Just bought a '67 Catalina
 

I just drove home a 1967 Pontiac Catalina 2 door hardtop, and I haven't stopped smiling. But I have a lot of questions.

The main one being: is there a sister B body that is better supported for parts/information? I see that OPGI.com lists the '67 Bonneville as using a few of the same parts, is it safe to assume that most of the suspension parts are interchangeable?

And another is where should I start a build log? The HAMB kicked me out because my 46yo car isn't classic enough, lol.

Thanks in advance.

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Congrats on such a great purchase! I wouldn't mind a '67 big car in my stable either.

Yes the Bonne will have a lot of interchangeable parts, likely all of the suspension, but the Bonne's are physically longer cars. I believe the majority of the differences are body related there. Perhaps a '68 Cat would have the same mechanicals as your '67 Cat. They should be essentially identical, but that also likely means they are equally supported on the aftermarket. Hopefully others who are more knowledgeable will chime in here.

As for a build log, I think you're in the right place here. Don't worry about the HAMB board for this beauty.

Congrats again! :)

nice car, 68 will be hit and miss with parts. Let me know more what you are looking for and I will be glad to help.

I think I am safe in saying the Cat is same as the Bonneville..
The Bonneville is longer in the rear quarters which means the the trunk lid is bigger..
The Bonneville is longer than the 67 wagon..
All the suspension will be the same,etc. etc.

John L.

Also welcome to the DARKSIDE :ausflag:

I just got a '67 Catalina 4 door that I will be parting out.

I owned a 67 catalina convertible for about 6 years. It was one of the best cars we ever owned pulling 20 miles per gallon with the 2 barrel carb. Unfortunately I traded it in on a 71 Grandville wagon that got 11 mpg. I kept that for one month and traded it in on a 74 Lemans sport that we kept for 6 years

Nice car! It looks real clean. There may be minor differences in spring rates from one model to the next, but otherwise the suspension and most mechanical parts will be the same for any big Pontiac of that year.

Steve, did you buy the one in Smoke Signals? It was up your way, just too far for me.

Dave

I thought I would post this here, just to keep it centralized.

Hello everyone, a month and a half ago brought home a 1967 Pontiac Catalina 2 door. Which makes me ever so slightly insane. But, there is a story here. I thought you all might be interested. I was at that start of planning a Lotus 7 scratch build. From welding the frame through racing it. There have been a few iterations of donors and exact dimensions, but it was going to be a Locost. That plan was was egged on every time I saw a Solstice or a Cobra. Then, my wife suddenly wanted something more....concrete, which led to awesomeness.

First a bit of background: Way back in 2006, God smiled upon me, guided my wife out of consulting and into the employ of a car manufacturer. Given the number of questions she had, I suggested we buy an older car and slowly work through it. You know, for the educational value . And she went for it. We were living in Dubai at the time and sadly only had a car port. Between the heat, humidity and dust, there was to be no car. We then moved to South Africa, where we kept an eye out for a victim, but given the import duties on parts and scarcity of interesting cars; I channeled my Man interests into blade smithing. A little over a year ago we returned to the US after a decade abroad and for the first year we barely mentioned the car. Turns out this was a wise move, since we only were in Atlanta for 11 months. In January we were relocated to Bowling Green, KY. And we made a condition of buying a house that there be a 3rd garage bay for a project and a fenced in yard for the dogs.

Since my Wife wasn't so keen on a scratch build I got onto Craigslist and the HAMB. At first I was looking at a '53 Pontiac shell in WI. but that was a lot of work and driving for just a shell. Then I was looking at a '42 Chevy Business Coupe, but it was pricey and had no engine. Then, I spotted Gabby. It was close by, and reasonably priced. I called and arranged to test drive it. It.Was.Fantastic. I was smiling for days. We closed on the house and the next Monday we bought the car. I still bought a welder, but a scratch build was on hold indefinitely. Not even a roadster build could match the sheer crazy of a '67 monster. I mean, no joke, the car is 18ft long!

Here are the 3 pics off of the CL ad that caught my eye. The angry chicken front, the swooping lines and the long trunk line.

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It ran, it was local, had a clear title, and was reasonably priced. But here is the part that will probably raise a few blood pressures here, lol: we have never worked on cars. Oh we know about cars, and we know how things work, but we have never done it. I can tell you that intelligence, passion, the ability to follow instructions, and connect dots gets you a long way. So we aren't put off by the work, or having to figure everything out. I mean, seriously, how hard could it be?

Every project needs a vision and a plan or else it wallows in bad primer hell and never gets done. Our vision is two fold. 1.Get the car into safe, daily driving condition; learning every step of the way and have a blast doing it. 2. Start into a larger scale restoration, with classy and correct upgrades along the way.

There is a small time issue as well, we simple aren't sure how long we will be living here or where we will be assigned next. We assume we will be here in Kentucky for 2 years. So, we don't want to do a frame off restoration and be left with a mess should we have to move suddenly to China or where ever. The longest we want Gabby out of commission is during the engine rebuild, which is planned for the winter or 2013/14. Long term, we would like to have disk brakes up front, an updated suspension, and a rock solid engine that can move her with a delightful noise.

