1959 Pontiac Catalina

The '59 Pontiac Wide-trac Safari, a 4138 pound dream car that really said 'custom' from day one. Our beloved wagon was bought in 2010 out of the southern states and shipped to British Columbia where essentially we blocked it up, removed all the suspension, running gear and most of the drivetrain for rebuild. The idea was simply a fun, reliable, non fussy summer driver, which in every sense it has been. Loading up the family and heading for ice cream is what we seem to do most!
All work rebuilding the wagon was done in 2010/2011, and the car has been driven locally only summertime only. I've kept a file of all major work/upgrades and parts purchases (and yes, the reserve is set below dollars spent!) with an overview as follows:
Body- The paint is original including all the wear through and a couple dents that should be visible in the pictures.Some patching was done on 2 floorboards, but the body remains aside from a respray of the top and a satin clear to maintain the patina. The roof rack was rechromed and woodslats installed, but the original stainless slats come with the car. Chrome/stainless is unrestored on rest of car.
Glass/Weatherstripping- All original, some wiper scratching . Installed new windshield weatherstripping, front window channels, new weatherstripping on all 4 doors and various bumpers and rubber gutter channels replaced. tailgate weatherstripping is the original.
Interior- Seats were recovered in soft vinyl with new foam. New carpet and rear has new vinyl. Door panels were done in wood with gloss polyurethane finish for abit of a "beach" theme I suppose. Dash is all original (chrome has wear/pitting typical of age) with some trim on doors and rear repainted
Suspension/ Wheels- suspension was fully removed, all new bushings installed, new shocks, 4 new 2" lowerd springs from Jamco installed, new ball joints, center link rebuilt, new idler arm, steering box and pump rebuilt with new hoses. Brakes were fully rebuilt with drums in the reat and front power discs using the scarebird conversion parts. Wheels are new 16" custom built/powdercoated by wheelsmith. 215/65-16 BFG wide whites.
Drivetrain/Related- 389 Engine rebuilt by previous owner in '98 with bills (rebored, new pistons/rings/bearings/cam/oil pump, gaskets, etc..), converted to spin on oil filter, Jetaway tranny fully rebuilt (see note in "the bad" section at end) with tranny cooler added, new u-joints (3), carrier bearing, tranny mount, 2bbl carb rebuilt, new belts, hoses, etc., and rear diff. fully rebuilt (new bearings, all seals, cups, cones, etc.) Rad flushed/tested, heater core rebuilt (cools well). Dual exhaust with magnaflow steelpacks- not loud, a vintage custom sound. Fuel tank removed, cleaned/inspected, repainted.
Electrical- New basic full wiring harness from Rebel Wire (front to back and underdash all new), converted to pertronix ignition with flamethrower coil, alternator installed (new), Hella 4 headlamp system installed with relays (NOT the goofy white lights)(throws a ton of light), original starter rebuilt. All dash light and gauges function minus speedometer. A four speaker Stereo/CD player with under seat amp was installed. Deck was place below the dash (see pics) so no dash cutting was involved. I regret this installation as I never use it, oh well.
"The Bad"/Disclosure- 1) Speedometer broken! The needle fell off 2) The jetaway transmission is the quintessential "slushbox"- in retrospect I think I should have converted to a 700R or something. The valve body also is sticky between 2nd and 3rd so it has a late shift. This may be able to be adjusted, or maybe a new valve body is need, I don't know- I have just lived with it as every other aspect of the tranny is great.
I have attempted to describe the wagon as best I could- I may have missed a few things, but am more than happy to discuss it further as I love talking about this car. Send me an ebay message and I'll give you my contact number.
Cheers!


Also published at eBay.ca