Not loud really but I do have a exhaust leak on the passenger side manifold. The owner had the ram air exhaust manifolds on the 428 block but with that you can only get a few bolts in place.

Found a JA correct date code rim thus changing out that left rear rusty one tomorrow. Hope to get some more miles on her and possibly some new pictures to share.

Old Pics
 

Here are a couple pics to share with you guys. The first is Mikes old car along side his best friends. The black/black was a stick ram air three car.
Also talked to Mikes father-in-law over weekend and he said there was a triple white vert judge in Green Bay too back in the day. He also noted that the 428 came out of a Bonneville not a Grand Prix.

Cool stuff had to share. Cheers

Great pictures and stories.
Have never seen a TripleWhite 69 JVert yet, i hope that one survived too.

F-i-L was right about the engine.
YH/46-428/360hp wasn't available in GP, just 370hp or 390hp 428's in GP.

If you notice from these original pics the car had its front re-done. The new none ram air hood(68), no hood tach, no hide-aways, ...

neat car and very uniquely optioned! Your last post makes sense because I noticed in the under bleachers pic that the hood scoops werent ram air. Even from the side you can tell since the ram air scoop insert dips down on the bottom creating a larger opening than the grill area of a non ram air scoop.

Yeah it is optioned pretty cool.
Love the tinted glass option 531 which complements the Limelight Green from all angles. Also the Belts-Deluxe 431 has front shoulder belts which come from the rear seat corners. Crazy having two separate belts for the front seats.
Love sharing these unique things most Pontiacs from 69 dont sport.

I was wonder about my quarter lower trim and if it was dealer of factory installed?
I know of a 2nd or 3rd week April built judge that has them from factory but does anyone know of a June built car that had them?
Just trying to understand either way they are staying.
Thanks

They were discontinued in February-March For coupes but they never were discontinued on convertibles.

There were two versions of the retainers for them. Some cars had caplet shaped holes in the quarter and a swell secured clip was pressed into the quarter. Others used welded studs like the ones that hold the windshield moldings.

I don’t know if was an early-late thing or a plant thing...
I’ve got a few Fremont cars, all January to July with the clips. Same for my February built judge from Framingham. My December 68 built Baltimore car has the studs.

Okay cool glad to hear. Thanks for info North!

I have the clips and can see from inside truck drops. While looking found some items. Bonus blue carb spring.

One of my GTO’s yielded a chrome plated little Saturday night special, one of those junky foreign made things. Probably more likely to injure the guy pulling the trigger than whatever he was aiming at.

01D Framingham car here and it has the clips

A pistol really??? Wow Im happy with a carb spring.

getmygoat, your the second April car I have heard off having them as well. Wonder if those has factory or dealer installed? There was a bulletin floating around but we all know they would have used up stock at any given plant before discontinuing.

The only way to really tell is to remove and measure spacing of the clips to compare to a punched fender install.

If there are later Baltimore cars that had the clips then it’s probable that clips vs studs wasn’t a plant thing but a switchover from studs to clips.

Do all 68’s have the pins?.

In either case it is unlikely that a dealer could add those moldings in a way that you couldn’t tell. To make those three oval holes on a car after the fact would always show. The holes would have to be drilled and then enlarged so they will never look like punched holes and getting them perfectly aligned is highly unlikely also.

GMG's car is a January 4th week Pattern Judge .
At least whats left of it anyways :D

Cat
 

I was told that 68 product line had clips and the pins didnt start till 67/68 +/-
Glad to hear the rear quarter modeling are correct since I love them.

Also I posted a pic of my garage Sargent Lily. Nothing moves around this garage without her knowing it.

Gotta keep a good mouser around if you are going to keep old cars.! Care is looking great!

BJ

NORTH, how did you learn this? The 2/24/69 bulletin used the wording "ALL models". I always figured this to be true as I've see several at shows and have many pictures of '69 convertibles without the rear molding. I know over time people may discard them when restoring but then why leave the rocker molding on?

There is no official document of convertibles not having the lower rear molding discontinued. My opinion is simply because I’ve seen so many examples of late production convertibles that clearly had them factory installed over almost 40 years in the hobby and lots and lots of boneyarding back in the late 70’s through the early 90’s.

As a matter of fact I have never seen a 69 convertible with virgin quarters without evidence that the moldings were there from the factory.

The reason I believe you see some without them is because that area was so rot prone that most convertibles in circulation today have either had quarters replaced or at least patched in that extremely rust prone area. When most of these cars in the salt belt were getting their first body repairs back in the 70’s the clips or studs were already rusting away or in many cases the whole area was rusted out. Many of those early body jobs resulted in incorrectly shaped lower quarters so for many reasons the moldings were chucked. So most restorers were restoring cars that had non original sheet metal or bondi in those areas.

By contrast the outer rocker panels are made of galvanized steel and so even in the rust belt never rusted enough that the rocker Molding was loose or that the rocker shape prevented their reinstall.

Can anyone chime in with a 69 convertible that has clearly original unrestored lower 1/4 rears that don’t have any signs of the clips, oval holes or pins?

As for dealers adding them I can see that but no dealer could have done it in a way that would look factory installed on close inspection.