The start? Well she has drum brakes on all 4 corners. The pedal is very stiff and there simply isn't the corresponding braking action. (yes they are drum brakes, but I know they can work better. right now she needs a 1/4 mile to stop.) So we'll be rebuilding the drums and cylinders first. Then the suspension with new shocks and (if needed) new coils. Right now when you turn left, out the right you can see the ground. A lady her age shouldn't have the indignity of wallowing like that. After that, new wheels and tires. The ones she has barely hold air and are cracking. I know this will need 15" wheels, but she really needs modern shoes. A V8 like the 400 deserves better then the trailer tires she has now.

Then she will be insured, registered and hopefully driven a bit while we get ready for the engine to come out. As I pulled her into the garage, she spit some oil out of the left hand exhaust. That has me worried, and thinking the engine might come out sooner then winter. Update: she is insured and registered. I drove her to get a full fuel tank the other day, in the rain no less


So here is what I do know about the car. It was made in NJ in the first week of December. It was bought in 1967 driven a bit, and then sat in a car port for 30 years in NY. The wife of the owner finally passed in 2002 and the kids gave to the red cross. They in turn sent to be crushed for scrap metal. Luckily a guy at the yard bought it for next to nothing and changed the oil and occasionally drove it. At the time of that sale in April 2002 the milage was recorded at 24,800 miles. He recorded milage and basic maintenance. The last log was an oil change in June 2008 at 35,860 miles. It came with him to KY where it moved to the last owner, who wanted to hot rod it, but ended up raising 2 of his grandkids and had no time or funds. And yesterday, she had her title transfered and drove to our new home. And that is where we are now. I'm told that the 37,600 miles are all original. That's pretty good for a 46 year old car. I do not know if the engine was ever rebuilt, but it's looking rather nasty, so the assumption is not.

I want to know more about her. I *think* she is a 400cid/6.6L with a 2 brl carburetor. I know she is a 3 speed, the TH350 I assume. She's a B body. She has a bad paint job at the moment, but is the original color underneath it. There is AC and PS, no brake booster. Can anyone fill in anything based on the plate in the engine bay? Update: I have some of that deciphered now, but not all of it.

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I hope you all will stay with us as we start this exciting journey as we learn, grow and reconnect with American automotive history!

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This is how I found her sitting, on cracked 215/75/14's. She is a dirty girl, but with a near pristine interior.

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On the drive home. Yes, she has no plates here. Yes, this is illegal. No, you should not do this unless you live in the rural southern US. (I'm still confused how this is the 'South' since we are one state away from Canada, but you don't argue with married cousins.)

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The interior is fantastic for a 47yo car, just dirty. There will need to be some upgrades to the gauges, since I need to know more about the engine's condition. The the fuel sender is out, so petrol will need to be filled often and guessed-i-mated based on milage for a while. Luckily, my first car was '72 Super Beetle and never had a working fuel gauge. You get good at this very quickly. We will be getting a 4 barrel carburetor to replace the one she has, but we are going to stick with the Quadrajet and a side project will be to source and rebuild one so it's ready when the engine goes back in.

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You'd think that on a car this large, the engine would be lonely in the bay, but it fills the whole thing. There is a lot of grime and oil. A lot of age related cracking rubber and worn bushings. Not anything we weren't expecting. Well, I was rather shocked when my wife insisted we rebuild the AC unit. I was planning on just removing and saving myself the head ache. Now, I need to learn a whole new skill set. YAY!

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Her booty. The one bad rust through is in the trunk pan, which luckily has good after market support for patches. I'll be cutting out the whole thing and welding in a new one.

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That classic 'angry chicken' look!

Every time I 'had' to move her I needed to jump start the car. Given the awesome weather here, and my burning desire to actually drive her around town, I took her over to Advanced Autoparts. They ran a quick diagnostic on the alternator and battery. Alternator good, battery bad. So I sprang for a new one with 800 cold crank amps vs. the 600 she came to me with. Flawless since the, she fires right up.

So I have spent the last 10 running every errand I can think of, just to get out and on the road.

We went to the vet:
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And to the hardware store:
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All sorts of places. Even a beer run. One thing that drove me crazy was the the accelerator pedal was sticky. It went from idle to 40% power right away, needing a lot of pressure to get it to move. the result was a few stalls and a frightened kids from the noise. I removed the air cleaner and liberally doused all the moving parts of the linkage with lube. Smooth as butter, although I noticed a lot of the washers and tiny bushings were cracking. *sigh* more to rebuild. Now the throttle has a steady linear pull to it, no more having to goose it just to maneuver in a parking lot.

Next, I took a long look a the steering. It has a lot of slop in it. The power steering is working, but there is a definite 'float' to the car and it take 1 to 2 inches of turn to correct it and start to feel her move. It also it makes it hard to correct the strong pull to the left under moderate braking. I jacked her up and (safely) slid under her. WOW. Wrong move. I mentally spent $2000 in bushings and bits just looking. There isn't a single rubber piece that looks even remotely in good condition. I think my front brake job just turned into a complete front end rebuild. Still researching all that, but it looks like a PST kit is in order.

