[mscicluna007]

Hi Brewster . their is a sticker on the fender on what would be the RHD side or passenger of a LED vehicle and their is one on the radiator support. they have been painted over and i am unsure of the best method to try and rescue them. any ideas because i do want to know what is their.

i purchased this car blindly off ebay from another state. i didnt even see the car just had it trucked home. the seat covers and cusions have all been picked so someone i suspect went searching for the build sheet. i dropped the fuel tank still no luck. the car is a good solid car and all floor pans are solid.

I must thank Leigh and Rocky for tracing the history of the car.
I have invited Leigh to come see the car and he is excited . i read the pontiac mags and the storys on peoples cars in their amaze me. i never expected a car with such a histoty. i just wanted a 70-73 TA for the right price and its been a good 5 years of searching i was startng to think it would never happen. It always amazes me what comes out of peoples sheds.


Michael

[Brewster]

Take the plastic vents off in the door jams and look into the rear quarters. That too was a spot of interest to some of the line workers. Also under the carpet if it still sports the original?
Im not sure the best method of removing that black paint on the decals but would think flaking chip by chip might be the only way (if it didnt bond well into the decal?).

[mscicluna007]

Nothing in the vents brewster.

i had a good look this morning. no luck. what about under trim panels or head liner

[fiedlerh]

As you research the history of the car and previous owners, it might be an interesting mission to find out what happened to the SD-455. I wonder what was stamped on that particular engine. I suspect the engine would have been put in by Pontiac engineering in Pontiac, MI since the SD-455 was not released for sale until April, 1973. SD-455 engines built earlier would have been held in Pontiac until the emissions system was revised.

[mscicluna007]

Heres what i found on the gearbox.

Yet to locate the VIN. Its blank where it should be stamped. Could the box have come from engineering as it had its own setup for testing on the tracks. it may have been a test box. so it may never have received the VIN from production.

Otherwise help me out on where else to look please.

[LeighP]

Quite possibly, the box did not get VIN'd due to the nature of the car....if the engine was fitted as part of a pre-production program, I'd assume the box was fitted with it.
I seem to recall SD auto's have uprated shift points????? Also, it wouldn't be the first time I've seen info left off a trans.

Heres my brush with fame.....me, meeting the T/A..... I'm the tall one.

[mscicluna007]

i am having the Same problem locating the diff codes. maybe the gear sets were changed many times in testing as i can't see the codes on the right tube. maybe a test car was left without its identity. does anyone own a SD 455 with no VIN.

[johnta1]

I think they used the 'PQ' tranny only for the SD 455 (in 73/74).
So it has the correct tranny probably.
(PZ for the regular 455 in 73)

When was this TA shipped overseas?
Would they have shipped it there from California?

What a cool find and good looking TA.

[74SDformula]

Originally Posted by mscicluna007

Heres what i found on the gearbox.

Yet to locate the VIN. Its blank where it should be stamped. Could the box have come from engineering as it had its own setup for testing on the tracks. it may have been a test box. so it may never have received the VIN from production.

Otherwise help me out on where else to look please.

I think I have seen another PQ transmssion with VIN stamped an another machined pad that is located further forward and higher. Can't remember if it is on the drivers side or the passengers side though. So keep looking. Congrats on the car!

[johnta1]

mscicluna007, you might be able to find out some info on the car if you put an ad in the paper in Santa Monica California.
(or have someone put one in for you)

Ask for any information on your car or if anyone remembers it.

Check if anyone knows the dealership it came from originally.

Hopefully the information is out there.
(and the engine too)

[LeighP]

A large number of Aussie imports came from CA back in the day. Before the internet, buying a car from the local papers when you got off the aircraft in LA was way easier than trying to buy them somewhere else. My 71 was sold by Jim Flagg Motors on Harbour BLVD in Fullerton, CA and imported from LA.
Its only fairly recently that cars seem to come from all over the US......I suppose we've picked over all the decent CA cars by now, so we have to look further away...lol.

[Brewster]

PQ is correct for 73 and the vin would have been driver side up towards the front top of the housing.

[REEDRACER]

Originally Posted by LeighP

Quite possibly, the box did not get VIN'd due to the nature of the car....if the engine was fitted as part of a pre-production program, I'd assume the box was fitted with it.
I seem to recall SD auto's have uprated shift points????? Also, it wouldn't be the first time I've seen info left off a trans.

Heres my brush with fame.....me, meeting the T/A..... I'm the tall one.

What a cool find! It's crazy how a car like this is on the otherside of the world! Congrats on the car!

[mscicluna007]

I have receipts in Australia from 1981 when the WT block had a rebuild. it had 55000 miles at the time. the car now has 72000 on the clock and from the last receipts were in 1985. than she was off the road.

Rocky is going to try and run a story in HPP to try and get as much information especially original owners for the car.

I really want to know what happened in the 8 years the car was in the USA .

[keith k]

I would bet the PQ was installed by Engineering when the SD went in, and since it wasn't a production line (where the VIN stampers are...) build would not have been VIN stamped. It's cool that the trans is still with the car.

[gke60]

a lot of the pontiac guy's saw this car on ebay and thought it looked like a good buy, but i bet you never thought it would cause this much fuss, these are the events you only dream of, good luck to you, do you know why the car was so unloved from 1985 onwards ??
cheers

[mscicluna007]

Yes it only received ACT conditional Registration not NSW Registration due to the heater not operating, tyres too wide for rims, engineers ticket needed for conversion, Amber tail lights needed fitment, and white parking lights at the front. So in essence failed a pink slip and could net be used outside of canberra with out some work. Minor but still expensive in them days.
Also it was bought not running in 2004 . The Distributor was not earthed correctly and couldn't run because the condensor was caked up with grime. Cleaned it up and she fired first go.

Some cars just need hard work and some TLC.

[gke60]

oh, so basically it was passed around as a bit of a dud, ( you can't register that thing ) so to speak, she ain't no dud now ! lol...

[mscicluna007]

Far from it. Guess time and money got the better of the previous owners. The last owner had it for 8 years in a garage with two other project cars and cut his losses with this one. glad he did.

[falcon4]

Originally Posted by gke60

oh, so basically it was passed around as a bit of a dud, ( you can't register that thing ) so to speak, she ain't no dud now ! lol...

That was the case with mine......no one wanted to touch it 'cause there wasn't an import approval for it. I asked one simple question from DPI......"Could a "Z" be a "2" in the VIN number?" and now I own a '76 T/A for the cost it would take, just to import it.

Oh and I did considered buying this car, but for the lack of space (and the T-41 Wagon on the way).