nice work so far. Unlike the amateur hack stuff I've been doing on my 64 Safari. biggrin

I'm a bit late to the party, but I also had the same issue with the sprocket on my tailgate window crank. I did a "zero dollar" fix with some spot welds and a Dremel. Not anywhere near the quality your shop did, but it's been working great for over a year now.

More details how I did it on my progress thread, page 2 about 1/3 down:

https://canadianponcho.activeboard.com/t69143067/1964-parisienne-safari/?page=2

Looking forward to more updates!

graytoad · Veteran Member

Thanks for the offer 68sd396 68sd396rag however we are replacing the master with one from CPP.

That looks great ZigZag, If I could work a welder I may have tried that. (one skill I would really like to learn) I was thinking trying hardwood until I could find a replacement - but I knew that it would not last nor likewise if I took a chunk of billet and fashioned one. I like your solution better than my too many $$ solution.

Anyway, I said to Steve he needed to get some things finished as we seem to have many projects half way done waiting on parts etc. I said I needed to do some "posts" etc

This is what I got in response. . . . .

Updates to follow soon, I am working on them now!

CdnGMfan · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

graytoad wrote:
...
On a car I have in FL, I have had a difficult run with engine break downs in an Oldsmobile 215 V8 in my 63 F85 wagon. Three engine failures, every time one of the valve springs broke, once taking a valve with it, the second time the valve slapped the piston but did not do any real damage there, the 3rd time it disintegrated a (correction) piston (not the previously slapped one.) We actually thought they were shoddy springs but they were top quality (purchased by the PO from Aluminum V8 in Michigan but forget brand name) and we finally narrowed it down to the fact that the guy that rebuilt the engine (via the p.o.) had used the wrong valve retainer sleeves and the springs were being stressed by being compressed too much, causing failure. Final repair included a set of valve springs and retainer sleeves out of another 215 aluminum V8 we had on hand.

-- Edited by graytoad on Monday 12th of August 2024 07:30:51 PM

Aluminum V8 in Michgan, that would be D & D Fabrications, Inc. I have been to Dan and Mark LeGrou's place in Almont, MI. It is a nice spread with property, the homestead and the business. They have a mini museum in the shop with an early McLaren aluminum V8. The first Can-Am Racing McLarens did not have aluminum big block Chevrolet engines (they weren't developed yet), they ran with Oldsmobile 215s.

When I was there I figured he must have 2000 aluminum V8s in stock.

graytoad · Veteran Member

CdnGMfan:

Mark at D&D did my engine for my 1963 Olds Jetfire and also provided most of parts for the rebuild of the engine in the 63 Olds wagon by the P.O'. Mark was an invaluable help us with what was going on and it was also Mark who questioned the retaining sleeves, a part he did not supply. His shop is amazing and his warehouse of engine blocks and parts is staggering.

-- Edited by graytoad on Monday 30th of September 2024 08:48:45 PM

graytoad · Veteran Member

Front & rear suspension done. These big old wagons weighing in as 4,000 pounds & like to wallow & sway thru the corners. We build our cars to be driven with reasonable expectations of decent handling! Steve was not thrilled by the actual placement of the rear bar but it is what is available. Fortunately the balance of the suspension had been previously rebuilt.

19 Sway bars etc.jpg

-- Edited by graytoad on Wednesday 2nd of October 2024 07:16:45 PM

Tempest · Veteran Member

My 58 has no sway bars, and the rear end has a bracket that mounts to it, so no pan hard bar

However, can you please post the front a rear sway bars you used, as I believe they will fit my 58

You are making great progress, and thanks for the updates,............. and give Jake another treat.

graytoad · Veteran Member

Tempest: all the stuff including the panhard bar are from CPP. On CPP you type your car model in and it pops up a list of everything they got: these parts for our car are sold as '58-64 Chevy full size'. I am assuming yours is a Canadian built car as you are on here so it would be likely the same? You don't mention what 58 model you are working on - so check them out!

graytoad · Veteran Member

Someone here indicated that you know the differences between the US and CDN built Pontiacs: however I can not locate that comment!

Who here 'know's for a fact' if the front bumper for the 1960 US version car will fit my Canadian car. Since we head south in 3 weeks we could check with wrecking yards in Georgia/Florida etc - OR would that be a waste of time as they are different?

Ours is badly twisted as well as pushed in, causing the two buckles and a high center. Steve has been wailing on it and welded the crack in the center but it 'ain't great'! It actually does not look all that bad in photos for a 'rat rod' sort of car, but it actually offers some protection in an accident so a structurally correct one would be better!

Your help will be greatly appreciated!

IMG_6710 bl ed.JPG

DonSSDD · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

For a fact they have a different frame so Id say the frame horns are in a different position and the bumper mounts would be different which would likely mean the bumper bolts holes are in a different position as well. Maybe you can determine some of this from online photos of USA Pontiacs or junk yard pictures? Also find the GM part numbers for USA and Canadian?

DonSSDD · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Keep doing the great work, youre very fast too.

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

Some early American 1960 Pontiac bumpers may fit. They had the bumper mounting bolt on the top (right next to where you circled the dent on your bumper just below the turn signal) just like the Canadian versions. It wasn't long after production the brackets where changed and this mounting point was eliminated. My 1960 Catalina had this type of bumper. There was an excellent club devoted to all 1960 Pontiac owners about 25 years ago called "The Sixty Owners Society". There was a great newsletter produced by the club and I recall the bumper issue was mentioned. You may be able to find these old newsletters on Ebay or reach out on one of the American Pontiac forums to see if anyone has any copies. They were a great resource on all things 1960 Pontiac.

