[fattie]

hi guys. last september i bought a 65 catalina 4dr. it was all original except for the back seat and paint. it had brand new white wall tires and new brakes all around i paid only 1000 dollars.

some info on the car.

blue/white 65 4dr
389 v8 with 2bbl carb
automatic


now im in the procces or semi-restoring it. after this big storm that recently kicked our butts here on the maine coast i found the bottom of the car to be full of water. so i figured now (2 days ago) would be a good time to rip up all the old carpeting and stuff. so i got the front seat out and ripped all the old smelly nasty carpet out , and all the stuff under it. i was amazed to find the floorboards completley rust free and solid ( amazing for being 40+ years old and being a maine car ) while doing this i noticed one small wire on each side running into the trunk , are these the brake and tail light wires ? one of them was cut. there is also a wide strip of somesort running along the drivers side , what is this for ?

the engine runs good but is pretty tired and has 102k miles on it, the tranny feels very smooth and shifts good. now i have a fe questions about the tranny , i want to put a mtx in it , will any trannys out of say a bonneville or gto bolt up ? im thinking of rebuilding the complete engine and replacing the rope rms with something a little tougher. im also going to put some type of intake on with a 4 bbl carb. what would you reccomend ?

im also wondering on how to get the back seat out ? i didnt look much for bolts but tommorro is suppose to be nice so im gunna try to get it out. i know theres more questions i have but im tired and cant remember all of them.

if anybody could give me any advice that would be awsome. im 20 years old and i love this old car and im going to try to do most of the work myself. thanks so much guys

fattie


edit- heres some pics i took a few weeks ago.