Time to get started.

After about an hour of swearing, literally jumping up and down on the tire iron; I finally got the lug nuts to break loose and lifted the front end up onto jack stands. It seems at some point some idiot painted the steel wheel without removing it from the hub, along with some serious corrosion.

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With the wheels off, it was time to remove the brake drums. Let me tell you, I busted a gut trying to get them off. So, as one does, I searched the suspension threads. The consensus was that I need to hit it hard with a large hammer. So I did.

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Nothing. More swearing. More searching. Consensus? add heat, then beat it harder.

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Nothing. Lots of swearing. and I do mean lots. My father was a drill sergeant and my mom is German. So I mean real, creative, the-dogs-didn't-even-know-that-was-possible kind of swearing.

I ended up pulling the cotter pin and loosening the castle nut to remove the entire hub, conical bearing and drum. It later reveals itself to be that the drum and hub are one piece, and the shop manual showing a 2 piece unit was......incorrect.

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So there are the guts, all exposed and nasty. It took a bit of doing, but I got it all disassembled. All except the brake hose going into the wheel cylinder.

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That was on fast and in a position on the back side of the shield where it was impossible to get to. So, logic says follow the line to the next connection and disconnect it there, right? yeah. That led me to a bracket on the outer frame, above which the hard line was screwed into the hose. Perfect. Except that the hose end was corroded to the bracket. And held in by not one, but 2 clips. one being a fragile rusty C-clip.

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So off comes the bracket, hose, grime and rust.

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yay.

First the easy, because seeing progress makes me happy. I cleaned, cleaned, and degreased the shield. Then wire wheeled it, then cleaned it, masked off the parts that rubbed against the shoes and the grease seal.

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Since brake fluid eats normal paint, I used a groovy brake grey from Eastwood. Turned out very nice.

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^ I texted that to my wife, who promptly reminded me that she wanted to do the other side.

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This is the grimy wheel cylinder. nasty.

Remove the rubber seals to see what the cups look like. One end

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the other end

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At this point my heart sank a bit. If it was this bad, chances are the cylinder walls were rusted and pitted. Which means I would need a new one and they aren't being made any more. I know this, because the rear ones are and I have brand new ones. Fear not, forge ahead.

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all apart, now to soak them and get them cleaned up and degreased so I can see how bad it is.

No Pitting, no rust. YES. Just crud. Dirt I can handle.

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Cleaned the inside and got all the gunk out, wire brushed the outside and degreased. Taped off the ends and the ports.

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WOW, shiny! Now to rebuild the inners.......

and that is where I see that Napa Auto sold me a pair of 1 1/8" kits and my cylinders are 1 3/16". So I'll have to swap them out and continue.....

A bit of a frustration rant/small update.

I'm sort of stuck. I have 1 3/16" wheel cylinders. All available databases used to order parts say I'm supposed to have 1 1/8". So when I ordered the rebuild kits, that is what I got. NAPA Auto was happy to take them back, but their part system only has part numbers with no specs. So I dug around a bit and found a website that sells new complete 1 3/16" cylinders. But mine are good and I'm stubborn. There is also the $36.00 for new ones vs. $5 for the kits. I'm not cheap, but I know I can spend that money on parts I need, not replacing parts I have. After some digging, I found that a 1967 Cadillac Eldorado uses 1 3/16" wheel cylinders, and have 2 rebuild kits on order (not paid for yet). So I'm hoping the end boots fit.

Then I find out that the US domestic model Catalina used 1 1/8", but the Canadian model used 1 3/16". When I spoke to the NAPA guys, they assumed they were the same diameter. So the parts DO exist. But now I have other parts on the way. Big deal? no, not really. If I were doing this in South Africa, I wouldn't be so lucky to have multiple parts sources that can order overnight. Frustrating? yes. Was I expecting this when I handed a wad of cash to the guy for a 47yo car? yes. Well, maybe more in the engine, not so much the brakes.

So my update is mainly limited to small parts. Puttering around basically.

I did get the last of the book shelves painted and built, which freed up my welding/build table. I was able to get all the parts off the garage floor and sweep all the grime and rust flakes up. Also got all the loose tools organized back into the tool chest. Things like this make my wife happy, and that is key here.

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Wire brushed the brake hose retention bracket and clip.

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and got them painted.

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I also got the parts separated into ones that are being replaced by the brake re pack kit, and the ones I need to reuse. Reused parts on the left, trashed ones on the right.

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Cleaned up and painted

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and the new springs and pivots. They stay in the bag until they are needed.

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The downside to still being in that "design and build your new work space" is that I need to be extra careful with small parts. I have a work bench, tool stands, and a new anvil stand that all need to be fabricated to give me the room to fully unpack and organize.

So after that I hung curtain rods, washed one of the persian rugs and made fajitas. Hopefully I will have the proper sized kits this morning and can start re assembling the passenger side. And then my wife will start on the driver's side. I expect it to go faster, since the part will be correct and the process known. I fully expect to have the brakes bled by the weekend and set the bushing kit ordered. At which point it will have all come apart again. yay.