Tempest · Veteran Member

graytoad wrote:
Tempest: all the stuff including the panhard bar are from CPP. On CPP you type your car model in and it pops up a list of everything they got: these parts for our car are sold as '58-64 Chevy full size'. I am assuming yours is a Canadian built car as you are on here so it would be likely the same? You don't mention what 58 model you are working on - so check them out!

Thanks for the info about CPP, I will check it out.

and the model I'm working on is a Long Roof, ..........it is a Wagon Revolution !

graytoad · Veteran Member

We are fast as there are 2 of us, we are motivated to get it on the road and we have time as we are retired!

Thanks for the info guys, some great research leads there too.

Tempest: that is darn cool - '58's are such iconic year cars! Are you running a restoration thread on here?

You can see by this photo the tweaking & twisting of the bumper and the warbles across the top really show in the distorted reflections. It is gapped differently on the corners so many directions.

graytoad · Veteran Member

Finally making some headway on the door panels. A big part of it was due to my apprehension about doing something I have never done. I am sure the upholstery guys would just zip right thru this process, but I re-thought & re-configured everything. Note the sample piece: I had planned the seat blanket material on the bottom half of the doors but we decided we liked the clean look of the vinyl only with a trim strip.

20 door panel evolution.jpg

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

You're doing a great job and Jake's quality control inspections are exceptional!

Glenn Musgrave · Addicted!

Great project follow. You guys are doing amazing.

Tempest · Veteran Member

Door panels look great

A few questions, where did you get the plastic sheets? looks like top edge is bent, did you bend it with heat?

You mention staples? can you put a staple into the plastic?

and what chrome strips are you using? (from another car?)

Thanks for posting and sharing your progress, and as always, great work

graytoad · Veteran Member

Tempest,

I got my ABS sheeting from a plexiglass/plastic supply house, I googled looking as the place I have gone for years recently closed shop after the 'boom years' of covid. I am going to guess most larger cities have this sort of industrial supply. I purchased from PolymerShapes.com which is a worldwide company. My most local shop is in Vaughn on Whitmore rd. and it was $130.00 for a 4' x 8'sheet including tax and they sell to the public too. I see you are in Oakville - so close for you. I am just west of Milton near Campbellville: we must meet sometime!

I used the factory top cap from the old panels, they are stamped steel and the factory pressed board bottoms were stapled to the metal but rotted. I pop riveted the caps to my ABS, choosing spots there were recesses or holes in the door structure so the tails of the back of the rivets don't cause trouble for fitment. If you don't have those factory top pieces I suppose you could form with heat but I would make a molding buck to do that. The rear shaped wall panels and kick panels can be formed with heat easily. I borrowed an 'air operated' staple gun, an Arrow T50 version. Recently a friend borrowed my electric gun and said it did not have enough power for ABS (he was recovering a SeaDoo seat that has an ABS seat-base pan) so he bought an compressed air operated one: lucky me, I could borrow it: still need to finish that job. The abs is 'leather grain on one side and smooth on the other. I chose the smooth side out and I scuff it with 80 grit on my palm sander on low. ABS heats really easy so cutting it I used my jig saw with the speed way down and a clean cut coarse toothed blade. If you go fast the ABS melts and 'heals' itself behind the blade. When you set the blade slow it basically 'chips' the material away. Same with the palm sander, gotta go slow or you load up the paper with melted ABS. I also body filled (bondo) the drop between the metal cap and the abs panel to reduce how much it shows from the finished side. (none seen in this photo)

The Stainless strips were take offs from old door panels, I have had to cut them to size and 'metal work' the ends to finish them. A local upholstery guy let me root thru his meager stash: I think he likes my tenacity as a 'car girl' in taking on old car challenges plus we have given him a lot of business over the years and sent many jobs his way. Fabulous shop, he will likely be doing the headliner for me in this car. Tom's Upholstery out of Brantford, owner Terry. The strips for the back seat doors are slightly different from the front seat doors but this is a 'quasi rat rod' and I am fine with that.

Tempest · Veteran Member

Thank you for the additional info and the pics. (hope you don't mind the questions)

I did not realize you were so close to Oakville, my brother lives in Moffat, and that is where the car was originally delivered until I brought it home.

I am still working on metal patches on the underside of the car and Interior work is a long way away, but thanks for the info. as I will be looking for this stuff eventually.

Thanks again, and keep up the great work

JoeyJoeJoe · Veteran Member

Looking good Sandy. I've worked with a lot of thermoplastics over the years and ABS was definitely the right choice. Polyethylene would be good too but with ABS you have the option to weld other pieces of ABS to it using methylene chloride, most likely available at your local plastic store. Yes it welds it! Its a solvent that dissolves the base materials from each piece, allowing them to intermingle, then solidifying into a single piece as it evaporates, the same as fusion welding metal.

Also, if you're having issues with it burning and melting to your blades you may want to have them sharpened. Most wood working machines will work beautifully on thermoplastics. Circular blades may get a thin coating of plastic on the sides but the teeth should remain clean and they stay sharp forever on plastic. Fyi, a jointer leaves a perfect edge on plastic for welding seamlessly to another piece. Anyhoo, I know you didn't ask but just fyi for anyone interested. Keep up the good work. Btw, whats your timeline looking like?

-- Edited by JoeyJoeJoe on Friday 11th of October 2024 06:35:55 PM