[michaeld]

Hello everyone,

As you see by the number of posts, I'm brand new to the forum. I'm also new to Pontiac cars (in fact I haven't even seen mine yet!).

Have a few questions about Grand Villes and 455s, and yours is the best (so far ONLY!) well-contributed-to forum I could find on the big body Pontiacs. By way of stroking your egos, I can tell you that I've read through a number of posts, and have been very impressed both with the depth of knowledge and the attitude of friendliness and helpfulness. Neither attribute seems common to many auto forums.

I have an opportunity to purchase a '73 Grand Ville 4 dr landau hardtop, with 58,000 actual miles, for $500. The engine is a 455, and the transmission is a TH400. The car was originally purchased by an insurance salesman who bought the car in order to sell insurance to a Pontiac dealership in a quid pro quo deal. It was a second car until the salesman died. The widow hung on to the car, apparently keeping up on ALL the maintenance, and drove it once a month as a remembrance of her husband until last year when she sold the car along with her house to a close personal friend of mine. She didn't know what the car was worth, and had already chased away one young neighbor who wanted to buy the car to drive it in a crash derby, and sold it to my friend for $500 over the price of the house. My friend had thoughts of driving it in Concourse events, but in the year since that hasn't happened. He offered the car to me for what he paid for it, and I said WHY CERTAINLY! My friend is honest beyond the capacity of words to describe, and is also very familiar with cars and all things mechanical. He says the car is in phenomenal condition, and I trust his judgment far beyond my own.

My friend and I will drive to Washington state - towing a 1924 Dodge one way on the way up and a truck on the way back - and I will be driving the Pontiac 1000 miles home to Palm Springs (Which means I'll be paying nearly as much for gas as I will for the car!). I am a little concerned about that trip, as the car probably hasn't gone a thousand miles in the last fifteen years. My friend is confident that the car will easily make the drive, however, and he will be driving his truck back with me. We may be going some time in the next couple of weeks.

That's the history of the car, and how I am coming by it. I've never been a Pontiac guy per se, but I've always liked big old cars (I've had a 68 Chrysler Town & Country with a 440, a 70 Ford Galaxie 500 with a 429, and a Cadillac Brougham with a 350), and this Grand Ville certainly seems to qualify. I've always thought that Ford, GM and its subsidiaries, and Chrysler have ALL made some great cars, and some lousy cars. How does the Grand Ville rate in the vast scheme of things? How does it rate as a Pontiac?

I've tried to find out as much as I could about Grand Villes via Google, and have learned precious little. Same with the base 455 engine (although there's quite a bit about the super duties, and a fair amount on the high outputs). From what I've learned, my Grand Ville would have the base 455 engine. I know it's horsepower and torque, but little else. How durable is this engine? I heard that the Oldsmobile and Buick 455s both tended to have oil circulation issues, but haven't heard much of anything about the Pontiacs.

What can you base 455 guys tell me about this engine? I've read that the TH-400 is a pretty darn good transmission, but know very little about the pros/cons of the Pontiac base 455. What are the best sources of information re: this engine? Has anyone found any good links to Grand Villes that don't show up on Google searches? Is there a good book on these Pontiacs?

If I remember correctly, 73 would have been the first year of hardened valves, and I will NOT need to use lead substitutes. And - since the engine is at 8:1 compression, I should NOT need to run higher octane gas. Is this correct? What's your experience been? My friend estimates he's been getting 12 mpg, and the EPA rates the car at 11. How have you guys done? Also, how do these 455s handle modern traffic? Is 250 hp/370 ft/lbs enough to MOVE this behemoth in traffic with that 3 speed? (I don't even have to ask whether it will do hills and grades well!)

Also, the question of parts availability. How easy is it to get parts for this engine? Will I be able to go to my local parts stores (Kragen, Autozone, Napa)? I've got an old Mercedes that is a PITA for parts. How about body parts (I read the recent post about parts being a drawback for these cars).

I frankly have no intention of engaging in any major restorations or performance upgrades for this car. But I would like to keep it in good running order.

Mike