Car Detective Update:

In 1966 Pontiac used wheel cylinders in 1 3/16" bore.
In 1967 Pontiac used wheel cylinders in 1 1/8" bore....with the option of a steel lined cylinder in 1 3/16" bore.

So that solves the mystery. Cast iron bores are more prone to rusting and deep pitting, hence all the recommendations to buy new ones. Mine is in great condition and 1 3/16", leading me to believe I have the steel lined ones. Looking at this options list, it seems I might have the 'ride and handling' package. What ever that means, if someone knows, please tell me! I do know I have the fender skirts, which are in a box.

So, I found an O'reillly's with an actual paper catalogue the size of 5 phone books, and I have the proper rebuild kits on order. They should be here around 2:30pm. WOOT!

Frustrations aside, I love the sleuthing and finding out more about the car. I just hope they fit.

keep it up bud! that car is bad ass

Thanks!

Maybe!!
 

I saw it on Craigs list. It's Blue.

Welcome. Nice ride and if you're going for new rims go for 16's ...For better tire selection. Torque Thrust II rims look real nice on that car, thoug I prefer original torque thrusts personally.

A few hints...Front ends can be quite gratifying to rebuild, I"ve done a few and here's what I found out. Mostly 69-72 GP a couple big cars as well.

Rubber bushings are great, poly ones ride hard and squeek a lot. Poly not worth the trouble on a big car...

Add an Addco fat front sway bar.

Good gas shocks. KYB GR2 ride the best, Gas A Justs are a bit hard.

Hi rate springs are unnecessary, and for the rear cargo coils give the best look (slighly higher than front end) for rear springs and ride well.

Rear bar not really necessary.

So here's how I drive my cars and set them up this way....I run a lot of bumpy curvy hilly roads. Hard suspension tends to make the car bounce on the potholes, keeping it supple allows for less "pot hole skitter" which has the car jumping sideways when you hit the hole when suspension is too firm. (Being a Lotus fan, I'm guessing you might appreciate Colin Chapman's attitude toward a supple predictable suspension. Jackie Stewart always said "don't get the suspension in a tizzy...") With no rear bar car will have slight understeer, so you will be putting more steering as the car goes through the corner in the same direction, rather that correcting toward opposite direction to catch the rear. Someguys like the rear bar, but for the big caar I think it not worth the trouble.

Faster ratio steering box is OK, but may affect turning radius. The 69-72 GP is same as A body, so I use a 70 GTO quick ratio application box, available at NAPA. Not sure where the stops are on that to compare to a B body, perhaps someone can comment.

Disc brake conversions are out there, Stainless Steel Brake I think may have one. Just get all the new stuff to save yourself headaches. BUt you might find the drums when properly rebuilt and adjusted to be just fine. But you just have to leave more room and drive it like an old car not a new car.

You probably have the THM 400 trans, pan should look like Texas...

Your heads are probably low compression so stick with them for today's gas. 4bbl may be unnecessary...2 bbl gets good mileage and probably same performance below 3800 rpm.

HEI mightbe a conversion you want to do but points are fine, I use both without any issues.

New battery cables always a good idea for a driver. 0 or 00 for Pontiac is good idea just be careful on routing the wires near the exhaust.

Change the rubber fuel hose. Also no rubber hose past the fuel pump...

Halogen headlamps, adjusted well.

Dual exhaust 2.5 inch. Avoid headers since they are quite the headache for the most part, they drag low on Pontiac and usually leak a lot.

Just get the starter rebuilt now.

Recore the radiator esp in the AC car. Pontiac temp issues are addressed all over the boards here, and of course if you need help with that, we got you covered.

And FINALLY....GO TO PONTIAC NATIONALS IN NORWALK OHIO FIRST WEEKEND AUGUST SO WE CAN MEET YOU. The big car guys hang out at that show. It's the place to go.

What did I miss???

KV

Oh and pm me about front spring removal...scary but with good tools and technique, done safely...

Thanks for all that, it's good to know I can ask questions when I get to the various stages of the build.

So here is what has been vexing me.

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Five little bits. One spring, 2 seal boots, and 2 dust boots.

You put on one pair of nitrile gloves, and start lubing everything with a coat of brake fluid. I pushed the first seal in, followed by the cleaned up piston, and gently pushed on the dust boot. Then I hit it with a hammer, then I used a piece of 2x4 to push with all my weight. The dust boot is a tad stubborn. Then came the tricky part. The spring went in. With slippery hands you have to press the seal in, hold it, get the piston in, hold it, seat the boot, hold it, and start pressing the edges in. After it holds a bit, you have to quickly get it seated with some weight so the spring doesn't shoot everything across the garage. Ask me how I know.

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One side

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Both sides! WOOT!

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I re installed the brake hose bracket

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Seated the wheel cylinder and attached the brake hose. You need to make sure the copper washer is installed.

