OK, back to Pontiacs, or at least street cars!
Two years ago my dad told me he was entertaining offers for his 69 RS Convertible Camaro. He figured that he was never going to have the money to restore it and was entertaining some cash offers around $15000. He paid $1500 for the car back somewhere around 1983 to 1985. The car was on blocks in his garage with no engine, and no suspension or brakes. I decided that if he was going to sell the car, I wanted to at least get to drive the car once before he sold it. After all, this is his dream car and he's had it a long time. So I hatched a plan. He went out of town to visit family and I figured this was my chance.
He was supposed to to be gone on his trip for 2 weeks. My dad always wanted to make the car a big block 4 speed, and that is what I entended to do! I had the M-20 from my Firebird with the broken 1st gear, and have several BBCs but none of them "ready to go". When he finally left on his trip, I sprang into action and the forst step was to inventory what was there, what could be used, what needed to be purchased, etc. I had planned on powder coating all the front suspension parts and already had a rush order setup preplanned with a shop in El cajon called ECP Powder Coating.
The day I started working on the car, I couldn't find the front a-arms and spindles, brake backing plates, etc. After unloading the trunk of it's contents (tons of extra interior parts, etc), I found the front end parts in the bottom of the trunk. And, they were already powder coated!
I had forgotten but years earlier I had had these parts done for him and forgot all about it.
To avoid dragging the story out forever, here is what happened. He shortened the trip from 2 weeks to 3 days!
I ended up getting all the suspension assembled, rebuilt the rear drum brakes, put axle bearings and seals in it, got the front disc brakes on and bled, and got it on wheels. I even had to track down some used 15" rubber to put on the rally wheels. Good used 15" tires are not very plentiful any more!
I moved the Camaro from his garage to his barn, and put his Ford Comet (65?) in the garage where the Camaro was with it's car cover in place.
When he got home (I picked him up at the airport), he immediately went to the garage to make sure everything looked normal. His reaction was priceless and I will always cherish the situation. He was utterly shocked and had no idea. This is an understatement. He was blown away. It was as good as any Overhaulin episode.
I had some good help along the way. One of my dads high school buddies lives near by and is a Mopar nut. "Jim" halped a lot over the 3 day build. I also had my high school auto shop teacher Mike show up and help when he heard what was going on. Mike has a really nice 55 Chevy hot rod.