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Shield and cylinder re installed. Added some anti sieze to the 6 rub points where the shoes will sit. Added some to the adjustment screw, on the screws and the nub where it will rub.

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I started with the spring at the bottom and the screw, which holds it in place long enough to start swearing.

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There are pins at 4 and 8 o'clock that go into a spring and then a slotted cap. They need to be compressed and the pin rotated 90 degrees.

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Simple, right? yeah. The secret is to use a box wrench to compress the spring and cap, then use a needle nose pliers to grasp the pin and rotate it. Let's leave it at a simple sounding solution, rather then a screaming obscenities one.

All that is left is to re assemble in the reverse order, using the drum brake tool to get the springs over their respective perches.

Before

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After

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I'm not even going to lie about the victory dance and the repeated shouting of; "Suck it, drum brakes!"

It was a good day, with a good dinner and my wife admitting the brakes looked good. Although she noted a few scratches and wondered aloud if her side would look even better, lol. Yeah, we'll see.

Just saw your thread while searching for info on converting my front drums to disc. I have a 68 Ventura, 400ci, 2bbl. It does have the THM400 and I believe Keith is correct on everything he posted. I converted mine to dual exhaust but kept the 2bbl setup. Performance is fine unless you really want to push it.

I also converted the 14" wheels to 15". I really like the difference, not so much wallowing but I have one issue and that's radial tires on these original wheels. Crappy. I'd like to get some bias ply tires but money's short. Of course the other option is to by new rims designed for radial use. They can be had even in the Rally II design but I like my old rims.

At any rate, nice car and I love your build photos.
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Great looking car and a good story behind it.

Nice Bonny Jason.

Thanks I love the look of that Ventura with the black rallys!

Thanks, me too. Next week I'm converting the front drums to disk and then I'm done, I hope.

Just out of curiosity, what is the problem with radials on the Rally IIs? People do it all the time with no real probelms that I'm aware of.

Just seem a little wobbly for lack of a better word. I spoke to an engineer from Les Schwab and he tells me that their studies show that older solid steel wheels and radials don't allow the proper flex.

Keith and I disagree on one point. Put a rear sway bar on the old girl and you'll never look back. I'd also add an inch of ride height to the R/H springs that you have in the front and 2 in the rear if you want a bit of a rake. that will allow air to escape from under the car reducing drag and also drop the ride height to level when the trunk is loaded. I use Coil Spring Specialties for the springs. Reasonable prices and they're right when they come. Grease the **** outta the poly bushings and they'll be fine. I run them on almost all of my builds and have never had a squeaking issue. I use about twice the amount what is included in the kit. The Quadrajet should get better fuel economy than the 2 barrel carb and will feed the engine better at WOT in the upper RPM range. Rare HO manifolds are pricey but will help it breath and fit better than tube headers. resonators will quiet the exhaust down even with race mufflers and won't restrict flow.

That's a great looking car. Enjoy it.

Mike

Put a rear sway bar on the old girl and you'll never look back. Interesting idea, thanks.

Sorry it's been a while, but I have a lot to update.

First, since she was up on jack stands and the brakes off, I got a much better idea of the mess she was in. To give you an idea of the bushing issue/general crud problem.

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This is the driver's side upper ball joint. You can see how they tried to keep it going with grease, dirt, and what appears to be grass clippings. Based on this, I have applied for a Hybrid Tax refund. I used the word 'patriot' in the application, so the IRS should take about 24 months to reject it. lol.

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The tie rod.

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Sway bar bushings.

So that will all be torn out, and the bits cleaned and painted with chassis protectant. Then I will need to have the ball joints and control arm bushings pressed in at a shop since I don't have a press. yet. lol. That ended up changing.

I did set up the drill press to use the wire brush with, and that works a far sight better then the cordless drill.

I did order a front end kit from PST. It arrived in 2 days, sweet!

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Now I just need to get a wall painted done, the office sorted done, pictures framed and hung done, cook appetizers for 40 people easy, doneand survive a social function with out putting my foot in my mouth I blame the beer for showing off Gabby, but done. That will get me to Monday and a day alone out in the garage. Unless we take the Sunday and hang out together all day under a car. Sexier things have happened.

Edit: On a side note, I was using the wire brush on something random to get a look at the substrate and got a piece of metal stuck into my cornea. Not a big deal, it didn't penetrate the cell covering; just got lodged in it. But it did require a trip to urgent care and some uncomfortable eyeball touching. Remember kids, safety first.

Ok, it was a busy day. I had to re organize the house after the house warming party. Then I had to take the Dachshund of War™ to the vet; she fractured her rear toes whilst fetching a tennis ball.

But I did get the sway bar removed.

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That little pile of rust dust? that was between the bracket and the bushing, lovingly grinding away.

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These are the posts that connect the sway bar to the lower control arms. you can see the bushings on the right there, completely worn away. I mean, all of them look crap, but where the bar ends sat, it's just gone. A new complete set is sitting in plastic, waiting.

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The sway bar. Here you can see the built up oil caked on in the middle. That's from one of the many oil pan/main seal leaks. I have wiped most of it off and it's sitting in degreaser over night.

Tomorrow morning the truck has to go in for service, but after that I'll pick up a ball joint/tie rod/pitman arm service kit to start breaking down the front end joints. On a side note, I thought the ball joints were pressed in/riveted. After removing the grease and grime, there seems to be 3 bolts holding the ball joints to the control arms. We'll find out more after the truck service.

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The FedEx guy just dropped off my new sway bar bushings. And I got the tie rod ends off. I am however waiting for the ball joint, tie rod and pitman arm pulling set to arrive as well as my new shiny torque wrench.

They should be here Thursday, so hopefully by that evening I'll have the steering linkages all apart and the control arms off. Then it's a a weekend of cleaning parts, getting them painted and finding a grease gun.

A little off topic, but it will swing around to the car in a second.

Back when we were living in Atlanta, my wife's then boss set me up with some deer antlers. In exchange I offered to make him a nice kitchen knife. 2 weeks later, they announced her promotion and move to this position and things got hectic.

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But before we left I had a chance to forge out the knife, on the right.

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And get it hardened. On the bottom, right out of the quench.

Mike's a great guy and was an awesome boss. He set my wife up with a CTS-V coupe as her assigned car for a going away. So he's having a dealer function in Nashville tomorrow and she has to attend since it covers some of 2012. Last night she comes home and asks if I could finish the knife so she can give to him, very very late.

The woman wants a knife, she gets a knife. I have encouraged this, time to man up.

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Since he'll be cooking with it, I wanted to use a steel bolster instead of a brass one. So I ground it rough.

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Bored out and filed the tang slot.

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Checked fit, filed, checked, filed.......

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Once the bolster fit, I finished it by hand to 1200 grit. Wrapped the blade in tape. Made up a layered spacer, and rough fit the handle.

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And then epoxied the it all together and clamped it. Now I'm just waiting for it to cure. After which it will be roughed out more, finish sanded and made to look pretty. Sounds easy, but I have been at it for about 12 hours now.

Car stuff? Oh yeah.

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My front end service kit got here around an hour ago.

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Of course I had to try it out.

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POP!

It turns out that my wife actually thinks that pickle forks are cool and wants one even after we have this kit. I think she just likes having a tool called a pickle fork. But, the woman wants one, she gets one. Never shirk a chance to buy more tools.

So tomorrow I should have the impromptu knife stuff cleaned up and will spend the entire day removing the rest of the front end.

First, let me just come right out and say it. Coil springs suck.

There.

The day was less productive then I would have liked. I did finish the knife.

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Right hand ground, steel bolster, steel and red plastic spacers, Mopane wood handle. Olive oil finish in keeping with a kitchen knife. My wife is happy, I'm a little irritated about a few scratches I couldn't polish out. Overall, I'm winning.

Then, after a quick clean up, I get to the old girl. Jack up the control arm, pop the first ball joint, don't kill myself. Awesome. Start to lower the control arm, to release the spring.....control arm hits the ground. The car is too low. So I jack the car up 2 notches in the jack stands. now the control arm is free, but the spring isn't budging. Like going no where and bent at a very nervous angle. I jack the control arm back up, and head over to the parts store.

Now, I'm a nice tool sort of guy. I'm really not that keen on buying cheap tools, experience has taught me it's just a way to spend more money. The parts store has a $34 spring compressor. It's cheap, I'm not happy but I need it now. I check out, and pay. THEN I notice that I can borrow one for $40 and it's a high test unit (and by borrow, I mean I get my $40 back when I return it). You don't think the dude would have mentioned it? He says; "You want me to do a refund?" No, you moron, I want to buy a cheap chinese tool that might kill me when I could borrow a good one for free. OF COURSE I WANT A REFUND! :duh: So no more coffee for me, but I did get the compressor.

Which took me 2 hours to figure out. Not because I'm stupid, but because when something stores that much energy, I take my time. Sorry no pictures, I'll take them in the morning on the driver's side.

With the spring gone and safely decompressed, I took out the lower control arm bolts. Which were torqued to a millon lbs/ft. and rusted. yay. those will be replaced with grade 8 ones when it goes back in. The LCA had to be massaged out, the rubber was fused to the frame. Then it was just a 'pop' with the new ball joint press and 30 seconds to remove the rubber bumper. Done.

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Spindle and knuckle cleaned up and degreased a bit.

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LCA 1/2 cleaned up. The ball joint is, in fact, held in by 3 bolts.

Now for the bad news. If it's even bad news.

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The LCA bushings are not going to be in my ability to do here at home. The bushing actually is pressed into 2 different sides of the arm, wich have nothing to support them in between. The bushing outer shell actually is what connects them, and leaves open the possibility of crushing the to sides while trying to press in the bushing. Now, part of me wants to solve this by making a spacer and trying to old threaded rod and washer technique. Part of me doesn't want to risk the arms. I need to mind meld with the wife over a hot bath and cocktails. I'll get back to y'all.

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In closing, there is a big empty wheel well with nothing but an upper control arm, a ball joint, and an inner tie rod left. Still work left to do.

Now, I have some laundry to do and 4 black and tans to drink. :D

I drove out to Kansas to pick up my niece and nephew, under tornado watch the whole time. Luckily, her ATS4 is the sort of car that eats up miles. The are staying with us for a week as we are the cool, weird aunt and uncle who travel the world. Some one has to make sure they grow up with some culture and science. But it's a slow rainy morning and everyone is reading, so I'll bang out this update.

There will be a little bit of back tracking, since I got the images off my phone and uploaded.

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These are the bits that connect the steering knuckle to the tie rods. I primed them with a rust encapsulator and then with a chassis paint. Left is primed, right is finished. Turned out great!.

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Driver's side assembly, looking ratty.

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The lower ball joint nut with the cotter pin rusted in place. Swearing ensued, as usual.

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The spindle removed, blurry. Not even a photographer can get it right with greasy gloves on.

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Spring compressor in, and the LCA swinging free. You can see the wonderful collection of grass clippings and dirt that was in the lower spring pocket. Is everyone's car this dirty?

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A better view of the mess.

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Spring out and free. The part on the left actually sits in the frame, so the right hand side is all you have to work with in terms of spring compression.

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I know, it's just a spring, but I hit it with some 80 grit sand paper anyway and then the rust encapsulator. Looks nice and clean.

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The LCA bolts, rusted in place. I wish I had thought to stop here and get the impact wrench, but my wife didn't suggest it until they were already removed and I was working not he UCA bolts. I mentioned that I didn't want to invest in an air compressor system at this time, since we still are unclear how long we are in the US this time. She comes back with; " We have both air and electric at work." Ahh, a woman with working knowledge of tools, car assembly, and medieval history. Honestly, it doesn't get better then that.

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The UCA ball joint with the rivets. Which is odd, since the LCA were bolted in. Which means the lowers were replaced at some point. Which is bad, since they are supposed to be replaced in pairs.

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"Blurry rivet removal, an artistic approach" Limited edition prints available now.

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Both control arms, after the rivets were drilled out and now both ball joints are removed. Pro tip: use a punch to start the drill bit when drilling out a rounded rivet. It stops the bit from wandering.

At this point all of the components on both sides are removed, slightly cleaned and the ball joints removed. A few are in various stages of paint. But the remaining task in the "never been done" category are the bushings. I was online, looking at the bushing removal tools out there and let's just say it was quite an investment to make to get 4 bushings out. So I took some advice and that of a few youtube gear heads and built my own.

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1/2 threaded rod: $1.20. you can see where this is going.

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and the complete tool, ready to pull the bushing. Total cost? $9. Sweet.

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A little anti seize on the treads, a wrench and all that is left is the shell.

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Some gentle hack saw action, just to get through the shell. Go slow and be sure not to nick the control arm.

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Then just crush the shell with a cold cut chisel and hammer. It pops right out. The front bushing is oval, but the rear is round. The round one popped straight out with the shell.

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The UCA is a tad harder. It has the bar that connects it to the frame in between the bushings, so there is nothing to thread the rod through. A box wrench, hammer and heat applied the control arm made this an easy task.


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LCA prepped for priming and paint.

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Both control arms painted and curing. You can see the forge in the background, along with all the stuff I still need to unpack and organize.

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One spindle done, along side the crusty one.

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Then it really is just a matter of re assembly. Hammer the new bushings in. Bolt the new ball joints in, making sure to get the proper sized ones on the right control arm. Re install the bumper. Clean up the bolts and nuts. Break out the manual and the torque wrench. At this point I just loosely put it together. The spring needs to be compressed again and installed. The new tie rods need to be installed. The ball joints need to be injected with grease.

But that is all happening next week, after I drop the satan's spawn off with their parents. lol

Edit:
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Between the UCA bar and the frame are the shims for caster and camber. Be sure and not lose these! I marked them as to where they came from. That way you can actually drive the car to the alignment shop with out destroying all the work you just did. The putty they used when they installed them was fairly brittle. I simply wrapped them in some masking tape to hold them together while I got the bolts tightened.

Well, the niece and nephew were here for a week, and we spent the weekend in St. Louis so they could see the gateway arch. Just before we left, my wife got a message that the BIG GUN (It starts with a "C" and rhymes with "2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 in red/red") was rolling off the line and ready. It needs to be in the garage for a variety of reasons, so the worked 14 hours straight to get the front end done. I finished up by lunch today, and totally forgot to take pictures.

That being said,

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Getting the last little bits swept up.

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and sitting pretty. She handles great now, no play in the steering, no wandering. All in all, a success. After week, I'll loosen and re torque the control arm bushings to remove any imbalance in the stance. It might be my eyes, but she's leaning a tad to the passenger side.

I have to decide now, rebuild the rear or pull the motor out.

Edit: Last night over dinner we decided to stick with the original plan and do the rear end first and save the motor for the winter. I'm printing the relevant section from the shop manual and will start looking at parts soon. Any suggestions as to part and upgrades are welcome.

Thanks for all the replies, I will try to be more steady with the updates in the future.

Great rendition of build events, thanks. That includes your wife's input and needs. It's a lot of fun when my wife understands (laughs about) the constant washing and polishing as well as my complaining over a small (tiny) imperfection in the paint that no one notices but me or that imaginary tone change in the exhaust at exactly 48 mph. Seems you and I have it all.

Great thread, I admire your detail and diligence... I have to ask though, is the camera mounted on your head the whole time? ;)

Nope, I'm just using my iPhone. Which has a better camera in it then the first 2 1/2 generations of professional cameras did. It's handy, easy to clean and has simple controls. I'm not about to drag out the work cameras, lights and tripod.

part numbers for shocks
 

I have done a fair bit of research on shocks to send to OZ and find that KYB appear the only manufacturer to make a complete set for my 67 bonneville..

A few years ago I did order KYB and got the wrong shocks..Rear to short and no good ,the fronts I made fit by grinding out the bottom bolt tabs..

I was hoping to put a set of Bilstien but appears not a full set ,rears only..

The 67 has new coils and front end mostly rebuilt ,the rear is re-bushed.

So if one of you darksiders could list the part numbers for the KYB gas adjust I will be ordering very soon.
Thanks in advance
John L. :ausflag:

Nice ride, of course I am partial to 67 big body Ponchos. The Grand Prix is also a good match, there are differences, but the none trim parts match pretty much dead on.

-Harry

67 catalina
 

Your new Cat is similar to a Bonneville although the Bonneville has a 3"
longer wheelbase and is longer in the back quarters. From the front doors forward you have lots of inter-changable parts as well as for the interior. Mechanically and electrically they will be identical and you can install options from one onto the other. Everything is in place for you to make the std Catalina single exhaust into a dual exhaust. Yo can even install long branch exhaust manifolds and really wake up the motor. A 4 bbl carb/intake and the long branch / dual exhaust is an inexpensive way to get a lot more performance. The base 400 motor has plenty of power. Good luck. Always liked the fastbacks!!

Having only moved back here from SA a year and a half ago, I can feel your pain on ordering the wrong thing. As for me, I ordered my KYBs from Amazon of all places. The price was good and the shipping free. I only ordered the fronts, and while the size was correct, the lower bracket wasn't a perfect fit. But I own an angle grinder. The image shown had the lower bracket with open ended 'ears'. Mine were both holes that didn't align. I ordered them first, and didn't use them for a month. Rather then return them and left the Big Cat on jack stands, I simply used a cut off disk and opened up the hole to make them into tabs. Also, mine are grey while the image shown is white.

In retrospect, I would contact KYB directly and confirm the application to avoid my mistake; even though it worked out ok for me....for now. I will be more diligent when I order for the rears.

I took Gabby to get her front end aligned this morning.

I pulled out of our hidden hide-a-way, made a left and almost immediately had a Prius behind me. It was being driven by a very attractive young lady, in her early 20's. And every time I had to step on the gas, I swear she flinched or even cried a little. It was juvenile of me, but it made me laugh out loud. I have to get the cheap glass packs replaced with proper mufflers. I want the car to growl, not make college kids cry.

The good news? camber was perfect, caster is off -but will wait until the rear is rebuilt and the wheels/tires are done, toe in was way off -which I expected given she got new tie rods and tie rod ends. I even left the bolts loose on the connector.

The bad news? the rear tires are starting to crack and delaminate. So I'm facing some options.

1. Buy 14" tires. which are fairly cheap and use the rims I have (although I would clean up the rims and paint them red). I'm not liking this, because I want to give her disk brakes in the spring or summer of 2014. Which means larger rims. But this could get me through the winter and give me a spare set of winter tires.

2. Buy a nice 15" rim and move to wider tires which will plant her better. I was thinking 245 to 275 depending on space and rim selection. This is the middle ground. A nice steel rim like a Crager Soft 8 is available in my bolt spacing and size. Tires wouldn't be cheap but I wouldn't buy crazy cool ones either.

3. Buy a very nice 17" rim and very nice tires. This is expensive, easily the cost of the motor rebuild. it would set the drive train work back quite a bit.

Honestly, I'm leaning to the 1->2 plan.

Edit: I'm currently on 215/75/14, which are basically a trailer tire. I have found one that is intended for a car, and the set of 4 is $300.

Love your car and LOVE this thread. Thanks for all the detailed pics and descriptions of the work you did.
Also love this pic
Even though you aren't going anywhere in the car, your dog is owning it like "Let's do this man, lets go!"

Thanks, the dogs LOVE this car. They both love how they can sit in the back and pop their head out the rear windows. The lack of a B pillar is perfect for them.

And when I'm out in the garage, they almost always sit in the car to be close to me (except when I'm forging; dogs, glowing metal and loud banging is a bad combo).

I converted to 15" wheels early on for my Ventura. I went with

Front P215 / 65R-15 BFG Radial T/A
Rear: P235 / 70R-15 BFG Radial T/A

The front could have gone a little larger but overall I'm very happy with the 15" vs. the 14" that had a tendency to wander.